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Winter Leagues: Lambo and Sands Take Turns at First Base

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In the Venezuelan League on Friday night, Andrew Lambo went 0-for-3 with a walk. The interesting part is that he got his third start of the VWL season at first base. During the seventh inning, Lambo switched on defense to right field. While at first base, he handled two ground balls, a pop up and had seven putouts.

Sands had a double and RBI on Friday
Sands had a double and RBI on Friday

Elvis Escobar came in as a pinch-runner in the eighth inning. It was the fifth appearance of the Winter for the 19-year-old outfielder. He did not score a run or bat.

Carlos Ruiz made his second appearance, getting a ground out from the only batter he has faced. Ruiz has pitched four years in the VSL/DSL for the Pirates. He has thrown one inning so far, allowing no runs and one hit.

In the Dominican, Carlos Paulino went 0-for-2 in his team’s 1-0 loss. He was pinch-hit for in the eighth inning by Oscar Tejeda, who was just signed by the Washington Nationals. Paulino is hitting .213 through 17 games.

Atahualpa Severino through a scoreless inning, his 13th straight shutout appearance, a streak that dates back to late October. Severino picked up two strikeouts. He has a 1.46 ERA this year in 12.1 innings.

It was announced on Friday that Gregory Polanco won’t play until Tuesday. He had a stomach virus earlier in the week and was given Friday night off to recover his strength. The Dominican League is off Saturday and Monday. The League’s All-Star game is this Sunday.

In Puerto Rico, Jerry Sands did the exact opposite on defense that Andrew Lambo did. He played right field for the first six innings, then moved to first base. At the plate, Sands went 1-for-4 with a double, run scored and RBI. He is hitting .238 through 25 games, with a .770 OPS.

Benji Gonzalez made his fifth appearance, coming in as a pinch-runner in the eighth inning. He is 4-for-10 at the plate this year.

Ivan De Jesus Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk, stolen base and run scored. He leads the league in both runs and walks.

In Australia from Saturday, Sam Kennelly went 1-for-3 with a run scored and two strikeouts in game one of a doubleheader. He did not start game two, though he did finish the game on defense at second base. Kennelly also played second base in game one and he handled all five fielding chances on the day. He is hitting .171 through 13 games, though it is still important to point out that he is just 17-years-old, playing in a league filled with minor league veterans and a handful of guys with major league experience.

Danny Arribas went 0-for-4 with a walk and run scored. He had a little trouble on defense behind home plate. Arribas made two throwing errors, his first miscues of the season. He also allowed the opponents to go 4-for-4 in stolen bases.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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