The Dominican winter league finals featuring the Tigres del Licey and the Estrellas Orientales begin Friday night with Game 1.
The best-of-seven series will determine the LIDOM champion, who will represent the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Series, to be held in the cities of Caracas and La Guaira in Venezuela from Feb. 2-10.
Here’s everything you need to know about the LIDOM finals.
The series begins with Game 1 on Friday at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal in the capital city of Santo Domingo, home of the Tigres, at 6:35 ET.
Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at Estadio Tetelo Vargas in San Pedro de Macorís, home of the Estrellas, at 6:30 ET.
The two teams will alternate home sites for the rest of the series, with off days on Monday and Thursday.
MLB.TV subscribers can stream all LIDOM games live, with no blackout restrictions, on all supported devices worldwide — including this week’s Dominican League Final Series. You can watch the games on the MLB app or online at MLB.com/TV.
The Estrellas Orientales and the Tigres del Licey are facing off in the finals for the fourth time in the circuit’s history and the first time since 1980. Licey is LIDOM’s winningest franchise, with 22 titles to their name. The Estrellas have won three titles all-time.
The two teams made it to the final series by advancing out of the first round-robin playoff stage, which consisted of the top four teams in the standings (there are six teams in total), including the Gigantes del Cibao and Águilas Cibaeñas.
Under manager and former Major Leaguer José Offerman, the Tigres finished the regular season with the league’s best record at 34-16 and were tied with the Estrellas with a 10-6 mark during the round-robin. They are in the finals for the sixth time in 10 years and for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign.
Managed by another former big leaguer, Fernando Tatis Sr., the Estrellas Orientales are in the finals for the second year in a row and the third time in the last five years. The Estrellas went 23-27 in the regular season, finishing fourth in the standings.
Right-hander César Valdez, who was named LIDOM Pitcher of the Year after going 6-0 with a 1.51 ERA and 37 strikeouts in nine starts for Licey in the regular season, will take the ball in Game 1. Valdez, who is currently in the Angels’ organization, went 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA and 20 strikeouts in the round-robin phase.
He will face left-hander Andy Otero for the Estrellas. Otero had a 3.71 ERA in four starts for the Estrellas in the regular season and went 2-1 with a 1.00 ERA in four starts in the semifinals.
The Tigres have announced that left-hander Raúl Valdés will get the ball in Game 2, followed by righty Esmil Rogers in Game 3.
Carlos Hernández, who pitched for the Toros del Este in the regular season and for the Águilas in the semi-finals, will start Game 2 for the Estrellas. (In LIDOM, players from the two teams who don’t qualify for the playoffs can be drafted by the postseason teams for the round-robin and final rounds.)
Who are the players to watch?
Licey: In the playoffs, Licey’s offense has been led by veteran Emilio Bonifacio, who was named MVP of the round-robin semifinals after slashing .303/.361/.561 with two home runs (including a grand slam) and 13 RBI in 16 games ; and free agent catcher Jorge Alfaro, who hit .383/.471/.633 with 2 HR and 9 RBI in 16 games.
Licey’s lineup also features 21-year-old shortstop Ronny Mauricio, the Mets’ No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline, who was named LIDOM MVP after a monster regular season in which he led the league with 31 RBIs, 54 hits and a .468 slugging percentage in 47 games. He also finished second in the league with five home runs, 26 runs scored and a .803 OPS, and third in batting average (.287) and stolen bases (10). Mauricio hit .279 with 6 RBI in the round-robin.
Estrellas: In the round-robin phase, the Estrellas’ lineup was led by Nationals’ third baseman Jeimer Candelario, who hit .424 with a 1.054 OPS in 16 games. Veteran second baseman Robinson Canó, who joined the Estrellas for the playoffs, hit .246 with 5 RBI in 16 semifinal games.
Other names to watch: Infielder Lewin Díaz clobbered three homers and drove in 11 runs for the Estrellas in the round-robin. Henry Urrutia, who was the LIDOM regular season batting champion after posting a .318 average, has joined the Estrellas as reinforcement for the final series.
The games will be streamed live on MLB.TV. All broadcasts are in Spanish.
The Tigres will host Games 1, 3, 5 and 7 at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal. The Estrellas will Games 2, 4 and 6 at Estadio Tetelo Vargas.
This is the schedule of games:
Game 1 (Estrellas at Tigres) — Friday at 6:35 pm ET
Game 2 (Tigres at Estrellas) — Saturday at 6:30 pm ET
Game 3 (Estrellas at Tigres) — Sunday at 4:00 pm ET
Game 4 (Tigres at Estrellas) — Tuesday at 6:30 pm ET
Game 5 (Estrellas at Tigres) — Wednesday at 6:15 pm ET
Game 6 (Tigres at Estrellas) — Jan. 20 at 6:30 pm ET
Game 7 (Estrellas at Tigres) — Jan. 21 at 4 pm ET
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