Progress of Top Dominican Prospects in the National League
1. Pedro Alvarez 3B (Pirates) - Born in the Dominican Repbulic but raised in the United States, he is seeing the world in his first year as a major leaguer after being drafted by the Pirates in the first round in 2008. He first started in Lynchburg where he struggled with a .247 average, slugging 14 homeruns. Despite the struggles he was promoted to Altoona where he clicked, hitting .333 with 13 homeruns. Despite his improved hitting numbers his RBI production was better when he hit .247. He then went to Germany and Italy where he represented the United States in their gold medal performance in the World Cup. Pedro hit .261 with five homeruns and 12 RBIs as one of the big sticks in the United States lineup. He’s a player that will need to watch his body to stay in shape so he can continue to play an adequate defense at third. There are some that feel he is destined for first base. He is listed on the Estrellas roster for the Domincan league but he has not made an appearance there yet. With a good spring he could occupy a spot on the Pirates roster next year, though the odds are best that he starts in AAA with a promotion in mid year. The Pirates do not want to start his service time too early.
2. Fernando Martinez OF (Mets) - Another year that Fernando would like to forget. When you miss significant portions of four seasons in a row because of injuries you start becoming a player that a team can not rely on. His injury history is beginning to make Eric Davis look like an iron man. This year was his perfect opportunity to make an impact with the Mets major league roster decimated by injuries. Fernando had played 45 games in Buffalo and hit .290 with eight homeruns. With the injuries on the roster that deserved a callup. Fernando could only survive 29 games before a right knee injury that required surgery ended his season. When up he only hit .176, so there was no certainity that he would have played all year if his hitting didn’t pick up. So to summarize, in 2006 he missed significant time with a bone bruise in his hand and a knee sprain; in 2007 it was a broken hammate bone; 2008 he had hamstring problems and now 2009 knee surgery. He has always been one of the younger players in the leagues so perhaps his body wasn’t mature enough to take the impact of playing with the older players. Or perhaps he will just always be injury prone. Fernando is on the roster for Escogido but with his injury it would be a surprise to see him play.
3. Angel Villalona 1B (Giants) - Angel could be a wash. His power numbers have been dropping with each higher level he’s played, falling to a .397 slugging with eight homeruns in his full season in the California League. He only hit .267. With his big body he had to move from third base to first. Those are not the kind of numbers you want to see from your first baseaman. When the season ended he returned to the Dominican Republic, allegedly argued over a man sitting in his seat in the VIP section of a bar and when he wouldn’t leave shot him dead. Now he is sitting in a Dominican jail. Like Ugueth Urbina before him you may not see anymore of Angel on the playing field if he doesn’t beat the murder rap. And Ugueth is serving 14 years in a Venezuelan prison for attempted murder. Angel killed his man. He has pleaded innocent to the murder charge and is being held in a Domincan jail for two months while authorities prepare their case. If convicted he could serve 20 years in prison. He is listed on the Toro’s roster, but since he won’t be out of jail until late November at the earliest, you may not see a winter league appearance from him either.
4. Wilin Rosario C (Rockies) - Another player that had a tough year, playing only 58 games because of a wrist injury. He hit only .266 with four homeruns, but his 33 RBIs in only 58 games was pretty impressive production. This was his first opportunity at a full season league and playing more than 70 professional games. His previous experience has been in Rookie level leagues. He is healthy now and playing in the AFL where he is hitting .278 with four homeruns in 10 games, driving in only six with those four bombs. His strikeout difficulties continue with 11. When the AFL season ends it wouldn’t surprise myworld to see him hook up with a Dominican team if his wrist is deemed fully healthy. As a young player with limited playing time he needs the reps behind the plate to improve his game calling ability.
5. Welington Castillo C (Cubs) - Wellington also struggled in 2009, hitting only .232. It’s his fifth year in the Cubs system and he has yet to play 100 games in a season. With Soto struggling this year it was Castillo’s opportunity to show the Cubs they had options. Castillo couldn’t take advantage. He is seeing some playing time with the Mesa Solar Sox in the AFL, only appearing in four games but taking advantage of his opportunities there, hitting .357 with one homerun.
6. Hector Gomez SS (Rockies) - He is reputed to be a better defensive player than Troy Tulowitski, but he will never hit as well as Troy. To get an opportunity to play at the major league level, Hector will have to do that with another team. At least he got to play this year after missing all but three at bats of last year after fouling a ball off his left shin that resulted in a fracture and then missing the rest of the season after hurting his elbow during rehab, requiring surgery. While he only played in 83 games in 2009 he did hit .275 with seven homeruns. He is playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the AFL where his is hitting .286. The Rockies will probably move him to AA to start 2010 and if they need help for their major league roster for the 2010 playoff run Hector will be trade bait.
7. Juan Francisco 3B (Reds) - The Reds created an opening at third by trading Edwin Encarnacion. Juan can hit for some pop with 27 homeruns in 2009, a career high. There is concern that he will grow out of his position. They would prefer not to have to choose between Yonder Alonso or Juan Francisco as their future firstbaseman. To do that Juan will have to keep his weight in check and watch his cerveza and tortilla consumption. He hit for decent average this year, hitting .281 in AA and ripping AAA at a .359 clip in only 22 games. That got him a major league promotion where he upped his average even more, hitting .429 in his 14 major league games. With the Reds cutting pay roll Juan has an excellent opportunity to start the season with the Reds. Next year Scott Rolen will be on the last year of an 8 year $90 million contract that he wasted with injury time, but at least it has been spread over three teams With the Reds cutting contracts he will be one of the first they try to move, givng Franciso an excellent opportunity.
8. Jefry Marte 3B (Mets) - Jefry hit only .233 with six homeruns in a disappointing low A season. He needs to improve on that 25 to 117 walk to K ratio if he wants to improve that average as he rises up the minor league ranks. He will probably also see a move to the outfield after Wilmer Flores moves to third base, but Jefry is only 18 so he still has a lot of developing to do. Most his age would have been graduating from high school and playing their first season in rookie ball in 2009. Jefry was playing in low A and getting some pretty impressive batting practice pops. If only they could ban the curve ball once the game starts. Jefry still has some maturing to do and hopefully he will learn to lay off the breaking curve ball that dives in the dirt and hammer the hanging one.
9. Felipe Paulino RHP (Astros) - Felipe has to overcome his inconsistency. After missing all but one game in 2008 he started out with two impressive starts in AAA, resulting in a promotion to the Astros. His opening day start was impressive, but after that his lack of command caught up to him the hitters deposited many balls over the wall. Felipe spent the rest of the year bouncing between AAA and the major leagues. He finished with seven starts in AAA with a 3.12 ERA. While those numbers look impressive his 23 to 29 walk to K ratio tells another story. In 23 games, 17 starts in the major league his numbers were not near as good, finishing 3-11, 6.27. He gave up 20 bombs in only 97 innings of work. He has hit triple digits with his fastball, so those are the arms you don’t give up on too quickly. He will be given another opportunity to squeeze into the starting rotation and at 26 he is getting too long in the tooth to still be considered a prospect.
10. Rafael Rodriguez OF (Giants) - At 6′5″ he has impressive size. The Giants also signed him for $2.55 million, about $400,000 more than they spent for Angel. They have to hope they have better luck with Rafael. For a 17 year old skipping the Dominican league and moving straight to the Arizona league to compete against the top high school competetion, his numbers were pretty good when you consdier he should have still been a junior in high school himself. Rafael hit .299 with no homeruns, but as he matures the homers should come. He has the arm for right but his speed may limit him to left. He will slow down as he gains weight when he continues to grow in size.