With winter leagues beginning to wrap up its seasons, the number of Cubs’ prospects still playing winter ball has dwindled down to just a few. Carlos Pimentel made an appearance in the Dominican League after a long hiatus. Meanwhile, Ryan Searle continues to remain among the league leaders in the Australian Baseball League. For more, take a look inside today’s report.
Note: Coverage of the winter leagues is by calendar week, Sunday through Saturday
Dominican Winter League
Leones de Escogido
Down three games to one to Licey in the league championship series on Friday, the Lions came back with a vengeance and shut out the Tigers 8-0. Carlos Pimentel saw his first action since Dec. 12 and struck out a batter in a scoreless ninth inning.
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Venezuelan Winter League
Leones de Caracas
Caracas slipped into a tie for second place on Sunday as they lost to Zulia 11-1. Yoanner Negrin started the game and went three innings while allowing two earned runs on five hits and two walks with a strikeout. The Lions would eventually slip out of the race and miss a chance at appearing in the league championship series.
Tiburones de La Guaira
La Guaira experienced a meltdown of epic proportions last Monday after they scored 12 runs through six innings, but gave up five runs in the bottom of the ninth and lost 14-13 to Caracas. Eduardo Figueroa was called on to stem the tide after the starter gave up eight runs in 3.2 innings. Figueroa went three innings and gave up only an unearned run on two hits and two walks. The Sharks would end their season finishing last in the round-robin playoffs.
Austrailian Baseball League
Brisbane Bandits
The Brisbane bats supported Ryan Searle on Saturday, but just barely as the Bandits beat Canberra 3-2. Searle gave up two unearned runs in six innings on five hits, and moved to sixth in the league with 50 strikeouts after fanning seven in the game.
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Attention CCO Readers
The Down on the Farm preliminary reader’s poll is underway. Please post the names of the minor league players you would like the Down on the Farm Report to follow during the upcoming season. The CCO will then take the top 20 nominations and run a special poll for the final month of Spring Training. The CCO will then track the progress of the top 10 vote getters throughout the entire season. A representative sample of positions and levels of play is optimal. You can name as many players as you like, but remember, only ten will eventually be chosen. After three weeks, the number of prospects has grown to 49. Pitchers C.J. Edwards and Pierce Johnson are now tied for the lead. So from Luis Acosta to Tony Zych, all nominations will be accepted and given equal weight.
Race to Wrigley
For the second straight year, I will be competing in the Race to Wrigley 5K run on April 12, 2014. If anyone is interested in making a donation, please visit ChicagoCubsOnline – Race to Wrigley to register. All proceeds go to Chicago Cubs Charities and Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago (formerly Children’s Memorial Hospital).
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