By Gavin Titherington
Like many other players in the CLPB, Vipers’ pitcher Tibur Rivero has dreams and aspirations of making the Big Leagues. For Rivero, he values the experience that the league has brought to him thus far.
Rivero started playing baseball at a young age and fell in love with it. As he got older, he began to take shape both as a batter and a pitcher. In his senior season at Martin County High School, Rivero had a .429 batting average and a .51 ERA. By the time the senior season ended for Rivero, his fastball was exceeding 92 mph.
With Rivero’s high school career ending in 2019, he decided that he would take his talents to Indian River State College. Although his freshmen season would come to an early end, Rivero posted a 1.39 ERA in 33.1 innings pitched in his inaugural collegiate campaign.
Because of the season ending early, Rivero needed more time on the mound in order to improve upon different aspects of his game. In turn, he sought after a spot on a summer league team. Playing in the CLPB was an easy decision for him to make. When asked about his decision to play in the CLPB, Rivero explained:
“I’m really close with the coaches, they contacted me and asked me if I wanted to play for them over the summer, and I said of course.”
Summer league is a crucial step a player takes to improve their skills in the position the player chooses. For Tibur, that position was on the mound. Rivero mentioned a few main ideas when discussing what parts of his game he looks to improve upon:
“I’m trying to get a feel for all of my pitches and have everything fine-tuned. I want to throw everything I have, first strikes, and locate the zone. Pounding the strike zone and not giving up any walks is my main thing.”
Rivero’s primary goal is to get drafted. He hopes to play one more year at Indian River State College and either sign for a division 1 college or go straight to the draft. Rivero is a player to watch out for in the future.