In playoff action in the Dominican on Sunday, Alen Hanson went 1-for-4 with a walk in his team’s 7-1 win. He drove in a run in the second inning on a ground out, then brought home another run in the eighth on a single.
Toros del Este announced prior to the game that they received permission from the Pittsburgh Pirates to keep Alen Hanson on their roster. He was originally scheduled to attend Rookie Orientation in Washington DC this week. Teams send players to Rookie Orientation to learn what it is like in the Major Leagues and players are usually sent there the same year they are expected to make their MLB debut. Once in awhile a player will make great strides during the season and make the majors earlier than expected, then they end up going prior to the next season. Gregory Polanco and Jameson Taillon each went to orientation last January.
The announcement that the Toros put out for Hanson said that he will remain with the team through the end of the round robin tournament, which wraps up on January 17th. If that is true, he would also miss the Pirates’ winter mini-camp, which begins next Monday.
In other playoff action from Sunday, Mel Rojas Jr. went 0-for-2 with a strikeout. He came into the game in the fifth inning as a defensive replacement and played center field. He is 2-for-14 in the playoffs.
Gustavo Nunez went 0-for-3 with a run scored.
Rafael Perez threw five scoreless innings, giving up four hits and no walks, with three strikeouts. He also threw five shutout innings in his playoff debut on Tuesday.
In Venezuela, Gorkys Hernandez went 1-for-4 with a single. He had two hits in the playoff opener on Sunday.
In Mexico, Sebastian Valle went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer in the seventh inning of his team’s 6-3 win. He is 2-for-9 in three playoff games. Valle led all Pirates players this winter with six homers.
The league in Colombia updated their website on Sunday. The stats through Saturday night for the four Pirates players are as follows:
Harold Ramirez .186/.324/.220 in 59 at-bats
Tito Polo .217/.261/.361 in 83 at-bats. He leads the league with four triples
Andy Vasquez .315/.367/.493 in 73 at-bats
Oderman Rocha 6.2 innings, six hits, one walk, six strikeouts, 0.00 ERA
