OF INTEREST

Josh Judy tied for the lead in wins (4) with relievers Zac Curtis and Henry Martinez

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

Ronny Rodriguez (Aguilas Cibaenas, 2B) - 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SO - The utility player continues to shine as he flashed some power in Wednesday's game by belting a solo home run. That was his third home run so far in the Dominican League as he continues to show exemplary tools as the leadoff hitter for Aguilas Cibaenas.

Erik Gonzalez (Leones del Escogido, SS) - 1-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 SO - The utility infielder is slowly but surely getting his bat going after a slow start. He's picked up hits in three of his last four games prior to his game on Wednesday so his stock continues to trend upwards which is a huge positive. There's nothing more encouraging than seeing a batter get his offensive game going after going through a slump at the dish.

Henry Martinez (Leones del Escogido, RP) - 0.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER/R - It's only the third time he's given up runs in the Dominican League and it's the second time he's allowed three earned runs in a game. He did not appear to be sharp with his pitches which led to multiple hits and the allowance of a high earned run total.

Super Round Standings
VEN 4-0*
PAN 2-1
MEX 2-2
DOM 1-2
PUR 1-2
CUB 0-3

A contingent of the Major League Baseball Association has a visit to the site next week

MLB officers inspect the Hiram Bithorn

Plans for the series between the Indians and the Twins continue in April 2018.

The two-game series between the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins scheduled for April 2018 is still ongoing.

Ana "Tuti" Muñoz, vice president of MB Sports, confirmed to this media that Major League Baseball (MLB) personnel will arrive on the island on Thursday to continue with the planning of the event at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan.

The celebration of the games on April 17 and 18 was in doubt due to the damage suffered by the stadium during Hurricane Maria's passage through Puerto Rico on September 20. Batting cages and bullpens were the most affected areas. However, an inspection of the lighting towers is still required.

"The lights are the main concern of the people of MLB, but the municipality of San Juan is committed to carrying out the work. The terrain and the dressing rooms did not suffer, so we will have the series as planned, "Muñoz said.

On the other hand, a contingent of the Major League Baseball Association has a visit to the site next week to verify the condition of the park and participate in some meetings with the promoters. Everything is still on.

Apparently the damages (to the stadium) were minimal. We went to Puerto Rico 10 days after the hurricane, we spoke with the mayor of San Juan (Carmen Yulín Cruz) and she told us that there was not much damage, "said Major League ex-Major Javier Vázquez, international special assistant of the Peloteros Association.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE (LIDOM)

Louis Head (Gigantes del Cibao, RP) - H (1), 1 IP, 1 H - Head continued his solid start to his LIDOM season on Thursday with his second scoreless appearance, following up his perfect two-strikeout season debut frame on Tuesday. While the right-hander did allow his first hit of the season last night, he is still off to a stellar start to his winter league campaign.

Last day of Super Round
Pan Am #U23WorldCup Qualifier
DOM v PUR
CUB v MEX
VEN v PAN

Standings
VEN 4-0*
DOM 2-2
MEX 2-2
PAN 2-2
PUR 2-2
CUB 0-4

Yesterday
MEX 3-12 VEN
CUB 7-10 DOM
PUR 14-8 PAN

>
Puerto Rico defeats Panama

Puerto Rico drowned last night 14-8 Panama in the Premundial Baseball Tournament U-23.

Puerto Rico completed the second day of the Superronda tied for second place with Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Panama with 2-2.

Venezuela iqualified for the championship with a 4-0 record and Cuba was disqualified with an 0-4 record.

Manager, Yadier Molina, said he was "very happy for the boys. They really have been focused. Obviously you have to improve on the defense a bit. At the beginning we gave opportunities to Panama, which is a great team and with a good offense. We showed that we have good bats ".

The game was won by lefty Sidney Duprey, who threw five and two thirds innings. He gave up four hits, struck out six and allowed four runs, three of them unearned. The righty, Angel Alicea, threw the rest of the game with a strike out and five hits allowed, with three runs.

Puerto Rico plays today against the Dominican Republic at 3:00 pm (Puerto Rico time).

Dominican League: (LIDOM)

Erik Gonzalez (SS, Leones del Escogido) 2-4, R, SO. Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to four games, and three of which were multiple hit contest. Erik is swinging a much better bat of late after getting off to a sluggish start. This game resulted in his batting average jumping 23 points and now sits at .261.

Carlos Frias (RP, Gigantes del Cibao) 0.2 IP, H, 0 ER. Frias continued his perfect winter ball season as he is yet to allow an earned run in 11 games. He has been used in a variety of roles, but has not waivered tossing 10.1 clean innings of relief.

Louis Head (RP, Gigantes del Cibao) 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 SO. Head was saddled with the loss in an appearance he would like to forget about. He was sharp in his two previous winter ball appearances tossing scoreless innings in each outing, but was roughed up for three runs Friday.

Ronny Rodriguez (2B, Aguilas Cibaenas) 0-5, SO. Rodriguez continued to fight his way through a slump after posting an ugly 0-5 performance. In his last five games he is just 2-21 (.095) with six strikeouts and one walk. Ronny-Rod has been streaky this offseason as he got off to a fast start, but he has had a rough go of it lately resulting in his average dipping to .293.

Pan Am U-23 Baseball 2017 FINALS !!!!
1st/2nd: No. 6 MEX v No. 9 VEN
3rd/4th: No.11 PUR v No.16 DOM

Final Super Round Standings
VEN 5-0*
MEX 3-2*
DOM 3-2*
PUR 2-3*
PAN 2-3
CUB 0-5

RD defeats Puerto Rico and qualifies for the U23 Baseball World Tournament

Panama City

Dominican Republic danced the merengue at José Antonio Remón Cantera stadium in Aguadulce after defeating Puerto Rico and qualifiying for the U23 2018 World Cup.

José Batista worked 5.1 solid innings, facing 24, allowing 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned, striking out 3 and not giving up any walks to score the victory.

Agustín Rony saved the game, while the defeat to Alexis Ortíz ...

The Dominicans scored twice in the second inning, three in the sixth, one in the seventh, another trio in the eighth and one to close in the ninth.

The Quisqueya players connected for 14 hits, made two errors and left five runners on base.

<
Puerto Rico secures its ticket to the U23 World Cup

The Puerto Rican team, managed by Yadier Molina, qualified along with the Venezuela, Mexico and the Dominican Republic for the U23 Baseball World Cup in 2018 after completing the super round of the Premundial Tournament of that category on Friday, in Panama.

The result that clinched the four qualifiers was the victory 5-3 of team Venezuela over Panama. The Panamanian team was disqualified along with Cuba.

Venezuela closed the tournament with a 5-0 record, followed by Mexico and the Dominican Republic, both 3-2. Although Puerto Rico and Panama had the same record 2-3, the victory by Puerto Rico 14-8 over Panama broke the tie.

"We are proud to recognize the management of the U23 National Team, which achieved the goal of qualifying for the World Cup, placing us among the twelve best teams in the world," said Dr. José Quiles, president of the Puerto Rico Baseball Federation.

"We are extremely grateful for the effort and commitment of Yadier Molina, who in his first assignment as a manager has managed to graduate with high honors," he added.

Puerto Rico will challenge the bronze medal of the Premundial tomorrow Sunday at 11:00 am (PR time) in front of the Dominican Republic.

Meanwhile, Venezuela and Mexico will play for gold at 6:00 pm (PR time). Both games will take place at the Rico Cedeño stadium in the city of Chitré, in Panama.

OF INTEREST

Aroldis Chapman would be in Cuba on vacation, according to an official journalist

New York Yankees pitcher Aroldis Chapman would be on the island for the first time since his escape in 2009, said veteran sports reporter and sports narrator Ernesto Rondón Jorge , who has been employed by the Holguin radio station Radio Angulo. Jorge did not specify how he obtained the information.

According to the journalist, Chapman arrived "on Friday at the international airport of Holguín, in a private plane, with his parents, friends and collaborators".

"It is the first time that the Holguin touches Cuban land, after leaving the country to achieve resounding success in the best baseball in the world," said Rondón Jorge. No official media has confirmed the news. There is also no indication of the trip in the social networks of the pitcher.

Panama was a fiasco

The Cuban baseball team, U-23 category, arrived at the Panamericano in Panama with a bag full of dreams, but they will return home without loot, eliminated from the World Cup without a single victory against the strongest teams in the fight.

The Cuban baseball team, U-23 category, arrived at the Pan-American from Panama with a bag full of dreams, but they will return home without spoils, eliminated from the World Cup without a single victory against the strongest teams in the competition.

After losing to the Dominican Republic on Thursday night and seeing all their chances of qualifying in the global competition of next year, this Friday the pupils of Ariel Pestano could not make the cross and closed their performance in the Super Round with another setback, now against the Mexicans.

Score 6-3 in five chapters was the final score of the game, which could not be completed because of the rain. With this triumph, Mexico did guarantee a place in the battle of the world, with a record of three wins and a pair of losses, identical to that of the Dominican Republic, which defeated Puerto Rico.

Venezuela had secured their ticket to the World Cup games with four wins without defeats.

For Cuba it was a disappointing outcome on whole. Their victories came against Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, rivals without weight or tradition. The team's offensive did not intimidate, were impatient and desperate.

Yorbert Sánchez and Raico Santos, two dynamic players, are very good contact hitters although they failed a lot with runners in scoring position. On the other hand, Norel González, was perhaps the most praised slugger

coaches and managers of the Federation and the National Commission, batted for a high average, but their shifts at hour zero left much to be desired. Likewise, Oscar Luis Colás, Ariel Martínez and Lionard Kindelán fell far short of expectations.

The absence of production with the wood took its toll on the pitchers, who worked with a lot of pressure, forced to throw zero after zero innings. However, they made excellent outings and showed signs of improvement, especially in terms of control, one of the aspects that most concerned their high rates of walks in the classics.

The most alarming from the results was that it arrived with the best players from the country, with few exceptions, the same ones who will have a leading role in the difficult process of qualifying in the race towards the Olympic Games of Tokyo 2020.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

Henry Martinez (Leones del Escogido, RP) - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 2 SO - The righty had an outing that was more in line with the type of season he was having down in the Dominican League. He missed bats and put up a perfect frame of baseball during his inning of relief work.

Ronny Rodriguez (Aguilas Cibaenas, 2B) - 1-5, 2 SO - It seems the utility man is beginning to cool off after a hot start. The thing to watch for is how he tries to overcome what seems to be a slump at the plate.

Erik Gonzalez (Leones del Escogido, SS) - 1-5, 1 H - He only got one hit but the other Indians' utility player is still making progress after getting off to an ice-cold start in the Dominican League. Hopefully he can continue to make progress as the season wears on

Puerto Rico takes the bronze medal of the # PreMundialU23 beating 17-1 the Dominican Republic. The Puerto Ricans say goodbye to the event with a 6-3 mark.
Today is the Grand Final! Mexico vs Venezuela for the Gold

VEN defeats MEX to win Pan Am U-23 Baseball Championship

Panama City.-

Venezuela defeated Mexico, 3-1, in the finals of the Pan Am U-23 Baseball Championship.

Joscar Alvarez's 3-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning was the difference.

Julian Ornelas (Red Devils of Mexico - LMB) gave the Mexican National Team a 1-0 lead at the top of the 2nd with a solo homer against the winning pitcher of the Venezuelan National Team José Rodríguez (Los Angeles Angels Class A - MLB)

Venezuela swept the Super Round and finished with an overall record of 8-1, while Mexico finished 6-3.

The top four qualifiers of the U-23 Pan-American Championship - Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic - will be among the 12 nations that are fighting for the world title at the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup next year.

Erik Gonzalez

Ronny Rodriguez (Aguilas Cibaenas, 2B) - 1-4, 1 R, 1 SB - Ronny-Rod now has hits in three of his last four games, and stole his second base of the season on Sunday. While his recent slump (.205/.217/.273 slash in his last ten games) is unlikely to last the entire Dominican season, it comes at a bad time for a free agent looking to impress general managers.

Carlos Frias (Gigantes del Cibao, RP) - 0.1 IP - Frias, also a free agent, faced only one batter on Sunday. He has yet to allow an earned run in 10.2 innings over 12 appearances (all in relief) this Dominican campaign, while allowing seven hits and four walks for a 1.03 WHIP. He has also struck out six and is holding opposing batters to a .194 batting average.

Erik Gonzalez (Leones del Escogido, SS) - 1-4, 1 R - Gonzalez, the only player under contract with the Indians for the 2018 campaign to play on Sunday, continued his recent improvement, as he extended his hitting streak to six games and scored his fifth run of the season (all scored in his last eight games). During the hitting streak, Erik is hitting .375 (9-for-24) and has scored three runs. In his last ten games, he is batting .289/.308/.289 after going 3-for-17 (.176) in his first five games of the winter league season.

Baseball: Otani narrows field, turns down Yankees

Slugging ace pitcher Shohei Otani and his representatives have wasted little time rejecting clubs, informing several teams on Sunday that he won't negotiate with them.

According to mlb.com, at least seven teams -- the Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers -- are still in the running to land the 23-year-old Japanese star. Face-to-face discussions are set to begin in Los Angeles on Monday.

The New York Yankees, the story reported, will not get a chance to meet Otani.

In addition to the Yankees and the Red Sox, mlb.com listed the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland A's, Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox are reportedly out of consideration.

The Giants boast three coaches who played in Nippon Professional Baseball, bench coach Hensley Meulens, batting coach Alonzo Powell and assistant batting coach Rick Schu, and a Japanese bullpen catcher, Taira Uematsu.

Otani has some familiarity with the Padres, having worked out at their spring training facility the past two years with his Japanese club, the Nippon Ham Fighters.

Three former Japanese major league pitchers work for the Padres, Hideo Nomo, Takashi Saito and Akinori Otsuka, while Otani's former strength coach with the Nippon Ham Fighters, Seiichiro Nakagaki, is San Diego's director of applied sports science.

If that's not enough, third-year Padres manager Andy Green spent the 2007 season in Japan with the Fighters, and though it was an undistinguished, injury-hit season, he has told Kyodo News that NPB made a big impression on him.

The Mariners, who have MLB's deepest connection with Japan, have re-signed pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma to a minor league contract and might be interested in acquiring future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki.

So far, all the teams mentioned as definite candidates hold their spring training camps in Arizona, where Nippon Ham has started spring training since 2016.