December 21, 2012

Minor League Update

Games of December 20

by Jason Martinez

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Another left-handed reliever got paid on Thursday when Tom Gorzelanny, who has a career 4.41 ERA in 735 career big league innings (2.88 ERA in 45 relief appearances with the Nationals in 2012), agreed to a two-year deal with the Brewers for an estimated $6 million. If you throw left-handed and are halfway decent at pitching, chances are you can get a nice fat paycheck in the major leagues.

This is why a guy like 36 year-old J.C. Romero is pitching this winter in Puerto Rico (1.69 ERA, 10.2 IP, 2 BB, 12 K, 6 Sv), hoping to latch on with another club before Spring Training. He's been with seven different teams and been released five times in the past two years. Still, he'll probably get another opportunity because he's left-handed and has had some past success.

Pedro Feliciano, another 36 year-old lefty pitching in Puerto Rico, can surprisingly still throw a baseball after making 92 appearances with the Mets in 2010. He missed the past two seasons with shoulder trouble but as long as his arm doesn't fall off over the next few weeks, he'll get an invite to Spring Training from some team. So far, so good. Feliciano's left arm is still attached and he's allowed just one earned run and two hits over four innings with one walk and four strikeouts.  

Other notable performances from La Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente  

• Anthony Garcia, OF, St. Louis Cardinals: 3-for-5, HR (2), 2 RBI, K. Drafted as a catcher in the 18th Round of the 2009 draft, Garcia was shifted to the outfield the following year and has shown enough pop to think he can continue to move up the ladder as a corner outfielder. The 20 year-old had 19 homers and 34 doubles in 109 games with Lo-A Quad Cities in 2012 and has solid numbers in Puerto Rico (.801 OPS), although he's done most of his damage against lefties (7-for-11, HR, 2B, 3B, 4 BB).
• Daniel Ortiz, OF, Minnesota Twins: 3-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI. Former 4th Round pick is a 'tweener' (not enough bat for corner outfield, not enough speed for center field), but the 22 year-old is having a terrific season for Mayaguez with a .333 BA, seven doubles, eight walks, and a homer in 30 games.
• Yasiel Puig, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers: 1-for-2, 2 BB. Time to check in on the 42 million dollar man,  who was impressive in 23 games (1.076 OPS) between the Arizona Rookie League and Hi-A California League after signing a seven-year major league deal earlier this year. The 22 year-old out of Cuba is hitting .262 with a homer and three doubles in his first 12 games with Mayaguez.

Notable performances from La Liga Venezuela Beisbol Profesional  

• Freddy Galvis, IF, Philadelphia Phillies: 2-for-4. Extended hitting streak to seven-games (11-for-31, 2 2B), raising his batting average to .298 in 55 games. Did I mention that the 23 year-old Galvis is a defensive whiz? Whenever I write about Galviz, it's mandatory that I call him a 'defensive whiz'.
• Evan Gattis, OF, Atlanta Braves: 2-for-3, HR (14), 3 RBI. The 26 year-old continues to hit home runs and the Braves continue to insist that he has a chance to win the starting left field job in 2013. I doubt that but he could help them at some point next season. 
• Adys Portillo, RHP, San Diego Padres: IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K. When Kevin Goldstein ranked Portillo as the Padres' #7 prospect before the 2010 season, he wrote that he had the ceiling of a 'star-level starter' and was 'loaded with projection'. However, his path to the big leagues, according to Goldstein, was 'going to take a while'. Three years later, we can at least say that the 21 year-old has made some progress -- he dominated in Lo-A during the 1st half of 2012 -- but it's still going to take a while. He recently had six walks in a span of four innings, and since has no walks or runs in his last four innings.