In Venezuela on Tuesday, Elias Diaz went 0-for-2 with two walks. He has played five games this winter, collecting four hits over his first two games, and he has gone 0-for-9 since then.
Jose Osuna went 1-for-3 with a walk. He is hitting .351/.400/.474 in 32 games. His .874 OPS ranks ninth in the league and first on his team.
Elvis Escobar played for the first time since October 30th, though his appearances wasn’t much. He was used as a defensive replacement in left field, coming in for the ninth inning. In 12 games this winter, he is 1-for-7, with a walk, run scored and two stolen bases.
Junior Sosa grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning, then finished the game in left field. He is hitting .176 over 19 gmes.
Gorkys Hernandez went 1-for-4 with a single and two strikeouts. He’s hitting .317 in 33 games.
In the Dominican on Tuesday night, Willy Garcia went 1-for-2 with a single in a rain-shortened game. He is batting .163 and he has struck out 14 times in 43 at-bats.
Mel Rojas Jr. went 2-for-3 with a walk, run scored and an RBI. He is batting .253 through 20 games.
Gustavo Nunez went 0-for-3 to continue his November slump. He is 1-for-18 this month, dropping him to a .183 average.
In Mexico, Carlos Munoz had a big game, going 3-for-4, with two singles and a three-run homer in his team’s 5-3 victory. The homer is his fourth of the season and his first in two weeks. He is now hitting .319 through 30 games.
Felipe Gonzalez retired both batters he faced in the seventh inning. He has a 5.40 ERA in 8.1 innings over 12 appearances.
The Veracruz winter league in Mexico begins play on December 1st. No rosters have been released yet, but some players from the Pirates have been in the league in the past. The league in Nicaragua has started play, but no Pirates are in the league this year. Play in Panama will start soon, though no date has been announced and no rosters are set. Along with the Colombian League, the winners of these four leagues meet in the Latin American Series.
Maximo Rivera, who was drafted by the Dominican winter league prior to last season, has been released by the Pirates. He was originally signed in 2009 for $165,000, which put him fifth highest among bonuses handed out by the Pirates to an international amateur at the time. The Pirates believed he had excellent power potential, some speed and could play defense, getting signed as a shortstop, but he projected to be a third baseman.
Rivera had one big season back in 2012 when he hit .367 with 34 steals in his third season in the DSL. He made it as far as West Virginia in 2014 and spent 2015 on the bench for Morgantown. Rivera has never appeared in a Dominican league game, though many of the lower level players end up playing that league’s version of minor league games until they get to higher levels.
