Dominican Update; Yanks Sign an Older Moronta
The Yankees signed Eladio Moronta to a contract after his suspension was lifted. He went from a 17 year old prospect to a 20 year old prospect who will turn 21 in December. He will have to move quickly so the Yankees will probably bring him stateside if he can get a visa. Moronta is supposed to have good speed, a plus arm and projectable power per http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/
It appears to be another tightly contested race in the Dominican with only Estrellas not a winning streak away from taking over the top spot. Below is the update:
Escogido Leones (18-11)
Freddy Guzman has arrived to play for the Lions and after a slow 1 for 7 start has now gone 7 for 16, with five runs scored in three games. Knowing Freddy Guzman, over an extended period of time this is not expected to last. But he is hitting .348. Carlos Gomez has also newly arrived under a new affiliation after getting traded to the Brewers. He got off to a 6 for 18 start with a .520 OBA. Between Freddy and Carlos they can cover are lot of ground in the outfield. Fernando Martinez is also getting some playing time, but has only put in two games, hitting .125 as he takes it slow coming back from his surgery.
Tobi Stoner is turning a bit human giving up three runs in two of his last three starts. At seven starts the Mets will probably soon bring him back home to rest for the regular season. His ERA is currently at 1.94 with a 4-1 record and a .205 opponent average. Merkin Valdez was a pitcher that wowed myworld with his fastball before his arm problems. He has joined the Lions bullpen and didn’t give up a run in three appearances. Someone needs to take over the closer role for Zach Segovia (0.71, 6 saves), who hasn’t pitched since November 14. Santiago Casilla did pick up two saves and hasn’t given up a run in his last six appearances.
Toros del Este (18-12)
A 3-game Toros losing streak have dropped them from the top spot. Gaby Sanchez is a new addition to the Toros. Last year he had an opportunity to win the first base job for the Marlins but failed. This year he hopes a little winter tuneup will keep him fresh. Toros is liking his production as Gaby has bombed three homeruns and driven in 12 in the nine games he has played. He is hitting .276 but that includes a 0 for 7 in his last two games. He already leads the team in homeruns with that production and is second in RBIs.
Fernando Abad has been Mr. consistency, giving up two runs in each of his last four starts, with each outing lasting five innings, give or take an out or two. Jose Lugo got another vulture win last week tying him with team leader Luis Valdez at three wins apiece. Julio Manon doesn’t need any help at the end of the bullpen with 11 saves and a 1.08 ERA, but if he is looking for someone Luis LeBron can throw the heat. Luis hasn’t given up a run in his five appearances, but he averages less than an inning per appearance.
Licey Tigres (17-13)
Elijah Dukes joined the Tigers and blasted two out of the park in the four games he played for them, driving in five and hitting .300. Emilio Bonafacio would like to show the Marlins he can hit and take over at second base if they should choose to trade Dan Uggla. He had a 4-hit game last week and finished 10 for 31 to raise his average to .313. He has only been successful in four of his seven steal attempts. Timo Perez slapped four doubles to raise his total to eight, ripping off a 6-game hitting streak for the week. He is hitting .360. Not even a 6-game hitting streak of 9 for 22 could raise that average.
Oneli Perez picked up two saves to tie Julio Manon for the Dominican lead with 11. His ERA (3.07) is two runs higher than Julio. Daniel Cabrera continues to mystify, walking 14 and striking out just 10 in 19 innings. He’s trying to find his mid to high 90s fastball that has dropped to the pedestrain low 90s range. Opponents are hitting him at a .303 clip and his ERA is at an unattractive 4.66 after six starts. The Dodgers would like to see James McDonald do well, but in three appearances he’s given up at least three runs. He got his first start yesterday where he threw six innings, giving up nine hits and four runs. Opponents are hitting McDonald at a .405 clip.
Aguilas Cibaenas (14-16)
Kory Casto went on a 7 for 15 tear to raise his average to .356. He hit his first homerun of the winter last week to drive in three, which is one more RBI than he has hit in his other 12 games combined. That homerun has been his only extra base hit of the year so far in the Dominican League. Julio Borbon arrived to patrol centerfield for Aguilas and got off to an anemic 6 for 29 start. He stole two bases in the opening game but hasn’t stolen a base since. They have to teach Julio that in the Dominican stealing is not a crime.
John Halama got his sixth straight quality start last week to improve his record to 4-2 and lowering his ERA to 1.64. He threw six innings and only gave up one run. At 37 years old he’s showing some of those youngsters the art of pitching. Lima time has been disappointing. Jose Lima lost his fourth game giving up three runs and six hits in a little over four innings to raise his ERA to 6.07. He’s lost his last four starts to drop to 2-4 and has given up homeruns in his last three games. Ben Jukich threw five innings of shutout ball to get a win and lower his ERA to 2.28 after six starts. He’s only had one bad outing, otherwise his ERA would be phenomenal. He hasn’t given up an earned run in four of his six starts. Jose Vargas has the only two saves Aguilas has had in their 30 games.
Gigantes Cibao (14-16)
Luis Durango is showing he can be an effective leadoff man. The Padres are filled in the outfield, but none with his speed. Last week he was 10 for 23 with three walks. He only stole one base to raise his total to eight. Wilson Betemit has been a good acquistion for the Gigantes. After hitting .154 for Escogido he is hitting .351 for his new team. He went 9 for 23 with seven RBIs. Juan Francisco went 7 for 14 in his last three games with five RBIs.
Jose Capellan won game number three last week. He didn’t give up a run in his six innings of work, striking out six. His ERA plummeted to 3.15. Dario Veras picked up three saves to up his total to seven. He gave up one run in four innings of work to put his ERA at 2.08. He has yet to walk a hitter in 13 innings. Fabio Castro only gave up one earned run in two starts but he still got one loss. He struck out 12 in his nine innings of work and has an ERA of 2.33. Itsuki Shoda from Japan got a start for the Gigantes giving up two runs and seven hits in just over four innings of work. Dominican hitters battered him at a .368 clip. We’ll see if Felix Fermin gives him another start.
Estrellas Oriente (10-20)
Joel Guzman has arrived to do some damage for Estrellas. He hit two homeruns in his first game and hit another one Sunday in his last start. He’s driven in eight runs in his six starts, hitting .375. He’s only 25 if you can believe tha age and at 6′5″ could provide some pop if he can learn to hit the bender. All those curve balls Tommy Lasorda threw at him did him no good (or was that Jose Gonzalez?). His three jacks now lead the team in homeruns.
Evan MacLane took his first loss against Escogido. Evan got ripped for five runs in just over one inning of work to see his ERA rise to 2.63. Prior to that outing five of his six starts he had given up one run or less and the other start he had given up three runs in six starts, which still is considered a quality start.