After fielding a historically awful corps of relief pitchers in 2010, the Arizona Diamondbacks brought in notable bullpen-builder Kevin Towers as GM. Between canny moves from Towers and the statistical variance of relievers, the bullpen headache has largely gone away for the organization this season, as Arizona’s firemen rank seventh in the NL in FIP.
More help appears to be on the way in the form of Kevin Munson and Eury De La Rosa, who were given late-season promotions (from High-A to Double-A and Low-A to High-A, respectively) after solid performances and look to be potential impact relievers in a couple of years.
Munson was a third round pick in 2010 (out of James Madison, the school I’m graduating from in a couple of months) who was considered one of the top relievers in that draft class. The big righthander hasn’t disappointed, blowing away Cal League hitters with true swing-and-miss stuff. He whiffed 76 batters in 53 2/3 innings, showcasing a power sinker/slider combination. He allowed just four homers in the tough Cal League environment, a testament to the movement on his pitches and his ability to keep the ball on the ground.
The elephant in the room with Munson is his spotty control–he walked 41 batters, which needs to come way down. Still, plenty of pitchers have walked tons of guys in the low minors (Craig Kimbrel, anyone?) and gone on to tighten that up. Munson isn’t as polished as most college draftees, since he was converted from catcher in college.
Ultimately, this is a pitcher with strikeout-per-inning stuff who has the groundball ability to pitch well in Arizona. If he can trim the walks, Munson could be a very solid relief piece.
De La Rosa was promoted to take Munson’s spot in High-A. An international signee in 2010, he lacks Munson’s pedigree and is a virtually anonymous prospect despite very solid numbers in the low minors. This can all be traced back to one fact–he’s a tiny lefty reliever. Generously listed at 5’9″ and 167 pounds, De La Rosa is not an imposing pitcher. Then again, NL lefty relievers come in all shapes and sizes, from Danny Ray Herrera to Dennys Reyes to Sean Marshall.
Just 21, De La Rosa has some pretty impressive career numbers: 177 2/3 IP, 144 H, 45 ER, 10 HR, 50 BB, 195 K, 2.28 ERA. He got on my radar last year by throwing 45 incredible innings in short season, allowing just 23 hits, five earned runs, and no homers with a 56/14 K/BB.
He hasn’t quite repeated that this year in his first season in full-season ball, but has nonetheless been stellar: 53 IP, 36 H, 8 ER, 3 HR, 51/13 K/BB.
Clearly, De La Rosa’s peripherals have been very solid across the board. He’s trimmed his walk rate every season while keeping solid strikeout and homer rates.
Given that he was just promoted to High-A, the little lefty has a lot to prove before getting to Chase Field, but the job description of an NL lefty reliever isn’t all that demanding, and it’s certainly feasible that De La Rosa could end up as a solid performer in that role. Perhaps one day he could even set up Munson, although both pitchers have a lot to prove before getting back-of-the-bullpen consideration.
For now, they’re just two guys to keep an eye on as Towers continues to bring his relief corps to the level of that of his former San Diego team.
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