From Colombia on Saturday, Harold Ramirez reached base three times and scored two runs in his team’s 6-5 win. Ramirez went 2-for-4 with two singles and a walk. He is now hitting .317 in 35 games with a .423 slugging percentage. His team moved to 30-8 on the season. The regular season in Colombia ends on Wednesday. Ramirez’s team has a first round bye and they will start their playoffs on the 18th.
Yhonathan Barrios has been a pitcher since mid-season this year, doing well in the Gulf Coast League, but he has had some rough outings in Colombia. Barrios played on Saturday, though he was used as a pinch-runner and he scored a run. It was his first non-pitching appearance since switching over to pitching.
From Puerto Rico on Sunday, Eliecer Navarro threw five shutout innings, but his team still lost 3-2, dropping them to 0-3 in the playoffs. Navarro allowed four hits, one walk and he struck out four batters. It was his third start in Puerto Rico and he was coming off three shutout innings on Monday. Navarro gave up two runs over five innings in his season debut.
Benji Gonzalez went 0-for-4 with a run scored in his team’s 6-1 win. He is 1-for-9 in three playoff games after hitting .317 during the regular season.
Starling Marte did not play in his team’s 4-2 win on Sunday. No reason has been given for his day off, but if anything is announced other than a scheduled off day, we will provide an update. The Pirates are allowing him to play a limited schedule and he may not play after January 16th according to his team’s General Manager, Moises Alou.
Gregory Polanco has been away from the team attending MLB’s Rookie Career Development Program in Washington DC. Escogido has gone 4-0 without him. He should return to the team early this week. Right now he is currently attending voluntary workouts with the Pirates in Bradenton.
