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Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (4/16)

Wilfredo Boscan (Photo courtesy of Jason Cole)

People all over baseball predicted it was going to be bad news for the Sally League when the Rangers’ posse of kid pitchers hit the circuit, but even those with the rosiest of lenses could not have foreseen anything like this from the Hickory pitching staff.

Through their first seven games, Hickory’s staff –which features 18 year olds Martin Perez, Joseph Ortiz and Wilmer Font, 19 year olds Wilfredo Boscan and Carlos Pimentel and 20 year old Jake Brigham — has a team ERA of 1.41 and — as a staff, mind you — they’ve held the league to a .174 batting average.

Yeah, the Sally League tends towards “pitcher friendly,” but this is just ridiculous. You know about Martin Perez’s charisma and three plus pitches. You know about the pure, unadaulterated heat of Wilmer Font. But you should keep a close eye on a kid who could be the best pure pitcher in the bunch because I think you’ll realize at some point in the future that you could use some Wilfredo Boscan.

Triple-A: @ Nashville 7, Oklahoma City 1
Errors by 2B Esteban German and 1B Scott Thorman contributed significantly to the five runs Nashville put up through the first two frames as RedHawks starter Doug Mathis surrendered five runs, only one of which was earned, through six otherwise solid innings of work. Mathis allowed six hits and walked two, fanning four along the way.
The Oklahoma City lineup was limited to four base hits including a solo shot from their hottest hitter, DH Ben Harrison (.350 / .500 / .650) who also drew a walk in four trips.
Double-A: Frisco (Off)
The Riders host Springfield tonight in their 2009 home opener at Dr Pepper Ballpark. I talked to the folks in Frisco yesterday and found that walk-up tickets are still available for tonight’s game but that Friday and Saturday are close to being sold out. Sunday’s 4:00 p.m. game will air live on TXN 21 and I’ll be joining the outstanding voice of the RoughRiders, Scott Garner, as a guest analyst.
Advanced-A: @ San Jose 8, Bakersfield 6
The Giants pounded RHP Michael Main for seven runs, six earned, on ten hits and three walks in just three innings of work. He gave up a two-run shot to highly regarded C Buster Posey and a double to top prospect 1B Angel Villalona. Welcome to the Cal League kid.
LF Tim Smith (.450 / .522 / .700) went 5-for-5 with a double and a dinger to lead the Blaze’s 14-hit attack while white hot 2B Matt Lawson (.522 / .542 / .783) slammed his second homer of the year in a 3-for-5 performance.
Class-A: Hickory 8 @ Greenville 0
In Tuesday’s match between the Crawdads and Drive, it was pretty clear that the pitchers were working with huge strike zones. In a 15-inning ballgame, the two teams combined for three runs on 12 hits and four walks. But you can’t brush off RHP Wilfredo Boscan’s effort yesterday by giving the umpire all of the credit.
The 6’2″ Boscan held Greenville’s lineup to two hits and two walks through six scoreless frames, fanning four along the way before turning the ball over to RHP Wilmer Font who walked two but did not allow a hit in two-thirds of an inning. RHP Fabio Castillo blanked the Drive on two hits and no walks, punching out a pair over the final 2.1 to complete the combined shutout.
Meawhile, the Crawdads got another big effort from 19 year old C Leonel “Macumba” De Los Santos (.444 / .500 / .889), who went 2-for-4 with a homer and a walk. Macumba’s raw defensive tools have dazzled scouts for a couple of years, but his offensive skills were questionable at best. It’s too early to make too much of his bat this year, but if he continues to hit he’ll emerge as a top prospect.
De Los Santos was just one of five Crawdads to deliver multi-hit performances. Utility infielder Jacob Kaase went 3-for-5 with a double and a triple, while LF Eric Fry tripled, homered and walked in a 2-for-4 outing.
But back to Boscan.
Last summer in the Northwest League, where the average age last year was more than 22 (and less than 10% of the players were under 20), the Spokane rotation featured four teenagers. Three of them ranked among the league”s six best prospects according to Baseball America. As good as his stats were — and they were incredible — Boscan was no better than the third of those three.
The reports are all the same: Boscan features three plus pitches right now and he can locate them at will. He is a fearless strike thrower and it’s extremely difficult for batters to lift anything he throws.
In 2007, the Venezuelan scorched the Dominican Summer League, posting a 1.75 ERA and fanning 61 while walking just 13 in 56.2 innings of work. Along with all of that, Boscan put up another stat one rarely sees in a pitcher who averages better than 10 K’s per 9 IP: his 4.00 grounder-to-fly ratio.
He earned an assignment to fall instructionals last year and resurfaced in Spokane where he went 9-1 in 15 appearances, including a dozen starts. His 70-11 K/BB (6.36) — even better than his DSL ratio the year before — was the second best in the league, behind a polished pitcher three years his senior. He once again averaged better than a strikeout per inning and surrendered just four homers and thirteen doubles in 69.1 innings. He had a positive G/F ratio of 1.50.
Looking at Boscan’s peripheral numbers, you find an extremely rare combination: a high strikeout ratio, extremely low walk ratio, very homer averse, and lots of ground balls. If you filter through MLB starters, you can”t find a pitcher with a profile similar to Boscan”s. The most similar in view of all of those categories is Roy Halladay.
To give you an idea of how exceptional Boscan’s peripheral numbers are, realize that no major league starter with at least 140 innings pitched in 2008 had a K/BB ratio above 6.00. Boscan’s was 6.36. Only six big leaguers with at least 140 innings in 2008 posted a K/9 north of 9.00, as Boscan did in the NLW, and among them the best K/BB was Tim Lincecum’s 3.26.
The Rangers see Boscan adding more juice to his lively 90-92 mph fastball as he fills out. He commands his power curve, which he throws at a couple of different speeds, well enough to throw it for strikes in any count. Likewise, his changeup is a refined offering which he commands with confidence and which was good enough to keep NWL lefties off balance all summer as he held them to a punchless .237 / .235 / .290 line.