On Friday night in the Dominican, Alen Hanson went 1-for-5 with a single and two strikeouts. He was also thrown out stealing. The big news of the game was where he was in the field. Hanson started at second base for the first time. He handled all four chances in the field cleanly.
Gregory Polanco went 1-for-4 with a single. He is 6-for-15 in four games since returning from a stomach virus that caused him to miss all of last week. In the two games prior to getting sick, he was 5-for-7 at the plate.
Mel Rojas Jr. got an appearance as a pinch-runner on Thursday night. On Friday, he got his first start since October 30th. Rojas went 3-for-4 with a double, run scored and two stolen bases.
Friday night also saw the Winter debut of Willy Garcia. He struck out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning. Garcia is on the Aguilas Cibaenas club. In 118 games this season, he hit .256 with 16 homers and 13 stolen bases for Bradenton.
Carlos Paulino went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. The RBI was just the third of the season for Paulino, who is hitting .220 in 21 games.
Andy Vasquez struck out as a pinch-hitter in his third appearance of the season. He also pinch-hit on Thursday, flying out in his only at-bat. Vasquez made his debut as a pinch-runner on October 30th and had not played since.
Atahualpa Severino threw a shutout inning, picking up one strikeout. In his last 12 games combined, he has thrown ten shutout innings, allowing just two hits and four walks. He is still a free agent.
On Friday, the Pirates signed utility player Michael Martinez. He is playing in the Dominican for Estrellas de Oriente, where he is hitting .190 in 12 games, with a .561 OPS.
In Venezuela, Andrew Lambo went 1-for-4 with a double and run scored. After starting slow, he has a six game hitting streak and base hits in nine of his last ten games. He was back in right field
Elias Diaz went 0-for-2 with a strikeout. He came in on defense in the seventh inning. Diaz is batting .294 through 15 games.
Jhonathan Ramos faced three batters, getting two ground outs and he issued one walk. He has thrown ten straight scoreless appearances, throwing a total of 7.1 innings. During that stretch, he has allowed one hit, two walks and his last 19 outs have been either by strikeout(five) or ground balls.
In Puerto Rico, Benji Gonzalez went 0-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt. He was pinch hit for in the eighth inning. Ivan De Jesus Jr. went 0-for-2 with a walk. His batting average is down to .283, well below his league leading .364 average last Winter.
In Australia, Sam Kennelly went 0-for-2 with a walk during the first game of a doubleheader. He did not play in the other game.
Danny Arribas went 0-for-4 in his team’s 5-3 loss. He was back behind the plate for the game. Arribas is hitting .190 through 17 games, with a .506 OPS.
