Saturday, February 15, 2014

Meet A Prospect : Rafael De Paula


Rafael DePaula may be the best pitching prospect in the entire Yankees system if you consider just his raw mechanics and "stuff" and exclude all those years spent trying to obtain a visa to come to the United States. DePaula has a pitchers dream frame standing 6'2" tall and weighing in at 212 lbs so he is very project-able and looks like he can be very durable while throwing heat for the foreseeable future hitting 92-94 mph on the gun but can hit 97 mph.


Rafael DePaula will be entering his age 24 season when he starts the 2014 season presumably in High A Tampa  for the Yankees. DePaula sits comfortably at 92-95 mph with his fastball but can dial it up to as fast as 97 mph when he feels it necessary. He has the secondary pitches to go with it to make him a successful major leaguer including a curveball, a slider, and a change up that are all considered raw but plus. He is going to move fast through the Yankees system in my opinion because his stuff is just too good to hold him back. De Paula may have struggled a bit in 2013 when he was promoted to Tampa but I am not one to worry about too much as little experience as he has. De Paula put up a combined 7-5 record with a 4.29 ERA in 113.1 IP in 2013 and even was a member of the All Star Futures Game this year as a part of the MLB All Star Game festivities at Citi Field in New York. I expect De Paula to really take off in 2014 and get back to his dominant ways early and often. 


ETA: Late 2014 to Mid 2015

No comments:

Post a Comment

Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)