On Saturday afternoon, Eric Wood batted third for the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League championship game. Just over 48 hours later, he was batting third and playing third base for Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican. Wood went 1-for-3 with an RBI single and a walk in his team’s 6-5 win. On defense, he committed a fourth inning throwing error that resulted in an unearned run.
On Monday, Wood was named one of the top players available in the Rule 5 draft. MLB Pipeline also named him as a breakout prospect in the AFL, though we beat them to the punch by naming him our breakout position player for the Pirates back in September.
Willy Garcia played for the first time in 17 days. He had just 14 plate appearances prior to Monday night. He went 1-for-5 with an RBI single and three strikeouts in his first game back.
Miguel Rosario threw two shutout innings, retiring all six batters he faced. He came into the game with bases loaded in the ninth, no outs and a 5-4 lead. Rosario allowed one run to score on a wild pitch, but stranded the other two runners, keeping the scored tied. He then retired the side in order in the tenth. Rosario has a 2.19 ERA through 12.1 innings and 11 appearances. While he has issued eight walks, it’s never been more than one in an outing, and he has shown strong command during his career. He has also only given up five hits this winter, holding batters to a .119 average.
Pablo Reyes appeared in the game as a pinch-runner, representing the tying run in the bottom of the 11th. He made it to second on a passed ball, then got thrown out at home plate trying to score on an infield single off the first baseman’s glove. If you missed it from yesterday, the Pirates signed his younger brother.
In Nicaragua, Anderson Feliz is hitting .321/.427/.444 through 18 games.
In Colombia, Henrry Rosario is hitting .235/.297/.324 through 38 plate appearances.
In Puerto Rico, Danny Ortiz went 0-for-4, dropping him to a .350 average through 15 games.