Are The Braves Considering A Cuban Pitcher?
By Fred Owens
Jul 22, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; United States first baseman Malaika Underwood (6) leads the handshakes after their mercy rule victory against Cuba during the 2015 Pan Am Games at Ajax Pan Am Ballpark. USA beat Cuba 11-0. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Last Thursday 350 scouts including no doubt a scout or two from the Braves were at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida to watch showcase full of Houston Astro prospects and in particular one nonaligned Cuban pitcher. Yasiel Sierra.
Braves aiming to say HI Sierra?
One of the ways the Braves can be aggressive in the free agent market is by signing international free agents who don’t count against their spending limit; Yasiel (or Yaisel) is one of those. I can’y insert a picture but I can link you to a couple.
Here’s one from Zona de Strike.
And here’s one from the Havana Times.
Sierra is a 6’1” 168 pound RHP who defected from Cuba to Spain in April of this year. He was immediately granted citizenship and began pitching for the Tenerife Marlins in the top baseball league in Spain. immediately after the Cuban League season ended.
At the end of April Baseball America’s Ben Badler provided a series of posts ranking the top 20 prospects remaining in Cuba. The post – created before Sierra’s defection – ranked him thirteenth. A few of what I consider important comments are below. I encourage you to read the whole evaluation.
"his stuff and loose arm make him one of the best young Cuban pitching prospects. . .(he) was mostly a starting pitcher during the 2013-14 season, when he had a 3.92 ERA with 79 strikeouts and 64 walks in 101 innings. . . after an excellent start (in 2014) against the U.S. college national team in Cuba, Sierra moved back to the bullpen this past season in Cuba. . . . at his best, he has the look of a mid-rotation starter . .. (he) has a strong frame with clean, easy arm action and quick arm speed. . .throws from multiple arm slots,. . (his) fastball that sits at 91-94 mph as a starter and peaks at 96. . .has plus movement to his arm side, especially when he throws it from the lower slot, and it has good riding life when he elevates, (his) slider flashes as a second plus pitch with tight spin and sharp two-plane break. . .(and) improved significantly over the past year. . .(he) mostly operates off the fastball and slider but he throws a third pitch (likely a splitter, though possibly a changeup) that can get some swing-and-miss when he uses it against lefties. . ."
The Baseball America piece linked above has some of his numbers from this year. I added those to the prior year numbers I found on Baseball Reference and created the following table. Note also that the I calculated FIP based on the 100 pitchers listed on BR. Obviously that isn’t every pitcher so the FIP is likely low but the best I could come up with.
According to Jesse Sanchez has been throwing for teams each week for the last two months in the Dominican Republic, has a visa and is expected to begin visiting cities of teams interested in signing him. Sanchez went onto quote part of Baseball America’s evaluation of the workout. He did not however link his quote and I can’t find it so I’m quoting Sanchez quoting BA.
"“Sierra threw 34 pitches on Thursday, including 19 fastballs, 12 sliders and two changeups. . . average fastball velocity was 94.7 mph and … peaked at 96 multiple times. . .outanding command of his fastball down and to his glove side. . (and) his slider in the same spot. . . .slider broke with very late two-plane movement. . .away from right handed batters consistently. . .(he) threw what appeared to be a changeup twice.(it) more vertical movement than his slider, and did not have overwhelming fade, though he did hit his spots with it."
". . .Sierra looked extremely polished . . .repeated his moderate stride very well, consistently landing online and hitting his spots down in the strike zone. . (with) a clean arm action, with a smooth wrap in the back and ease through release.”"
At least in the showcase his pitches impressed and seemed better than rated in the spring Of course it wasn’t full on competition and the April comments were based on longer evaluations. Here’s video from that day.
Is there a comp?
According to Badler, yes. “He’s comparable to Reds right hander Raisel Iglesias, another Cuban pitcher who attacks hitters from multiple arm angles with a plus fastball/slider combination and worked as a reliever with control problems in Cuba, with Sierra having more size but Iglesias performing better on the field in his final season.”
The Reds signed Iglesias now 25 years old (I wonder if he can sing. . .never mind) last spring. He started this season with the Reds but pitched only once before going to AAA. He completed the round trip three times during the year and was with Cincinnati from the second week of July on. He started 16 games there posting a 4.05 ERA, 3.55 FIP and 1.143 WHIP, winning three and losing seven but averaging 9.8 K/9 nine and walking just 2.6/9. That’s not an awful comp.
That’s A Wrap
Sierra is still waiting on MLB to declare him a free agent and of course he has to get a Visa but as a citizen of Spain that shouldn’t be an issue. Once those things are done the battle of the checkbooks begins. With 350 scouts on hand the interest is obviously high and his skills are the kind every team needs. It all depends on how the Braves view him.
If they see him as a high upside guy they could well open their checkbook and get him on board fro next season. Out bidding others for a guy who doesn’t require a draft pick and could provide immediate help would be considered aggressive by most fans.
I’ve heard nothing specifically saying the Braves are interested but after reuniting the international scouting crew, saying their going to be very aggressive in next year’s international draft and telling fans they played to ge aggressive in the free agent hunt this year, odd are they were there and are interested.
We’ll be watching the news and rumor mill so when something happens we’ll update you here on the take