Four days worth of action across the seven winter leagues now in season. Elias Diaz made his debut, Alen Hanson hasn’t played this week, Luis Heredia had a strong relief performance and Jose Osuna had the big hit of the week.
Tuesday
In the Dominican, Pablo Reyes lost his seven-game hit streak, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout. He started the game at third base, before moving to shortstop in the seventh inning.
Miguel Rosario pitched a scoreless inning, retiring the side in order on two ground outs and a strikeout.
In Venezuela, Elvis Escobar went 0-for-2 before leaving for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning.
Jhondaniel Medina gave up two runs on three hits over two innings of work. He had no walks and two strikeouts.
In Mexico, Carlos Munoz struck out as a pinch-hitter, dropping him down to a .131 average.
Wednesday
In the Dominican, Alen Hanson missed his second consecutive game due to wrist discomfort. Appears to be a minor injury. His team was rained out on Friday and off on Thursday, so he hasn’t missed anymore games yet.
Pablo Reyes went 1-for-4 with a run scored.
Edwin Espinal got credited for a game played without doing anything. He was asked to pinch-hit in the eighth. Once his name was announced, the opposition brought in another pitcher and that led to a new pinch-hitter as well.
In Venezuela, Jose Osuna went 1-for-4 with a single and a strikeout.
Elvis Escobar pinch-ran in the eighth and played the last two innings in center field.
In Mexico, Luis Heredia picked up the win for his team after the starting pitcher got knocked out in the fourth inning. Heredia came in with two outs and stranded an inherited runner, then threw two more shutout innings.
Thursday
In Venezuela, Jose Osuna hit his second home run of the winter, driving in the only runs for his team in a 3-2 loss. He went 2-for-4 and also added a single.
It appears that Elvis Escobar’s slump pushed him back into the role he had last year when he had more games played than at-bats. He played defense in center field for the last two innings on Thursday and didn’t get to bat.
In the Dominican, Cesilio Pimentel made his winter debut and threw 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit, with no walks and one strikeout.
Friday
In Venezuela, Elias Diaz made his winter debut and caught all nine innings in his team’s 7-5 win. He went 2-for-4 at the plate, hitting two singles. Diaz last played on September 1st with Indianapolis. He’s been out due to a leg infection and originally the Pirates didn’t want him playing winter ball until at least December, but they changed their minds a few weeks ago.
Jose Osuna went 1-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Through 34 games, he is hitting .250/.333/.355, with seven doubles, two homers, 16 walks and 27 strikeouts.
Osuna and Diaz are teammates on Bravos de Margarita. On the other side of the field on Friday, Julio Vivas threw a shutout inning. He got Osuna out on a line out to center field. He didn’t face Diaz.
Elvis Escobar finally broke out of his long slump, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and a run scored. He now has seven doubles on the season, to go along with a .275/.288/.412 slash line through 34 games.
Jhondaniel Medina threw 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a single, with no walks or strikeouts.
In the Dominican, Pablo Reyes doubled as a pinch-hitter and scored a run, then stayed in the game at shortstop. He grounded out with the bases loaded in the tenth, though his team won the game on a single from the next hitter.
Edwin Espinal walked as a pinch-hitter, then played two innings at first base before being lifted for a pinch-hitter.
The regular season opened up in Australia and Sam Kennelly went 1-for-4 with an RBI, driving in the only run in his team’s 8-1 loss. They already completed a Saturday doubleheader that saw Kennelly go a combined 1-for-7 with a walk. He has played third base in all three games. Nick Hutchings starts for Adelaide on Sunday afternoon (Saturday night by U.S. time)
In Nicaragua, Anderson Feliz is hitting .377/.469/.522 through 15 games.
In Colombia, Henrry Rosario is hitting .233/.303/.233 through 33 plate appearances.
In Puerto Rico, Danny Ortiz went 0-for-2, leaving him with a .365 average through 13 games.
