World Famous Statistical Report on the Caribbean Leagues
For much the same reason that he published weekly statistical reports on the Arizona Fall League over the past month-plus (such as the very final one from Wednesday), 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 transport 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 Winter Leagues separately. What he’s then done is to combine the hitting and pitching leaders of those leagues into a triumvirate of top-10 lists, which one can find below. Note: all ages are as of July 1, 2013; all organizations, as of the end of regular-season play. Last week’s generally useful report on the Caribbean leagues is available here.
SCOUT Leaderboard: Caribbean Leagues Hitting
Below is the current SCOUT batting leaderboard for all the Caribbean League hitters, combined. 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 | ’13 Org | ’13 Age | Pos | PA | HR | BB | K | xHR% | xBB% | xK% | SCOUT+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yamaico Navarro | DOM | Orioles | 25 | OF | 99 | 6 | 18 | 10 | 4.2% | 16.6% | 10.1% | 175 |
| Brian Burgamy | MEX | Mexico | 32 | 3B | 153 | 10 | 27 | 32 | 6.1% | 17.6% | 20.9% | 168 |
| Jesse Gutierrez | MEX | Mexico | 35 | 1B | 139 | 8 | 18 | 19 | 5.1% | 12.9% | 13.7% | 157 |
| Cory Aldridge | VEN | Mexico | 34 | OF | 146 | 9 | 25 | 30 | 5.6% | 17.1% | 20.5% | 156 |
| Alex Cabrera | VEN | N/A | 41 | 1B | 132 | 9 | 16 | 19 | 5.8% | 12.1% | 14.4% | 156 |
| C.J. Retherford | VEN | Dodgers | 27 | 3B | 146 | 8 | 19 | 18 | 5.0% | 13.0% | 12.3% | 153 |
| Jurickson Profar | DOM | Rangers | 20 | SS | 112 | 1 | 24 | 10 | 1.1% | 20.6% | 8.9% | 153 |
| Russell Branyan | MEX | N/A | 37 | 1B | 57 | 5 | 13 | 9 | 4.4% | 15.6% | 15.9% | 152 |
| Niuman Romero | VEN | Orioles | 28 | 3B | 150 | 5 | 26 | 16 | 3.2% | 17.3% | 10.7% | 148 |
| Barbaro Canizares | MEX | Mexico | 33 | 1B | 100 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 3.8% | 9.8% | 6.0% | 147 |
SCOUT Leaderboard: Caribbean Leagues Pitching (Overall)
Below is the current SCOUT pitching leaderboard all the Caribbean Leagues, combined. 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 | ’13 Org | ’13 Age | G | GS | IP | TBF | K | BB | xK% | xBB% | SCOUT- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Buchter | MEX | Braves | 26 | 11 | 0 | 11.1 | 44 | 22 | 7 | 37.9% | 10.6% | 43 |
| Jairo Asencio | DOM | Orioles | 30 | 14 | 0 | 14.0 | 55 | 20 | 2 | 32.9% | 7.1% | 52 |
| Spencer Patton | MEX | Royals | 25 | 13 | 0 | 15.2 | 58 | 20 | 4 | 31.7% | 8.1% | 54 |
| Armando Rodriguez | DOM | Mets | 25 | 14 | 0 | 16.2 | 63 | 22 | 6 | 33.5% | 9.1% | 56 |
| Sergio Perez | VEN | Mexico | 28 | 5 | 1 | 14.2 | 56 | 19 | 1 | 30.6% | 7.1% | 58 |
| Rafael Cova | VEN | N/A | 31 | 17 | 0 | 17.0 | 67 | 20 | 4 | 29.3% | 8.2% | 64 |
| Marcus Hatley | MEX | Cubs | 25 | 15 | 0 | 14.0 | 59 | 18 | 4 | 28.5% | 8.0% | 64 |
| Greg Aquino | DOM | Indy | 35 | 13 | 0 | 9.2 | 36 | 14 | 2 | 29.8% | 8.1% | 65 |
| Paolo Espino | VEN | Indians | 26 | 7 | 7 | 29.0 | 127 | 35 | 9 | 27.6% | 7.8% | 67 |
| Silvino Bracho | VEN | D-backs | 20 | 13 | 0 | 14.1 | 54 | 17 | 3 | 28.1% | 8.4% | 68 |
SCOUT Leaderboard: Caribbean Leagues Pitching (Starters)
Here’s the pitching leaderboard, confined only to those pitchers who’ve made at least half their appearances in a starting capacity.
| Player | Lg | ’13 Org | ’13 Age | G | GS | IP | TBF | K | BB | xK% | xBB% | SCOUT- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paolo Espino | VEN | Indians | 26 | 7 | 7 | 29.0 | 127 | 35 | 9 | 27.6% | 7.8% | 67 |
| Collin McHugh | VEN | Rockies | 26 | 4 | 4 | 19.2 | 76 | 20 | 4 | 26.5% | 7.8% | 70 |
| Victor Garate | VEN | Mexico | 28 | 8 | 7 | 28.2 | 129 | 34 | 10 | 26.4% | 8.3% | 72 |
| Edgar Osuna | MEX | Indy | 25 | 7 | 7 | 38.2 | 155 | 35 | 7 | 22.6% | 4.9% | 73 |
| Chris Narveson | DOM | Brewers | 31 | 5 | 5 | 27.1 | 110 | 27 | 4 | 24.5% | 5.4% | 74 |
| Cesar Valdez | VEN | Mexico | 28 | 4 | 4 | 18.0 | 78 | 19 | 4 | 24.4% | 7.6% | 75 |
| Kelvin Herrera | DOM | Royals | 23 | 5 | 3 | 9.1 | 39 | 14 | 6 | 28.8% | 10.3% | 76 |
| Jonathan Albaladejo | PUR | Marlins | 30 | 3 | 2 | 11.2 | 54 | 12 | 3 | 21.3% | 8.5% | 85 |
| Victor Mateo | PUR | Rays | 23 | 4 | 2 | 9.2 | 40 | 10 | 3 | 22.0% | 9.3% | 85 |
| Taylor Stanton | PUR | Indy | 25 | 2 | 1 | 5.1 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 21.8% | 10.2% | 89 |
*Denotes an estimated figure.
Notes
• The New York Yankees have signed the Caribbean Leagues’ best hitter, Yamaico Navarro, to a minor-league contract, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported on Thursday. Though he’s played outfield predominantly in the Dominican, Navarro has been utilized much more frequently at shortstop and third base in affiliated baseball. His relatively optimistic Steamer projection (94 wRC+) combined with his likely capacity to play something not unlike league-average defense at third base, suggests that he’s a candidate to become part of that 1% of minor-league free agents who produce something better than 0.5 WAR for a major-league club.
• The Alex Cabrera listed among the Caribbean’s top hitters is the same one who (a) hit 55 home runs for Seibu in 2002 and also (b) retired from baseball following the 2012 NPB season. His career WAR is a full win superior to Yuniesky Betancourt’s in precisely 4,191 fewer major-league plate appearances.
• Russell Branyan since last week’s report: 25 PA, 2 HR, 2 BB, 5 K.
• Video footage containing both (a) Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name” and also (b) one of Branyan’s recent home runs, at the 1:33 mark:
• All internet news regarding the Caribbean Leagues’ best starter, former Cleveland prospect Paolo Espino, is written in Spanish — which, that’s fine, but suggests that he remains a free agent as of Friday. His most recent start for Caribes: 5.0 IP, 4 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 3 H.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
No Barbaro no Cry.