O’Brien homers three times in six AzFL games

Sorry for the lack of minor league updates, it’s been a busy last few weeks. First, let’s get caught up some notes:

• According to Tyler Emerick, 3B/C Peter O’Brien won the inaugural Bowman Hitting Challenge out in Arizona two weeks ago. As you can see in the video above, it’s basically a glorified homerun derby where the players get points for hitting certain targets. Pretty cool. I wonder how long before MLB adopts something like that to spruce up the Homerun Derby.
• Meanwhile, Josh Norris posted some video of O’Brien taking batting practice and hitting a homerun out in the Arizona Fall League yesterday. The kid’s got power. That’s never been the question.
• MLB reached an agreement with the union and the various winter leagues on guidelines for 40-man roster players wanting to play winter ball, according to Jeff Passan. Teams are concerned about workloads and that stuff, the union wants the players to have the freedom to play, and the winter leagues want the star power of MLB guys. Click the link for all the restrictions and what not.

Now, on to the fall and winter ball action. The seasons are still young, so not much has happened yet:

Arizona Fall League

• OF Tyler Austin: 4 G, 4-12, 2 R, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP (.333/.438/.500)
• 3B/C Peter O’Brien: 6 G, 4-24, 3 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 11 K (.167/.231/.542) — high contact-to-damage ratio /Showalter’d
• OF Mason Williams: 7 G, 7-31, 3 R, 3 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 SB, 1 CS (.226/.250/.323)
• RHP Brett Gerritse: 3 G, 4.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 WP (8.31 ERA, 1.62 WHIP) — just about all of that damage came in his first appearance
• LHP Fred Lewis: 4 G, 4.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 1 WP (0.00 ERA, 2.08 WHIP) — holy strand rate
• LHP Vidal Nuno: 2 G, 2 GS, 6.2 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR (8.10 ERA, 1.80 WHIP) — obviously we have a long way to go before we get there, but you have to think a big league roster spot will be his for the taking in Spring Training, either in the rotation or the bullpen

Dominican Winter League

• OF Zoilo Almonte: 1 G, 1-4 , 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K (.250/.250/1.000)
• C Gary Sanchez: 1 G, 1-3 (.333/.333/.333) — he played 117 games this season (96 at catcher), so I wonder how much he’ll actually play down here … kid is still only 20 years old, after all
• IF Leulgim Barroso, LHP Francisco Rondon, RHP Kelvin Castro, RHP Joel De La Cruz, and OF Kelvin DeLeon are listed on rosters but have not yet appeared in a game.

Mexican Pacific League

• OF Jose Figueroa: 5 G, 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K (.333/.500/.666)
• IF Walt Ibarra: 7 G, 3-23, 2 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 5 K (.130/.130/.174)
• UTIL Ronnie Mustelier: 7 G, 6-25, 2 R, 7 RBI, 6 BB, 4 K (.240/.375/.240)
• RHP Gio Gallegos: 2 G, 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 WP (0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP)
• LHP Manny Banuelos is not listed on a roster, so I guess that means he won’t pitch this winter after missing the season due Tommy John surgery. His winter ball rights are still controlled by his former Mexican League team (I believe).

The Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Puerto Rico) season starts on November 1st. Rosters have not yet been announced.

Venezuelan Winter League

• C Francisco Arcia: 5 G, 4-9, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.444/.500/.444)
• IF Ali Castillo: 8 G, 5-26, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K (.192/.192/..231)
• OF Ramon Flores: 1 G, 0-3 (.000/.000/.000) — he could use a big winter ball showing after a disappointing regular season with Double-A Trenton
• OF Adonis Garcia: 5 G, 5-16, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K (.313/.421/.313)
• C Jose Gil: 5 G, 5-20, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K (.250/.286/.450)
• UTIL Jose Pirela: 9 G, 8-31, 7 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 5 BB, 3 K, 1 CS, 1 HBP (.258/.368/.452)
• C Frankie Cervelli is listed on a roster but has not yet played in a game.