Ricky Oropesa

Efrin Ricardo Oropesa

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 225 lb.
• School University of Southern California
• High School Etiwanda High School

• Born December 15, 1989 in Los Angeles, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

First baseman Ricky Oropesa was one of the first alumni from Major League Baseball's Urban Youth Academy, in Compton, CA, to be drafted by a major league team and to earn a college scholarship. After benefiting from the pioneering program directed at youngsters from underprivileged areas to help them foster their baseball talent, he was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 2008 amateur draft. he accepted a scholarship from USC and instead, and three years later, in 2011, was drafted again, this time in the 3rd round by the San Francisco Giants. In 2010, he led the Pac-10 Conference with 20 home runs and was the conference All-Star first baseman, tied with Mark Canha.

Oropesa spent five seasons in the Giants' organization, starting in 2012 with the San Jose Giants of the California League for whom he hit .263/.338/.425 with 16 homers and 98 RBIs in 134 games. In 2013, he hit .295 with 57 games for San Jose to earn a promotion to the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the AA Southern League. He found the going harder there, hitting .206 in 66 games. He then spent the next two full seasons at Richmond. In 2014, he hit .241 with 5 homers in 116 games, but in 2015 he improved to .254 with 24 doubles, 17 homers and 76 RBIs in 131 games. He seemed on the verge of breaking through to the big leagues at that point, but 2016 turned out to be a really rough season, as he fell to .219 in 68 games for Richmond, and .158 in 14 games for the Sacramento RiverCats in what was his only shot at AAA.

Following the 2016 season, he was let go by the Giants and moved over to the Independent Leagues, signing with the Ottawa Champions of the Can-Am Association. He was one of the team's more reliable offensive players, hitting .265 in 74 games with 5 homers and 41 RBIs, but he missed some time in mid-season with a wrist injury, and the Champions were unable to replace his bat in the line-up, a major factor in their missing the playoffs.