With no one from the Pittsburgh Pirates playing winter ball on Thursday, and not much going on Friday night, there isn’t much to cover from the last two days. So this will be a quick update and hopefully the action will pick up soon when the leagues in Australia, Puerto Rico and Colombia begin play later this month.
In the Dominican, Jesus Liranzo continued his fast start with a shutout inning and two strikeouts on Friday night. In seven appearances, he has allowed one run on four hits and no walks in 9.1 innings. Liranzo has picked up 12 strikeouts. He was showing excellent control with Altoona this year, but that disappeared when he reached Indianapolis, where he had 31 walks in 45 innings.
Pablo Reyes had two hits on Friday night, including a seventh inning single to break a 1-1 tie and give his team the 2-1 win. He is hitting .246/.324/.295 through 16 games. Reyes played center field for the third straight game on Friday.
Alfredo Reyes came on as a pinch-runner in the eighth inning and stole his first base. He stayed in the game at shortstop and ended up striking out to end the game. He is hitting .278/.300/.278 in 18 at-bats over ten games. I mentioned in our winter preview that it seemed likely that he would re-sign with the Pirates as a minor league free agent. While I didn’t get official word, I received the minor league free agent list last night and he wasn’t on it.
In Venezuela on Friday, Elvis Escobar was used for the second time as a pinch-runner. The Pirates allow him to pinch-run this winter on days he isn’t available to pitch, although they won’t let him bat. In three appearances on the mound this winter, he has allowed one run over three innings.
