Winter Leagues Update: Many Players' Seasons are coming to an End One Way or Another

Mexican Pacific League (MPL)

It seems that all the Braves have left Navajoa. Mike Hampton strained his right hamstring in his first inning of winter ball (see video below). Brandon Jones hurt his shoulder diving for a ball a week ago, so he will sit out the rest of the winter as well. And Scott Thorman is also done with winter baseball, but that was apparently the plan all along - to only have him play the first half of the season.

Outfielder Doug Clark is still hitting well, with a .317 average, 6 homeruns, and 20 RBI. I'm not sure if he's under the Braves' control for next year, but if he is he could be an option as a fourth outfielder or bat off the bench.

Edgar Osuna continues to be the LOOGY out of the bullpen for Hermosillo, and he's getting much better at it, having allowed only one hit and one run in his last 10 appearances (which only spans 3.2 innings). This makes me wonder if his future is as a starter or as a LOOGY.

Bullpen righty Manny Acosta pitched well in his winter ball stint (which I'm assuming has ended, since he hasn't pitched since November 25th). He posted a 2.61 ERA in 10.1 innings, while striking out 11 and walking only one.

Here is one of the YouTube videos of Mike Hampton throwing his one inning of winter ball. The injury occurs just after minute 4:30, when Hampton tries to kick save a ground ball, hockey-goalie-style.

Venezuelan Winter League (VWL)

Our newly acquired super utility player, Omar Infante, is playing in the VWL for Caribes, and he's performing about how I expect him to perform during the regular season. He's hitting .267/.329/.356 in 191 at-bats. He only has 26 strikeouts and does have 6 stolen bases in 8 attempts - not good enough to blow you away, but not bad enough to scare you away either. The guy we just traded for Infante, Jose Ascanio, is having a good winter with a 1.86 ERA in 9 games.

Young left-hander Jose Ortegano continues to pitch effectively. He's lowered his ERA to 1.78 in 31.1 innings and is holding opposing batters to a .204 average.

Centerfield candidate Gregor Blanco is not slowing down. He is now posting a .322/.425/.454 - impressive on-base and slugging numbers for the historically light-hitting Blanco. He may be convincing me that he's turned a corner, and could be more than just a slap-hitting speed guy with a good glove.

Starter Jeff Bennett seems to have ended his season. He made an appearance on November 17th and then again on the 28th and hasn't thrown in a game since then. He got hit pretty hard on the 28th, so there may be a minor injury that is keeping him off the mound, or it may be a planned end to the year, much like Thorman. He was pitching great before that last outing, and still finished with a 2.31 ERA, though the .287 average against may be a more telling indicator that his winter season was more lucky than good.

Dominican Winter League (DWL)

Brayan Pena is officially down to a Brayan Pena level. He's now hitting just .287 after hitting well over .300 for the first several weeks of the season.

Left-hander Francisley Bueno (or Frank Good) is pitching decently with a 3.34 ERA and .239 average against. He's an organizational arm that will probably go the same route as a Kevin Barry or Trey Hodges. But he is a left-hander and may have some value one day as a LOOGY.

I only update you on Diory Hernandez because he STILL doesn't have an extra base hit this winter. In 122 at-bats he has 29 hits - all singles. That continues to boggle my mind.

A center field option for the Braves which I suggested over a month ago has finally begun to play winter ball. Cuban defector Alexei Ramirez is just getting his season started and is only 1-for-14 in his first five games.

And as always we end with our old pal Willy Aybar. He seems to have ended his season as well, having played his last game on December 1st. He finished at .269/.356/.333, so he's got some work to do, but his 11 walks versus just 7 strikeouts is an encouraging sign.

Coming up in the next day or so I will be posting an interview with ESPN Deportes' play by play announces Kevin Cabral and Jorge Eduardo Sanchez about our Braves in the Caribbean Winter Leagues.