In the Dominican on Tuesday night, Edwin Espinal continued to do everything he can to build his case for a 40-man roster spot with the Pittsburgh Pirates. As mentioned here on Sunday, Espinal will become a minor league free agent soon if the Pirates don’t re-sign him to a minor league deal or add him to the 40-man roster. He went out on Tuesday night and picked up three singles and a walk in four trips to the plate. Espinal is hitting .429/.529/.536 through his first nine games.
Jung-Ho Kang went 1-for-4 with an RBI double and a run scored. It was his first double of the winter. Kang is hitting .140/.184/.233 through 12 games and ranks 29th in OPS among the 31 players with enough plate appearances to qualify for the league leaders. He leads the league with 17 strikeouts.
Pablo Reyes went 1-for-3 with his first double of the winter. It was also his first extra-base hit. He has a .212 average through 11 games.
Anderson Feliz homered as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning during his team’s 5-2 loss. It was just his fourth at-bat of the winter through six games played.
Starling Marte will make his winter debut tonight. This will be his first appearance in the Dominican league since January 2014.
In Venezuela, Elvis Escobar went 1-for-4 with a single, giving him a .306/.363/.361 slash line through 18 games.
In Mexico, Carlos Munoz went 1-for-2 with a walk, giving him a .309/.409/.400 slash line through 17 games. Just like Espinal, he will become a free agent later this month if he isn’t re-signed to a minor league deal. His return to the system seems unlikely at this point since his only position is first base. The Pirates shouldn’t have trouble filling that spot at Bradenton next year, but we will continue to follow Munoz this winter until he signs elsewhere. If he re-signs, then we will cover his entire winter.
