Fall/Winter League Roundup: German impresses, Rafaela wraps up stint in Puerto Rico

Another week of winter ball action is in the books. Down in the Dominican Republic, Victor Santos and Franklin German (pictured) impressed out of the bullpen for their respective clubs. Elsewhere, Jeter Downs was released from the Indios de Mayaguez in Puerto Rico while the Criollos de Caguas announced that Ceddanne Rafaela was done playing for them. In other bullpen-related news, Henry Nunez hurled five scoreless innings of relief for Leones de Ponce, and Darwinzon Hernandez put together two quality outings in Venezuela.

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Dominican Professional Baseball League

Victor Santos made his 11th appearance of the season for Escogido on Friday. The 22-year-old right-hander retired all three batters he faced in a scoreless seventh inning. He now owns a 1.88 ERA and 1.19 WHIP across 14 1/3 innings in this year's Dominican Winter League. Franklin German, meanwhile, got into two games for Aguilas last week. The 25-year-old righty allowed one hit and struck out one over two scoreless frames. In a similar fashion to Santos, German's ERA now sits at 1.88 ERA through 14 1/3 innings of work.

Enmanuel Valdez appeared in one game for Toros del Este last week and went 0 for 2 with a walk. The left-handed hitting 23-year-old is now batting .179/.243/.299 with one home run and six RBIs over 25 games (74 plate appearances) this winter. Narciso Crook, who began the season with the Tigres del Licey, has since moved to the Charros de Jalisco of the Mexican Pacific Winter League. 

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Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League

Jeter Downs was released by Mayaguez on Friday after batting just .146/.263/.188 in 16 games with the club. Ceddanne Rafaela has also played his last game for Caguas, according to general manager Jesus Feliciano. Rafaela, Boston's No. 4 prospect, slashed .262/.368/.369 with one home run and eight RBIs in 19 games this winter. Christian Koss and Matthew Lugo each appeared in six games for Caguas last week. The former went 4 for 18 with four RBIs while the latter went 4 for 19 with two RBIs. Juan Montero went 1 for 8 in three games with Ponce last week. The 20-year-old knocked in a two-run single off former big-leaguer Daryl Thompson on Monday and was also hit by a pitch. 

Henry Nunez enjoyed a very productive week on the mound for Ponce. The 21-year-old righty made two appearances out of the bullpen and tossed five scoreless innings of relief. He lowered his ERA on the season to 2.63 in the process of doing so. Nate Tellier also got into two games for Ponce, but he allowed two earned runs over 2 2/3 innings of work. The Attleboro native's ERA now sits at 5.23 on the year.

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Venezuelan Professional Baseball League

Darwinzon Hernandez got into two games for Lara last week and retired six of the seven batters he faced while allowing one hit and striking out one. The soon-to-be 28-year-old southpaw now owns an ERA of 2.38 and WHIP of 1.15 through his first 12 appearances (11 1/3 innings) of the winter.

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Columbian Professional Baseball League

Ronaldo Hernandez, who was outrighted off Boston's 40-man roster on Friday, continues to play for Tigres de Cartagena. This past week, the 25-year-old backstop went 4 for 19 with one double, two RBIs, and three runs scored. He is now batting .279/.386/.529 on the season. 

Photo Credit: Franklin German by Kelly O'Connor

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