In the Dominican on Friday night, Alen Hanson went 2-for-5 with two singles and two runs scored. He was coming off a game in which he reached base four times. He has raised his average 89 points in the last two games. On defense, Hanson committed his second error of the winter.
Andrew Lambo homered for the first time this winter, connecting on a solo shot off former Pirate farmhand Rudy Owens. He also drew two walks and scored two runs. In his first five games before Friday, Lambo had a .111/.111/.111 slash line.
Mel Rojas Jr. also homered, his second of the winter(see video below). He went 1-for-4 and drove in two runs. Rojas is 8-for-33 in eight games.
Edwin Espinal has been seeing regular time recently after homering in his first at-bat earlier this week. You usually don’t see players below AA get much playing time in the Dominican unless they are old for the level and Espinal is only 21 years old. On Friday, he went 0-for-2 before being pinch-hit for in the seventh inning.
Josh Wall allowed a run on two walks and a hit, recording two outs. He’s given up a run in each of his last two games, after starting off the winter with four straight scoreless appearances.
Gustavo Nunez went 0-for-3 with a walk.
In Venezuela, Jose Osuna continued his terrific winter. His team played a doubleheader on Friday, starting with a game postponed earlier in the season, and Osuna went 1-for-3 with a single in game one. In the regularly scheduled game for Friday, he doubled in the first inning to extend his on base streak to 19 games. He has hits in 17 of those games, reaching on a HBP and a walk in the other two games. Osuna wasn’t done after one hit in the second game. He went on to double again in the third inning, then he would add a walk and a single before his night was through, ending his day with a .391 average.
Junior Sosa started both games along with Osuna. In the first game, Sosa went 0-for-2 with a walk, getting thrown out attempting to steal. He went 0-for-4 with an RBI in the second game.
Francisco Diaz played the second game for Bravos de Margarita, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Elvis Escobar was used as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning with his team down 2-1. He moved to second base on a wild pitch, but was left stranded when former Pirate Cesar Izturis grounded out to end the game. Escobar has now played 11 games, mostly off the bench, going 1-for-7 with a walk.
Gorkys Hernandez went 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored. He’s hitting.300 through 18 games.
Action started in Puerto Rico on Friday night, but none of the four teams had any players from the Pirates’ organization. As we have seen in the past, you could see players join the league later, or the Pirates could sign a free agent currently playing there. So you may see some coverage still in Puerto Rico this winter.
