Dominican Republic Update
Toros (9-4)
Toros three game winning streak has moved them into first place. Manuel Mayorson is the leading hitter in the Dominican League so far hitting .378. Despite the lofty average he will have a difficult time taking the shortstop job away from Hanley Ramirez and at 26 his time is now. Nelson Perez was hitting .412 and had just lost a 10 game hitting streak on halloween night with an 0 for. The outfielder has yet to walk in his first 34 at bats, so when Nelson is up you know he will be swinging. Ricardo Nanita went 5 for 9 in the three game winning streak, scoring three runs and driving in four, raising his average to .318. Angel Berroa is 5 for 11 in this same three game span and is now hitting .275.
The Toros have gotten some solid pitching from a trio of starters. Hector Carrasco (1.50) pitched four innings of shutout ball and has only given up one run in two starts. He’s walked six and struck out two so time will tell if he is just dancing out of trouble in his outings. Wesley Wright (1.69) had a second solid start, giving up two runs in just under five innings. He’s walked a lot (7) aswell but the whiffs have come in bunches (13) too in just 10 innings of work. Fernando Abad (1.80) also had a third solid outing, giving up one run in five innings. Julio Manon got two saves for the week to up his save total to five and he also gave up his first run of the winter to raise his ERA to 1.13.
Escogido (8-5)
Escogido and the Toros are the two hottest Dominican teams after the last 10 games. Conor Jackson only went 2 for 13 for the week, but he walked seven times and has an amazing 14 walks in 12 games. He is still hitting an impressive .333. Despite all the walks he only scored one run for the week. The 6′6″ Brennan Broesch is tops on the team in total bases. The triple he hit to drive in two gives him three doubles, one triple and two homeruns for the year. He is hitting .256, but has five stolen bases. Alex Avila is getting the bulk of the catching time, but at .158 and only 1 hit in his last 15 at bats he may lose that playing time to Carlos Santana, who was 0 for 4 in his first start.
Ivan Novoa made his second start and third appearance and threw five innings of shutout ball. He has yet to give up a run in 11 innings and only walked one batter, limiting the opposition to a .184 average. The Yankees almost lost him in the Rule V draft but he was eventually returned to them. Tobi Stoner (1.06) also had a good outing, throwing six innings of 3-hit shutout ball. ZacK Segovia is being worked as their closer and picked up his third of the winter. He appeared in four games without allowing a run.
Licey (7-6)
The Licey Tigres are the worst hitting team in the Dominican so far no thanks to Wilken Ramirez, who is leading the team in hitting at .375. He hit his first homerun last week and will have to play good defense if he wants to win the left field job for the other Tiger team he plays for. Timo Perez has a six game hitting streak, going 8 for 22 to raise his average to .265. He had a double, triple and homerun to drive in five for the week. Ian Desmond was hot in September, but he’s cold in October hitting only .188 for Licey.
Yadel Marti, the Cuban refugee would like to impress a major league team. He has three starts for Licey and after giving up four runs in two innings for his first start Yadel only gave up one run in 10 innings in his next two starts. Despite the paucity of runs he is still giving up base hits and has only struck out two hitters in his three starts. Oneli Perez picked up three saves last week, though he couldn’t make it four in a row halloween, getting ripped for two runs on three hits in less than one inning to take the loss.
Aguilas (5-8)
Nelson Castro had a nice week, going deep twice and driving in 8 runs. He went 6 for 24 for the week. He’s about the only offensive player to brag about this past week.
John Halama has been Aguilas most effective starter. His 2.00 ERA has not prevented him from going 0-2 with his first three starts, neither of which has lasted less than five innings. The veteran Jose Lima gave up only one run in his first two starts. During his third start he gave up three runs in five innings, giving up seven hits. His ERA for the year is 2.77 so it will be “Lima Time” for a few more starts in the Dominican Republic.
Estrellas (5-8)
Fernando Tatis has a seven game hitting streak hitting .333 for the team with the top batting average. Juan Richardson saw the ball well last week, going 8 for 17 with five walks and one strikeout to raise his average to .302. Robinson Diaz leads the team in total bases and is hitting .350 with five doubles and one homerun. He hit two doubles and one homerun in a 5 for 16 week. Yasser Gomez is another Cuban refugee who had a five game hitting streak broken last week. He had one walk and no strikeouts for the week in 22 at bats.
Evan MacLane got his third start and second win last week, but it was the worst of his three starts. He gave up three runs in six innings, striking out seven to raise his ERA to 2.25. Evan had only given up one run in his first two starts. His seven strikeouts give him 16 for the year. Shouji Nagamine continues to be treated rudely in the Dominican Republic, giving up four runs in three innings, two of them earned to see his ERA drop to 10.50. Opponents are hitting .385 off him.
Gigantes (5-8)
Padres prospect Luis Durango is becoming an igniter from the lead off spot, going 6 for 8 in his last three games to raise his average to a rather impressive .520. He’s also walked five times to his three whiffs and has four stolen bases in five attempts. His only extra base hit of his 13 hits has been a triple. Mark Trumbo has one hit in his last three games to raise his average to .154. He will have to hit better than that to get consistent playing time. Juan Francisco went deep twice last week, but his 5 for 23 week only raised his average to .190. He did drive in eight runs for the week.
Fabio Castro pitched a seven inning one hitter and didn’t get a decision. His next start was not as effective, giving up three runs in four innings, with only one of those runs earned. After four starts and despite a 1.80 ERA he has yet to earn a decision.