Hector Rondon; international superstar?

by Avindian on Jul 2, 2008 11:46 AM EDT Comment 21 comments

According to ESPN, a pitcher named Hector Rondon will be starting for the World's future team, and he's from Cleveland's system. He's in Class A+ Kinston right now. His line from Baseball Reference suggests nothing special, but he does show positive signs of development (although his K/BB seems to be slipping a touch, never a good sign). Have any of you folks heard of him? BR doesn't do ERA+ for minor leaguers, and I'm not sure what kind of Park Factor we have in Kinston (although I'd heard, in general, the Carolina league is a pitcher's league).

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Did you see the part of the line that said ‘20’?

by FranklinScott on Jul 2, 2008 11:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Let’s go; Tribe!

by fleerdon on Jul 2, 2008 12:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Avindian, I’ll direct you here, and also here. That should clear things up.

by fleerdon on Jul 2, 2008 12:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the implied rec. Rondon is picking PTM’s ass up off the floor after the Lofgren/Drennen debacles.

by Jay on Jul 2, 2008 8:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

His pic from Tyler’s second reference:

Looks like one of the 15 year olds on the team my son played against last night.

"It's hard to win when you don't score." Cliff Lee, 9/28/05.

by Harry Doyle on Jul 3, 2008 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hope he’s not playing against too many 6’3” 180lb 15-year olds

by APV on Jul 3, 2008 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually, my 14 year old son is 6’3” and 180 to 190. He’s OK and will probably be able to play in high school, but I don’t expect much more than that.

The kid on the who pitched for a team from Newark’s Little Leauge Urban Initiative Roberto Clemente team last night – - – Holy Crap! MId-80’s fastball, a 12-6 curve, and other breaking stuff that danced all over the place.

"It's hard to win when you don't score." Cliff Lee, 9/28/05.

by Harry Doyle on Jul 3, 2008 2:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Make sure he’s got Dr. Frank Jobe’s business card. Throwing breaking balls at 16 is not a good idea.

Resident LGT beer kinda sewer

by mauichuck on Jul 3, 2008 6:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My kid throws a 2 seam, a 4 seam, a split and a change up. No elbow issues here. It was the kid on the other team with the breaking stuff.

"It's hard to win when you don't score." Cliff Lee, 9/28/05.

by Harry Doyle on Jul 3, 2008 10:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I dispute that his line on B-Ref doesn’t suggest anything special — the K rate at this age/level alone is special.

That being said, I’ll direct you to his complete line on MiLB.com, where you may note:

1. ERA for April, May, June: 5.57, 3.58, 1.29
2. K/9 for April, May, June: 9.9, 8.8, 10.9
3. K/BB for April, May, June: 2.9, 4.6, 3.4
4. Striking out one out of every 3.3 righty hitters, one out of every 5.1 lefty hitters.

Doing this at age 20 for Kinston, he is absolutely exceptional.

by Jay on Jul 2, 2008 6:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

For more clarity, I should have written:

Striking out 30% of all righty hitters, 20% of all lefties.

by Jay on Jul 2, 2008 6:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not to mention a pretty nifty .66 HR/9. I’m pretty excited about Rondon’s performance this year. With the exception of David Huff, he’s probably the story of the year in the farm system.

by ClarkM on Jul 2, 2008 7:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hello everyone,

Avindian – while I’m not saying that an increasing BB rate is a good thing, 2.76 BB/9 IP is certainly not bad by any means, and it’s to be expected that as you move up through the farm system, you’ll encounter more disciplined hitters, so a rise in the BB/9 IP rate is not to be unexpected.

However, conversely, for the K/9 IP rate to increase from 7.48 to 9.82 going from Low-A to High-A, keeping in mind that High-A hitters are usually a little more disciplined than Low-A hitters, seems to bode extremely well for Rondon’s future in regards to his stuff and ability to get out better hitters as he continues to gain more experience. Especially considering the fact that as FranklinScott pointed out, he’s just 20-YO, which is young for the Carolina League.

I think Rondon is definitely a pitching prospect to keep an eye on, as his ceiling would seem to suggest at the very least a very strong mid-rotation starter, and quite possibly, could turn into a quality frontline starter, something we could use more of in our system, especially since Miller is injured (again) and Lofgren was struggling for the most part and is now injured as well.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Jul 2, 2008 7:42 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs

Indiansfan! Out of the woodworks with a prospect write-up

by Roger Dorn on Jul 2, 2008 7:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yes yes yes!

by hans on Jul 2, 2008 8:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hello Roger and everyone,

Yes, I’m still here! I’ve just been very busy with online work, plus I’ve had many family issues in the past few months, including a death in the family last week, but I still check in from time to time and follow the Indians as much as possible.

I still check on the Indians’ Minor Leagues 5-7 times a week (almost nightly with the box scores and game stories, etc.), so I’m still around – just not as active in posting as I once was (this includes MinorLeagueBall too.)

I’ll try to post more often when time allows me, but you guys are doing very well – keep up the great work! :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Jul 2, 2008 9:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

good to see ya back. we’re gonna need your take when we start to get some minor leaguers back in trades.

by Brick. on Jul 2, 2008 11:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hello Brick,

Thanks for the welcome back! :-)

I look forward to checking out the new prospects we get – hopefully, they’ll help us rebound in the coming years (2009, but even 2010-2011 if we can get higher-ceiling prospects who need a bit longer to develop into more impact players).

Just my 2 cents.

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Jul 3, 2008 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ah, the coming years. I’m already nostalgic for the future.

by mcrose on Jul 4, 2008 12:02 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Rondon is really in a groove now. His line tonite: 6.2 2 0 0 3 8. Both hits were scuseme’s.

by mcrose on Jul 4, 2008 9:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hello mcrose,

Yes, very good outing tonight, though I seen it was 4 BBs, which could be considered a bit high, but that’s a bit of nitpicking.

Yes, he’s certainly one to keep an eye on – makes one wonder whether he could find himself in Akron before this season is out. Normally, the Indians don’t like to push their young prospects too quickly, but in Rondon’s case, I could see him getting some AA exposure before 2008 is out.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Jul 4, 2008 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs