In the Dominican on Wednesday night, Alen Hanson returned to the lineup for the first time since Halloween and went 1-for-4 with a single. He had played three times since his last start, twice as a pinch-runner and once as a pinch-hitter. Hanson is hitting .245 in 53 at-bats, with a double, two walks and two stolen bases.
Mel Rojas Jr. connected on his fifth homer of the winter, finishing his day 1-for-3 with a walk. His homer was a solo shot on the back-end of back-to-back homers in the ninth, as his team fell just short while trying to overcome an early 5-0 deficit. The homer by Rojas made the score 6-5 with no outs.
Pedro Florimon went 0-for-3 and he’s now 3-for-24 in his first six games, with one walk and ten strikeouts.
Wilkin Castillo went 0-for-4, as he too played for the first time since Halloween. He is 1-for-13 at the plate in five games. Castillo is one of the 19 minor league players from the Pirates, who became free agents back on Saturday.
In Venezuela, Elias Diaz stepped right into the lineup and went 2-for-4 with an RBI in his team’s 7-6 win. Diaz just joined his team this week, so he got into the lineup fairly quickly. Most players practice a few days before getting into a game, so he possibly played some games in the Parallel League, which is the Venezuelan League version of the minors. Bravos de Margarita now have two Pirates’ catchers, with Francisco Diaz serving as a backup. The two Diaz’s split the catcher duties for the West Virginia Power during the 2012 season.
Jose Osuna went 1-for-4 with a walk, giving him a .367 average in 27 games. He has been splitting his time fairly evenly between the outfield and first base.
Gorkys Hernandez went 1-for-3 with a walk. He’s hitting .305/.387/.352 in 27 games.
In Mexico, Carlos Munoz went 0-for-3 and he’s now hitting .301 through 25 games. Munoz has been used strictly as a DH recently, after starting often at first base early in the year.
