In Australia on Friday, Michael Suchy hit a solo home run to extend his on base streak to 18 games. Suchy left his last game in the first inning after getting hit with a bat while standing in the on deck circle. It was the second time in six days that he left a game early, departing last Sunday’s game in the fifth inning after taking a fastball off the helmet. Suchy’s home run provided the only run for his team and came off of veteran Brian Grening, who has played ten seasons of pro ball and seven years of winter ball. Suchy is hitting .279/.359/.505 in 31 games. The homer was his fifth of the season.
Robbie Glendinning continued to look like an All-Star in Australia, going 4-for-6 with four singles, a run scored and an RBI. Through 15 games, he is hitting .375/.459/.531 with 19 runs scored and 15 RBIs. At shortstop, he has made two errors in 73 chances.
Connor MacDonald is now the strangest person we have covered in winter ball. The Pirates signed the 6’5″ first baseman on Tuesday, and then on Thursday we found out that they signed him as a pitcher. He has pitched one inning combined between winter/pro ball in ten total seasons. The strangest part is that he’s still a hitter in Australia and he reached base all four times on Friday, going 2-for-2 with two singles, a walk and a HBP. He’s hitting .295/.358/.598 with nine homers in 30 games, so if the pitching doesn’t work out, they can try hitting.
In Puerto Rico, Hector Quinones pitched for the third time this winter and had a strong outing. Coming into the game, he had thrown 2.2 innings, allowing three runs. In this game, Quinones threw 2.2 shutout innings on one hit and one walk. The 2017 32nd round pick picked up his first strikeout of the winter against the last batter he faced.
