With the end of the regular season, the Winter Baseball League of the Dominican Republic (LIDOM) proceeded to announce the awards for the 2020 winter ball season. The winners of the Most Valuable Player, Pitcher of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Leader of the Year awards are selected by members of the Dominican sports press, based on the performance of the nominated players.
The leader of the Year was the Colombian Luis “Pipe” Urueta, achieving the distinction for the first time in his career within LIDOM with 81.3 percent of the vote. Urueta guided the Giants of the Cibao to win the regular series being in first place of the table of positions with record of 16 triumphs and 14 defeats. The Colombian navigated complicated situations such as an outbreak of COVID-19 and the inactivity of his team for more than 10 days as a result. From being in last place in the middle of the championship, he led his team by a historic lift to the standings.
Jeremy Peña, shortstop of the Eastern Stars, was named Rookie of the Year by reaching 76.3 percent of the vote. He finished as the leader in triples (2) and as the leader in contested games (30) in the league for the 2020 season. He had 129 appearances on the plate of which 121 became official rounds. He connected 37 hits (three of them home runs) for a 306 batting average, adding a catch percentage (OBP) of 349 and a slugging percentage (SLG) of 430, good for an OPS of 779. He towed eight runs and scored on 18 occasions. He stole 6 bases in six attempts, struck out 23 times and negotiated 7 p.m. transfers.
David Kubiak, Lions Opener of the Chosen One, was selected as the Pitcher of the Year for the 2020 season. The American finished as the leader in punches (32), effectiveness (1.74) and openings. set) of LIDOM. He worked for 36.1 innings in which he allowed ten runs, seven of them clean. His average of bases by balls and unstoppable by thrown entrance (WHIP) stayed like one of the best ones of the year in 0.83 and the statistic of independent pitching of defense (FIP) was of 3.41. He won one match and had no defeats. He won the award with 41.9 percent of the vote.
With 48.1 percent of the vote, LIDOM’s Most Valuable Player award for the 2020 season is for Cibao Giants starter Ronald Guzmán, who was by far the best player of the season. In what was the best year of his career in Dominican baseball, Guzmán culminated in scoring runs (25), hits (40), total bases (58), OBP (454), OPS (977), appearances on the plate (130) and as a co-leader in disputed matches (30).
His batting average was 360, courtesy of 40 hits in 111 official innings and his SLG of 523. He drove 12 runs, struck out 23 times and scored 17 bases per ball.