Not much going on Monday in winter ball, so this is two days worth in one article. We start with Mel Rojas Jr., who was the only Pirate to see action outside of Colombia. He didn’t do much either, picking up an RBI on a ground out in his only at-bat.
In Colombia, Harold Ramirez picked up two hits, giving him a .388/.456/.531 slash line in 49 at-bats. Tito Polo went 0-for-3, drawing a walk and scoring a run. He is hitting .308/.406/.519 through 52 at-bats.
Sam Kennelly will represent Team Australia in the Australian Baseball League All-Star game on December 16th. He hasn’t hit much this year, but he has played solid defense, making multiple starts at second base, shortstop and third base. Kennelly has committed just two errors this winter.
The Pirates announced the signing of LHP Robert Zarate on Monday. He is starting in Venezuela, where he has 2.13 ERA in 38 innings, though his 15/22 BB/SO ratio leaves something to be desired. Zarate ranks sixth in the league in ERA, three spots behind Patrick Johnson, who was purchased by the Pirates out of independent ball last month.
As we mentioned in the past, we keep covering free agents until they sign elsewhere, because sometimes they return back to Pittsburgh. Last year we had three such instances, while on Monday both Deolis Guerra and Wilfredo Boscan returned to the Pirates as minor league free agents. If you’ve been following allowing with the winter articles, then you know Boscan has been shutting down Pirates’ prospects recently, throwing 12.2 shutout innings against Elias Diaz, Jose Osuna, Elvis Escobar and their teammates. Guerra has been pitching well in his limited time(late start), at least up until his last appearance when he gave up a hit and walk to the only two batters he faced.
Tuesday’s Action
In the Dominican, Mel Rojas Jr. went 1-for-4 with an RBI. He is batting .229 and hasn’t done much recently, but he still leads the league with six homers.
Pedro Florimon went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, dropping his average down to .200 through 22 games.
Gustavo Nunez went 2-for-3 with a walk, stolen base and two runs scored. He is known for being a solid defensive player, but on Tuesday he committed his ninth error in 30 games this winter.
In Venezuela, Jose Osuna hit his seventh home run of the winter(video below). If you’ve seen the home run videos we have posted from him this winter, he doesn’t hit cheap ones. Osuna is third in the league in home runs. He has a .331/.395/.511 slash line in 50 games. His .906 OPS ranks fifth in the league.
Gorkys Hernandez had a huge game, going 3-for-4, with a walk, two runs scored and a grand slam. He is hitting .341/.419/.432 in 49 games.
A.J. Morris had an odd outing, throwing 2.2 shutout innings with no walks and three strikeouts, but he did not pitch well. He gave up five hits, threw a wild pitch and allowed both runners he inherited to score.
In Puerto Rico, Danny Ortiz went 1-for-4 with a double and run scored. He has three extra-base hits this winter, all doubles. Ortiz has a .499 OPS in 29 games.
In Mexico, Carlos Munoz went 0-for-2 with a walk and run scored. He is 7-for-46(.152) in his last 13 games, with no extra-base hits.
Sebastian Valle went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. He is hitting .220 through 22 games, with one walk and 21 strikeouts.
