11/28/16

SLOW NIGHT - LEAGUES TOOK THE NIGHT OFF

LIGA DE BEISBOL PROFESIONAL ROBERTO CLEMENTE

Alexis Pantoja (SS, Tiburones de Aguadilla) 0-2. Pantoja had an uneventful night at the dish on Monday by hitting into outs in his only two at-bats before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the 8th inning. Prior to going hitless in his last two contests, he had constructed a six-game hitting streak. The bat has always been an area where Pantoja is looking to improve evident by his .197 average at Mahoning Valley this past season. He is still young and if his bat develops to go with his above average glove Pantoja could become a prospect to watch.

Michael Martinez says he is in good condition

SAN PEDRO DE MACORÍS.-

Michael Martinez, the versatile player of the Estrellas Orientales, said Monday he feels in good condition to play in any position despite the time that he has not seen action in a game (just over three weeks).

Martinez was scheduled to debut Monday for the local championship but could not do so because of the postponement of the game on Sunday. The field was saturated although the weather was nice. Rain fell for more than ten hours on Sunday.

The versatile player said that despite not playing since the World Series, his last time on the field, with the Cleveland Indians. Martinez is fully ready to play in either the outfield or the infield.

The debut of the experienced player of the Stars will be Tuesday (7:15 pm) in Quisqueya Stadium against the Licey Tigers.

On Monday (last night) Martinez was inserted into the Estrellas lineup as the sixth hitter. On defense, he was at second base.

Explaining about his entry into the game with the Stars, Martinez said he felt the desire to be with his teammates of that club which believes his versatility can help in the current season.

Comments on Linares:

Martinez praised Rodney Linares, the newly appointed manager of the Stars, who he said is player's manager given the long time he has been with the club as one of their coaches and occasionally as interim manager.

Linares was appointed manager of Estrellas last week, replacing Audo Vicente. At the time of his appointment, he wasthe bench coach of the club. Under his reins Estrellas has a 1-1 record.

11/29/16

Another Slow Night

Successful Debut For Michael Martinez
2B: Martinez, M (1, Arias, G)
3B: Martinez, M (1, Shirley)
TB: Martinez, M 5
RBI: Martinez, M 2 (2)
2-out RBI: Martinez, M 2

11/29/16

Puerto Rican League

Alexis Pantoja (SS, Tiburones de Aguadilla): 2-4, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI. Pantoja recorded his second triple of his winter ball campaign thus far as well as his first game with multiple runs scored as Tiburones topped Criollos 7-6 on Tuesday. The 20-year-old batted just .197 in 57 games for Mahoning Valley in his third season of pro ball. In 11 games in Puerto Rico so far, Pantoja is batting .290 with three doubles, two triples and three RBI's.

Dominican Winter League

Abraham Almonte (DH, Toros del Este): 0-3, 1 BB. Almonte is just getting his winter ball campaign started after sitting out for the Tribe's playoff run to the World Series due to his suspension earlier in the year. Tuesday was just his fourth game for Toros del Este as he went 0-for-3 with a walk. After batting .264 in 67 games for the Indians this season, the Dominican native has logged a .235 average in four winter league games without an extra-base hit, a walk and two strikeouts.

Michael Martinez (2B, Estrellas Orientales): 2-5, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI. While fans may still be having painful flashbacks to Michael Martinez grounding out weakly to Kris Bryant to end Game 7 of the World Series, he is now down in the Dominican Republic to start his winter league season with Estrellas Orientales. In his offseason debut, the veteran utility player had a solid night at the plate recording a triple, double and two RBI's in a 5-1 win over Licey. Martinez was sent outright to Triple-A Columbus earlier this month.

MICHAEL MARTINEZ

The Stars beat the Tigers 5 To 1


SAN PEDRO DE M.-

Las Estrellas Orientales defeated Licey 5-1 Tuesday night at Quisqueya Stadium - Juan Marichal.

Michael Martinez and Gustavo Nunez drove in two runs each to lead the attack of 11 hits for the Stars and improved to 14-15 in fourth place. In addition Licey dropped to 15-14.

The victory went to Chris O'Grady (1-0), the setback tor Tommy Shirley (1-3) and Wirfin Obispo saved his sixth game. Nik Turley opened for the Orientals, but it was only three innings. Turley gave up one run, three walks and had four strikeouts. Shirley was hit hard giving up seven hits and three runs in 2.1 innings.

Estrellas opened the scoring in the second. Willy Garcia singled to the third baseman. Audy Ciriaco followed with a single to left and Anthony Bemboom singled to left to load the bases. Gustavo Nunez doubled for two runs and Aneury Tavarez flied out to right batting in the third run of the inning.

The Stars attack continued in the fourth. Audy Ciriaco had a bunt single, Nunez moved him to second. Tavarez singled to right and Ciriaco advanced to third. Michael Martinez hit a two run RBI double to make it 5-0.

Licey left nine runners on base and scored their only run the eighth. Jhonatan Solano singled to center, Sergio Alcantara followed with an RBI double and on the play was thrown out trying to reach third base.

The most outstanding on offensive for the Stars were Martinez 2-5 with a triple and double; Nunez 2-4, including a double and Audy Ciriaco 2-4 with a pair of runs scored. For Licey, Sergio Alcantara 1-3.

Martinez was recently dropped from the Tribe's 40 man roster. Is he a FA or did he accept assignment to the minors?

Criollos painful loss to Aguadilla

The Aguadilla Sharks gave battle and closed the scoring at 7-6 against the Caguas Criollos Tuesday night.

Caguas now stands at 11-8 and still in third place in the winter tournament, while Aguadilla continues in the basement, with a record of 4-17.

Aguadilla went ahead in the top of the ninth inning with the score 6-5 in favor of the Creoles and two outs. Ricardo Bautista struck out but reached first base on a wild pitch by the closer Ricardo Gómez. Then a triple by Alexis Pantoja brought home Bautista with the tying run of the game (6-6). Aquadilla tallied the winning run when Pantoia came home on a Reymond Fuentes double to center.

The two ninth inning runs were the first runs allowed by Gomez in eleven performances this season. He was looking for his ninth save of the season.

11/30/16
3B: Rodriguez, Ro (2, MacLane).
RBI: Urshela (27).
TB: Rodriguez, Ro 4;
SAC: Pantoja.
SF: Urshela

Report: Cubs will be "ALL-IN" on Japanese star

The Chicago Cubs might not be big spenders this offseason with the acquisitions of Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, and John Lackey last season.

This year's free agent market is not that filled with superstars but look for the Cubs to be players in 2018 for two-way standout Shohei Otani according to ESPN senior writer Buster Olney.

"The Cubs could have gone after one of the pricier bats in the market, but there is already heavy expectation that Chicago is holding its dollars for something bigger -- the cost of restocking the pitching, for example, and perhaps a potential run at the multi-talented Shohei Otani, the MVP of Japan’s Pacific League," Olney said. "A star pitcher and designated hitter, Otani will be the most sought-after player next winter, and rival executives believe the Cubs will be all-in on that pursuit when the contracts of Jake Arrieta and John Lackey are set to expire."

Otani throws 102 MPH and had a 10-4 record with a 1.84 ERA and 174 strikeouts this season and as a hitter, he batted .322 with 22 home runs, 67 RBIs and a 1.004 OPS. He is the first player in Pacific League history to be selected as 'Best Nine' as a pitcher and a designated hitter.

He is only 22 years old and will be eligible to play in the major leagues next seasons with no College Bargaining Agreement restrictions.

Shohei Ohtani home run lands in STADIUM TUNNEL!! &
IS THIS GUY THE NEXT BABE RUTH?

https://youtu.be/lneTNrIfJpo

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Shohei Ohtani 102mph Japanese Baseball Monster

https://youtu.be/OOnLXPIl7Qk

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11/30/16

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE

Ronny Rodriguez (Aguilas Cibaenas, 2B): 2-4, 2 R, 3B – The Aguilas Cibaenas only managed five hits on Wednesday, but Rodriguez got two of those out of the leadoff spot. The infielder has been hot this offseason, batting .330 (32-for-97) in 26 games with 14 extra base hits and 12 RBI. His 21 strikeouts and three walks aren’t great, though.

Abraham Almonte (Toros del Este, CF): 1-4 – Batting third for the Toros del Este, Almonte collected one hit to bring his offseason average to .238 (5-for-21) in five games. He’s driven in one, walked once and has struck out twice.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

Alexis Pantoja (Tiburones de Aguadilla, SS): 2-3 – Pantoja has hit the ball well this offseason and has collected two consecutive two-hit games and has three in his last six. He’s batting .379 in his last 10 games and is hitting .324 (11-for-34) in 13 games in the Puerto Rican League.

VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE

Giovanny Urshela (Aguilas del Zulia, 3B): 0-3, 1 RBI, SF – This was only Urshela’s second hitless games in his last eight. For the season, the third baseman is hitting .359 in 128 at-bats and has collected 27 RBI in 32 games.

Michael Martinez says he is well prepared to debut

Michael Martinez said Wednesday that he is well prepared to enter the games with the Stars in the current tournament professional baseball.

Martinez explained that in addition to hitting pitches against a pitching machine, he hit against pitchers in a player development program (which he did not identify) in the capital city of Santo Domingo.

The veteran player said that batting against pitchers if it were a game put him in a position to have his good debut last Tuesday when he batted 2-5 with a triple and double and drove in two runs to help the Eastern stars beat the Tigres del Licey (5-1).

Martinez said that notwithstanding his good performance in his first game of the season, he expect to feel even better, more comfortable at the plate, as the days go by and sees more pitches.

ALL THE WAY

About the time he will be with the Stars this season, Martinez noted he expects to have no limitation from his organization in Major League Baseball, Cleveland Indians, on the understanding that being a "utility" player does not play much in the majors, and needs the daily activity in the Dominican League to maintain his condition.

In view of this observation, Martinez said he would be with the Stars the rest of the season and the playoffs if the team qualifies.

WORLD SERIES EXPERIENCE

Regarding his experience of playing for the first time in a World Series, Martinez said that after this year has realized, indeed, how exciting the games were.

He said that it was a nice experience to have participated in the Fall Classic, in which he said that adrenaline gets players to it's highest point, so they must have great control of their emotions.

He stressed that the excitement and bustle in a World Series is such that sometimes a player can't hear well what a player by his his side is saying.

A half an hour before the telecast of their game at Tetelo Vargas Stadium, Martinez was interviewed in the Green Lantern where the Estrellas team holds their press conferences.

The versatile player was the last out of the 2016 World Series in which the Chicago Cubs defeated the Indians to win the championship title for the first time since 1908.

He AGREED WITH CLEVELAND

Martinez confirmed reports that he has an agreement with the Indians to a Minor League contract with an invitation to spring training. He explained that the Indians took him off of their 40 - man roster and indicated that he had conversations with them a week before making the move, and he agreed to a Minor League contract as he indicated.

He said the Indians had explained that the club needed the space occupied by him on that roster, to protect a player, but expressed their interest to retain his services.

ON WORLD CLASSIC

Martinez stated that for any player it is an honor to be taken into account to represent his country in the World Baseball Classic, including him, saying that in his case, he is one that will go to spring training looking to make the roster of Cleveland and it may not be advisable to participate in the Classic.

He emphasized the honor it would be for him to be taken into account to represent his country at the World Classic event, but stressed that it is preferably for players who have a guaranteed place on a big league roster, not for those who, like him, should participate in spring training to battle to win a spot.

The World Baseball Classic, an event held every four years, will have its next action in March 2017, during which Major League Baseball teams conduct their spring training in preparation for the season.

The Dominican Republic was the champion team in the last contest, in which he participated with several other players, who like Martinez, are not stellar major leaguers, much less, but they played in the tournament. However, most of these players were not as close as Martinez in making a major league roster for his team just ahead of the World Classic.

For the Dominican team four years ago, major league stars as Robinson Cano (MVP of the tournament), Nelson Cruz, Edwin Encarnación, Hanley Ramirez; as well as other established players like Erick Aybar, Carlos Santana, Edinson Volquez, Kelvin Herrera, Fernando Rodney, and Pedro Strop participated in the event.
THE INTERVIEW

The Green Lantern where Martinez was interviewed was transmitted by TV channels CDN, SportsMax (Channel 8), Xtremo Channel (channel 71), Star TV HD (channel 1096 Claro) and TV 43 (of San Pedro de Macoris). The interview was conducted by journalists Enrique (Tuto) Mota and Carlos Nunez. The interview was a production by journalist Osvaldo Rodriguez Suncar, director of press and public relations of the Stars.

12/1/16

Rain and Schedule = Slow Day For The Indians

VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE

Giovanny Urshela (Aguilas del Zulia, 3B): 1-2, R, RBI, SF – Urshela has now driven in 28 runs this offseason in 33 games with the Aguilas del Zulia. He’s got 18 extra-base hits but has only walked three times to 12 strikeouts.

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE

Michael Martinez (Estrellas Orientales, 3B): 1-3, 2 R, BB – Martinez, who just inked a minor-league deal to stay on board with the Indians, now has three hits in 12 at-bats this offseason. He’s got two extra base hits and two RBI

12/2/16
2B: Gonzalez, E (1, Koch); 2B: Diaz, Y (7, Montero)
RBI: Smith, J (1); Almonte (2)
2-out RBI: Smith, J; Almonte
SAC: Martinez, M.
SB: Almonte (2, 2nd base off Pineyro/Rosario, A); SB: Diaz, Y (1, 2nd base off Montero/Flores, Je)

[ Very Productive Night For The Good Guys ]

STANDINGS

MEXICO
VENEZUELA
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
PUERTO RICO

Giants still hot and beat the Eagles

SAN FRANCISCO de Macoris.

Friday night the Giants beat the Eagles scoring a dozen runs for third straight game and crushed the opponants 16-4 at home in the Cibao Julian Javier park.

The Giants crushed Leones 11-3 on Wednesday and traveled to Santo Domingo to deal a resounding blow on Licey 11-6 yesterday and then it was the Aguilas turn on Friday night. They scored 38 runs in 25 innings

The outcome of Friday resulted 14 hits including seven extra-base hits (five doubles, a triple and a home run) and capitalized on six eagle errors.

Thus, the Giants get to 20 wins and maintain a 3 1/2 game lead in the league. It was the fifth straight win for a team that has played seven consecutive games and has commitments for the next 10 days without a break.

Eric Wood homered and drove in three laps, Rosell Herrera got two hits, including double and three rbi's; Wilmer Difo had a double and batted in two runs, and Rob Brantly also managed a two run homer with two rbi's.

Ronny Rodriguez was the best for Aguilas with a trio of hits.

The victory went to Rafael Perez (2-0) and the setback for Forrest Snow (0-3).

The Aguilas went ahead in the first off of starter Jose de Paula. Ronny Rodriguez opened with a hit to left and scored on a sacrifice fly by Zoilo Almonte.

But the Giants turned the scoreboard in the second. After Ramon Torres struck out Carlos Paulino was hit by a pitch on the wrist and had to leave the game. Rosell Herrera advanced to second on a wild pitch. Melvin Mercedes and Leury Garcia walked to fill the bases. Difo singled to right driving in two runs as the third run crossed the plate on a throwing error by first baseman Joey Terdoslavich.

The Eagles came back in the second. Ronny Rodriguez collected his second hit of the game. Carlos Perez singled to center, Zoilo Almonte walked loading the bases and Juan Lagares drove in Rodriguez on a bases loaded walk.

But in the fifth the Giants unloaded for eight runs. They would score on time in the sixth and another four runs in the seventh to take a commanding 16-2 lead which was the final score.