Melvin Dorta

Melvin Alexander Dorta

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 160 lb.
• High School Colegio Teresiano
• Debut July 21, 2006
• Final Game October 1, 2006
• Born January 15, 1982 in Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela

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Biographical information

Venezuelan shortstop Melvin Dorta was signed by the Boston Red Sox as a 16-year-old. He began his professional career with the 1999 Cagua team in the Venezuelan Summer League and hit only .212. Returning to the loop at age 18, Melvin batted .329 for San Joaquin.

In 2001, he hit .408/.489/.566 in 21 games for the GCL Red Sox and .267/.320/.311 with the Augusta GreenJackets, stealing only 13 in 21 tries. In '02, the right-handed batter batted .257/.342/.283 with the Sarasota Red Sox and was caught 10 times in 19 theft attempts. Returning to Sarasota in 2003, he did even worse - .216/.288/.244 with 8 extra-base hits in 324 AB, though he stole 20 of 29. He was used mostly at second base that year.

At age 22, he was purchased by the Montréal Expos and began a run with the Harrisburg Senators by hitting .262/.311/.329 with 12 SB in 16 tries while being used as a utility man. In 2005, Melvin managed to improve to .252/.314/.373 with 11 homers after having hit none in the prior three years. He stole 22 of 35.

In 2006, Dorta had a .257/.307/.347 line with Harrisburg and swiped 33 of 43. With the New Orleans Zephyrs, he hit .433/.438/.567 in a dazzling 8 games and was 3 for 5 in swipes. He hit .211/.250/.263 in 15 games as a sub for the 2006 Nationals in his crack at the majors. He was the youngest position player on the team.

Dorta became a coach with the Harrisburg Senators in 2013-2014.

Sources: 2002-2006 Baseball Almanacs, Minorleaguebaseball.com, Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database