Cleveland Sports Forum

Steven Wright will debut this Tuesday at GC
Written by Johanna Nunez | Press Department | Lions of the Chosen

Tuesday October 16, 2012 7:27

SANTO DOMINGO -

Escogido Leones (0-1) travel Tuesday to San Francisco de Macoris to face the Cibao Gigantes (0-1) in the first clash between the two teams. Steven Wright is the starter for the Leones. He is a righty of the Boston Red Sox who worked mostly in Double-A and had four starts in Triple A.

Wright had a 10-7 record with a 2.54 ERA in 25 appearances. He began the season with the Cleveland Indians 9-6 and 2.49 compiled with the Akron team in the Eastern League. Moving to Boston, he was with Portland in the same league and won his only game with six innings of one run before being promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket, where he compiled 0-1 with 3.15.

The Gigantes will have the righty Kyler Newby who worked at Double-A Baltimore Orioles. Newby served as a reliever and was 5-4 with 2.44 and 19 savamentos with Bowie. In 55.1 innings pitched 42 games and struck out 74 with 21 walks.

Too bad. I liked Wright. He was just starting to get his knuckle ball working when he was traded.

I was at a Pawsox playoff game in August. Wright was hit hard the first 2 innings but got his knuckleball to dance after that and shut the other team right down. His catcher had trouble holding it.

Looked pretty good to me.

Sea!

I don't know who Wright was coached by down in Panama last winter, but I watched the stats of Wright, Murata, and Salazar quite closely. Whoever the coach was, he did pretty damned good by all three of those pitchers as their seasons this summer showed. Those three pitchers brought home a championship for the Roneros. Wright started off with quite a few walks the first couple of games he pitched. But, as you saw in Pawtucket, settled in quite nicely in Panama also. The walks to strikeouts, strikeouts to walks ratio completely reversed themselves by the third/fourth games. Maybe Wright can pick up a few pointed from Wakefield. It will be interesting to see what kind of winter and spring he has. Perhaps a shot at a pen job in Boston ?!?!?

Caracas Leones, Jesus Aguilar (.188) had some bench time this evening to think about those 8 k's in his last 9 at bats.

Caracas Leones, Hector Rondon (27.00) came on in relief early (4th inning) pitched a perfect third of an inning to get Victor Garate out of a big jam. Caracas beat Lara 3-1.

Caracas Leones, Gregorio Petit (.167) was 0-2 but did score once.

Estrellas Oriente, Juan Diaz (.250) was 1-4 in his debut, scored a run, walked, and struckout.

Licey Tigres, Danny Salazar (2.25) 0-1 was charged with the loss. Danny pitched two innings in relief, gave up 3 hits, 1 earned run, walked 0, and struckout 4. Danny Salazar holding his own in the tough Dominican League.

Estrellas Top of the 4th

Pitching Change: Danny Salazar replaces Carlos Perez.
Juan Diaz called out on strikes.
Daniel Robertson singles on a ground ball to center fielder Leonys Martin.
Jonathan Galvez grounds into a force out, shortstop Dee Gordon to second baseman Jordany Valdespin. Daniel Robertson out at 2nd. Jonathan Galvez to 1st.
With Felix Pie batting, Jonathan Galvez steals (1) 2nd base.
Felix Pie strikes out swinging.

Estrellas Top of the 5th

Denis Phipps singles on a ground ball to left fielder Brian Cavazos-Galvez.
Todd Linden doubles (2) on a ground ball to left fielder Brian Cavazos-Galvez. Denis Phipps scores.
Luis Jimenez strikes out swinging. Todd Linden to 3rd.
Junior Lake grounds out, shortstop Dee Gordon to first baseman Michel Abreu.
Drew Butera strikes out swinging.

Aguilas Cibaenas, Tim Fedroff (.375) is hitting leadoff through 2 games, 8ab, 1r, 3h, 1w, 2k, obp .444, slg .375, ops .819 Fedroff also not embarassing himself (yet). Gotta figure he hasn't seen a steady diet of pitches coming in the upper 90's. The Aguilas game was postponed this evening.

Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012
Tried and trusted: Hokkaido Nippon Ham pinch hitter Tomohiro Nioka hits a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning of the Fighters' 3-2 win over the Hawks in the opening game of the Pacific League Climax Series final stage on Wednesday. KYODO

Fighters grind out win in Pacific League opener

By KAZ NAGATSUKA

SAPPORO —

With teams playing cautiously, postseason ball often tends to be an endurance contest.

On Wednesday night, it appeared that the Hawks would prevail at one point, but their opponents just refused to give in.

Yoshio Itoi launched a game-tying two-run homer and pinch hitter Tomohiro Nioka drove in a go-ahead run in the seventh inning as Hokkaido Nippon Ham edged the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 3-2 in Game 1 of the Pacific League Climax Series final stage.

Since the regular-season champion is given a one-win advantage, the top-seeded Fighters are now 2-0 in the series.

"It feels absolutely great," Itoi said after the game at Sapporo Dome. "It feels like our fans and team are so united right now, so we just want to keep it going in the rest of the series."

For much of the game, it was a breathtaking duel by the two starting pitchers — Mitsuo Yoshikawa for the Fighters and Yang Yao-hsun for the Hawks.

The Hawks finally notched something other than zero in the seventh, when a shallow flyball hit by Hitoshi Tamura dropped between shortstop Makoto Kaneko and center fielder Daikan Yoh to drive in two base-runners from two outs.

The two runs scored late seemed to give a huge boost to the Hawks, who had beaten the Seibu Lions in the first stage, yet the Fighters responded with their bats quickly.

In the bottom of the seventh, Itoi launched a high-flying dinger into the right-field stands off Yang, who had given up just two hits until then, to equal the game.

Nippon Ham skipper Hideki Kuriyama didn't let the momentum-shifting moment go to waste as he sent pinch-hitting specialist Nioka on for Micah Hoffpauir with runners on first and third with two outs.

Nioka decisively swung at the Hawks' left-handed reliever Masahiko Morifuku's first pitch to drive in the game-winning run.

"I reacted well to the pitch," Itoi said. "I'd had frustrating at-bats earlier, so I wanted to take advantage of the chance by any means."

Nioka said: "I wasn't necessarily looking for the first pitch. I was just going to swing at a pitch if it was hittable enough."

Yoshikawa (1-0), who led the league with a 1.71 ERA, pitched patiently and ended up earning the win for the Fighters. The lefty allowed seven hits and two runs, fanning nine, in seven innings.

"The manager told me to pitch as I've done all through this year," Yoshikawa said. "It was a game we had to take and I thought my job was to not let them get on the board first, which I wasn't able to do. So it's a shame I couldn't really do it, though the team ended up winning."

Yang (0-1) gave up three hits and a homer for the loss.

The Hawks had 10 hits, while Nippon Ham came up with just six. Yuichi Honda was 3-for-4 and scored a run for Softbank.

Hirotoshi Masui and closer Hisashi Takeda pitched an inning apiece in the eighth and ninth to finished the game. Takeda got the save.

The second game will start at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the same venue.

I like pitchers that can make adjustments quickly during the game,

This game is not for the stubborn.

Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012
In flight: Chunichi's Yohei Oshima takes off after hitting an RBI single in the third inning of the Dragons' 3-1 win over the Giants in the opening game of the Central League Climax Series final round on Wednesday. KYODO

Ono chops Giants down to size

By JASON COSKREY

Second-year pitcher Yudai Ono was asked to go into a stadium in which he'd only won once, to face a team that'd beaten him up in his last two outings all while trying to help the Chunichi Dragons avoid a 2-0 deficit in the Central League Climax Series final stage.
Stand tall: Chunichi's Yudai Ono pitches against the Giants at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday. KYODO

Piece of cake, right?

Ono rose to the challenge, his teammates provided just enough run support, and the Dragons swept into Tokyo Dome and beat the Yomiuri Giants 3-1 in Game 1 of their series.

"It's a victory for everyone on our team," Ono said.

The Giants entered the series with an automatic one-game advantage as the league champions. When things resume Thursday night at the Big Egg, the series will be tied 1-1.

"It's a good feeling to win the first game," Dragons manager Morimichi Takagi said. "Ono did a great job for us tonight, going into the sixth inning with the lead."

Chunichi's Yohei Oshima opened the scoring with an RBI single in the third, and Ryosuke Hirata broke a 1-1 tie with an RBI double in the sixth.

Motonobu Tanishige tacked on an insurance run, while also snapping a long streak of postseason futility, with an RBI double in the ninth. Tanishige had been hitless in his previous 60 postseason appearances dating back to the 2010 Japan Series.

"Hirata and Tanishige got the key hits tonight," Takagi said. "Oshima too, but Tanishige's double put the game away for us."

Despite announcing starting pitchers prior to regular-season games for the first time this season, the CL opted to reverse course for the Climax Series.

That created a bit of speculation about who would be the starter, though many reporters had correctly pegged Ono as the man for the job.

"We used a lot of pitchers during the Climax Series first stage, so I am happy I was chosen to start this game and I did my best," Ono said.

He also managed to retire Giants catcher Shinnosuke Abe three times. Abe had gone 3-for-5 with a home run against Ono during the regular season. "I though Abe had a hit in his second at-bat, but Ibata made a nice catch on that line drive to shortstop," Ono said.

The 24-year-old Ono threw 5⅔ innings of one-run ball, striking out three and walking three to earn the win. Reliever Shinji Tajima recorded the last out of the sixth and worked a scoreless seventh before making way for 2011 CL MVP Takuya Asao.

Asao retired the side in order in the eighth, and Daisuke Yamai shut down Yomiuri in the ninth.

"Our bullpen was superb," Ono said. "The relievers backed me up and secured the win for me."

Giants outfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi finished with a pair of hits and drove in the home team's only run with an RBI single in the fourth. Yomiuri's hitters managed only five singles against the Dragons pitchers.

"We have to score more than one run to beat the Dragons," Giants manager Tatsunori Hara said. "Our goal for tomorrow will be to put more runs on the board."

Lefty Tetsuya Utsumi, who led the CL with 15 wins, allowed a pair of runs on five hits over six innings. Utsumi took the loss, striking out four and walking three.

Dragons shortstop Hirokazu Ibata connected on a one-out single, and Kazuhiro Wada drew a walk to give Chunichi runners at first and second in the sixth with the score knotted 1-1.

Utsumi struck out Tony Blanco for the second out of the inning, but Hirata looped a double into left that brought Ibata home with the go-ahead run.

Dragons third baseman Masahiko Morino hit a one-out single in the ninth and came home when Tanishige doubled down the left-field line.

The Dragons will aim to take the lead in the series when the two teams meet in Game 2 on Thursday.

"We're tied now," Blanco said. "That's a great thing to say. This is going to be a good series."

Galvis nearly hits for cycle in Aguilas' win

Phillies infielder goes 3-for-4, blasts solo homer, scores pair of runs

10/18/12 2:01 AM ET
Venezuelan Winter League

Zulia 4, Magallanes 1

Phillies infielder Freddy Galvis fell a double shy of the cycle and scored twice as the Aguilas shut down the Navegantes. Braves catching prospect Evan Gattis also held three hits and added an RBI and a run scored for Zulia, which got four scoreless innings from starter Manuel Olivares. Pinch-hitter Erold Andrus doubled home Magallanes' lone run.

Aragua 3, Caribes 1

Hector Gimenez capped a two-run eighth inning with an RBI double as the Tigres handed the Caribes their third straight setback. Former Major Leaguer Edgardo Alfonzo had two hits and Justin Hampson -- who made 13 relief appearances for the Mets this season -- tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win. Marlins outfielder Gorkys Hernandez reached base twice and scored Anzoategui's lone run.

Caracas 3, Lara 1

Pirates prospect Ramon Cabrera delivered a go-ahead two-run double off the bench in the seventh inning, sending the Leones to their third straight win. Rays farmhand Henry Wrigley homered to account for the rest of Caracas' scoring, while Edilio Colina went 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Cardenales.

La Guaira at Margarita, postponed

Dominican Winter League

Estrellas 9, Licey 8

Cubs' No. 9 prospect Junior Lake homered and drove in three runs as the Estrellas held on for their third straight win. Denis Phipps (Reds) chipped in two hits and an RBI and scored three times for Oriente, while Rangers outfielder Leonys Martin homered drove in four runs and scored twice for the Tigres.

Escogido at Aguilas, postponed

Mexican Pacific League

Culiacan 8, Navojoa 4

Marlon Byrd and Maxwell Leon both had two hits, including a homer, and two RBIs to lead the unbeaten Tomateros to their fourth consecutive win. Ramiro Pena and Ricardo Serrano also went deep, while Jonny Kaplan scored three times for Culiacan. Former Braves farmhand Matt Esquivel homered, doubled and drove in two runs for the Mayos.

Hermosillo 2, Los Mochis 1, 1st game

Nationals prospect Zech Zinicola tossed two innings of scoreless relief for the win as the Naranjeros edged the Cañeros in the first game of a doubleheader. Jesse Gutierrez provided Hermosillo's offense with his first homer of the season, while Alexis Gomez drove in the lone run for Los Mochis.

Los Mochis 2, Hermosillo 1, 2nd game

Phillies' No. 7 prospect Sebastian Valle delivered an RBI single as the Cañeros salvaged a split of their doubleheader. Mauricio Lara allowed a run on three hits over five innings for the win, while Carlos Gastelum had the lone RBI for the Naranjeros.

Mexicali 2, Obregon 1

Former Major Leaguer Chris Roberson tripled home the tying run and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as the Aguilas rallied past the Yaquis. Jon Weber also had a pair of hits for Mexicali, while Red Sox prospect Jeremy Hazelbaker homered for Obregon.

Guasave at Mazatlan, postponed

Santiago headed to winter ball

CSNChicagodotCom

CLEVELAND --

Hector Santiago’s season isn’t over just quite yet as the White Sox rookie will play winter ball beginning next month.

The left-hander said he plans to participate in the Puerto Rican League for a fifth straight winter.

Opening day is Nov. 8 and Santiago hopes to continue his efforts to become a starting pitcher.

Santiago has combined for 85 innings between the White Sox and Triple-A Charlotte this season. He said the plan calls for him to pitch up to 40 more innings, if possible.

So what do the White Sox want him to work on?

“First-pitch strikes,” Santiago said. “First-pitch strikes are probably the biggest thing I needed to work on (this year) and being able to get (offspeed) stuff over early instead of throwing my fastball every single first pitch. I’ve been a fastball-first pitch guy all year.”

Santiago has been many things for the White Sox this season.

First, he was the club’s closer. He transitioned into a middle reliever and then a long reliever. Finally, the club sent him to Charlotte to stretch out and he has made four starts in the season’s final month.

Santiago’s best outing in the bunch came on Monday when he struck out a career-high 10 over seven shutout innings.

On Tuesday, White Sox manager Robin Ventura said Santiago has at least earned his way into the 2013 starting rotation conversation.

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski said Santiago must build off the appearance while working on other minor aspects of starting pitching.

“He needs to work on his breaking ball, he needs to work on some strikes, just little things about being a starter,” Pierzynski said. “It’s a lot different than coming out of the ‘pen. (Monday) was a huge step forward for him. It’s a shame he won’t get another start. I don’t know what they’re going to do with him, but maybe going into spring maybe they’ll look at him as a starter. It’s something he has the ability to do, it’s just the little things that starters do that relievers don’t have to worry about: holding runners, making more strike breaking balls, throwing changeups in different counts. It’s just little things. He has the ability to do it, just being more consistent doing it.”

This weeks DPL roster is stacked with 2013 eligible Prospects

Posted October 16th, 2012 by DPL & filed under DPL News, Featured Post.

The New York Mets complex will be this weeks venue on the Dominican Prospect League circuit this Wednesday October 17th; The facility has hosted a number of DPL events including 2011 and 2012 DPL All-Star game and workouts. The state-of-the-art baseball training academy in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic sits on 37-acres, it includes two regulation-size playing fields, one of them replicating the asymmetrical dimensions and wall height of Citi Field, and the other featuring the first artificial turf infield installation in the Dominican Republic. The Mets Dominican Baseball Academy features : a half field and two bunting fields; two batting tunnels; four covered pitching mounds; a clubhouse, weight and training rooms; classrooms and a computer lab; administrative offices; general store; and accommodations with a dining hall, lounges, pool, tennis courts, and more. The academy is home of the DSL Mets, the Mets Dominican Summer League affiliate. The world-class home of the Mets opened in 2009 replacing the franchise’s previous facility located in San Cristobal.
Mayky Perez-RHP

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Luis Asuncion-OF

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Roni Tapia-3B

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PITCHERS:
Mayky Perez-RHP
Geudy Gomez RHP
Eric Algarin RHP
Wilmer Castillo RHP
Gregory Reynoso LHP

OUTFIELDERS:

Ronny Carvajal
Luis Asuncion-OF
Jose Vasquez -2013
Roel Taveras -2013
Edward Pena -2013

MIDDLE INFIELDERS:

Hector Martinez
Eric Marinez
Francis Peguero
Felix Mercedes -2013

3B:

Roni Tapia-3B
Brandon Santana

CATCHERS:

Rafelin Nunez
Mario Martinez
Daniel Gonzalez
David Torres

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Scouts

Angel Moreno signs with the Tampa Bay Rays

Posted October 17th, 2012 by DPL & filed under DPL News, Featured Post, Transactions.

Angel Moreno OF

In 2012 the Dominican Prospect League was loaded with middle infielders the likes of Amaurys Minier, Wendell Rijo, Richard Urena, Frandy Delarosa and Yancarlos Baez all of which signed professional contracts days after July 2nd. At the start of the season Angel Moreno was considered one of the top short stop bats in the 2012 DPL class, he had limited time at the DPL last year due to set backs, making him fall below radar. Physically Moreno has a strong athletic build at 6’1″ 185lb; He was a 2012 DPL All-Star and was selected to the Elite Travel Team, due to fatigue he didn’t participate on the tour. Tampa Bay Rays Dominican Scout Danny Santana started his evaluation on Moreno in 2011 and throughout the 2012 DPL season, he followed his progress in his home town San Pedro de Macoris where he developed with trainer “Caballero”.

Once the 2012 July 2nd signing period began the Rays started their aggressive quest to sign some big arms in the International space, their focus was primarily in Venezuela where they acquired Jose Mojica-RHP and Jose Castillo-LHP as well as catcher David Rodriguez. As the 2012 class players started falling off the eligible board, the Rays were still looking for options in Dominican Republic that would land them a quality bat. Santana continued his evaluation of Moreno believing he had the potential the organization was looking for. Moreno was primarily a short stop; he showed actions and hands that would play but his range and body type didn’t project him to stick at the position. Santana’s suggestion to the Moreno was to transition to the outfield as it would better suite him long term due to his bat. Moreno is a line-drive gap hitter with power potential, he gets good extension and drives the ball with authority. The Rays scouting staff had the motivation to sign Moreno once they invited him to their academy for extensive evaluation and confirmed he had the instincts and athleticism to play the outfield, that of which could carry over to professional baseball. He has recently made the conversion to the outfield, a move that has surly benefited him, Moreno agreed to terms with the Rays this week signing for a contract value of $208,000.

Congratulations to Danny Santana, Tampa Bay Rays and the Moreno family.

Geudy Gomez agrees to terms with the Padres

Posted October 18th, 2012 by DPL & filed under DPL News, Featured Post, Transactions.

Geudy Gomez-RHP

Geudy Gomez is 19 year old and stands 6’4″ 210lb from Santiago, Dominican Republic, his father is a former left hand pitcher farmhand of the LA Angel. Fausto Mejia had a lot to do with Geudy’s development, Mejia invited Gomez to his training facility in Bona, D.R. almost after observing unteachable tools at a workout. At the time Gomez had arm strength but struggled with his command and his Curveball was flat; both Mejia and Gomez got to work focusing on delivery and effectiveness with his breaking pitches. It took the pair 4 months of hard work to straighten out the wrinkles in his mechanics but he showed signs of improvement by the week.

Mejia a key member of the Dominican Prospect League and senior recruiter was optimistic about Gomez development plan once he saw the significant progress Gomez had made in the short time he worked with him. When asked about Gomez first start in the DPL, Mejia said ” I don’t think he will be in the League very long, he has shown quality stuff at our academy and he’s overmatching hitters with ease, scouts have already taken notice of Gomez and his stuff just gets better and better.” After 2 starts in the DPL Gomez dominated hitters with his power arm and pitching ability. He’s now mechanically sound and pounds the strike zone with his four seam Fastball that sits 90-93 (94)mph, a two-seam Fastball with movement down in the zone at 90-91mph, his Curveball has hard biting rotation at 79-83mph and he shows a feel for a Change-up 84-85mph.

The San Diego Padres Vice President, Player Development & International Scouting Randy Smith took notice of Geudy Gomez during his second DPL start and immediately reached an agreement with the hurler for $115,000. The Padres have been one of the most aggressive teams in Latin America for the past decade, they constructed a multimillion dollar training facility in San Cristobal D.R. built in 2008 which is second to none and have been competitive in the International market for acquisition of top talent every year. The Padres have signed multiple DPL players since the inauguration of the league in 2009, some of the more notable power bats are Edwin Moreno, Duanel Jones and Franmil Reyes. They have also received the benefits of signing and developing some quality prospects who make part of their 40man MLB roster Jose De Paula, Rymer Liriano, Ali Solis, Jeudy Valdez and Edinson Rincon. The Padres have acquired another quality arm in Geudy Gomez with the upside to pitch in Petco at some point in the near future. The contract is still pending investigation and MLB approval.

Congratulations to Fausto Mejia, San Diego Padres and the Gomez family.

Kind of disconcerting that the Cleveland Indians have shown a very weak presence with the DPL. This is the leagues 4th season. We've tapped the DPL resources for only 3 players as far as I've been able to tell.

Some Needed Historical Perspectives on Aroldis Chapman’s Breakout Season

by Peter C. Bjarkman
October 11, 2012


There should be little doubt that third-year Cuban big leaguer Aroldis Chapman has now proven wrong the numerous doubters and naysayers with his rather overpowering summer-long 2012 performances out of the Cincinnati bullpen. The young Cuban missile thrower remained locked in a virtual dead heat with Pittsburgh’s Joel Hanrahan throughout August and a good part of September for the senior circuit lead in games saved, he posted some truly eye-popping numbers across his near 70 games of strictly single-inning outings (68 games and 71.2 innings), and he even stirred up a bit of premature Cy Young Award buzz during the Dog Days of August (especially across Cincinnati media circles). Equally impressive were Chapman’s final saves ratio of 38 in 43 opportunities, his lopsided SO/BB ratio of 122/23, and his eventual strikeout rate of 1.71 batters per inning (a projected figure of 15.3 Ks per each nine frames thrown). With less than a month of the season remaining (on September 10) the 24-year-old Cuban still clung to a seemingly even-money chance of breaking the Cincinnati franchise record for saves (44 by Jeff Brantley in 1996) and thus claiming at least a small page in the history of the storied Cincinnati franchise. Had he managed down the stretch to overhaul Craig Kimbrel (Atlanta) and Jason Motte (St. Louis) for the league lead, the Cuban flamethrower would have also become the eighth Cincinnati reliever to claim a saves title since 1970, the first since Jeff Shaw turned the trick with 42 back in 1997.



This season Chapman proved his critics wrong. But has he yet met the expectations of his loudest champions?.

A slow September would in the end keep Chapman out of the record books and tarnish some of the luster from one of the better big league seasons enjoyed by a Cuban-born and Cuban-trained pitching talent. Not only did the stellar southpaw fail to overhaul Brantley in the Cincinnati record books, but he also fell a trio of saves short of matching Danys Báez’s high-water mark (set in 2005) in that department for Cuban natives. He was unable to outstrip either Kimbrel or Motte for the senior circuit leadership and was eventually tied for third slot by Philadelphia’s Jonathan Papelbon; four American League hurlers also topped Chapman’s saves totals, thus leaving him tied for seventh among the year’s best big league closers. Of course it should be acknowledged that Cincinnati’s large NL Central Division lead down the pennant-race stretch might have been no small factor in the apparent September swoon, likely reducing Chapman’s number of available save opportunities. With veteran Jonathan Broxton (27 saves, 33 chances, 60 games, 58.0, mostly with Kansas City) sharing a substantial part of the late-season, late-inning closer duties it was all too easy for manager Dusty Baker to rest Chapman down the stretch and thus save his arm for the upcoming post-season wars.

This season Chapman proved his critics wrong. But has he yet met the expectations of his loudest champions?.

A slow September would in the end keep Chapman out of the record books and tarnish some of the luster from one of the better big league seasons enjoyed by a Cuban-born and Cuban-trained pitching talent. Not only did the stellar southpaw fail to overhaul Brantley in the Cincinnati record books, but he also fell a trio of saves short of matching Danys Báez’s high-water mark (set in 2005) in that department for Cuban natives. He was unable to outstrip either Kimbrel or Motte for the senior circuit leadership and was eventually tied for third slot by Philadelphia’s Jonathan Papelbon; four American League hurlers also topped Chapman’s saves totals, thus leaving him tied for seventh among the year’s best big league closers. Of course it should be acknowledged that Cincinnati’s large NL Central Division lead down the pennant-race stretch might have been no small factor in the apparent September swoon, likely reducing Chapman’s number of available save opportunities. With veteran Jonathan Broxton (27 saves, 33 chances, 60 games, 58.0, mostly with Kansas City) sharing a substantial part of the late-season, late-inning closer duties it was all too easy for manager Dusty Baker to rest Chapman down the stretch and thus save his arm for the upcoming post-season wars.

In brief, after a couple of tame seasons as an ongoing work-in-progress (with an overall pre-2012 6-3 won-loss mark and only one save as a part-time reliever), Aroldis Chapman has been finally making a noteworthy dent on the big-league scene. But is now the time to rubberstamp the long-prevailing opinion in Cincinnati that the Cuban flamethrower was well worth a $30-million-plus investment? Should the hype be renewed and should we be once again repeating the 2010 press barrage that prematurely anointed Chapman as “the best-ever pitching prospect to come out of Cuba”? Or rather would it be more proper to observe that Chapman’s rather immense but also rather one-dimensional talents have now proven little more than that he is the perfect fit for the modern-era big leagues – a new school type of baseball filled with highly restricted specialists carefully molded for limited and thus also highly limiting on-field roles?

Two things seem rather obvious in the light of a coming-of-age season that saw the “Cuban Comet” amass a team-high 38 saves while working only 71.2 innings over 68 game appearances (only the barest fraction above one full inning per appearance). The first is that Chapman has emerged as the ultimate prototype among modern-era “specialists” – a fast-balling lefty who displays his wares to any given opposition lineup for less than a half-dozen or so batters during a full six-month season. Any big league batsman of note will eventually hit even the best aspirin-tablet 100-plus fastball once he has had the chance to time the delivery across several repeated at-bats; but the adjustment may be nearly impossible with only one look at Chapman all summer long. This is not to belittle the accomplishment of Aroldis Chapman under today’s playing conditions. But would those strikeout totals continue and that miniscule ERA hold up once the workload and thus the exposure were doubled? Likely not, although it must also be pointed out that Chapman might have posted even slightly more impressive numbers in the saves department had he not been forced to split Cincinnati’s “closer” assignment with Jonathan Broxton (25 appearances and 4 saves) after that latter was acquired from Kansas City in late July.
Dolph Luque remains untouched when it comes to great seasons for Cuban big league imports.

A second claim to be made about Chapman’s “breakout” 2012 season also seems safe from contradiction: the latest sensational Cuban import still has an extremely long way to go before he matches the likes of Dolf Luque, Luis Tiant or Camilo Pascual (or even Danys Báez, Orlando Hernández and José Contreras) when it comes to the best-ever single-year campaigns by exiled Cuban big leaguers. Dolf Luque’s 1923 season in Cincinnati has long stood the test of time as the best-overall performance of that franchise’s glorious century-plus past; Tiant’s pair of sub-2.00 ERA seasons were built on regular workloads approximately three times as large as Chapman’s; Pascual was a league strikeout pacesetter (with better than 200 each campaign) for three seasons running; Miguel Cuéllar earned a Cy Young (the first ever for a Latino import), both Liván and El Duque Hernández walked off with MVP awards under the pressure of post-season play, and Danys Báez still owns the highest single-summer saves total among his island-born countrymen.

In touting the successes of Chapman’s season, the whole thing certainly looked much more spectacular at the end of August than it did at the outset of October. Admittedly this had much to do with Cincinnati’s wide gap in the pennant chase and also to a lesser degree with the arrival of Broxton. During the Dog Days stretch of late August there seemed to be at least a couple of record performances well within Chapman’s grasp. He seemed on a direct course toward outstripping Báez by posting the most single-season saves ever logged by a Cuban-born big leaguer. While still locked in a head-to-head clash with Pittsburgh’s Hanrahan (who also faded down the stretch) the Holguín phenom was also knocking on the door to become the first-ever Cuban to claim a big league saves title; Báez himself had fallen short of such a distinction with his own 41 back in 2005. That year Báez was actually fifth in the circuit in this department behind Francisco Rodríguez (California), Bob Wickman (Cleveland), Joe Nathan (Minnesota), and Mariano Rivera (New York). What did hold up was Chapman’s eventual ERA mark (1.51), which now stands as one of the most impressive ever posted by a Cuban hurler, even though it does come with a very huge asterisk. It makes very little sense to compare Chapman’s earned run performances to those of Tiant (1968, 1972), Luque (1923) or even Cuéllar (1966) in light of the extreme differences in year-long exposure and workload.
Chapman’s 38 saves were not enough to unseat Danys Báez as king among native-Cuban big league closers.
If nothing else, the just-completed season has underscored both Chapman’s huge potential and also his equally bulging downside; his saves have played a major role in a NL Central Division title and have managed to overshadow several embarrassing off-the-field escapades that grabbed a few unwanted mid-summer headlines. There were many critics and doubters when Chapman was inked to his windfall contract in 2010 and I was at the forefront of those who doubted his true big league credentials. There is little question now that Chapman has finally demonstrated he is indeed a legitimate major leaguer. But before the fireworks of pennant celebration begin lighting up the Cincinnati river front, the current Chapman season might best be put into some historical perspective. There should be little if any argument about my earlier claims suggesting the Holguín southpaw was certainly not the top pure talent (read here, top “prospect”) in Cuba baseball at the time when he fled his homeland. He was not the second coming of El Duque or even of Maels Rodríguez (and certainly not the equal of Pedro Luis Lazo in his prime). There were simply too many chinks in the armor and some of those chinks remain visible.

So where does one stellar if not record-breaking season leave Chapman among top Cuban-born big leaguers? I would contend here that Chapman still has a difficult and lengthy road to travel in order to earn a significant page in Cuban baseball lore. He certainly has not experienced a year like Luque had back in 1923 in the same National League city; Luque remains unchallenged as Cincinnati’s greatest island important no matter how much damage Father Time as done to his image among short-memory modern-era fans. Neither has Chapman come close to matching Tiant’s mastery and durability during more than a decade of 1960s and 1970s stardom. Luque and Tiant were not merely crowd-pleasing and radar-gun busting diamond sideshows; they were in fact legitimate Hall of Famers (despite their still-inexplicable absences from Cooperstown). Not until Chapman hoists a Cy Young trophy (not likely indeed as long as he remains a “one-inning-and-out” mop-up reliever) will he stand shoulder-to-shoulder alongside Miguel Cuéllar. It is still not even all that certain that he will replace Danys Báez on the Cuban saves leader board, although that is the one pitching feat that may now be most reachable.