The Dominican Summer League Astros Season in Review

The DSL season is over and what an improvement over last year! Let's look at how their season compares to 2012.

2012 Win Percentage - .319
2013 Win Percentage - .557

2012 Runs Scored - Runs Allowed = Run Differential - 254 - 383 = (129)
2013 Runs Scored - Runs Allowed = Run Differential - 270 - 230 = 40

2012 Team ERA & WHIP - 4.19 & 1.494
2013 Team ERA & WHIP - 2.35 & 1.127

2012 Team Batting Line - .215/.301/.285
2013 Team Batting Line - .231/.317/.313

The offense was still a bit lackluster, but that pitching? Wow! Let's look at the offense first, though. Out of 35 teams, the DSL Astros ranked 20th in batting average, 27th in on-base percentage and 19th in slugging percentage. They ranked 29th in drawing walks (bad) and 29th in striking out (good). But even though the team numbers weren't at the top offensively, there were a few standouts on the team.

2B Jean Estrella ranked 19th in the league in batting average with a .341 mark. He also led the DSL Astros in batting average and in on-base percentage (.380) for those with significant playing time. It is small wonder that the Astros promoted him to the Gulf Coast League recently so that he can get his feet wet before next season. And did I mention that Estrella doesn't turn 18 until next April? Yeah.

CF Luis Payano also provided some excitement for the DSL team. Although, he only had a .226 batting average, he ranked high on the team in terms of slugging percentage. Payano led the team in doubles with 13, and also had three triples and three home runs, and was the RBI leader on the team. Payano was also second on the team in stolen bases and ranked 19th in the league in runs scored. He won't turn 18 until next May.

1B/OF Hector Roa led the team with a .423 slugging percentage and seven home runs. He also hit 11 doubles and three triples in his 56 games. Roa was also recently promoted to the GCL. He will be 19 in March.

C Marlon Avea and C Brian Pena tied for the second highest on-base percentage on the team behind Jean Estrella and both showed good defensive skills as well with Avea catching 44 of 90 (49%) would be base-stealers and Pena catching 27 of 61 (44%). Avea will turn 20 in August and Pena turned 19 in June.

Now, for that pitching ... the team ranked second out of 35 teams in ERA (2.35) and WHIP (1.127). They were sixth in the league in strikeouts and 21st in issuing free passes. And there were several pitchers on the team that bear watching going forward.

RHP Harold Arauz was 17th in the league in ERA (1.91) and second in WHIP with a very stingy 0.894 mark. Opposing batters only hit .195 against him. He walked 12 batters while striking out 43 in his 66 innings. He just turned 18 in May.

LHP Edwin Villarroel, who also turned 18 in May, had a 2.51 ERA and a 1.144 WHIP in his 14 starts. He walked 14 and struck out 44 in 64+ innings.

RHP Elieser Hernandez fell just short of the innings requirement to be a league leader. Had he not, his 1.26 ERA would rank third in the league and his 0.994 WHIP would rank eighth. He walked 21 and struck out 46 in 57+ innings, and batters only hit .184 against him. Hernandez also turned 18 in May. In addition, 20-year old RHP Gerardo Juarez put up a 1.86 ERA in 53+ innings, and a WHIP of 0.884 that would have ranked him second in the league if he had enough innings to qualify. Juarez was also promoted to the GCL recently.

RHP Angel Heredia was tied for third in the league in saves with 13. He sported a 1.18 ERA and a 1.211 WHIP and a 46:15 SO:BB ratio. Rounding out the bullpen were RHP Yonquelys Martinez (1.74 ERA/.0839 WHIP in 19 appearances), LHP Cristhopher Santamaria (0.73 ERA/0.730 WHIP in 15 appearances) and relative newcomer LHP Starlyng Sanchez (1.12 ERA/1.000 WHIP in 8 appearances) with particularly good seasons. Santamaria is yet another young player who won't turn 18 until next June.

In addition to those named, there were another five pitchers with a 3.00 ERA or lower and four of those five had WHIP's topping out at 1.108. That's impressive to say the least!

All in all, the Astros front office has to be happy with the improvements to the DSL team over last season. Long-time Astros Pitching Coach Rick Aponte certainly seems to have made an impact with the young staff in his first season back with the DSL in several years.