2014 Watchlist: DSL Arms

Given the Nationals’ draft history, if you have any interest in teenage talent, this is where it will come from. As noted in the 2013 season review, the success of the GCL team in 2013 is significantly due to the talent that came from the DSL and the inference/hope is that the international pipeline is starting to produce despite the relatively recent scandal and the new restrictions on spending.

Without further ado, here’s a closer look at the top five arms from the 2013 season:

Mario Sanchez
POS: RHP
JULY 1, 2014 AGE: 19
STATS: 2W-3L, 0 SV; 18G, 5GS; 2.33 ERA, 1.034 WHIP
Sanchez was third in innings pitched and WHIP and fifth in ERA with strong peripherals (2.2BB, 8.4K) all of which were quantum leaps from his 2012 marks as a 17-y.o.

Deibi Yrizarri
POS: RHSP
JULY 1 AGE: 19
STATS: 5-3, 0; 14G, 13GS; 1.99 ERA, 1.103 WHIP
Yrizarri led the team in IP and tied for games started. His strikeout rate was merely average (6.6) but with no home runs allowed and a good walk rate (2.2) he’s likely to move on up.

Luis Reyes
POS: RHSP
JULY 1 AGE: 19
STATS: 5-3, 0; 12G, 12GS; 2.82 ERA, 1.067 WHIP
Reyes made one start for the GCL Nats late in the season, which, coupled with the invite to Instrux is a sign that he’s GCL-bound for ’14.

Luis Torres
POS: RHP
JULY 1 AGE: 20
STATS: 1-3, 0; 13G, 9GS; 3.91 ERA, 1.340 WHIP
At first glance, Torres’s numbers look pedestrian but his FIP and K rates were both second-best on the team.

Maximo Valerio
POS: RHSP
JULY 1 AGE: 18
STATS: 3-4, 0; 14G, 13GS; 2.86 ERA, 1.143 WHIP
Valerio led the team in HRs allowed, which didn’t show up in his ERA but did in his FIP. Still, he doesn’t turn 19 until mid-July and seems unlikely that he’ll spend a third season in the D.R.