Rays Winter Leagues Recap: Alex Colome Strong for 5th Straight Start

Alex Colome has to be right up there for the best performance by a Tampa Bay Rays prospect in Winter Ball. His results have been excellent in his last five outings, and the long-term impact of his pitching could be significant. The most important number is still Colome’s innings in 2014–now 147.2–but the Leones certainly appreciate his strong performance as well.

Australian Baseball League: Perth Heat 5, Brisbane Bandits 4 (12/13)

Brisbane 5, Perth 4 (12/14)

In the first contest, three of the four Rays prospects on Brisbane deliver huge games. Granden Goetzman went 3 for 5 with a double and 3 RBI, Thomas Coyle went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles, a walk, a stolen base, an RBI, and 2 runs scored, and Johnny Field went 3 for 4 with a double, a walk, and 2 runs scored.

If you’re keeping score at home, those three players combined for all 4 RBI and all 4 runs scored for Brisbane. Unfortunately, it was all wiped away in the bottom of the 9th, when a blown save cost the Bandits the game. Maxx Tissenbaum also went 1 for 4 for Brisbane in the loss.

The second game saw the heroics get more evenly distributed, but the Bandits are just happy about the win. Field did a little bit of everything to help his team, going 2 for 4 with a double, a walk, a stolen base, an RBI, and an outfield assist. It’s a little surprising that the 2014 Rays Minor League Player of the Year is only the second-best Rays prospect on Brisbane (to Coyle), but can we really quibble with his .275/.376/.516 line?

Tissenbaum also performed quite well, going 2 for 3 with 2 doubles, a walk, an RBI, and 2 runs scored. Tissenbaum is in an Alex Colome-esque situation with his catching reps being more important than his performance, but the fact that he has delivered a .328/.416/.507 line is icing on the cake.

Dominican Winter League: Leones del Escogido 6, Tigres del Licey 3

We had an all Rays-related pitching matchup in this one, and it was Alex Colome and the Leones coming out ahead. Colome went 5 innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, striking out 6 while walking 1. Since a horrific first start, Colome now has a 2.81 ERA and a 22-8 strikeout to walk ratio in 25.2 innings pitched over his last five outings. He is positioning himself well to take hold of the Rays’ fifth starter spot for 2015.

On the other side, Ramon Ortiz went 4 innings allowing 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 2 while walking 1. Ortiz continued to pitch relatively well at age 41, but his durability may not be what it once was as he has completed 5 innings just once in his last five starts. Jose Ruiz also got into the game for Licey, going 1 for 4 with a run scored.

Mexican Pacific League: Naranjeros de Hermosillo 5, Venados de Mazatlán 4

Olmo Rosario had a huge game in the loss for the Venados, going 4 for 4 with 2 doubles and a run scored. Rosario now has a five-game hitting streak and is up to .305/.370/.467 on the season. Rosario delivered just one hit in each of the first three games of the hitting streak and it looked like he was cooling down, but here he is picking it up again.

More from Rays Prospects

• Tampa Bay Rays: Erik Neander has turned this team into a 26-man wrecking machine
• Tampa Bay Rays’ future arrives (hopefully) on Monday night with Shane Baz
• Who should the Tampa Bay Rays call-up when rosters expand?
• Tampa Bay Rays 2021 First Round Draft target: Gavin Williams
• Tampa Bay Rays 2021 Draft target: Colson Montgomery

The only other Rays-related player in this game is an extremely obscure one. A name that I came across in my Rays Rule 5 history research was Adan Munoz. Munoz is a career Mexican Leaguer, playing just one season in affiliated ball in his 17-year career, but the Rays actually selected him in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 Draft in 2003. Munoz never played a game in the system, heading back to Mexico instead. In any event, Munoz pinch-hit for Hermosillo and walked.

Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League: Congrejeros de Santurce 1, Gigantes de Carolina 0

Despite a .328 average in 14 games for the team, Brendan Harris has left the Charros de Jalisco of the MPL to head to the RCPBL. Luckily for us, he joined Carolina, where we already have three players we have been covering (only two of whom appeared in this game).

In his Gigantes debut, Harris went 1 for 2 with a walk. Jesus Feliciano, meanwhile, went 1 for 4 with an outfield assist while Danny Dorn went 1 for 4 with a double.