House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves Sign Cuban Reliever Carlos Portuondo

By Alan Carpenter

facebooktwitterreddit
Jul 16, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cuba shortstop Yorbis Borroto (35) gets back safely to first base on a fly ball out in the third inning as Nicaragua first baseman Sandor Guido (7) waits for the throw during the 2015 Pan Am Games at Ajax Pan Am Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 16, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cuba shortstop Yorbis Borroto (35) gets back safely to first base on a fly ball out in the third inning as Nicaragua first baseman Sandor Guido (7) waits for the throw during the 2015 Pan Am Games at Ajax Pan Am Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Braves Sign Cuban Pitcher – Not Subject to International Spending Limits

News today from ESPN’s Jesse Sanchez:

Carlos Portuondo is a 28-year-old Cuban escapee who was banned from international competition by the Cuban government along with 5 others in 2014 for “attempts to leave the country illegally.”

Apparently he has been successful in getting out since then.

Carlos Manuel Portuondo, being 28 years old, is free from MLB’s International signing restrictions and was previously cleared to sign as a free agent with any club.  He stands 6’0″/227, and as you can see above, he is a right-hander.

Baseball-reference.com has stats for Portuondo dating back to 2005.  He missed the 2008 season for unknown reasons and now hasn’t played since 2013… likely for political reasons.

Those Numbers

Yeah… about that.  Portuondo has been an occasional starter/occasional reliever, but pitched fairly sparingly over 8 seasons in Cuba.

He also wasn’t very good, which is why this particular signing is an eyebrow-raiser.  Examples:

  • Average WHIP:  1.72
  • Total innings:  355 (8 seasons)
  • Total strikeouts:  194 (roughly 5 per nine innings)
  • Total walks:  188… 202 if you count intentional BB’s… a number that exceeds his strikeout count.
  • He’s also been hittable:  423 hits allowed in those 355 innings.
  • Overall:  5.75 ERA.

It is hard to sugar-coat this:  it’s pretty ugly.  But apparently somebody saw something that convinced the Braves to spend nearly $1 million on him.

Will he compete for a bullpen spot?  Not yet – that much is certain.  In fact, given the close-to-3-year layoff from competition, I would expect that he’ll have to work through multiple minor league levels… perhaps starting as low as High-A Carolina.

Next: Early Spring Notes

Nonetheless, the Braves are clearly still lurking about for talent… we will have to see how this roll of the dice works out for them.

Home/Braves News