Two days worth of action here, plus some news and notes. On Sunday night in Venezuela, Jose Osuna went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. He was 1-for-5 in the playoff opener on Saturday, driving in the game-winning run in the ninth inning. His team was off on Monday.
Elias Diaz went 0-for-4 on Sunday. He threw out the only runner who attempted to steal, making him 1-for-1 in the playoffs after going 12-for-17 throwing out runners during the regular season.
It appears that Wilfredo Boscan changed his mind about shutting down for the playoffs and at least in his first game for Tiburones de La Guaira, it looked a bad decision. He started on Sunday for his new team, pitching for the first time in 11 days. Boscan lasted just 3.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk. His team ended up winning 9-8 on a walk-off single in the ninth.
Two weeks before the season ended, Boscan announced that he wouldn’t pitch in the playoffs. He was then taken in the playoff draft on Friday after his team was eliminated. It seems strange that he’s in the playoffs after saying he wasn’t going to play, especially since his team was fighting for a playoff spot on the last two days of the season and Boscan didn’t pitch either game. Not only was he on 6-7 days rest for those games, he was also one of the best starters in the league this season. So it’s very odd he wasn’t used to try to help his own team to the playoffs, yet pitches for a different team a few days later.
In the Dominican on Sunday, Mel Rojas Jr. walked as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of his team’s 2-1 win.
Wilkin Castillo started his sixth straight game of the playoffs, going 0-for-3 at the plate. In the first week of playoffs, he equaled his regular season(winter) total of 25 at-bats. He finished with a low at-bat total despite the fact he was with his team the entire season, seeing sporadic playing time as the third-string catcher.
Gustavo Nunez went 1-for-4 with a run scored.
In Puerto Rico on Sunday, Danny Ortiz went 0-for-3 in his team’s 1-0 loss. Through the first two games, his team has scored just one run, which was scored by Ortiz in the opener.
The league in Panama finally put their site up after nearly a month of games and they have up to date stats. Two Pirates are in the league, both lower level pitchers in Jose Regalado and Dan Urbina. The league in Panama is about the same level of play as you see with the Bristol Pirates, so for Regalado it is lower competition than he faced all year, while Urbina played for Bristol this year. Regalado has pitched five times, allowing four runs on 12 hits in six innings. Urbina has pitched nine times, posting a 3.77 ERA and .316 BAA in 14.1 innings.
The Pirates signed four players to minor league deals on Monday, including two who played winter ball this year. Infielder Juan Diaz played just eight games all winter, almost all of them off the bench. He went 2-for-11 at the plate, with a walk and five strikeouts.
Pitcher Kelvin Marte started his winter in the Dominican, then move to Venezuela after two poor outings. He allowed five runs(three earned) over two innings in the Dominican, then posted a 2.79 ERA in 19.1 innings in Venezuela. Despite that low ERA, he had a .338 BAA and a 9/7 BB/SO ratio. His team is still active in the playoffs and Marte did not appear in either of the first two games.
Monday’s Action
Light day for action with games only being played in the Dominican and Mexico.
In the Dominican, Mel Rojas Jr. came into the game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth and stayed on in center field. He went 0-for-2, leaving him 0-for-8 through seven playoff games.
Gustavo Nunez went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. He is still a free agent and the signing of Juan Diaz likely closes any chance of him re-signing with the Pirates.
In Mexico, Carlos Munoz went 0-for-3 in game three of the playoffs. He had three hits in the second game and was hitless in the opener.
