Last night the final ticket for the Caribbean Series was punched by the Cangrejeros de Santurce with their victory over the Indios de Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican Winter League Championship. They won the best-of-7 series four games to two after going just 21-21 in the regular season.
Mets left-handed pitching prospect Joel Huertas pitched 1.2 scoreless innings during the final round for the Cangrejeros. He had a 4.67 ERA in 17.1 regular season innings and struck out 20. We talked about him recently in our Top 80 Prospects countdown.
T.J. Rivera went 1 for 4 for the Indios hitting of the three hole and playing third base. He finishes the playoffs hitting .286 after batting .302/.375/.453 during the regular season.
The Caribbean Series field already included the Dominic League champion Leones del Escogido (Rafael Montero), Venezuelan League champion Tigres de Aragua (No Mets after Wuilmer Becerra left team), Mexican League champion Venados de Mazatlan (No Mets), and the Cuban League champs Ciego de Avila. The Leones are led by St. Lucie Mets manager Luis Rojas and Columbia Fireflies manager who is their bench coach. The GM of the team is former Met outfield Moises Alou.
The tournament will begin on Monday with the Homerun Derby coming on Wednesday night which should be spectacular. The derby includes Robinson Cano, David Ortiz, Miguel Cabrera, Vladimir Guerrero, and Cuban legend Alfredo Despaigne. It will start at 7 p.m. ET and will be shown on ESPN Deportes.
