All stats are from the period between December 3 and 8. 

This week’s update includes World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval’s winter debut, Hector Sanchez being off the chain, few precious details about the guys in the lesser known Colombian and Nicaraguan leagues, and a neat little note about an upcoming All-Star Game.

Let’s get into it with notes from the Dominican League.

Aguilas: Joaquin Arias sat for about a week after his winter debut November 25 but returned to the Aguilas lineup with four hits in three straight games. He went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI December 7 against Este. Arias has 18 at-bats so far.

Cibao: Edward Concepcion returned to action December 4 with the dreaded appearance: one run allowed with no outs recorded. Guy can’t catch a break. Thanks to the bad day, his winter ERA stands at 27.00 (three runs over one inning)… Francisco Peguero went hitless in three games last week. He’s not seeing the ball well at all with 13 strikeouts and one walk over his last 10 games. His season batting average for Cibao is .197…Adalberto Mejia, Luis Rojas, and Rafael Rodriguez did not play.

Escogido: Jackson Williams picked up three hits last week, including a double. He also walked twice in the December 3 contest against rival club Escogido. Those were his first walks all winter…Justin Fitzgerald, Kelvin Marte, and Roger Kieschnick did not play.

Estrellas: Omar Javier had a rough outing December 7 when he allowed six runs in 2/3 innings. The worst part is all six runs were unearned. The same thing happened to him in his last start, when he allowed three runs, all unearned. The good or bad luck has his ERA at 1.82 despite 15 runs allowed over 24 2/3 innings this winter.

Este: Fabio Castillo is still looking good for los Toros in relief, with another 1 2/3 scoreless innings over two appearances last week. He allowed one hit November 5 against Escogido. Castillo hasn’t allowed a run since November 28. You have to go back to November 20 to find the last game where he allowed an earned run. His winter ERA is 0.66 in 13 2/3 innings…Angel Villalona did not play.

Licey: Willy Lebron and Juan Ciriaco did not play. Que aburrido.

Tuesday features the stars from the Dominican League against the stars from the Venezuelan League in an All-Star clash. I can’t find details on where the game will be held, but I’ll write about it in next week’s update if any Giants are in the game.

What a perfect segue to the Venezuelan League notes.

Margarita: Yusmeiro Petit threw an absolute gem December 5 in a win over Caracas: eight scoreless innings, three hits, and three strikeouts. Okay, so he walked four, but Petit earned his first win of the winter and pitched the best game of the year, including his exploits in Fresno and San Francisco…Boof Bonser and Mitch Lively did not play.

Lara: Guillermo Quiroz had two hits in 16 at-bats last week and picked up a pair of RBIs. He’s had a lot of work in the Venezuelan League with 114 at-bats…Edwin Escobar did not play.

Caracas: The downward spiral continues for Daniel Mayora. He appeared in only one game last week and went 0-for-4. He’s hitting .227 over his last 10 games. I also realized he’s 27. I feel silly for pushing him as an option for the Giants. Mea culpa…Jesus Galindo did not play.

Magallanes: Pablo Sandoval showed no signs of slowing down after his power show in the World Series with a huge 2012 Venezuelan debut last week. He has five hits in 15 at-bats and he went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs on December 8 against Caracas. They love the Panda in his home country league. Every year he returns to play there and the media and fans go ape crazy. We echo the sentiment stateside…Jean Machi threw 2/3 innings in one appearance last week and gave up one hit and no runs. He’s working to whittle down his inflated 7.20 ERA with two scoreless efforts in December.

La Guaira: Hector Sanchez won’t be outdone by his San Francisco teammate. The catcher is killing it for La Guaira with a five-game hitting streak and a .343 batting average since November 23. He connected for his first home run of the winter on December 4 against Anzoategui and drove in four runs that game…Ehire Adrianza did not play.

Down in the Puerto Rican League, Johnny Monell is officially bananas and Gaspar Santiago is pitching well.

Santiago got back on track with two strong outings last week. He pitched three innings and allowed two hits and two walks. I’ve had my eye on Santiago for a while and I’d like to see what he can do, even if his 2012 year with Salem-Keizer was disappointing (22 2/3 innings, 15 appearances, and 16 walks)…Monell is the hottest hitter in any league right now, with a .339 overall average and a .382 clip over his last 10 games. Monell hit safely in three straight games and had two doubles and two home runs. The catcher has five homers and 12 RBIs in 56 at-bats but I like his walk rate more: 12 walks to 10 strikeouts…Cristian Otero did not play.

I was able to get some information on happenings in the Colombian League!

Leonardo Fuentes’ club, Cartagena, is a half game behind league leading Monteria. Fuentes saw action in one game and went 1-for-3 with a double…Carlos Willoughby is on the top club in the league. At 10-7 Monteria has the best record. Willoughby hasn’t played yet.

In Nicaragua, Wilber Bucardo keeps getting better.

Bucardo got the start December 4 for Leon and was superb with five innings, five hits, a walk, and a strikeout. He runs his record to 3-1. Sadly his club (Leones de Leon, heh) has the worst record in the league at 11-16, seven games back of first place.

Cameron Lamb went to the Houston Astros in the minor league portion of the Rule V draft, so he will no longer be included in these updates. Also, the Australian Baseball League will not be featured unless another Giants pitcher turns up there.

There’s another month left to the main winter leagues and the smaller leagues (Colombia and Nicaragua) run into January. So you’re stuck with me until the end of the year. Here’s a quick guide for the regular season end dates of each league.

See you next week!