Australian Baseball League – The Perth Heat swept the Sydney Blue Sox in two games to advance to the best-of-three series against the regular season champion Adelaide Bite. Brian Pointer started in left field both games and went a combined 3 for 7 while getting hits in both games. He scored a run and drove in one, too. He walked once and struck out only once. Brian also recorded an outfield assist when he cut down a runner at second base.
MLB is broadcasting Friday’s game one live at 3:30AM. So, if your up late Thursday or up early Friday …
Puerto Rican Winter League – Jesmuel Valentin’s Indios de Mayaguez lost their final two games against Cangrejeros de Santruce and lost the series in 6 games . Valentin got base hits in both games. Overall he went 4 for 16 in the 5 games in which he appeared. The second baseman chipped in a run, 2 RBI, a walk and 2 strike outs throughout the series. He generally batted low in the line up but went 1 for 5 as the lead off hitter in game 6.
Venezuelan Baseball League – The Caribes de Anzoategui took their best-of-seven series against Navegantes del Magallanes in 5 games. Willians Astudillo entered game two as a pinch hitter and grounded out. He remained in the game in left field. Later, he singled and was removed for a pinch runner. This was the only action he saw in the 5 games of the championship series.
The Caribbean Series – The series pits the winners of the 4 Latin American Winter Baseball Leagues and Cuba’s Serie Nacional winner in a 5-team round robin. The second round likely consists of seeding determined during the round robin (1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3, 5 eliminated). The second round winners advance to the championship game this Sunday. The Phillies had representatives on 3 of the 4 Latin American teams during their regular seasons. But Willians Astudillo was left off the Venezuelan roster, and Rene Garcia hasn’t seen any action in Puerto Rico’s first two losses. As I type this, Maikel Franco has completed a tough afteroon going 0 for 5 with 3 Ks and stranding 8 runners in the Dominican Republic’s 6-5 loss to Venezuela. Franco is now batting 1 for 10 in the series. Cuba has already lost 2 games (and 2 defectors) in the series.
Current Standings after this afternoon’s game –
- Mexico 2 0
- Venezuela 2 0
- Dom. Rep. 1 1
- Cuba 0 2
- Puerto Rico 0 2
Tonight’s game between Puerto Rico and Cuba should go a long way toward determining which team will not advance to the next round.
Phuture Phillies 
Who did Cuba lose in the Caribbean series?
Vladimir Gutierrez, p and Dainer Moreira, inf
Defected.
Gutierrez is a young, highly regarded pitcher who threw out of the bullpen this year. Moreira is not as highly regarded. I probably should have included the link. Here it is. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/02/cuban-players-vladimir-gutierrez-dainer-moreira-defect.html
Cuba must come with 50 players to these events. They lose some to defection every time. With improved relations between the US and Cuba, the rules have to be rewritten. I’m sure Cuba wouldn’t mind losing their players to the MLB, as long as they return every winter and help their family out financially. They probably already help their families but illegally and possibly dangerously.
To be honest…I think the Cuban govt is more interested in what the player’s good fortune from America will do for their govt, thru Cuban taxes, if that is what they call it down there..
I would expect that to be relaxed with the thawing of relations. Once they started televising MLB games I thought the writing was on the wall
Franco 1-15 in 3 games, he’s definitely cooled off