Robinson Cano’s Dominican Winter League Stint is Over

It sounds like Robinson Cano‘s pinky toe– the one he broke in Japan during the All-Star tour– is just fine.

According to Greg Johns at MLB.com, Cano, 32, played in his last Dominican Winter League game on Monday night. He was playing for his hometown Estrellas De Oriente club in the midst of a 9-game playoff series against Gigantes.

As a part of his recovery from the broken toe, the Mariners gave Robinson Cano permission to play in a limited number of Winter League games. His time was well spent, going 9-for-18 with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 5 RBI and 3 runs scored.

For those concerned about the lack of home runs: don’t. The sample size is far too small, and Cano is known to start his training– and season– focusing on contact and placement before turning it loose.

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In what was expected to be his final game on Monday, Cano went 1-for-3 with a single and a HBP (he’s fine, don’t worry). However, the Estrellas lost 4-0 to the Gigantes del Cibao in the 3rd game of their championship matchup. His hometown club has two wins to Gigantes’ one in the 9-game round.

LigaDom.com notes that Robbie Cano agreed to play in only 5 games, and exclusively for the sake of his bat: he started all five games at designated hitter.

Not only did Cano want time to test his swing before the Seattle Mariners gather up for their first full-team workout on February 25, he also wanted to help his hometown team to the Dominican League Championship. The Estrelles haven’t won a Dominican Winter League title in 47 years.

As Robinson Cano leaves the Dominican Republic, what’s next on his agenda?

Unfortunately, Cano isn’t scheduled to appear at Mariners FanFest, which goes January 24-25 at Safeco Field. He isn’t obligated to participate in any Mariners activities until that first full-squad workout of spring training.

But, anxious as the front office is to get this 2015 season off on the right foot, I’m sure they’ll encourage Cano to stop back in sooner than later.