A Baseball Journey From Uganda to the Dominican Republic

Over the last decade, the Los Angeles Dodgers have built a juggernaut of a team, largely through their commitment to signing international free agents, both professional and amateur. Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinubu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, and Andy Pages all helped the Dodgers win the 2025 World Series.

Due to their successes, we often hear stories of international players making the transition from their home country to the United States. But it’s not often we hear about international amateurs making the transition from an English-speaking country to a club’s international complex in the Dominican Republic.

I sat down on a call with two players currently in the Dodgers’ international complex in the city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Allan Ajoti and Joseph Deng. Both were signed out of Uganda and now train at Campo Las Palmas, the Dodger complex in the DR.

In 2017, Allan Ajoti had never played baseball. He was a soccer player, more accustomed to firing off missiles at goal rather than a strike zone. It wasn’t until some friends invited him to play in a friendly baseball game that he picked up a bat for the first time. The coach of that team was none other than Odong Henry, the head coach for the Ugandan Little League team that participated in the 2012 Little League World Series. The team was winning by so many runs that he told Allan that he could go up and hit. In his very first at bat, Allan smoked a double. He remembers running with the wind and celebrating when he reached second base. He liked it so much that he kept going back to play week after week. He eventually stopped playing soccer and completely dedicated his time to baseball.

By 2020, he was so good that he was being scouted by the Dodgers. By this time, he had heard stories about the Dodgers’ facility in Uganda, about the good food and modern facilities they had for the players staying there. Allan was invited to stay and train at the complex. Here, he could train every day both with coaches and on his own. In no time, Allan gained the reputation of being one of the very top prospects in the entire country, and the Dodgers made the move to sign him.

After he acquired his visa, Allan reported to the Dodgers’ international complex in June of 2024, where he underwent physical training before being able to play in games. There were immediate differences between Uganda and the Dominican Republic. The obvious is that the vast majority of players in the complex are from Latin American countries where the primary language is Spanish. Teammates speak Spanish, coaches coach most of the players in Spanish, and general day to day life is in Spanish. Food is different, and you’re now living in a foreign country away from old friends and family.

For Allan, the adjustments came both on and off the field. On the field, he quickly realized the difference in quality from Uganda to the DR. His very first live at bats came against a teammate throwing 95-plus. Before this, Allan had never seen above 90 in Uganda.

"I tried to swing early," he said. "I was still late."

Even if it was discouraging in the moment, Allan kept working hard. He hit the batting cages to get his timing down, and would even come back outside his allotted time just to get more swings in. His reward for his hard work came when he hit his very first professional home run. I asked Allan about how it felt to hit his first home run and he said it actually felt weirdly normal, a testament to the work he put in during his cage sessions. But he made sure to tell me the second homer he hit felt “really good”.

In his 2025 season, he improved on his 2024 season in which he only played 8 games. He recorded an OPS of .697 with 6 home runs, 30 RBI, and 4 stolen bases in 32 games.

Off the field, he takes daily Spanish classes for an hour every day. He can now talk with his teammates and coaches with the phrases he knows and is working to improve his Spanish. He’s also grown to love Dominican food, his favorite being the ribs they serve.

This upcoming season, he will also adjust to a new role within the Dodger organization, moving from hitting to a full time pitcher. He’ll join another international signing, Joseph Deng, looking to make their mark pitching this year.

Deng was born in Juba, South Sudan, and moved to Uganda during his childhood. It was in Uganda where he blossomed into a lanky 6’6” frame that allowed him to become one of the top pitching prospects in Uganda. He too was signed by the Dodgers and is in their international complex.

Deng has faced many of the same challenges that Ajoti has. He’s learning Spanish and making new friends, helping them with their English skills, but his respite comes from the fact that all the Ugandan players, not just on the Dodgers, but in the Pirates organization as well, are so close. Deng is good friends with Pirates prospect David Matoma, and they even worked together back in Uganda. All the Ugandan players are in their own group chat and constantly support each other.

His goal is to keep improving every day, following the Dodgers' strength and conditioning program to help gain weight and continuing to eat well. Like Ajoti, Deng is a big fan of Dominican food, especially arepas.

Both Ajoti and Deng are on the same page when it comes to improving baseball in Uganda. They say that it’s a great thing that Ugandan players are signing with American teams because it gives people something to look up to, but improvements in baseball infrastructure are needed. More fields, equipment, professional coaches, and organized leagues are at the top of the list in order for the next generation of Ugandans to make the jump to professional ball. Ajoti was impressed by the domestic Dominican league, LIDOM, and the support it has among his Dominican teammates. Something like that on a smaller scale in Uganda could get people engaged in baseball from the time they are kids.

Until then, players like Ajoti and Deng are proof of what’s possible. They’re pioneers, in sport and in culture, and more are sure to follow in their footsteps. Each morning they carry with them a love for the game of baseball, a bond with their Ugandan compatriots, and the belief that where they come from does not limit where they can go.

Writer’s note:

A huge thanks to Allan Ajoti and Jospeh Deng for taking the time to call with me and talk about their lives, Uganda, and baseball. They are great people and I’m wishing them the best of luck in their upcoming season.