Winter leagues roundup: Arias raking in Australia

January 5th, 2018

Gabriel Arias got off to a slow start in the Australian Baseball League, but has certainly picked up the pace lately.
The Padres' No. 15 prospect is hitting .236 through 24 games and while those numbers don't exactly jump off the page, they look a lot better when considering he was sitting under .200 until Dec. 6.
Arias put together a trio of multihit games in December and is in the middle of a four-game hitting streak for Canberra.
The 17-year-old, whom the Padres signed in July 2016, hit .265 in 53 games across two levels in 2017.
Here's a look at other top prospects making waves in the offseason winter leagues.
Australia
Brett Cumberland, C, Braves' No. 24 -- Cumberland has hit .306 over the past 10 games for Melbourne, including a trio of homers. The Braves' catching prospect went deep 11 times during the regular season and is tied for 10th in the Australian League with five homers.
Dominican Republic
, OF, Padres' No. 12 -- Cordero has simply been raking over the past 10 games. The Padres' outfielder is hitting .361 over that stretch, during which he's also hit a pair of homers. After hitting 20 total homers in 2017 -- including three in the big leagues -- Cordero is tied for second in the DWL with five homers in 50 games. Overall, Cordero is hitting .323 for Leones del Escogido.
Mexico
Randy Arozarena, OF, Cardinals' No. 9 -- Arozarena, who leads the MWL with 14 homers through 64 games, hit well as 2017 came to a close. Arozarena hasn't played for Mayos de Navojoa since Dec. 29, but hit .278 with three multihit efforts over his last 10 games. Arozarena also posted a .409 on-base percentage and a .444 slugging percentage over that 10-game stretch.
Isaac Paredes, SS, Tigers' No. 9 -- Paredes also hasn't played since Dec. 29, but had hits in seven of his last 10 games, including six multihit efforts. The shortstop hit .370 in 15 games in the MWL.