We start our six piece look at the minor league teams thus far with the two foreign summer league teams: the Venezuelan Red Rays, well at least the team shared by the Reds and the Rays, and the Dominican Rays.
Let's begin with the Dominican Rays, and the batters that make up the somewhat old for the league team. The average age for the league is 18.6, the Rays come in at 19, the whiskers have begun to show. Statistically the best player appears to be catcher Gerardo Olivares, 18, in 12 games his line is .355/.432/.452, he doesn't have any homers, and only three runs batted in, but homers are a rarity on these two teams; only seven for the entire team; four by 23 year old third baseman Salvador Paredes who has more strikeouts than hits.
The team as a whole are statsically better than the league averages:
Stat: Average (Team)
BA: .233 (.234)
OBP: .339 (.325)
SLG: .313 (.332)
OPS: .653 (.657)
Other notable players include 19 year old right fielder Ramon Novas, who doesn't seem to have much of an eye, only one walk, and 11 strikeouts. Another 19 year old, first baseman Hector Gomez, who bats left-handed, has 18 walks, which is more than his 17 games played, he also has two homers, and is tied with Paredes for the team lead in runs batted in with 13.
The DSL Rays also have a few impressive pitching performances thus far, 21 year old Juan Santana has a 0.90 ERA through 10 innings along with a .121 batting average against, 11.32 strikeouts per nine, and a strikeout to ball ratio of 6.5. 18 year old Juan Wilsino has a 1.2 ERA through 15 innings. 17 year old Wilmer Almonte seems hittable; a .278 batting average against, but also seems to have something that either moves a lot, or is gas; 14.54 strikeouts per nine, which somehow is only good for second on the team behind Deivis Mavares, 20, who is averaging 15.43 per nine, and hasn't allowed an earned run in his two innings of work.
Looking to the other team, the VSL Rays, it boasts more pitchers than hitters, and only one hitter truly stuckout. That would be 17 year old Julio Cedeno, a third baseman with a line of .258/.368/.412 along with two homers, which is tied for the team lead, and 16 RBIs, the team leader. Elicer Ugueto, who may or may not be related to a fellow shortstop, former Mariner Luis Ugueto either has no patience, or patience that's too good for his own being, 11 walks are tied along with Cedeno and first baseman Lucas Nakandakare for the team lead in walks, but also has 30 strikeouts, which as you guessed leads the team, but doesn't match the amount of letters in the last names of Nakandakare and designated hitter Mauricio Nagashashi.
On to the pitchers, lefty Francisco Andrade is the youngest on either team; 16, but hasn't been too good, an OPS against of 1.046 in 11 innings. 17 year old Wilking Rodrigeuz has been the best pitcher on the team, 1.35 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, and 10.54 strikeouts per nine along with eight K's per walk. Finally, the name that Dewayne Staats and Joe Magrane should fear the most if he somehow manages to reach the majors? Eduar Quionez.
While it's somewhat unfair to really take the next two teams' (Hudson Valley and Princeton) stats into account, we'll cover them none the less tomorrow, with Columbus, Vero Beach, Montgomery, and Durham following in subsequent days.