The Caribbean Winter Leagues continues, and the Australian Baseball League (ABL) got underway on Thursday night Down Under).

 

The story continues to be Luis Arraez who had another strong week. He had been named the league's player of the week for the second time last week.VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE

 

Ryan O'Rourke was back on the mound for a start this week, his third start in Venezuela. He went four innings and gave up one run on five hits. He walked one and struck out four.

 

Overall, he has reduced his season ERA over 13 points in the last two weeks, largely due to the low innings. Overall, he is 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. However, in his three starts, he has a 1.64 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP in 11 innings.

 

Victor Tademo and Edwar Colina did not play again this week.

 

Niko Goodrum had an 0-5 game on Sunday and was back in Georgia on Tuesday, his six week stint in Venezuela complete. He hit .284/.354/.431 (.785) with eight doubles, three triples, a home run and eight RBI in 116 at bats.

 

Luis Arraez played in three games in the week. He went 8-13 (.615). He had a two-hit game and two, three-hit games.

 

We wrote often in-season about his multi-hit games. How do these stats sound:

• In his last five games, Luis Arraez is 12-21 (.571)
• In his last ten games, Luis Arraez is 24-42 (.571).
• In the month of November (11 games), Luis Arraez is 26-48 (.541).
• In his last 12 games, Luis Arraez is 28-51 (.549).
• Overall in 119 at bats, he has hit .387/.414/.546 (.960) with seven doubles and six triples.

PUERTO RICO WINTER LEAGUE

 

Juan Centeno was outrighted by the Twins on Friday. No word yet on if he will choose the most likely route, free agency. So, we'll keep him on the list. He played in three games this week and went 2-8 (.250). In 36 at-bats, he is hitting .167/.231/.194 (.425) with a double.

 

Kennys Vargas played in just two games and went 1-8 with four strikeouts. In 40 total at-bats, he is hitting .175/.283/.300 (.583) with two doubles and a homer.

 

JJ Fernandez played in four games. He went 2-12 (.167) with three RBI. He walked twice and struck out six times. Overall, he is hitting .220/.289/.390 (.679) with two doubles, a triple and a homer.

 

Nelson Molina didn't play this week. Lean Marrero pinch ran once.

 

 

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE

 

Confesor Larapitched 1.1 innings in one appearance. He walked one and struck out one without allowing a run. That gives him a 1.80 ERA in 10 games and 10 innings pitched. He has a 0.90 WHIP.

 

Leonardo Reginnato went 1-8 in the three games he played this week. In 33 at-bats, he is hitting .182/.250/.182.

 

Daniel Palka played in five games this week. He was 2-13 (.154) with his third home run. He walked four times and struck out four times. In 73 at-bats he is hitting .205/.280/.370 (.650) He has three doubles to go with the three homers.

 

Palka was added to the 40-man roster on Friday. He let me know that he will be heading back to the States to start his offseason at Thanksgiving.

 

AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE

 

The season began with a single game on Thursday night in Australia (which, of course, in Thursday morning in the States).

 

To this point, the lone Twins minor leaguer to play is Aaron Whitefield. He's playing in the outfield for Brisbane. He finished helping the Australian U23 team to a second-place finish just a week earlier. In his first three games, he is 3-9 (.333) with a double and three RBI heading into Sunday games.

 

Aside from that, there are a lot of former Twins minor leaguers who are playing in Australia. He's a list of who appears on the team rosters:

 

Adelaide - Loek Van Mil, Matthew Williams

Sydney - Josh Guyer, Josh Dean, Jacob Younis (He had been named Best Hitter at the U23 tournament)

Perth - Luke Hughes is on the roster and is the hitting coach.

Melbourne - Peter Moylan is pitching and the pitching coach. Mark Hamburger was their Opening Night starter and recorded the win with five innings of one-run ball. Allan de San Miguel is catching and already has two homers (in two games). Finally, former Twins minor leaguer (and big leaguer) and current GCL Twins pitching coach Virgil Vasquez is also on the roster.

 

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It would be a fun winter during retirement to head down to Australia and watch baseball all winter long.

 

It would be a fun winter during retirement to head down to Australia and watch baseball all winter long.

 

I think that would be awesome! They generally only play Friday, Saturday and Sundays, so you'd have days to sit on the beach or tour or whatever you like.

Wow where did Arraez's power come from?

 

I still think he is going to struggle when he faces better pitcher but what he is doing has been fun to watch