Grapefruit League and Cactus League games are about a month away, but down in the Caribbean, meaningful baseball is being played. Winter ball is well underway in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.
Former Reds, Braves, and Blue Jays third baseman Juan Francisco hasn't played in the big leagues since 2014 -- he spent 2015-17 in Triple-A, Japan, and Mexico -- but down in the Dominican Winter League, he is currently the league leader with seven home runs in 34 games.
On Thursday, Francisco walloped a grand slam for the Tigres del Licey and he unleashed one of the more impressive bat flips we've seen in quite some time. To the very necessary mid-January baseball highlight:
"SEÑOOOORES🤤" 1,2,3,4 Gran Slam para Juan Francisco @tigresdellicey. Cortesía de @afpsiembrapic.twitter.com/BU2NA0NkyW
— LIDOM (@LIDOMRD) January 19, 2018
Francisco admired the heck out of his majestic grand slam, then damn near flipped his bat out of the stadium. Or at least it looks that way from one angle:
Please hurry back, baseball. I miss you and dingers and bat flips.
