2005 DSL Red Sox
From SoSH
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2005 Dominican Summer League Red Sox Season Ending Report
Final Record: 26-42
What is the Dominican Summer League?
The Dominican Summer League (DSL) is a entry-level Minor League. DSL teams are mostly made up of players from the Dominican Republic, although I am not sure of what restrictions (in terms of country of origin) the DSL has. The players are mostly teenagers, although a team can have players up through 21 years of age.
This year, the DSL had 30+ teams in 5 "conferences".
In general, hitting is not well developed at this level and pitchers tend to have the better looking stats. It also should be noted that defense tends to be poor (perhaps due to field conditions), so good ERAs for pitchers may not indicate future stardom... especially if the RAs are far different.
What of the Red Sox participants?
The Red Sox fielded one team in the DSL this year, and for reasons I am not quite certain of, the team was made up in good part by veterans of the Venezuelan Summer League (as well as some new and old Dominicans).
How did we do?
By record, awful. The Red Sox finished with a record of 26-42, finishing 3rd of 4 teams in the American League Portion of the Boca Chica Division, 1/2 Game ahead of the Last place Cleveland 2 team, and 17 1/2 games back of the Cleveland 1 group. If the Boca Chica AL/NL Portions were combined, the Sox would have finished 8th of 9 teams.
Notes of Caution
- I haven't seen these players. I have no idea how they look. I can only base my opinions solely on the stats provided.
- Unlike every other league that will be detailed, there were no daily boxscore for the DSL. Thus, I have no sense of the ebb and flow for each player.
- I have no defensive stats.
- I have no ages for these players.
Players
Offensive Player of the Year:
Roberto Sosa
The only player who has anything resembling decent statistics gets the nod here... although he basically repeated last years performance (Last year: .282/.376/.480). This year, Roberto went .256/.392/.477 (Leading the team in OBP by nearly .070 and leading the team in SLG by over .100 points). Roberto had 21 of his 44 hits go for extra bases, including 12 doubles and 8 HRs (both team highs), walking 29 times (yes, another team high), getting hit 10 times (yes, a team high) and striking out 33 times. He is listed as a catcher and may be the only offensive player to make the journey from the DSL to the states next year.
Pitcher of the Year:
Emelis Guerrero
Emelis Guerrero struck out a lot of batters last year... but all the other stats were not so good. This year, he pitched out of the pen 20 times with 37 2/3 innings pitched, giving up only 21 hits (3 extra base hits, no HRs), 10 runs (6 earned), and 8 walks, all while striking out 52. He ended the year with a 3-3 record with 5 saves and a 1.43 ERA. It's likely he will make a trip to the states... it will be interesting to see if the Sox attempt to convert him back to a starter.
Other players who might make the jump to the US next year:
Offense
- Alberto Gil: Another catcher who was the second power hitter on the team. Alberto hit .201/.297/.366 with 9 doubles and 7 HRs, walking 24 times while striking out 59 times. But, he is a catcher and that is a position of need...
- Pedro Vasquez: A SS who walks and led the team in stolen bases. Pedro went .231/.326/.285 with 22 walks and 21 steals (with 12 CSs).
- Yauguel Rodriguez: Last year, Yauguel led the league with 7 triples. This year, he only hit one... goint .235/.325/.335 with 11 doubles, 4 HRs, 16 SBs and only 4 CSs.
- Adolfo Calderon: Adolfo moved from the VSL to the DSL... and posted similar numbers... going .264/.305/.282
- Eury Morel: A 3Bman who went .209/.240/.308 with 11 doubles, 2 triples and 2 HRs.
(No, not all of these players will be coming. In fact, there is a possibility none of them will be coming. It is a pretty ugly crew)
Pitching
- Jose Capellan: Last year I named him my DSL pitcher of the year. This year he only pitched in 6 games and 17 2/3 innings. I assume he had some sort of injury. On the good side, he only gave up 2 runs and struck out 20.
- Jorge Rodriguez: Jorge gave up only 11 runs in 41 innings, giving up 28 hits, 13 walks and striking out 30.
- Argenis Paulino: Argenis pitched the most innings on the team (52 innings), posting a 2.94 ERA with 52 hits, 18 walks and striking out 29.
- Mauricio Mendez: Mauricio pitched 45 innings with a 2.20 ERA, giving up 41 hits and 12 walks, striking out 34.
- Gustavo Salcedo: Gustavo pitched 46 innings with a 2.54 ERA while striking out 41. On the bad side, his RA would jump to over 5 as he gave up 9 unearned runs.
Final Notes
It's horrible to look at stats and have to strain to find anything good to say. It is worse when the Sox made a big splash with their Dominican Republic Academy a few years back... and are now importing players from Venezuela to fill spots on their only team in the league. It is worse when the most interesting prospects are merely mediocre. Hopefully, this is just a small bump in the road. Perhaps the Sox are using the academy to look at younger players who can not yet be signed to a contract. But, they need to do an entire revamp of the DSL roster for next season... if the stats are true indicators of ability.
