The Dominican league had the last three days off and the league in Venezuela was off on Sunday, so there was no winter article yesterday. Here’s the brief recap from Sunday, followed by Monday’s action, which was also very limited. I included a couple of notes from the Venezuelan league, including information on the newest Pirate.
In Mexico on Sunday, Carlos Munoz went 0-for-2 with a walk, before leaving for a pinch-hitter. He’s hitting .253/.360/.361 through 49 games. He’s still a minor league free agent.
From Saturday in Colombia, Francisco Acuna went 1-for-3 with a single. He’s now hitting .250/.380/.333 through 25 games. Colombia has had a lot of rain in the last week, so Acuna hasn’t been playing much recently, but he has still played in every one of his team’s games this winter.
Monday
Jose Osuna had a nice day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two singles and two walks. After serving as the DH during the last two games, Osuna returned to third base. His presence obviously intimidated the other team, as there wasn’t one ball hit his way all game. Osuna is now hitting .302/.362/.524 through 18 games. He’s well short of qualifying for the batting leaders, but his OPS would have him ranked tenth in the league if he did qualify.
Elvis Escobar didn’t start on Monday. Instead, he came into the game as a defensive replacement in right field in the eighth inning and was intentionally walked in his only plate appearance. He caught the final out of a 2-1 game. Escobar is hitting .278/.333/.344 through 48 games.
The Pittsburgh Pirates picked up Engelb Vielma off of waivers on Monday. He has been playing winter ball in his home country of Venezuela this year. He’s been playing regularly recently, though his team had Monday off. Vielma is hitting .212/.278/.258 this winter over 24 games.
Vielma is teammates with Danny Ortiz, who is still looking for a free agent contract. He hasn’t helped his search recently, suffering from a stomach bug that has kept him out since Wednesday.
