Paging Through the Media Guide

On Tuesday, I was fortunate enough to get a copy of the 2006 Nationals Media Guide.  This year’s edition is leaps and bounds better than the one thrown together last season.

On my commute in this morning, I started by paging through the Player Development section (surprising, I know).  Aside from providing the name of all the scouts, crosscheckers, and area supervisors (Google is a wonderful thing), they also provide short biographies of practically everyone in the Nationals system at all levels who are likely to play this season.  Here are some of the lesser known names I noted from the Dominican Summer League, or elsewhere:

  • Edulin Abreu - 21-year old Dominican RH SP (6′3″ 160lbs)

    Games

    IP

    K/9

    BB/9

    WHIP

    HR/9

    13

    68.1

    7.5

    2.6

    1.35

    0.1

  • Robert Almonte - 19-year old Dominican RH RP (6′0″ 200)

    Games

    IP

    K/9

    BB/9

    WHIP

    HR/9

    22

    35.2

    6.6

    9.1

    1.60

    0.0

  • Yonatan Cuello - 22-year old Dominican RH SP (6′4″ 190)

    Games

    IP

    K/9

    BB/9

    WHIP

    HR/9

    12

    73.1

    7.2

    2.3

    1.13

    0.4

  • Jorge Duverge - 21-year old Dominican RH SP (6′0″ 175)

    Games

    IP

    K/9

    BB/9

    WHIP

    HR/9

    13

    52.1

    9.6

    3.6

    1.43

    0.2

  • Yohnson Lopez - 17-year old LH OF from Venezuela (HT: 6′0″ WT: 160)
  • Michael Martinez - 24-year old Dominican IF (5′9″ 145) currently playing in Savannah (143/217/143 in 8G/21AB).

    G/AB

    BA

    OBP

    SLG

    59/212

    269

    368

    292

  • Jonathan Rincon - 21 -year old Dominican RH RP (6′1″ 200)

    Games

    IP

    K/9

    BB/9

    WHIP

    HR/9

    15

    16.2

    5.9

    1.6

    1.14

    0.5

  • Francisco Vizcaino - 21-year old Dominican OF (6′1″ 155) signed as a minor league free agent in 2004 but did not play in 2005.

These names aren’t familiar to most, if not anyone not intimately involved in the Nationals organization.  Many of these guys may never make it any higher than the Gulf Coast League.  However, it appears that there is a renewed investment in Latin American pipeline, and that is a good sign for the future.