Wilmy Caceres

Wilmy Antonio Caceres

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 165 lb.
• Born October 2, 1973 in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional D.R.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Infielder Wilmy Caceres is a former Cincinnati Reds, Anaheim Angels and Tampa Bay Devil Rays minor leaguer who played from 1997 to 2003. He was signed by the Reds in 1996.

A classic shortstop in terms of offensive skill set, Caceres ran frequently, stealing 31, 52 and 36 bases in 1998, 1999 and 2000, respectively, while hitting a combined four home runs over that time span. He was also caught stealing regularly. Even though his career minor league average was only .266, he still managed to make it to AAA ball before his professional career ended.

In 1997, Caceres broke in with the Billings Mustangs and hit .263/.317/.316 while playing mostly second base. The next season, the Dominican infielder batted .259/.306/.294 for the Charleston Alley Cats as the starting shortstop and .293/.325/.367 with the Burlington Bees. While he did steal 31 bases that year, he was caught 19 times and he came close to leading the South Atlantic League in that department.

During the 1999 campaign, Wilmy put up a .261/.326/.326 line for the Clinton Lumber Kings. He was thrown out running 22 times but still scored 77 runs. He led the Midwest League's shortstops with 42 errors. He was one steal behind Reds minor league leader Travis Dawkins and was two times caught stealing away from leading the MWL in two negative stats in one year.

Caceres hit .268/.317/.337 in 2000 and was thrown out in 19 of 55 steal attempts. He led the Reds system in steals and split time at shortstop and second base for the Chattanooga Lookouts with Dawkins; whichever position the one did not play, the other usually did. Caceres was rated the best defensive second baseman in the Southern League by Baseball America and again missed leading his league in times caught stealing by just two. The Reds traded him to the Anaheim Angels for Seth Etherton.

In 2001, Wilmy made it to AAA with the Salt Lake Stingers. He batted .249/.281/.289 and was 12 for 18 in steals. He played 87 games and was the most-used shortstop on the team, edging out Alfredo Amezaga. After one year with Anaheim's organization, Caceres was dealt to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Mickey Callaway.

During the 2002 season, Caceres hit .259/.309/.311 for the Durham Bulls and went 16 for 24 in attempts to steal. He was the club's primary shortstop, appearing in 87 games there. A poor run-producer, he only scored 42 and drove in 20 in 108 games total. In 2003, he was back in the Reds system, hitting .275/.322/.353 for the Chattanooga Lookouts and going 22 for 31 in steals. He fielded only .915 at third base and played almost every position for the team. He briefly played for the Louisville RiverBats, going 0 for 7 in four games.

Overall, Wilmy hit .252/.293/.297 in AAA, .270/.319/.343 in AA, .265/.309/.331 in A ball and .277/.320/.319 in rookie league play. He stole 170 bases and was caught 83 times.

Caceres was a part of the "age change conspiracy" that happens quite often with ballplayers from Latin America. He claimed he was born on October 2, 1978 when he first starting playing pro ball, but his real birthday was found out to be October 2, 1973.

Sources include TSN.CA bio, 1998-2004 Baseball Almanacs