A Statistical Report for All the Caribbean Winter Leagues

by
December 4, 2014

For much the same reason that he recently published a final statistical report for the Arizona Fall League, the author is publishing here a combined statistical report for the various Caribbean winter leagues — again, not necessarily because such reports are of great utility for evaluating players, but because they provide a means by which to participate in those leagues which doesn’t also require a substantial investment in transportation and lodging.

In this case, what the author has done is to identify the regressed hitting and pitching leaders in the Dominican Winter, Mexican Pacific, Puerto Rican, and Venezuelan Leagues separately. What he’s then done is to combine the hitting and pitching leaders of those leagues into a pair of top-10 lists, which one can find below. Note: all ages are as of July 1, 2014.

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SCOUT Leaderboard for Caribbean League Hitters
Below is the current SCOUT batting leaderboard for all Caribbean League hitters. SCOUT+ combines regressed home-run, walk, and strikeout rates in a FIP-like equation to produce a result not unlike wRC+, where 100 is league average and above 100 is above average. Note that xHR%, xBB%, and xK% stand for expected home run, walk, and strikeout rate, respectively.

# Player Lg ’14 Org ’14 Age Pos PA HR BB K xHR% xBB% xK% SCOUT+
1 Dan Black DOM White Sox 26 1B 135 6 23 20 3.9% 17.0% 14.8% 163
2 Carlos Peguero DOM Royals 27 OF 104 7 27 32 4.8% 23.7% 30.8% 162
3 Japhet Amador MEX Astros 27 1B 195 11 20 23 5.6% 10.3% 11.8% 160
4 Andy Marte DOM D-backs 30 3B 71 7 10 13 5.2% 11.9% 18.3% 156
5 Tyler Moore DOM Nationals 27 1B 95 6 18 20 4.3% 16.8% 21.1% 155
6 Marquez Smith MEX Reds 29 1B 190 10 21 28 5.3% 11.1% 14.7% 152
7 Kennys Vargas PUR Twins 23 1B 92 4 19 16 2.9% 17.9% 17.4% 151
8 Carlos Rivero VEN Red Sox 26 3B 152 10 15 34 6.1% 9.9% 22.4% 146
9 Leo Heras MEX Astros 24 OF 192 7 34 34 3.6% 17.7% 17.7% 146
10 Oscar Robles MEX Mexico 38 3B 108 2 18 5 1.9% 15.9% 4.6% 146

SCOUT Leaderboard for Caribbean League Pitchers
Below is the current SCOUT leaderboard for Caribbean League pitchers who’ve made at least half their appearances in a starting capacity. SCOUT- combines regressed strikeout and walk rates in a kwERA-like equation to produce a number not unlike ERA-, where 100 is league average and below 100 is better than average. Note that xK% and xBB% stand for expected strikeout and walk rate, respectively.

# Player Lg ’14 Org ’14 Age G GS IP TBF K BB xK% xBB% SCOUT-
1 Arnold Leon MEX Athletics 25 7 7 37.2 151 44 9 29.2% 6.3% 52
2 Radhames Liz DOM Blue Jays 30 5 5 23.2 92 29 5 31.7% 6.8% 62
3 Eddie Gamboa MEX Orioles 29 9 9 61.0 237 53 7 22.4% 3.0% 63
4 Andrew Barbosa PUR D-backs 26 5 5 23.1 90 24 4 26.6% 6.3% 67
5 Terry Doyle VEN Braves 28 9 9 46.2 195 46 8 23.6% 4.1% 67
6 Bradin Hagens PUR D-backs 25 5 5 19.2 86 26 11 30.4% 10.7% 69
7 Randall Delgado DOM D-backs 24 7 7 33.0 138 41 10 29.7% 7.5% 69
8 Jose De Leon PUR Dodgers 21 4 4 16.0 59 15 0 24.3% 5.5% 72
9 Junior Guerra VEN N/A 29 10 10 50.0 205 49 13 23.9% 6.3% 73
10 Jarrett Grube VEN Angels 32 8 8 34.2 140 33 8 23.6% 6.2% 73

Notes and Observations
• In 31 plate appearances since last week’s edition of this same thing, White Sox and Aguilas first baseman Dan Black has recorded a 2:4 walk-to-strikeout ratio and a home run. Relative to his own league (in this case, the Dominican one) Black has produced the best offensive line among all winter batters.

• Non-tendered by Seattle on Wednesday after having been claimed off waivers from Boston earlier in November, infieldier Carlos Rivero — currently eighth among all winter-league batters — has been excellent of late for Lara in Venezuela, having recorded three home runs in just his last 18 plate appearances. Rivero features the fourth-highest prorated WAR projection among all non-tendered hitters.

• Having entered minor-league free agency after spending all seven years of his career in the Baltimore system, right-hander Eddie Gamboa was re-signed by the Orioles on Wednesday to a major-league contract. Of note with regard to Gamboa: he’s a knuckleballer.

Here’s video of him striking out Tigers prospect Steven Moya with that same pitch this past August:





 

Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.

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Spencer JonesMember since 2020
10 years ago

Radhames Liz signed a 2 year contract for $3M with the Pirates this offseason per MLBTR.

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