We got an update on Alen Hanson’s injured right hand, which isn’t much, but that can be considered good news. Hanson will return to the United States to be reevaluated this week. I was told that there were no setbacks in his progress. Last we heard on October 30th was that Hanson would miss at least three weeks after he was hit on the right hand by a pitch.
In the Dominican on Saturday night, Mel Rojas Jr. went 1-for-3 with a double and hit-by-pitch. Rojas has hit a double in five straight games and he has eight on the season. Winter ball can be used as an indicator of how players are progressing. An example is last year with Gregory Polanco, going from a guy who really struggled in limited time in 2012, to the league MVP in 2013. Rojas hit .206 in 13 games last year, posting a .544 OPS and some of his time was spent playing in Puerto Rico, where the competition is a step below the Dominican. He is now seeing regular time in the Dominican, playing center field, collecting extra-base hits and batting lead-off.
Willy Garcia went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. He is hitting .211 in his last ten games, with one walk and ten strikeouts.
In Venezuela, Ramon Cabrera went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. The double was the first extra-base hit for Cabrera, who is hitting .238 through 21 games.
Matt Nevarez allowed one run on one hit and two walks in one inning. He struck out two batters. Nevarez has a 3.94 ERA in 15 appearances, with 15 strikeouts in 16 innings.
In Puerto Rico, Yhonathan Barrios made his season debut and threw a scoreless inning of relief. He retired all three batters he faced, getting two ground outs and a strikeout.
