Montero struggling early in Venezuela
ByThe Arizona Fall League was off today, so let’s recap what’s going on in Latin America…
Dominican Winter League
Abe Almonte: 2 G, no plate appearances
Wilkins Arias: 4 G, 4 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1.50 GB/FB
Ivan Nova: 2 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 5.50 GB/FB – just a few more weeks and he’ll be on the 40-man roster
Jon Ortiz: 3 G, 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1.00 GB/FB
Jose Valdez: 4 G, 5 IP, zeroes, 5 K, 1.00 GB/FB
Josue Calzado: 1 G, 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 0.00 GB/FB
Noel Castillo, Gabriel Tatis, Jairo Heredia, Hector Noesi, Juan Miranda, and Eduardo Nunez are all listed on various DWL rosters, bt have not yet appeared in a game.
Mexican Pacific League
Walt Ibarra: 8 G, 5 for 8 (.625), 6 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 SB, 1 CS
Humberto Sanchez: 1 G, 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2.00 GB/FB
Danny Gil is on the same team as Ibarra, however he hasn’t played yet.
Venezuelan Winter League
Luis Nunez: 9 G, 8 for 31 (.258), 0 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 SB, 0 CS
Edwar Gonzalez: 12 G, 9 for 36 (.250), 5 R, 0 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 7 K, 2 SB, 1 CS
Jesus Montero: 7 G, 3 for 22 (.136), 2 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K, 0 SB, 0 CS - ZOMG teh bust
Reegie Corona: 10 G, 7 for 21 (.333), 5 R, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 SB, 0 CS
Marcos Vechionacci: 5 G, 4 for 9 (.444), 2 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 SB, 0 CS
Josh Schmidt: 3 GS, 13.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 12 K, 2.11 GB/FB – he was great with Double-A Trenton, but I don’t think the Yanks will give him a 40-man spot this offseason … he could be some Rule 5 Draft fodder
Pat Venditte: 4 G, 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1.75 GB/FB
Romulo Sanchez: 6 G, 4 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 6 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 1.00 GB/FB – I think he got traded in the VWL, because he’s played for two teams … he’s still Yanks’ property, though
Juan Marcano, Jose Gil, Emerson Landoni, and Eduardo Sosa are all in the league, but haven’t gotten into a game yet.
The Puerto Rican League season doesn’t start until mid-November, so the rosters aren’t out yet.




Monter0 = bust.
I’m keeping a close eye on Nova. Gotta love a good rule 5 pick up.
He was a Rule 5 return.
Ohhh. Pardon my ignorance, I guess I … “misremembered”.
No biggie. We’re rarely gonna select in the Rule 5 draft as we almost always have a 40 man roster crunch.
I saw Ivan Nova pitch for Scranton against Durham. Loved his stuff and mechanics. Big guy/long arms/smooth delivery. Should be given a long look in the spring IMHO….
I like him too … but I honestly don’t know much about his actual stuff or repertoire. How hard does he throw?
Averages abt 94 with the FB, very good curve and a very good change. Has trouble expanding the zone and often gets in trouble by throwing too many strikes.
Well that sounds like a good problem to have.
Tis, which is what makes him a very very intriguing prospect.
Sounds like he’s got big league potential. Should there be no room for him in the rotation at any point in 2010 or beyond, is there a chance we see him in the big league bullpen ala Alfredo Aceves, the Phils, etc?
Possibly. If we don’t have room for him in the rotation I would think he’d be much more valuable as a trade piece later down the line. But it is much too early to be talking about that.
Then again in a short relief stint that 93/94 mph FB can jump to 95/96 throw in 2 good offspeed pitches he could be a good late inning setup guy. Tradebait/setup/starter Nova is good to have.
Eh Jesus only K’ed 3x so he’s probably just hit a stretch of bad luck. No biggie.
Is VWL supposed to be a tough league?
Its really not a kid’s league at all. Montero might be one of the youngest guys in that Venezuela period. Its the wild wild west out there.
Indeed Romulo Sanchez was traded from Leones del Caracas to Cardenales de Lara… In fact he was traded for one time Blue Jay Gustavo Chacin(Rumor has it Chacin asked for $6K to play so Cardenales traded him away instead of paying him)
Don’t expect Montero to get much playing time since this league tends to favor veterans