Stacey King
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Dominican Summer League Top 20
With our International Reviews, we have scouting reports on every player who signed for at least $100,000 last year, plus other notable signings, for a total of around 250 player reports in all.
Most of those players have yet to make their pro debuts yet. When they do get on the field, most of them will begin their careers in either the Dominican Summer League or the four-team Venezuelan Summer League, though a handful of the biggest signings will jump straight to a Rookie-level complex league in the United States.
Lewin Diaz, 1b, Twins
Age: 18. B-T: L-L. Ht.: 6-3. Wt.: 210. Signed: Dominican Republic, 2013.
Diaz as a high-profile prospect on the international market in 2013, when he trained with William Valdez, and the Twins made him their biggest signing of year by giving him $1.4 million on July 2. Diaz has an extra-large, imposing frame. He already has a heavy body type and should look like David Ortiz or current Twins first baseman Kennys Vargas when he’s done filling out. Diaz’s size, strength and bat speed help him generate plus raw power. He has a sound swing, solid plate patience for his age and good bat-to-ball skills, with a willingness to use the opposite field. Before Diaz signed, scouts often noted that he had trouble tapping into his power against live pitching and turned into a singles hitter in games. That wasn’t the case in his pro debut, when he hit five home runs and racked up 13 doubles. Toning down some of the pre-pitch hand movement that contributed to him getting tied up helped him. As Diaz continues to find the right balance between putting the ball in play and driving it for power, he could blow up when it all clicks. Diaz played the outfield as an amateur but the Twins immediately moved him to first base. He’s not much of a runner, thrower or athlete, but the Twins like what they’ve seen from Diaz’s defense at first base, where he has solid hands and gives his infielders a big target.
Jose Martinez, rhp, Twins
Age: 18. B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-2. Wt.: 175. Signed: Venezuela, 2013.
When the Twins signed Martinez for $340,000 in August 2013, he had good size on his lean, athletic frame with long arms and quick arm speed. He topped out in the upper-80s and his secondary pitches were still in their infancy, but he already threw strikes and the physical indicators were there for him to start throwing harder. That’s exactly what happened last year, as Martinez saw his velocity spike, his offspeed pitches improved and he filled up the strike zone in an excellent first pro season. Martinez now sits in the low-90s and touches 94 mph. He’s still fairly skinny, so there might be a few more ticks left on his fastball. Just as encouraging was the development of Martinez’s breaking ball, a slider that flashes above-average potential. His slider is ahead of his changeup, but he’s starting to show feel for his changeup to give him the three-pitch mix of a starter. Martinez locates his stuff well and keeps the ball down in the zone, which helps him get groundballs. With his slim build, the Twins will be careful to bring him along slowly.
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