Dominican Update - Martes Lead Escogido to the Top Spot
Escogido Leones (3-1), 7-2
Starling Marte went deep for the first time his last game and is 5 for 9 in his last two games. Both Starling (.419) and his brother in spirit only Andy Marte (.462) have been smoking. Starling has the better chance of landing a major league job, though it will have to wait until late 2012. Brandon Belt had a couple two hit games to raise his average to .313. He has hit doubles in his last two games.
Carlos Pimentel has yet to give up a hit in four relief appearances covering six plus innings. He threw another three innings of perfect relief last week, striking out four to raise his winter total to seven. Jorge Sosa gave up only one run on six hits in his four inning start, striking out six. After two starts his ERA sits at 1.13, but he has failed to get a decision, only going four innings in each start. Jose Cabrera has picked up a save with each appearance. He has yet to give up a hit but has picked up three saves.
Toros del Este (3-1), 6-3
Ricardo Nanita is no longer a prospect at 30 years of age, but he had a two homerun game to up his winter total to four and his five RBIs last week give him 11 for the winter. He is hitting .429 with a .964 slugging percentage. Last year he hit .363 in AAA. Anthony Rizzo went deep for the first time last week and is hitting .333. He only played two of the four games Toros played last week.
Chris Leroux threw his second one hitter. This time he went five innings. In two starts the 27 year old has a 1.00 ERA in nine innings of work, but no victories to show for it.
Aguilas Cibaenas (1-3), 5-4
Wilin Rosario is getting a good start to his 2012 breakout season for the Rockies. He went deep twice last week and drove in nine runs in the four games he played to up his winter RBI total to 13. He is hitting a blistering .320. The Panama team could have used Juan Carlos Perez for their World Cup team. They were short one outfielder and he has started his Dominican campaign hitting .419. He had five straight multiple hit games until it was broken last night by an 0 for 4.
Cuban Alexander Carreras pitched six innings of one hit ball in his second start and now has an ERA of 0.93. Opponents are only hitting .129 off the left handed pitcher. He showed a little better control this outing, only walking one in his six innings of work. For his start last week Alexander walked four and was one out short of going four innings.
Licey Tigres (2-2), 4-5
Pedro Zapata will get more playing time behind the plate if he keeps producing. The Mets minor league catcher got 6 hits in 17 at bats to get all four starts. He is hitting .292 after his hot week.
Wily LeBron got his first win in three starts, throwing five innings of one hit ball. He struck out six in his outing to raise his winter total to 16. After three starts his ERA is 2.70 and his record is 1-2. He has seven walks in his 13 innings of work. The Padres keep hoping for Simon Castro to get his stuff together. After throwing one shutout inning his first relief appearance he gives up two hits to the only two batters he faces and both of them score. That raises his winter league ERA to 18.00.
Estrellas de Oriente (2-2), 3-6
Brandon Allen hit his first homerun last week. The 3-run shot gave him four RBIs for the winter. His three hits last week put his average at .125. He will have to hit better than that if he wants to continue to play for Estrellas. They don’t care in the winter league about your future potential. They expect you to hit now. Brandon is hitting only .071 against lefthanded pitching.
Manauris Baez has only gone five innings in his two starts, but he has yet to give up a run. He has only given up three hits in those starts and walked three. The Royal righthander is 26 years old, but the Royals will be looking for some pitchers to fill their starting rotation.
Gigantes del Cibao (1-3) 2-7
Carlos Peguero hit two solo shots last week in back to back games to give him three for the year. He is hitting .393 with a .857 slugging average. Jimmy Paredes took the team RBI lead with eight with his four runs he drove in last night. Jimmy is hitting .324, but he is having some difficulty making contact with 12 whiffs in his nine games played.
Wily Peralta is trying to work the kinks out in the Dominican. The 22 year old is the Brewers top prospect, but he has been bombed for seven runs in his two starts, covering just six innings for an ERA of 9.95