2013 Winter Leagues Digest #1

All stats are from the period between October 8-12.

Welcome to Around the Foghorn’s newest weekly feature: the Winter Leagues Digest! I did this piece for my various other baseball blogs/publications and it was always a big hit among readers.

Once a week I will update you all on the doings of every Giants player in the fall and winter leagues, from the Arizona Fall League to the Caribbean Leagues to the lesser known Central American and South American Leagues. Even the Australian Baseball League gets a piece.

We’ll begin with the Arizona Fall League, where everyone has had some playing time so far.

League

Club

Name

Position

Age

Level

AFL

Scottsdale

Kyle Crick

RHP

San Jose (Advanced-A)

AFL

Scottsdale

Cody Hall

RHP

Richmond (Double-A)

AFL

Scottsdale

Derek Law

RHP

San Jose (Advanced-A)

AFL

Scottsdale

Adalberto Mejia

LHP

San Jose (Advanced-A)

AFL

Scottsdale

Andrew Susac

Richmond (Double-A)

AFL

Scottsdale

Angel Villalona

Richmond (Double-A)

AFL

Scottsdale

Jarrett Parker

Richmond (Double-A)

Some of the pitchers have had some success but most have had a rocky start.

Kyle Crick is 0-1 after his two inning start on October 10 against Peoria where he allowed four runs (three earned) with walks and four strikeouts. …Cody Hall allowed two runs allowed over his lone inning of work on October 9 against Surprise. He walked two and struck out two. …Derek Law looks good so far. He’s pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed two hits with five strikeouts and no walks over two appearances. He seems to be getting work against left-handed hitters; Law has six at-bats (out of the entire 9 at-bats against he’s logged) against lefties and has allowed one hit. Neither closer candidate is pitching anywhere close to the ninth inning yet. …Adalberto Mejia pitched two relief innings on opening day and allowed three runs, including a home run and two walks.

The hitters are showing some progress in their limited time. The only knock I have on the AFL is that playing time is scarce for everyone but the very best prospects, so not everyone gets the work they need. That might be a detriment to the Giants prospects here, because let’s be real; other than Crick, nobody outside of the prospect geeks are checking for these guys.

Andrew Susac started at catcher in two games this week and is 2-for-7 with an RBI and a run scored. …Angel Villalona started slow with an 0-for-4 in his first game on October 9 but had a two hit game on Friday with a double. He’s striking out a lot even early with four whiffs in two games. …Jarrett Parker has two hits in two games along with two walks and two strikeouts. He has played both center and left field.

The Mexican League began on October 10, but so far no Giants have seen time there. Earlier in the week I saw Jesus Navarro‘s name listed on a roster, but he’s no longer there.

The other league in action this week is the Venezuelan League, where guys like Adam Duvall and Renzo Freite are looking to make moves up the rankings.

League

Club

Name

Position

Age

Level

VWL

La Guaira

Javier Herrera

Richmond (Double-A)

VWL

Magallanes

Mitch Lively

RHP

Fresno (Triple-A)

VWL

Magallanes

Jean Machi

RHP

San Francisco

VWL

Magallanes

Pablo Sandoval

San Francisco

VWL

Margarita

Adam Duvall

Richmond (Double-A)

VWL

Zulia

Mark Minicozzi

Richmond (Double-A)

VWL

Zulia

Renzo Freite

RHP

Arizona (Rookie)

VWL

Zulia

Daryl Maday

RHP

Fresno (Triple-A)

VWL

Zulia

Ydwin Villegas

Fresno (Triple-A)

For the leagues outside of Arizona I will group the blurbs by team to keep the format cleaner.

La Guaira: Javier Herrera has appeared in every game so far and is 4-for-13 with a double and an RBI. He has three walks and three strikeouts and has played all over the outfield.

Magallanes: Mitch Lively had a strong start against Lara on October 11, going seven innings with two runs allowed. Lively has pitched primarily in relief his entire Giants career so we’ll see what this turn in the rotation means in the long term. …Jean Machi and Pablo Sandoval did not play. Both are listed on the roster. Sandoval has played there the last few years, and Machi made moves in the Venezuelan league a few winters ago to get the Giants’ attention. That’s why I update on these guys. You never know who will end up making an impact in San Francisco, so watch the Caribbean Leagues closely.

Margarita: Adam Duvall is hot out of the gate with seven hits over his first three games. He’s slugged three doubles and a home run over his last two outings and has driven in four runs.

Zulia: Mark Minicozzi has played three games at first base and is 6-for-15 with a double and a home run plus four RBIs. His power surge comes at a price with five strikeouts so far. Minicozzi is on the comeback trail. The Giants signed him to a free agent deal last winter after he played very well in the Nicaraguan League and he preformed just as well in Richmond this summer. Minicozzi was originally drafted by the Giants in 2005 and has come full circle. Now that he’s playing in a higher profile winter league in Veneuzela, I have to think that he’s primed to move up. …Renzo Freite had a scoreless inning on Saturday. He’s the baby of this group at 20 and has to prove himself after a few rough years in the AZL. It was a letdown after Freite did so well in the Dominican Summer League his first two years in the system. …Daryl Maday has had mixed success in relief, with one good outing October 10 and a rough one October 11. He’s allowed one run over 1 2/3 innings and has one walk to three strikeouts. …Ydwin Villegas did not play.

That’s all for news this week. Next week we’ll have updates from the Dominican Republic, as their league starts up next Friday. Here’s a chart for the remaining winter leagues and their start dates:

League

Start Date

Dominican Republic

10/18/13

Australian Baseball League

10/31/13

Puerto Rico

11/01/13

Colombia

11/08/13

Panama

TBA

Nicaragua

TBA

See you next week! Follow me on Twitter @chelmrtz and send me questions, comments, chocolates, and flowers.

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