Franklin Barreto: A Rising Star in the Venezuelan Baseball League
The 2023-24 season has been a rollercoaster ride for Franklin Barreto. From struggling to perform as he did in the previous season to missing games due to a dramatic collision with Danry Vásquez in a game against Caribes de Anzoátegui on November 22nd.
Since then, ‘Kaki’ has only played in nine out of the last 30 games of Tiburones in the regular season, which is exactly the number of games he participated in – 19 less than the previous season.
However, Barreto seized the opportunity to take the field when Lorenzo Cedrola got injured, and he has not wasted it. Not only has he been hitting the ball exceptionally well, but he has also displayed outstanding performance as a center fielder, compensating for the absence of his teammate in the current Round Robin.
The former MLB player for the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels hit his third consecutive home run on Wednesday.
08/01/2024 vs. Cardenales de Lara
(His team had a rest day on Tuesday)
10/01/2024 vs. Bravos de Margarita
11/01/2024 vs. Tigres de Aragua
According to historian Tony Flores, Barreto is the first Tiburones player to hit three home runs in consecutive games since Luis Jiménez did it as a reinforcement player from January 13th to 16th, 2012.
Here is a breakdown of Luis Jiménez’s home run streak:
13/01/2012 vs. Caribes de Anzoátegui
(His team had a rest day on the 14th)
15/01/2012 vs. Águilas del Zulia
16/01/2012 vs. Navegantes del Magallanes
On a Hitting Streak
During this impressive streak, Barreto has a batting average of .545 (6-for-11) with five runs scored, nine RBIs, and three consecutive games with three RBIs each. He has also reached base 16 times and has an on-base percentage (OBP) of .545, a slugging percentage of 1.454, and an OPS of 1.999.
In the eight games of the Round Robin, Barreto has an average of .400 (6-for-15) with six runs scored and an OPS of 1.505 in 16 plate appearances.
