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Winter Leagues: Playoffs, Heredia, and Televised Games

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We have multiple days in one article as the amount of players in winter ball continues to dwindle. On Wednesday in Venezuela, Jose Osuna went 1-for-5 with his third double of the playoffs. More on him below.

Robert Zarate started against Osuna’s team and went 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks, with seven strikeouts. Zarate is one of the few lefty bullpen options in the upper levels for the Pirates, so he could have a chance to see Pittsburgh in the same type of role that Bobby LaFromboise saw the last two seasons. The lack of Major League experience will hurt Zarate’s chances, but he did pitch well in AAA in 2015, so he could be a strong depth option with a repeat performance.

In Mexico, Carlos Munoz went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts before being pinch-hit for in the eighth inning. He is 3-for-13 in the first five playoff games, with all three hits coming in the second game.

Luis Heredia has been moved to the reserve roster. That could mean a few things. He may be going to the Pirates mini-camp on Monday in Bradenton, as some of the lower minor league players will take part in a strength camp separate from the Major League players. He may be shutdown for the winter, although I haven’t seen that mentioned. Or, he just didn’t make the active roster for the playoffs, but is still there with the team. During the regular season in Mexico, he made 16 appearances, posting a 5.85 ERA in 20 innings, with a .254 BAA and a 14:11 BB/SO ratio.

In the Dominican, Gustavo Nunez and Wilkin Castillo were the only players of note on Wednesday. Nunez went 0-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt, while Castillo went 1-for-3 with a single. The Dominican league was off on Thursday night.

Thursday’s Action

On Thursday in Venezuela, Jose Osuna went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored during his team’s 7-1 win. He is batting .292 during the playoffs and has driven in two runs.

On the opposite side of that 7-1 game was Jorge Rondon, who allowed two runs(one earned) on three hits. He recorded two outs, including one by strikeout. Rondon allowed an RBI single to Jose Osuna.

In Puerto Rico, Danny Ortiz went 1-for-4 with a double, walk, RBI and two runs scored. After his team scored a total of three runs over the first three games, they scored 11 runs on Thursday.

In Mexico, Carlos Munoz went 0-for-3 with an intentional walk. He is 0-for-10 in his last four games, getting pinch-hit for twice.

In Australia, Sam Kennelly went 0-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt. On Saturday night at midnight, MLB Network will show live baseball from Australia. Kennelly’s team(Perth Heat) will be playing Canberra, so you can see Kennelly(and live baseball!) in action. Perth will also be televised on January 17th, and then Melbourne, with reliever Sam Street, will be on MLB Network on January 24th.

John Dreker
John Dreker
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.

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