For the keen-eyed prospect follower – which is probably all of you given that you have sought out this particular website – you may have noticed the absence of several of the Dominican Summer League Reds top performers over the last week. For the most part, those guys are quite happy that they aren’t playing in those games.
The Cincinnati Reds brought infielder Naibel Mariano and Hansel Jimenez, catcher Jirvin Morillo, and outfielder Pablo Nunez to the US to join the team in Arizona. With the complex league season over, the Reds are one of the many teams that were in the league who are continuing forward with what is referred to as the bridge season. Not every complex league team is involved, but nine teams are and they basically play games a few times per week against the other clubs but it’s unofficial and can at times have more of a spring training kind of feel to it.
Those of you keen-eyed folks will also notice that one name is not listed there. Adolfo Sanchez. On July 25th he exited the game against the DSL Rays in the 6th inning. I’ve been told that he’s dealing with a sore knee, but the Reds hope to get him to Arizona soon.
All of these guys have had strong seasons and it seems that while the DSL season will continue for another few weeks that the official stats for this group is going to be complete today.
Pablo Nunez had one of the crazier stats in my time covering the Reds farm system. This year he hit .330/.542/.417 with six extra-base hits. That’s more extra-base hits than he had strikeouts in 155 plate appearances. Nunez had 41 walks on the season and just five strikeouts. You can see his career stats here. Below is some not-so-great quality video I was able to get of Nunez.
Naibel Mariano took a step forward in his second year as a professional. This season saw him hit .286/.326/.459 with 13 extra-base hits. In his 141 plate appearances the shortstop had six walks and 30 strikeouts. His walk rate was down significantly from 2024, but so was his strikeout rate. And he hit for a far better average and power. You can see his career stats here.
Jirvin Morillo didn’t quite have the same success in 2025 as he did in 2024 at the plate. He walked a less frequently, struck out a little more, and hit for less power. This season he hit .246/.372/.421 with eight doubles and four home runs. Where he showed big improvement was in his caught stealing numbers behind the plate. In 2024 he had a 15% caught stealing rate. This year that jumped up to 37%. It’s tough to know exactly how much of that is due to his improvement or the improvement of the pitching staff at holding runners on better, or both. You can see his career stats here.
Hansel Jimenez only played in five games in 2024. This season he played in 34 games and hit .271/.377/.449. The infielder split time between shortstop and third base and had six doubles with five home runs and 12 steals in 13 tries. You can see his career stats here.
As for Adolfo Sanchez, if we assume that once healthy he will head to Arizona and not play any more games in the DSL, he made big time improvements in 2025. He hit .336/.474/.496 on the season in 152 plate appearances to go along with 12 extra-base hits. He walked more often than he struck out this season, and he cut his strikeout rate from 34% to 14%. You can see his career stats here.