One Pittsburgh Pirates player saw playoff action on Monday in Puerto Rico, while four played on Tuesday between Puerto Rico and Colombia. Here’s a two-day recap.
Puerto Rico
Tsung-Che Cheng went 0-for-3 on Monday, but his team won game seven of the opening playoff series, sending them to the finals. He went 3-for-16 with two walks in the series. His opposing team in the finals has two Pirates outfielders (see below). Cheng went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored on Tuesday in his team’s 5-3 loss.
Chavez Young went 2-for-4, with two singles and two runs scored. He went 6-for-21 with a double, homer and four walks in six playoff games during the first round.
Josh Palacios went 2-for-4, with two singles and one run scored. He went 6-for-20, with a double, homer and three walks in six playoff games during the first round.
Colombia
Francisco Acuna made it to the finals in Colombia. He went 1-for-3 with a single, run scored, RBI and a walk in his team’s 5-1 win on Tuesday. He went 2-for-17 with a homer and two walks in five playoff games during the first round.
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
Cheng may be quite out of his league this winter, but I gotta imagine this level of experience is huge for that kid
Kind of a head scratching assignment, Australia or back to Columbia would had been more appropriate, but I hope you’re right about the experience.
I think his assignment had more to do with his later start and the fact that he will be competing in the WBC this year, so he’s going to see some tougher pitching soon. The Pirates have a working agreement with Gigantes de Carolina, so that made it easier to get him a spot.
Whatever happened to Gonzales going to PR, I was excited about that…..
That was canceled when he put in enough time in the AFL with success. Cheng took his place
Ahh, thanks.