Pedro Strop of the Chicago Cubs throws a pitch during a game against the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field on April 16, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)
Entering his 15th professional season, relief pitcher Pedro Strop signed with Aguilas Cibaenas out of the Liga de Beisbol Professional de la Republica Dominicana for the 2023-24 winter league season. Strop played the last two winter league seasons in the Dominican Republic with Leones de Escogido in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 winter league circuit.
During last winter league season, Strop made 13 relief appearances with a 0-0 record, with a 3.55 ERA, pitching in 12.2 innings allowing 10 hits, five earned runs, walking eight batters, and struck out 13.
The former 2016 Chicago Cubs World Series champion Strop, 37, is a native of San Cristobal. His career lasted 13 years in the major leagues with the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds.
Strop’s major league record is 29-30 with a 3.20 ERA and 554 strikeouts during his career.
“Strop enters the team’s plans in a role similar to that followed by the organization with the signing of players without restrictions, who bring quality and seniority to the whole,” said Aguilas Cibaenas general manager Angel Ovalles. “He has the profile of player and reliever that can be lasting in the league, without limitations. …Pedro could earn the position of closer in case of coming in those conditions.”
Aguilas Cibaenas last won the LIDOM championship in 2001, a season that also saw the club win the Caribbean Series in Mazatlan, Mexico, defeating Puerto Rico’s Criollos de Cages in the final game.