Getting to Know Enoli Paredes and Cristian Javier

Right-handers Enoli Paredes and Cristian Javier of the Corpus Christi Hooks have a lot in common. They are both from the Dominican Republic. Both were signed for bargain basement prices well after their original eligibility. Both have rapidly ascended the prospect rankings this year. (On MLB Pipeline, Javier went from unrated prior to the season to #10 currently while Paredes rose from a pre-season ranking of #28 to a current ranking of #14.)

Enoli Paredes (Top) and Cristian Javier (Bottom)

August 2019

Photos by Jayne Hansen

And both have had very successful seasons. Through this point in the season, Paredes has a 2.64 ERA and a 0.981 WHIP in 20 appearances (11 starts) between High A Fayetteville and AA Corpus Christi (38 BB:121 K in 88.2 IP). Javier has some eye-popping numbers as well. He has a 1.75 ERA and a 0.984 WHIP in 24 appearances (16 starts) between Fayetteville and Corpus Christi and he leads the Astros minor league affiliates with his 154 strikeouts (55 walks) in 102.2 innings of work.

Corpus Christi Pitching Coach Graham Johnson highlighted some of their differences, "They're both extremely exciting to watch for different reasons. Enoli's just kind of a flamboyant personality. You actually can see it come out in his mechanics and his movements on the mound and even his in-between pitch movements. It's got a little bit of flair to it, a little bit of drama that comes with it. Electric arm, electric body, electric movement, electric stuff. That's kind of the perfect word I would use to describe him. You look at him (Paredes is listed as 5'11" and 168 pounds), and you don't really expect this big time power stuff to be coming at you."

Johnson continued, "Where Javier, it's almost you enjoy watching him more because of results. I don't want to say he always does the same thing, but he's super consistent in his attack in terms of what he's trying to do and it's very successful in terms of that. Both are very, very fun pitchers to watch and (both) go about their business in a very good way."

As Johnson mentioned, Paredes does have a flamboyent personality while Javier is more on the quiet side, but Paredes's personality is infectious and everyone around him gets caught up in that energy, including the quieter Javier. They are both a lot of fun to watch, both on and off the field.