Pirates Outfielder Gaining Experience in Dominican Winter League

Canario has featured in four games so far for Escogido del Leones, slashing .214/.353/.357 for an OPS of .710, with three hits in 14 at-bats, two doubles and three walks to five strikeouts.

What to Expect From the Dominican Winter League

The Dominican Winter League, or the Dominican Professional Baseball League or Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana (LIDOM), in Spanish, started its season on Oct. 15.

Six teams play in this league, also featuring Aguilas Cibaenas, Estrellas Orientales, Gigantes del Cibao, Tigers del Licey Toros del Este.

All the teams play 50 games, which goes through to Dec. 23, with each team playing each other 10 times. The top four teams then play each other from the end of December through January, six times each for an 18-game schedule. The two best teams then play in a best of nine-series, with the first team to five games comes out as Champion.

Tigers del Licey is the most successful team with 24 titles, but Leones del Escogido won it most recently last season.

Infielder Liover Peguero is playing with Tigers del Licey this season, making for at least two players from the Pirates organization that are playing in the Dominican Republic this fall/winter.

Alexander Canario's 2025 Season with the Pirates

The Pirates landed Canario in a trade with the New York Mets on March 31 for cash considerations. The Mets previously designated Canario for assignment on March 27.

Canario played in 87 games for the Pirates, slashing .218/.274/.338 for an OPS of .612, with 73 hits in 215 at-bats, 25 runs scored, six doubles, one triple, six home runs, 20 RBIs and 17 walks to 80 strikeouts.

He played in all three spots in the outfield, with 21 starts in 31 games played in left field, 23 starts in 29 games played in center field and 13 starts in 24 games played in right field.

Canario had a poor April, hitting just .074 with two hits in 27 at-bats, but had a much better May, where he slashed .279/.326/.407 for an OPS of .733 in 23 games, with 24 hits in 86 at-bats, three doubles, one triple, two home runs, six RBIs and six walks to 29 strikeouts.

He regressed over the next two months, hitting .194 in June in 15 games and one hit in 12 at-bats for a .083 batting average in six game in July.

Canario saw more time in August, where he hit .214, before having a solid end to his campaign in September, slashing .250/.265/.375 for an OPS of .640 in 16 games, with eight hits in 32 at-bats, one double, one home run, four RBIs and one walks to 15 strikeouts.

The season was his first full campaign, as he only played in 15 games with the Chicago Cubs in 2024 and six games with the Cubs in 2023.

Alexander Canario's Earlier Seasons in the Dominican Winter League

Canario was born on May 7, 2000 in Montecrisit in the Dominican Republic and this marks his fourth season playing winter ball back in his home country.

He played with Aguilas Cibaenas the past three seasons, improving his hitting each year. He played in just 10 games in 2022-23 and hit .172, played in 16 games in 2023-24 and hit .246 and then featured in 28 games in 2024-25, where he had his best campaign.

Canario slashed .304/.411/.544 for an OPS of .955 in 28 games, with 24 hits in 79 at-bats, 13 runs scored, seven doubles, four home runs, 16 RBIs and 13 walks to 19 strikeouts.

The Pirates will hope that this time in the Dominican Republic is productive for Canario and he comes back an improved hitter in 2026.