The Dominican Summer League gets underway today!

There are thirty-eight teams in the Dominican Summer League.  Obviously, some major league teams have more than one affiliate there.  Generally, those teams are distinguished by a number, e. g., Rangers1, Rangers2.  The exception to this is the Astros, who distinguish their teams by color:  Astros Orange and Astros Blue.  As you can see, teams take the names of their major league affiliates.

The teams are spread across five divisions, with no attempt made to equalize the number of teams per division.  Thus, the Boca Chica North has eleven teams, the Boca Chica south has ten, the Boca Chica Northwest has six, the Boca Chica Baseball City has six, and the San Pedro de Macoris has five.  There have only been four divisions in the past, and I was not able to quickly discover what they playoff procedures will be.  My assumption is that there will be five division winners and three wild cards in the playoffs, but that may not be correct.

The teams play a seventy-two game schedule.  Play begins today and ends August 22.  All DSL Twins games, and for all I know all games, begin at 9:30 a.m. Central Time.  Teams generally play six games a week, with Sundays off.  Each team has a thirty-five-man roster.  No player may have four or more years of prior Minor League Service.  No draft-eligible player from the U.S. or Canada (not including players from Puerto Rico) may participate in the DSL.

The DSL Twins are managed by Jimmy Alvarez, with coaches Manny Santana and Ramon Nivar.  Below are some players who were on the DSL Twins last year and who are still on the roster, so that possibly you will remember their names:

Pitchers:  Carlos Aponte, Erick Balbuena, Robener Cabrera, Jadison Jimenez, Sebastian Perez, Daulin Ramirez, Jose Ramirez.

Batters:  Emmanuel Morel, Jorge Parra, Gabriel A Ynfante, Jet Hernandez, Edgar Herrera, Antonio Tovar.

The DSL Twins play in the Boca Chica Baseball City division.  Other teams in their division are the Diamondbacks, the Orioles1, the Padres, the Reds, and the White Sox.  Go DSL Twins!