Dominican Summer League Season Recap - Pitching

Earlier this week, I took a look at the offense on the Dominican Summer League teams which recently ended their seasons. Today, let's look at some of the pitching standouts from the two teams. (Despite some of the team stats, there were indeed several individual standouts!)

Orange Team
5.12 ERA - 35th out of 36 teams
1.580 WHIP - 33rd
511 SO - 23rd
299 BB - 15th

Blue Team
3.33 ERA - 16th
1.284 WHIP - 13th
513 SO - 21st
253 BB - 24th

The pitchers from the DSL teams skew slightly older than many of the offensive players that I featured in Tuesday's post, but most of them are in their first professional season. I will indicate below the player's current age with his birthday in parentheses and any who are in anything other than their first season. Any players who were promoted to the GCL or above prior to the end of the season will be addressed in the season recap for that team.

LEFTY STARTERS

LHP Salvador Montano - 20 (7/14)
In 15 games (11 starts), Montano had a 7-3 record with a 2.24 ERA, 1.212 WHIP and held batters to a .236 batting average. He was second in the league with 87 strikeouts (to 23 walks) in his 64.1 innings of work. He had the highest strikeout rate per nine innings (12.2) and highest groundball out to air out ratio (1.71) in this group of starters. He is from the Dominican Republic.

LHP Carlos Hiraldo - 18 (7/15)
In 52 innings, the Dominican lefty had a 3.81 ERA and a 1.442 WHIP. Those numbers are not indicative of his improvement in July and August. In 15 games (10 starts), Hiraldo walked 27 while striking out 39, and held hitters to a .244 batting average.

LHP Edwin Villarroel - 19 (5/18); 3rd season
The Venezuelan born Villarroel appeared in 14 games (nine starts) and compiled a 3-4 record with a 4.10 ERA and a 1.298 WHIP in 59.1 innings. Batters hit .274 against him. He walked 13 batters while striking out 41 and had one of the higher ground out to air out ratios on the team at 1.56.

RIGHT-HANDED STARTERS

RHP Edgardo Sandoval - 18 (7/9)
Sandoval, who hails from Panama, leads this group with his 4.18 strikeout to walk ratio. In 50.2 innings pitched, he walked 11 batters while striking out 46. He compiled a 3-1 record with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.145 WHIP in 12 games (seven starts). Sandoval held batters to a .237 average. In August, he had a 0.00 ERA and a 0.706 WHIP.

RHP Erasmo Pinales - 19 (11/25); 2nd year (kind of)
Technically, it is the young Dominican's second season, but since he only pitch 0.2 innings in his first season, that shouldn't really count. Arguably, Pinales had the best season out of this group of starters. He pitched the most innings (71.2),  and had the lowest ERA (2.13), the lowest WHIP (0.949) and the lowest batting average against (.192). In August, he was even better as he held batters to a .137 average and had a 0.86 ERA and a 0.619 WHIP. His WHIP for the season ranked 16th best in the DSL. In 15 games (14 starts), Pinales walked 18 batters while striking out 63.

RHP Moreno Polanco - 20 (7/29)
Also from the Dominican Republic, Polanco had a 2-3 record with a 2.27 ERA and a 1.406 WHIP in 47.2 innings in his first professional season. In 13 games (12 starts), he walked 29 batters while striking out 33, and held batters to a .221 average.

RHP Carlos Pizzolato - 18 (3/6)
From Venezuela, Pizzolato pitched 41.2 innings in 13 games (six starts), going 2-3 with a 2.59 ERA, a 1.248 WHIP and a .228 batting average against. He walked 16 while striking out 29.

RHP Albert Abreu - 18 (9/26)
Abreu, from the Dominican Republic, started all 14 of the games in which he appeared. In 68 innings, he had a 3-2 record, a 2.78 ERA, a 1.132 WHIP and held hitters to a .197 average. He walked 29 batters while striking out 54. Abreu was coming on strong in August with a 0.61 ERA and a 0.955 WHIP for that month.

STARTER/RELIEVERS
This trio spent more time relieving than starting, but did get a few starts under their belts.

RHP Carlos Sanabria - 17 (1/24)
Sanabria (11 games/3 starts) had a 2.82 ERA and a 1.617 WHIP, but was more effective in relief (2.00 ERA/1.444 WHIP). The young Venezuelan walked 18 while striking out 25 in 38.1 innings.

RHP Abdiel Saldana - 18 (3/13)
From Panama, Saldana started four of his 15 games and went 4-1 with one save. For the season, he had a 3.44 ERA and a 1.228 WHIP in 49.2 innings pitched, and a 3.03 ERA and a 1.281 WHIP in relief. Of all the relievers being featured, Saldana had the highest rate of strikeouts per nine innings (44 strikeouts to 15 walks) and the highest ground out to air out ratio (1.55 GO/AO).

RHP Jose Rosario - 19 (2/15)
Similarly to Sanabria and Saldana, Rosario was better as a reliever (2.52 ERA/0.981 WHIP) than as a starter (3.80 ERA/1.162 WHIP). In 16 games (3 starts), he was 2-4 with one save. His 35 strikeouts to 11 walks in 47.1 innings was the highest ratio out of the relievers being mentioned. He is from the Dominican Republic

RELIEVERS

RHP Josue Uribe - 19 (2/6)
Uribe, from the Dominican Republic, is the relief star of the group. He has the lowest ERA (1.08), WHIP (1.000) and opposing batting average (.129) of the group. In 16 games (25.1IP), Uribe was 2-2 with four saves. He walked 14 while striking out 16.

LHP Luis Ramirez - 18 (11/27)
This Venezuelan lefty didn't join the team until July 17th, but was impressive in his abbreviated season. In seven games (17.2IP), Ramirez was 1-2 with two saves, a 2.55 ERA and a 1.019 WHIP. He held batters to a .203 average and walked six batters while striking out 15.

RHP Diogenes Almengo - 19 (6/2)
Similarly, Almengo didn't join the team until July 22nd and was just starting to get in a groove as the season ended. In six games (18IP), he had a 3.50 ERA and a 1.389 WHIP, but in his final three outings in August (13IP), he had a 0.69 ERA and a 0.923 WHIP. It's a small sample size, but I'll definitely be keeping my eye on him. He is from the Dominican Republic.

RHP Lachlan Madden - 18 (6/3)
One of the Australian contingent playing for the Astros in the DSL this season, Madden pitched in 15 games (22IP) with a 3.27 ERA and a 1.273 WHIP. That's not bad, but what is really impressive is that Madden did not allow a run in his final seven appearances. Madden was 2-1 with five saves. He walked seven batters (three intentionally) while striking out 16.

RHP Joel Belboder - 18 (10/5)
Belboder appeared in 20 games (one start) and was 4-2 with two saves. In 40.1 innings, the young Dominican walked 15 batters while striking out 25, and had a 3.38 ERA and 1.325 WHIP. He had the lowest ground out to air out ratio of this group (0.77), but despite being more of a flyball pitcher, he only allowed two home runs.

There were two additional relievers who didn't have the best of seasons overall, but who piqued my interest with strong performances in August to end the season: 18-year-old Panamanian Jose Ramos (1.13 ERA/0.875 WHIP in August); and 17-year-old Dominican Bryan Abreu (1.50 ERA/1.000 WHIP in August).

Early next week, we'll take a look at the Gulf Coast League team who just finished their season yesterday.