Nicaraguan Winter League
RHP Douglas Arguello: a 7.20 ERA with 4 ERs served up on 8 hits and 3 walks in 5 IP.
Venezuelan Winter League
RHP Paul Estrada: whiffed all three batters he faced in the next to last game of the regular season. Finished with an ERA of 2.45 with 10 ponches in 7.1 IP. In playoff action for Magallanes, has pitched 2.2 scoreless frames with two whiffs.
RHP Juan Gutierrez: no action in the final two regular season games, leaving him with the 1.29 ERA (1 ER on 5 hits in 7 IP) in just two appearances for the year. Started the first game of the playoffs for Caracas (Leones), going 5 innings and allowing just one earned run
OF Jason Lane: went 0-3 in the next to last game but did not play in the final game. Finished the regular season with a batting average of just .143 (6-42). Had twice as many strikeouts (12) as base hits (6). Had only 2 RBIs and just one extra-base hit. His 15 games consisted of 3 games at DH and 12 games in the corner OF spots (nada in CF). Since he didn’t play in that regular season finale and he hasn’t shown up in a box score yet for Caracas (Leones) in the playoffs, we’re assuming that he has returned to the States. For good, presumably.
RHP German Melendez: tossed a scoreless frame in the next to last regular season game. Ended up with a 5.11 ERA (7 ERs in 12.1 IP) with 7 hits and 7 walks allowed while whiffing 8. Hasn’t pitched yet in the playoffs for Magallanes.
RHP Felipe Paulino: finished the regular season with that 5.79 ERA (18 ERs on 37 hits in 28 IP). No playoff action to date for Caracas (Leones).
C Humberto Quintero: didn’t see action in the final two regular season games, finishing with those .302/.324/.475 numbers in 36 games on the year. In two games in the playoffs, he’s now 2-8.
RHP Jose Rodriguez: the newly-signed non-roster invitee has pitched one scoreless relief inning for Magallanes in the playoffs.
LHP Enyelbert Soto: allowed a hit and a run in his final appearance of the season, sending his ERA further skyward to 7.04. Allowed 24 hits and 7 walks in 15.1 IP for the year.
Dominican Winter League
RHP Sammy Gervacio: hasn’t been used in the playoffs for Licey (Tigres).
LHP Wandy Rodriguez: has allowed 2 runs on 2 hits in a couple of innings of work in the playoffs for Aguilas, though he has whiffed 5.
Mexican Pacific League
RHP Travis Driskill: made one final start in the regular season and went 4.1 innings, being hit harder than a BP pitcher to the tune of 4 ERs on 9 hits. Finished the year with a 4.10 ERA, giving up 53 hits (including 10 longballs) in 41.2 IP. His lone playoff start wasn’t much better than his final regular season game, going 5 frames and surrendering 4 earned runs on 4 hits (including 2 dingers).
INF Jesse Garcia: didn’t see action in the final two regular season games and finished up with those .246/.316/.408 numbers in 49 games on the season (47 hits in 191 ABs). In addition to a total of 22 games at his usual 2B/SS, Garcia also spent some time playing OF (17 games) while the remainder were at DH or as a PH. He hasn’t seen action in the playoffs and may have already returned home to Texas.
Playoffs and other notes:
- Venezuela ended its regular season this past week. Five clubs qualified for post-season play while the remaining three clubs (Tiburones, Caribes and Pastora) were eliminated. The post-season format in Venezuela mirrors that of the Dominican with a round-robin style playoffs. The five clubs in the VWL who moved on to the semi-final round play each of the other clubs four times (a total of 16 games) over the next three weeks. The two teams with the best record in the semi-finals then move on to the finals which is a best-of-seven. Al Pedrique’s Magallanes club is tied with Aragua with a 3-0 record for the lead in the semi-final round.
- The Mexico regular season is over as well, with 6 of the 8 teams advancing to post-season play. Their format is similar to the U.S. (with an odd twist or two) with three rounds of best-of-7 series to determine a champion. Los Mochis, the club for which Driskill and Garcia are playing, was the last of the six clubs to make the playoffs and is playing top seed Hermosillo. They’ve been swept in the first three games of the series and are on the verge of elimination.
- Puerto Rico ended its regular season on Friday. The top 4 teams move on to the post-season. We’d like to tell you more, including what Raymar Diaz, et.al. have been doing, but the financially-strapped league’s woeful website hasn’t updated stats in over two weeks. Even the standings are several days out-of-date. Update: Carolina defeated Cheo Cruz’s Ponce club (and the team Cirilo Cruz was on) in a one-game playoff on Sunday to nab the final post-season spot. The Gigantes will play Mayaguez in one semifinal round matchup while Caguas and Arecibo (w/Raymar Diaz and Edwin Maysonet) play in the other.
- Nicaragua’s regular season (which consists of four clubs playing a 54-game schedule) doesn’t wrap up until the 27th of this month. Unlike the others, that league doesn’t participate in the Caribbean World Series.
- The Dominican is in the second week of its post-season play. Each of the four playoff teams plays the other three teams a total of six games apiece for a total of 18 games. The two clubs with the best records in that semi-final round will then apparently face off in a best of nine final series. Aguilas is currently tied with Gigantes with a 6-2 record in the semi-finals.
- Tracking the ex-Astros: Richard Hidalgo finished up the regular season with those previously noted .273/.385/.455 numbers. His bat, though, has really come alive in the playoffs. He’s gone 7-14 in 3 games with 3 longballs and 4 RBIs. Jose Lima with Aguilas of the DWL in postseason play has a 2.13 ERA in 12.2 IP (two starts), allowing 12 hits while K’ing 11 and walking just one.