Two days worth of action, as Luis Heredia had a nice bounce back performance, while the season opened up in the Dominican with one game on Thursday night. All Pirates on the Opening Day rosters in the Dominican are listed below.
Wednesday
After two poor outings to open up the season, Luis Heredia had a strong performance in this game. He threw 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up no hits, while allowing a walk and hitting a batter. He struck out five batters and recorded two ground outs. Heredia threw 45 pitches, with 26 going for strikes. He has allowed three runs over 3.2 innings this season.
Carlos Munoz went 0-for-2 with a walk.
In Venezuela, Jose Osuna went 0-for-2 with two walks, before leaving for a pinch-runner in the eighth inning. On the other side of the field, Elvis Escobar went 0-for-2 with a strikeout. He also left early, getting pinch-hit for in the seventh inning.
**In the Dominican, Toros del Este announced that Alen Hanson will join their team in November. The rosters came out for the opening week and the following Pirates are on the rosters:
Leones: RHP Miguel Rosario, INF Pablo Reyes
Estrellas: RHP Julio Eusebio, OF Willy Garcia
Aguilas: RHP Cesilio Pimentel, 1B Edwin Espinal
More players will join as the season progresses and as the Pirates sign free agents.
**Also playing winter ball this season will be Anderson Feliz, who was playing in Nicaragua last year when the Pirates signed him. He will return to the same team in that league and plans to play all season. Unless he is re-signed in the next couple weeks, he will be a minor league free agent. Feliz hit .256/.325/.378 in 106 games for Altoona, seeing time at every position except pitcher and catcher.
Thursday
In the Dominican, Edwin Espinal was the only player to see action on opening night. He went 0-for-3.
In Venezuela, Jose Osuna went 0-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly, driving in his fifth run. He struck out in both at-bats, after striking out just two times in his first ten games. He is hitting .257/.386/.429 in 11 games.
Elvis Escobar went 0-for-1, pinch-hitting in the seventh, then staying in the game on defense in center field for the last two innings.
Jhondaniel Medina threw a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk. This was his first appearance in exactly a week, coming off a game in which he gave up two runs without picking up an out.
Julio Vivas recorded one out, while giving up a single and hitting a batter. Both runners scored after he was lifted from the game.
In Mexico, Carlos Munoz went 0-for-4, failing to reach base safely in a game for the first time. He contributed on offense in his team’s 3-1 win with an RBI ground out in the first inning. Munoz is hitting .217/.280/.217 in his first seven games.
DSL pitcher Eumir Sepulveda will be in winter ball in Mexico, playing for a team in Yucatan in the minor league version of the winter league we cover here. The 20-year-old righty has shown some quality stuff in the past, while also dealing with an injury that caused him to miss most of the 2015 season. He has played three years in the DSL, and didn’t get an invite to the Fall Instructional League, so that’s usually not a good sign.
