Daily Notes, Ft. Detroit’s Next Closer, Maybe
Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.
1. Two Comments on the Venezuelan Winter League
2. SCOUT Leaderboards: Venezuelan Winter League
3. Video: Bruce Rondon Attempts a Little Murder
Two Comments on the Venezuelan Winter League
Comment No. 1: Regarding Possible Detroit Closer, Bruce Rondon
There have been indications so far this offseason — including from general manager Dave Dombrowski himself — that Detroit will look to replace the closer role recently vacated by free agent Jose Valverde not only with (a) a pitcher already in the organization, generally speaking, but (b) minor-league right-hander Bruce Rondon, specifically. The 21-year-old Rondon — who pitched at High-, Double-, and Triple-A all this season — sits in the high-90s and has hit 100 mph pretty consistently, according to people who would know such things.
Today marks Rondon’s first appearance on the SCOUT pitching leaderboards for the Venezuelan Winter League (below), where he’s posted an 11:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 8.0 innings of relief for Magallanes.
Comment No. 2: Regarding Young, Talented Free Agent Darwin Perez
As noted recently in these pages, middle infielder Darwin Perez was among the 500-plus minor-league players to become free agents this November. Today, Perez — most recently of the Angels organization — appears atop the SCOUT batting leaderboards for the VWL. He’s posted a 19:15 walk-to-strikeout ratio while also hitting three home runs in ca. 76 plate appearances so far.
SCOUT Leaderboards: Venezuelan Winter League
Below are the SCOUT leaderboards for the Venezuelan Winter League, current through Saturday. (Ages as of July 1st, 2012. Players listed with most recent team. Click here for more on what is SCOUT.)
SCOUT Leaderboard: Venezuelan Winter League Hitters (Overall)
Below is the current SCOUT batting leaderboard for the Venezuelan Winter League. SCOUT+ is calculated using regressed home-run, walk, and strikeout rates, where 100 is average and above 100 is above average.
| Player | Team | Age | Pos | PA | xHR% | xBB% | xK% | SCOUT+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darwin Perez | Angels | 22 | SS | 76 | 2.6% | 15.2% | 19.1% | 122 |
| Carlos Maldonado | Nationals | 31 | C | 79 | 3.9% | 11.6% | 22.0% | 121 |
| Henry Wrigley | Rays | 25 | OF | 104 | 4.1% | 7.4% | 17.6% | 119 |
| C.J. Retherford | Dodgers | 26 | 3B | 113 | 3.0% | 9.5% | 14.5% | 119 |
| Evan Gattis | Braves | 25 | C | 97 | 3.1% | 7.8% | 14.5% | 115 |
| Carlos Rivero | Nationals | 24 | 3B | 111 | 3.0% | 9.6% | 16.8% | 115 |
| Alex Romero | MEX | 28 | OF | 102 | 1.8% | 9.5% | 9.2% | 114 |
| Gustavo Molina | Yankees | 30 | C | 60 | 3.4% | 8.0% | 17.0% | 114 |
| Justin Henry | Tigers | 27 | OF | 94 | 1.5% | 11.9% | 11.5% | 114 |
| Luis Jimenez | Mariners | 30 | DH | 53 | 2.4% | 11.8% | 17.2% | 113 |
SCOUT Leaderboard: Venezuelan Winter League Hitters (Prospects)
Here is the SCOUT batting leaderboard for the Venezuelan Winter League, but only populated with players who are 25 or under — i.e. something more like “prospect” age relative to the league.
| Player | Team | Age | Pos | PA | xHR% | xBB% | xK% | SCOUT+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darwin Perez | Angels | 22 | SS | 76 | 2.6% | 15.2% | 19.1% | 122 |
| Henry Wrigley | Rays | 25 | OF | 104 | 4.1% | 7.4% | 17.6% | 119 |
| Evan Gattis | Braves | 25 | C | 97 | 3.1% | 7.8% | 14.5% | 115 |
| Carlos Rivero | Nationals | 24 | 3B | 111 | 3.0% | 9.6% | 16.8% | 115 |
| Darin Ruf | Phillies | 25 | 1B | 103 | 4.4% | 11.0% | 28.4% | 112 |
| Gorkys Hernandez | Marlins | 24 | CF | 92 | 2.2% | 12.0% | 16.4% | 112 |
| Wilmer Flores | Mets | 20 | SS | 88 | 2.5% | 9.7% | 16.3% | 110 |
| Rossmel Perez | Diamondbacks | 22 | C | 27 | 2.0% | 10.5% | 15.1% | 108 |
| Scott Van Slyke | Dodgers | 25 | 1B | 92 | 3.8% | 9.0% | 24.4% | 107 |
| Freddy Galvis | Phillies | 22 | SS | 98 | 2.4% | 7.7% | 15.7% | 104 |
SCOUT Leaderboard: Venezuelan Winter League Pitchers (Overall)
Below is the current SCOUT pitching leaderboard for the Venezuelan Winter League. SCOUT- is calculated using regressed strikeout and walk rates where 100 is average and below 100 is above average.
| Player | Team | Age | G | GS | IP | TBF | xK% | xBB% | SCOUT- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Torres | Rays | 24 | 6 | 6 | 22.2 | 99 | 33.4% | 9.2% | 58 |
| Seth Etherton | N/A | 35 | 5 | 5 | 24.1 | 100 | 25.2% | 7.7% | 76 |
| Austin Bibens-Dirkx | Nationals | 27 | 4 | 3 | 16.0 | 63 | 23.0% | 8.1% | 84 |
| Josh Schmidt | Marlins | 29 | 5 | 5 | 24.2 | 103 | 23.6% | 9.3% | 85 |
| Jarrett Grube | Mariners | 30 | 5 | 5 | 21.0 | 90 | 23.1% | 9.3% | 86 |
| Cesar Jimenez | Mariners | 27 | 8 | 0 | 7.1 | 28 | 22.4% | 8.7% | 87 |
| Enrique Gonzalez | NPB | 29 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | 35 | 21.6% | 8.6% | 88 |
| Edgmer Escalona | Rockies | 25 | 10 | 0 | 9.1 | 41 | 22.2% | 9.2% | 89 |
| Jon Meloan | Yankees | 27 | 11 | 0 | 12.0 | 49 | 21.3% | 8.5% | 89 |
| Bruce Rondon | Tigers | 21 | 8 | 0 | 8.0 | 32 | 21.3% | 9.0% | 90 |
SCOUT Leaderboard: Venezuelan Winter League Pitchers (Starters)
Here is the SCOUT pitching leaderboard for the Venezuelan Winter League, but only populated with pitchers who’ve made at least half of their appearances as starts.
| Player | Team | Age | G | GS | IP | TBF | xK% | xBB% | SCOUT- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Torres | Rays | 24 | 6 | 6 | 22.2 | 99 | 33.4% | 9.2% | 58 |
| Seth Etherton | N/A | 35 | 5 | 5 | 24.1 | 100 | 25.2% | 7.7% | 76 |
| Austin Bibens-Dirkx | Nationals | 27 | 4 | 3 | 16.0 | 63 | 23.0% | 8.1% | 84 |
| Josh Schmidt | Marlins | 29 | 5 | 5 | 24.2 | 103 | 23.6% | 9.3% | 85 |
| Jarrett Grube | Mariners | 30 | 5 | 5 | 21.0 | 90 | 23.1% | 9.3% | 86 |
| Victor Garate | Brewers | 27 | 5 | 5 | 20.2 | 86 | 21.0% | 8.6% | 90 |
| Eric Berger | Indians | 26 | 4 | 4 | 19.1 | 81 | 19.5% | 8.0% | 93 |
| Luis Chirinos | IND | 22 | 6 | 3 | 23.1 | 102 | 19.6% | 8.5% | 94 |
| Yoanner Negrin | MEX | 28 | 6 | 6 | 27.2 | 119 | 19.0% | 8.5% | 95 |
| Orangel Arenas | Angels | 23 | 2 | 2 | 10.2 | 46 | 18.4% | 8.2% | 96 |
Video: Bruce Rondon Attempts a Little Murder
So far as the author can tell, this is the only extant video of Detroit right-handed prospect Bruce Rondon on the entire internet. Curiously, it stems from an incident that saw mostly light-hitting infielder Will Rhymes taking (perhaps) excessive pleasure in a home run he hit earlier in the relevant game.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.