October 28, 2019 at 1:00 PM
Fall/Winter League Roundup: Duran ends the AFL on a high note
We continue our weekly roundups of the Fall and Winter Leagues, highlighting performances from players in the Red Sox organization. Coverage will continue every Monday into January. For the full list of Red Sox prospects participating in these leagues, check out our Fall & Winter Leagues page, which will be updated continuously through January. This week's roundup covers the period of October 21 to October 27.
Arizona Fall League
The Arizona Fall League came to an end on Saturday with Salt River topping Surprise in the championship game. The Peoria Javelinas finished 14-15 on the season, but went 3-7 over their last 10 games as they struggled down the stretch.
While the team was sputtering Jarren Duran (pictured, right) was still producing, as he went 5 for 13 with a double and three stolen bases last week. That brought his season line up to .267/.337/.400 with seven stolen bases while being caught twice. It was a light week of action for both C.J. Chatham and Brett Netzer, as Chatham went 2 for 6 with a walk and a stolen base, while Netzer went 1 for 4 with three strikeouts. Chatham finished the fall hitting .243/.289/.314 with four steals, while Netzer hit .200/.273/.250 with 10 strikeouts in 20 at-bats.
On the mound Tanner Houck turned in another strong start, allowing one run over four innings while walking three and striking out six. In all he struck out 26 and walked 12 while pitching to a 3.47 ERA over 23 1/3 innings. Bryan Mata got into only one game and walked two and struck out one in a shutout inning. He allowed only five hits in 10 1/3 innings this fall, but walked 11 and struck out 10 as his control issues held him back. Jhonathan Diaz allowed two runs on three hits in his lone inning last week which raised his ERA to 4.35 over 10 1/3 innings. Diaz did miss a lot of bats, as he struck out 16 and walked six.
Marcus Wilson did not appear in a game since October 11 as he was sidelined by hamstring tightness. In his eight games with Peoria Wilson hit .333/.412/.467 with a home run and eight RBI.
Asian Baseball Championship
While the tournament ended on October 20 with Taiwan winning its first title in 18 years, the Red Sox signed the Most Valuable Player from this tournament on Wednesday. Liu Chih-Jung struck out six and did not allow a run over 3 1/3 innings as him and Tzu-Wei Lin helped lead Taiwan to the championship. The 20-year-old right-hander has a fastball that reportedly can hit 98.
Photo Credit: Jarren Duran by Kelly O'Connor