This Week in Bradenton: Early season FCL Update
A look at some of the top performers so far this season for the FCL Pirates
With the holiday pushing things back a bit, by the time this comes out, the Bradenton Marauders will have started their latest series against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.
However, the FCL Pirates will be on an off-day, so this seemed like a great time to update you on how the Complex League team is doing early on this season.
As of Wednesday morning, the Pirates have the most wins (13) in the FCL and the best run differential (+37). They’ve won four in a row and nine of their last 10 games.
The offense has sparked the run, which is among the best in several major categories in the Complex—including runs (3rd), hits (2nd), home runs (6th), stolen bases (4th), and total bases (4th).
They lead the FCL in AVG (.289), OBP (.409), and SLG% (.435) and are the only teams over the .400 mark in the latter categories. They are also the only team with an OPS over .800 currently.
Top Offensive Performers
Richard Ramirez
.366/.490/.512, 10 R, 3 2B, HR, 9 RBI, 9:16 BB:K
The 18-year-old catcher is in his first season stateside and is quickly becoming a mainstay in a very potent lineup. On May 28, he picked up three hits, including an RBI and double, and drew a walk.
On the defensive side, he’s thrown out eight of the 17 attempted base stealers on his watch, good for a 47% caught-stealing rate.
Yordany De Los Santos
.407/.462/.593, 5 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 6:12, 12/15 SB
In his second stint with the Complex team, De Los Santos got off to a bit of a slow start but quickly righted the ship and is back to being one of the best hitters in the FCL.
He’s flashed a good blend of power and speed—showing off the latter in a game where he stole four bases—as well as an improving approach at the plate. He’s played nearly every game, seeing playing time all over the infield.
Jhonny Severino
.321/.424/.660, 11 R, 4 HR, 4 2B, 3B, 10 RBI, 10:18, 6/8 SB
The reigning FCL Player of the Week posted a 1.601 OPS with three home runs and another three stolen bases last week. He’s spent time at shortstop and third base and already shows plenty of power to profile well at a corner position.
There has been some swing-and-miss in his game, but he’s also drawing a lot of walks to go with it.
Tony Blanco Jr.
.333/.410/.576, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 5:10
He was initially brought along slowly, but Blanco is gradually making a case to be a mainstay in the lineup. On May 28, he hit a grand slam and another RBI single while also drawing a walk.
After striking out nearly 40% of the time in the Dominican last year, he’s shown a much better approach in the FCL, walking 12.8% of the time while keeping the strikeouts under 30% (26%).
One thing to note is that he’s played 10 games this year, and only one of them has he actually played defensively; the rest of the time, he has been the DH.
One to Watch
Juan Machado
.375/.667/.375, 2 RBI, 7:2, 6/6 SB
The outfielder was a late addition to the FCL squad but wasted no time in getting involved with the offense, currently getting on base two-thirds of the time.
He stole four bases on May 28—has six total—and has walked seven times in four games played.
The question is if he can hit for any extra power, but he’s quickly making his mark in the best FCL Pirates lineup in the league.
Pitching
While there aren’t nearly as many big-name pitchers on the FCL club, the staff has strung together a solid start to the season.
They are currently fourth in ERA (3.80) and have the second-lowest opponent’s average (.224), but they have struggled to give out free bases while striking out among the fewest batters in the league.
When they aren’t striking out hitters and doing well, they’ve done an excellent job keeping the ball on the ground and letting their solid infield do most of the work.
Clevari Tejada
0-0, 2.53 ERA, 4/0 G/GS, SV, 10.2 IP, 12.5 K%, 17.5 BB%
Tejada may be the best example of the high walk/low strikeout/keeps the ball on the ground mold that the FCL Pirates have right now.
He’s walked more than he has struck out, but he has a nearly 60% groundball rate right now, keeping his ERA at 2.53. On May 16, he struck out two while walking three and giving up a hit in 3.2 shutout innings pitched.
Jose Regalado
1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6/0, 9.1 IP, 2 H, 37.1 K%, 22.8 BB%, .074 AVG
The left-handed Regalado is on the older end to be a reliever in the FCL (21, with a birthday in June) but has been outstanding regardless. He’s yet to allow an earned run and is striking out nearly 40% of the batters he faces.
He gets the fastball up to the mid-90s, drops in a really strong change-up that he can cut the spin back on, and gets 10-15” of horizontal break on it.
Regalado picked up his only win in the FCL on May 17 after pitching 2.2 innings shutout innings, allowing just two walks and striking out three.
Zander Mueth
0-1, 2.38 ERA, 4/3, 11.1 IP, 26.9 K%, 15.3 BB%, .195 AVG
His last start blew up his walk numbers, as he had three in just one-third of an inning pitched before getting pulled from the game.
In his first professional season, Mueth has been solid in the FCL, hitting the mid-90s with ease from a near side-arm slot. He’s sometimes struggled to locate the secondary stuff, but it's nothing entirely out of the ordinary for someone his age.
He flashed his stuff on May 18, with 3.2 innings pitched, where he allowed just a hit and two walks while striking out five. An odd stat you will generally only see in the FCL, he’s allowed 10 runs, but only three have been earned so far.
David Matoma
0-0, 1.00 ERA, 6/0, 9 IP, 35.8 K%, 10.2 BB%
Matoma jumped on the scene last season when reports showed he hit 100 mph with his fastball. It may have gotten a tad overblown, as there was only one confirmed instance of him hitting triple-digits (which means there could have been more). Still, it was impressive regardless, especially since the reports previously didn’t have him in the upper 90s range.
He’s reportedly been anywhere from 93-99 this season, the one 99 on a radar reading at the stadium he was pitching at.
The fastball can be inconsistent at times, but at its best, it can get into the upper 90s with upwards of 19” of IVB. He’s also shown a slider/cutter, which he can throw for strikes.
They’ve started to stretch him out into multi-inning outings, going two in each of his last three appearances. He’s also struck out at least three batters in four of the six games he pitched.
One to Watch
Carlos Castillo
1-1, 3.00 ERA, 4/3, 12 IP, 20.7 K%, 9.4 BB%
I had a report on Castillo after my trip to Bradenton, where he stood out with his mid-90s fastball and a Mueth-like arm slot. To an extent, he almost seemed like a Zander Mueth-lite as far as what he looked like on the mound.
On May 27, he pitched three innings, allowing just a run on three hits and a walk while striking out two. He’s given up a lot of hits, but I also saw a couple of clear errors called hits while I was done there, so I wouldn’t worry about that number too much just yet.
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Well if this organization is ever going to take a big step forward, one, or preferably more, of these international guys need to become Top 10, Top 5 prospects, and preferably one of them would begin to challenge for our top spot, if not now, in a year or two. I am cautiously optimistic this may actually happen with this group.
Did you see Tejada pitch?? The reason I ask is b/c I saw a clip of him and I’m not sure if he was using a “quick pitch” or he has a Ryan Johsnon(DBU) type wind-up.