In Winter League action from down in Puerto Rico last night, Ivan DeJesus went 2-for-4, with his 24th RBI. He raised his batting average to .358, giving him a six point lead in the batting race with two games left on the regular season schedule. DeJesus has 49 hits, four more than anyone else in the league and his .910 OPS ranks him third overall. His RBI total ranks him first on his team and fourth in the league. It’s an impressive total from him due to the fact that he bats lead-off. DeJesus has hit .463 in 54 AB’s with runners on base. If he can finish as the league leader in hits, he will be the second middle infielder in the Pirates system to accomplish that feat this Winter. Anderson Hernandez led the Dominican Winter League in hits as well.
In other action from Puerto Rico, Benji Gonzalez went 0-for-2, with a walk and a stolen base. He reached base in the eighth inning via hit by pitch and ended up scoring his team’s only run in a 2-1 loss.
In Venezuela, Nate Baker threw a scoreless inning of relief. He came in during the bottom of the sixth inning with his team down 9-3 and retired the side in order on two groundouts and a strike out. Baker’s team ended up staging a comeback, winning 10-9 by scoring runs in each of the last three innings.
Darren Ford went 1-for-5 yesterday. He has gone 3-for-14 at the plate since returning to Winter ball, collecting a single in all three games.
In the Dominican League playoffs, Alex Valdez went 2-for-4, with a two-run home run and two runs scored. The home run came in the seventh inning off former Pirates pitcher Nelson Figueroa. Felix Pie went 0-for-5, with a strikeout, leaving him 1-for-9 in the first two games of the playoffs.
In Australian League action from today, Stefan Welch went 0-for-4, with a strikeout, in Adelaide’s 2-1 loss. He was the only Pirates player to take the field in the ABL today. Quincy Latimore is scheduled to join the team tomorrow. Since playing in the All-Star game earlier this month, Welch has gone 4-for-26 at the plate, dropping his average down to it’s current .207 mark.
