LINCOLN – The Saltdogs are proud to announce they have sold the contract of INF Christian Ibarra to the Minnesota Twins.
Through 19 games for Lincoln this season, Ibarra was hitting .371 with five home runs, eight doubles and a 1.173 OPS. Ibarra will be reporting to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Minnesota’s Class-A affiliate in the Midwest League.
The 23-year old from La Puente, Calif. ranks third in the American Association in batting, tied-third in home runs, tied-third in doubles and third in slugging percentage (.700).
Ibarra earned First Team All-SEC honors as LSU’s starting third baseman in 2013, and helped lead the Tigers to the College World Series that year.
After being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013 he chose to return to LSU for his senior season, and was not selected in the 2014 MLB draft.
Ibarra hit .278 with eight home runs in 58 games as a true rookie for Amarillo (American Association) in 2015.
The Saltdogs have now signed 24 players to Major League Baseball organizations since 2011. Two Saltdogs alums (RHP Angel Castro with Oakland and RHP Tim Adleman with Cincinnati) have reached the Big Leagues since 2015.