2011 Venezuela Winter League Pitching Stats

For more on the Venezuelan Winter League, check out Carson Cistulli’s final SCOUT leaderboards for said league.

With the MLB in the middle of its winter hiatus, we of the baseball-addicted must roll our listful eyes towards the winter leagues. One such league is the wildly popular Venezuelan Winter League. It is hard to say what exact level the Venezuelan league constitutes — but it certainly has a few veterans of both leagues, as well as a few MLB guys (though usually nobody who is already well established in the majors).

This year, Chicago Cubs fans have had the delight of being able to keep tabs on their… exciting… pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Big-Z — perhaps in an effort to ingratiate himself with the new Cubs regime, perhaps in a move to showcase his talents to the league — has now pitched five games for the Caribes de Anzoategui, but according to some recent rumors, Zambrano may be calling it a winter.

And maybe he should.

Z has a 2.45 ERA — pretty shiny considering the league average ERA is around 3.55 — but it belies his otherwise unimpressive performances. So far, he has 10 walks to his 15 strikeouts and he is averaging a scant 4 and a half innings per start.

A few weeks ago, I took a peak at Zambrano’s stats and did a quick calculation on his FIP. It came out in the low 2.00s and I thought, “Well, it should!”

Silly me. I forgot to add the 3.2 constant.

Currently, Big Z has a 5.11 FIP through his first five starts. He is not impressing anyone, frankly. Either his LOB% or BABIP (neither of which I can calculate) must sky high / moleman low to earn such an exceptional ERA. Maybe he is saving his good stuff for when guys are on base? Maybe he has been unlucky with fly balls? I dunno.

Zambrano had one of his worst years in 2011, as his groundball rate hit a career low and his FIP hit a career high. Theo, Hoyer, and Co. have hopes of trading or using then trading Zambrano, but if he cannot muster at least the semblance of a league average pitcher, the Cubs will have to just pass him through waivers and let him play Triple-A ball until he’s ready to retire for good.

Elsewhere, we may note some performances of fringe players worth taking a second glance at.

Yusmeiro Petit (81.2 IP, 2.98 ERA, 2.31 FIP)
Petit (age 27), the former swingman reliever for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins, never flourished in the majors, sporting a career 5.44 FIP (and a more impressive, but still not impressive 4.51 SIERA) through four seasons. He spent some time in the Seattle Mariners’ minors through the 2010 season (4.18 FIP) and last year looked a little improved, pitching a handful of games in the Mexican league (3.15 FIP).

Petit’s low FIP, high innings combo makes him easily the best performer among the Venezuelan league pitchers this year, but even with the second-most innings in the league, his 13 starts still leave plenty room for flukes.

Dylan Owen (41.2 IP, 1.73 ERA, 2.12 FIP)
Like Petit, Dylan Owen has never really impressed in the minors. He has spent his career slowly easing up the New York Mets minor league system, but he has not had a FIP south of 4.00 (for any sustained period of time) since 2008.

Owen’s case makes a strong argument for the high variability of the VWL.

Eric Junge (56.2 IP, 1.59 ERA, 2.79 FIP)
The 35-year-old Junge is having — similar to Owen and Petit — the winter of his life. Junge had some coffee cups with the Philadelphia Phillies in the early 2000s, but has floundered in the minors since then, sporting 5.00 ERAs and high-4.00 FIPs for several years and several teams.

Les Walrond (53.1 IP, 4.39 ERA, 2.62 FIP)
Walrond (35) has shuffled around the league for some time, spending several years with the Cubs, then going overseas to play with the Yokohama BayStars in Japan and Doosan Bears in Korea. He’s back in the eastern hemisphere, now, and pitched quite impressively for the Phillies in 2011 (a sub-3.00 FIP as a Double- and Triple-A reliever).

Walrond’s strong showing this winter should definitely help him find his way back to at least the MLB minors with a spring training invite.

Mike Parisi (51.2 IP, 2.09 ERA, 2.91 FIP)
Another one-time Cub, Parisi has transformed himself from a St. Louis Cardinals long-relief candidate to a Cubs starter prospect to a massive bust (5.00 FIPs from 2010 through 2011) to an intriguing buy-low candidate.

Parisi spent last year getting bombed on the Los Angeles Dodgers Triple-A team, but has pitched well through his few starts in Venezuela.

Others
Because I’m feeling positive today, I’m only going to point out and fully investigate the struggles former nearly-perfect-game-throwing Armando Galarraga or top Cubs prospect Jay Jackson. You’ll have to find them yourself.

For the rest of the Venezuelan Winter League pitching stats, shut up and scroll down the page a touch more.

Player  ERA  GS  CG  SV  IP  HLD  FIP GS% IP/GS
Andrew Baldwin 2.29 13 13 0 0 82.2 0 4.39 100% 6.4
Yusmeiro Petit 2.98 14 13 1 0 81.2 0 2.31 93%
Dwayne Pollok 3.05 14 14 0 0 79.2 0 3.68 100% 5.7
Austin Bibens-Dirkx 2.19 14 13 0 0 78 0 3.28 93%
Renyel Pinto 2.55 13 13 0 0 77.2 0 3.62 100% 6.0
Sergio Perez 2.47 14 14 0 0 65.2 0 3.47 100% 4.7
Alex Herrera 3.57 18 11 1 0 58 0 3.99 61%
Eric Junge 1.59 11 10 0 0 56.2 1 2.79 91%
Jose Sanchez 3.56 13 13 0 0 55.2 0 4.39 100% 4.3
Les Walrond 4.39 11 10 0 0 53.1 0 2.62 91%
Luis Chirinos 4.25 12 12 0 0 53 0 3.99 100% 4.4
Mike Parisi 2.09 9 8 0 0 51.2 0 2.91 89%
Raul Rivero 3.91 21 8 0 2 50.2 3 3.10 38%
Scot Drucker 5.36 12 11 0 0 48.2 0 4.68 92%
Ramon A. Ramirez 5.63 13 8 0 0 46.1 0 5.62 62%
Yohan Pino 1.97 29 0 0 1 45.2 12 2.89 0%
Luis Avilan 2.47 19 5 0 0 43.2 4 3.80 26%
Shairon Martis 2.47 9 8 0 0 43.2 0 4.87 89%
Alberto Bastardo 7.38 12 10 0 0 42.2 0 5.40 83%
Wilfredo Boscan 1.71 10 8 0 0 42 0 3.37 80%
Dylan Owen 1.73 9 7 0 0 41.2 0 2.12 78%
Darin Downs 3.35 9 9 0 0 40.1 0 3.00 100% 4.5
Victor Moreno 2.48 31 0 0 4 40 8 4.43 0%
Anthony Claggett 5.72 10 7 0 0 39.1 0 4.95 70%
Rosman Garcia 3.55 16 4 0 0 38 2 5.28 25%
Yoervis Medina 5.35 10 8 0 0 37 0 4.47 80%
Jerome Williams 1.00 6 6 0 0 36 0 3.26 100% 6.0
Richard Castillo 3.28 25 2 0 0 35.2 7 4.97 8%
Deunte Heath 2.29 7 7 0 0 35.1 0 3.00 100% 5.0
Marcel Prado 2.94 26 0 0 1 33.2 2 4.27 0%
Pedro Rodriguez 2.43 24 0 0 0 33.1 5 4.82 0%
Manuel Olivares 4.86 23 0 0 0 33.1 5 3.92 0%
Brian Sweeney 3.00 6 6 0 0 33 0 3.96 100% 5.5
Josh Schmidt 3.06 6 6 0 0 32.1 0 3.32 100% 5.4
Johnny Montoya 2.51 16 2 0 0 32.1 1 4.25 13%
Jon Hunton 3.16 32 0 0 18 31.1 0 3.23 0%
Thad Weber 3.45 7 7 0 0 31.1 0 2.79 100% 4.5
Angel Marquez 3.77 9 7 0 0 31 0 4.20 78%
Arcenio Leon 3.23 26 2 0 2 30.2 2 3.49 8%
Jean Machi 1.47 28 0 0 11 30.2 0 3.59 0%
Jose Rada 2.35 17 1 0 0 30.2 1 3.33 6%
Jose Campos 3.26 16 2 0 0 30.1 3 4.49 13%
Erasmo Ramirez 1.48 6 6 0 0 30.1 0 2.71 100% 5.1
Pedro Guerra 4.15 18 3 0 1 30.1 5 3.79 17%
Matt Klinker 3.07 6 5 0 0 29.1 0 2.72 83%
Zach Kroenke 1.84 6 6 0 0 29.1 0 4.53 100% 4.9
Michael Fiers 2.22 6 5 0 0 28.1 0 3.20 83%
Victor Larez 3.81 14 4 0 0 28.1 0 3.87 29%
Chad Reineke 3.90 6 6 0 0 27.2 0 2.59 100% 4.6
Brayan Villarreal 4.61 26 0 0 0 27.1 7 4.70 0%
Fu-Te Ni 4.00 6 6 0 0 27 0 4.27 100% 4.5
Wilsen Palacios 4.00 26 0 0 0 27 2 5.64 0%
Enrique Gonzalez 2.33 25 0 0 12 27 2 3.13 0%
Deolis Guerra 3.71 17 0 0 0 26.2 4 3.84 0%
Darwin Cubillan 4.44 35 0 0 2 26.1 5 4.49 0%
Josh Wilkie 3.76 25 0 0 3 26.1 3 2.90 0%
Josue Carreno 1.73 16 0 0 0 26 2 3.66 0%
Junior Guerra 6.23 14 1 0 0 26 1 4.16 7%
Richard Salazar 4.91 11 5 0 0 25.2 2 5.03 45%
Kendy Batista 2.10 22 0 0 0 25.2 7 3.20 0%
Zack Segovia 4.91 8 5 0 0 25.2 0 4.02 63%
Luis Ramirez 2.49 22 0 0 3 25.1 3 3.87 0%
Barry Enright 4.97 6 6 0 0 25.1 0 5.84 100% 4.2
Edgar Martinez 3.70 22 0 0 1 24.1 4 4.19 0%
Ronald Bay 5.18 6 6 0 0 24.1 0 2.91 100% 4.1
Lino Urdaneta 2.59 24 0 0 0 24.1 2 4.19 0%
Francisco Butto 3.38 24 0 0 8 24 2 4.70 0%
Henry Rodriguez 3.80 23 0 0 0 23.2 3 4.00 0%
Robert Coello 3.42 18 0 0 0 23.2 9 4.05 0%
Andy Van Hekken 4.56 5 5 0 0 23.2 0 3.83 100% 4.7
Derek Blacksher 3.47 5 5 0 0 23.1 0 4.91 100% 4.7
Nick Green 3.47 5 5 0 0 23.1 0 3.97 100% 4.7
Stuart Pomeranz 1.93 18 0 0 0 23.1 2 3.24 0%
Paolo Espino 7.71 7 6 0 0 23.1 0 4.87 86%
Jan Granado 8.61 17 3 0 0 23 1 6.20 18%
Justin Cassel 6.26 15 3 0 3 23 0 4.72 20%
Armando Galarraga 6.65 5 5 0 0 23 0 5.07 100% 4.6
Ronald Belisario 5.16 23 0 0 5 22.2 0 4.44 0%
Jarrett Grube 3.97 6 6 0 0 22.2 0 3.38 100% 3.8
Jay Jackson 5.56 7 6 0 0 22.2 0 4.08 86%
Victor Garate 4.37 26 0 0 0 22.2 5 4.70 0%
Carlos Zambrano 2.45 5 5 0 0 22 0 5.11 100% 4.4
Moises Melendez 3.27 30 0 0 0 22 8 3.70 0%
Edwin Escobar 5.73 10 4 0 0 22 0 3.88 40%
Franklin Morales 0.00 21 0 0 6 22 3 1.38 0%
David Martinez 3.74 6 5 0 0 21.2 0 4.45 83%
Anthony Ortega 4.98 22 0 0 0 21.2 4 4.49 0%
Matt Wright 2.95 4 4 0 0 21.1 0 1.79 100% 5.3
Adys Portillo 4.29 12 3 0 0 21 1 3.06 25%
Leonardo Astorga 6.00 11 1 0 1 21 1 4.01 9%
Orber Moreno 1.29 22 0 0 0 21 5 4.01 0%
Miguel Socolovich 4.71 33 0 0 1 21 8 2.91 0%
Diego Moreno 3.05 17 0 0 0 20.2 5 2.33 0%
Ryan Tatusko 6.10 7 7 0 0 20.2 0 4.26 100% 3.0
Lester Oliveros 1.33 23 0 0 0 20.1 7 3.20 0%
Marcos Tabata 3.10 19 0 0 0 20.1 4 3.94 0%
Vianney Mayo 4.95 6 5 0 0 20 0 5.90 83%
Justin Lehr 3.20 4 4 0 0 19.2 0 3.25 100% 4.9
Ryan Reid 1.86 18 0 0 10 19.1 1 3.82 0%
Jose Jimenez 1.86 31 0 0 1 19.1 5 2.99 0%
Alex Serrano 3.32 22 0 0 0 19 3 4.57 0%
Juan Rincon 6.63 16 0 0 1 19 4 4.20 0%
Joe Bisenius 6.63 6 5 0 0 19 0 4.09 83%
Jose Ascanio 2.41 10 2 0 0 18.2 0 3.31 20%
Matt Palmer 7.85 7 4 0 0 18.1 0 5.33 57%
Justin Friend 3.44 18 0 0 3 18.1 4 3.20 0%
Cesar Jimenez 6.50 19 0 0 1 18 2 4.87 0%
Ronald Uviedo 5.50 7 4 0 0 18 1 4.48 57%
Cesar Valdez 2.04 4 2 1 0 17.2 1 3.31 50%
Rich Rundles 3.12 26 0 0 1 17.1 5 4.99 0%
Wil Ledezma 2.08 14 0 0 0 17.1 0 4.35 0%
Clevelan Santeliz 4.24 24 0 0 0 17 7 2.79 0%
Jesus Sanchez 4.76 5 3 0 0 17 0 6.20 60%
Joseph Ortiz 4.76 26 0 0 0 17 7 3.08 0%
Jon Link 2.76 18 0 0 3 16.1 4 4.12 0%
Ryan Glynn 4.41 4 4 0 0 16.1 0 2.71 100% 4.1
Jean Toledo 3.94 19 0 0 0 16 2 5.33 0%
Stephen Pryor 3.38 13 0 0 0 16 3 3.76 0%
Jared Wells 2.87 5 3 0 0 15.2 1 5.24 60%
Gregory Infante 2.87 19 0 0 0 15.2 3 5.18 0%
Jeff Bennett 4.60 5 3 0 0 15.2 0 5.50 60%
Cesar Ciurcina 5.74 11 0 0 0 15.2 0 6.90 0%
Kevin Mulvey 4.70 3 3 0 0 15.1 0 3.85 100% 5.1
Romulo Sanchez 1.80 12 0 0 1 15 1 3.33 0%





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Awesome
12 years ago

Franklin Morales is a guy who never got a fair shake as a starter, I would love to see him moved back to the rotation.

Cory
12 years ago
Reply to  Awesome

He is a two pitch pitcher who walks to many people. That would only get worse if he was starting games.