Rafael Rijo

Rafael Antonio Rijo Brito

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 170 lb.

• Born September 19, 1969 in La Romana D.R.

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Rafael Rijo was a minor league player and a scout. His son Wendell Rijo made his US debut at age 17.

Rafael played for the GCL Dodgers in 1988, hitting .259/.288/.287 and stealing 13 bases in 17 tries. With the Salem Dodgers in 19898, he batted only .228/.246/.263, though he had 9 outfield assists. In 1990, he improved his batting line to .260/.309/.330 for the Yakima Bears and he stole 23 bases while being caught five times. He was 6th in the Northwest League in swipes. He continued to show good speed (17 SB, 2 CS) but not much of a bat with the 1991 Vero Beach Dodgers (.233/.240/.309, only 2 BB in 83 G). Moving on to the Montréal Expos chain, he hit .262/.288/.313 and went 32-for-51 in stealing as the #4 outfielder for the 1992 Rockford Expos. He was 8th in the Midwest League in swipes but tied Buck McNabb for 4th in caught stealing. Among Expo farmhands, he tied for 7th in steals and was second in caught stealing, one behind Antonio Grissom.

Rafael's other minor league action came in 1995, split between the independent Laredo Apaches (.289/.290/.437 in 43 G) and the Port Charlotte Rangers (.304/.373/.348 in 16 G). In 431 minor league games, he had batted .254/.278/.319 with 183 runs, 107 RBI, 124 steals in 179 tries and just 42 walks.

Rijo later was a Los Angeles Dodgers scout, signing Jose Dominguez. He coached for the Dominican national team at the 2011 Baseball World Cup, 2011 Pan American Games and 2015 Pan American Games. He managed in Mexico in 2019.