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Winter Leagues: Elias Diaz Hits His First Home Run of the Winter

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Sunday was a slow day in winter ball due to a couple rain outs, but Elias Diaz had his first big day at the plate in Venezuela this winter. He went 2-for-4 with his third double and first homer. He also walked and scored two runs. Diaz is hitting .333/.361/.515 through nine games. He has reached base safely in eight of those nine games. On defense, he allowed one stolen base, making him 1-for-6 in throwing out runners this winter.

Jose Osuna went 1-for-5 with a single and a run scored. He extended his hitting streaking to six games, and he has reached base in ten of his last 11 games. Osuna is hitting .261/.332/.382 through 44 games.

Jhondaniel Medina walked the only batter he faced on Sunday. That runner would end up scoring, raising his ERA to 5.51 through 16.1 inning. He has issued 11 walks this winter. Medina remains a free agent.

In Mexico, Luis Heredia had a tough outing, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits and one walk in 1.2 innings. He left with two runners on base, but former Pirate Jovany Lopez stranded both runners. Heredia threw 40 pitches in his abbreviated outing, with 24 going for strikes. The three runs scored on a single, double and triple in that order, followed by a throwing error which allowed the runner from third to score. The inning was started by former Pirate Sebastian Valle, who spent the 2015 season with Altoona. Prior to this outing, Heredia had allowed two earned runs over his last 13.1 innings. He now has a 5.08 ERA in 28.1 innings over 14 appearances.

Carlos Munoz went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. He is now hitting .157 through 33 games and still hasn’t scored a run.

In Australia, Sam Kennelly finished his week with an 0-for-3 game. He is hitting .147/.293/.147 through 12 games. Kennelly has made all but one start at third base this winter. He played second base in the other game.

In Puerto Rico, Danny Ortiz went 0-for-4, breaking a five-game hit streak. His .370 average is second in the league, though he is hitting 55 points higher than the third best hitter in the league. Ortiz is still a free agent.

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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