Minor League Baseball: Dominican Summer League Wrap Up
As of the end of the next week, minor league baseball will be done with its regular season. The Dominican Summer League finished up last weekend and started playoffs this week. How did the season go?
Many of even the most ardent minor league baseball fans tend to skip over the Dominican Summer League. The league is typically populated with very young teenage players who were just signed by their big league club, often 4-5 years away from the major leagues for the absolute best players.
However, recent changes have made the DSL a league to take more note of. The closure of the Venezuelan Summer League due to the political instability in that country has led to all teams utilizing the DSL for their first developmental path for their Latin American signees, outside of the absolute elite of the elite.
Most teams sign 20-30 players every year, and only a few of those are “big money” guys that end up starting their career in one of the stateside rookie leagues, so the majority get their start in the DSL.
With that, let’s check out how the season went this season.
Teams
Unlike many levels in minor league baseball, teams can choose to have as many DSL teams as they would like. Some teams even share a team with another organization. That leads to a league with 40 teams, and many teams labeled “Dodgers1, Dodgers2,” and “Philles Red, Phillies White”
The class of the DSL this year was a pair of teams throughout the season – the Twins and the Mets2 squad. A few teams finished with hot runs to get close to the Twins and Mets2 in records, but the Mets2 team ended up the season as the only team with 50 wins, going 50-21. The Twins fell one win short, going 49-22.
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Fittingly, the Twins and Mets2 were #1 and #2 in hitting on the season. The Twins had 46 triples on the season as a team, 10 more than any other team in the league. The Rangers1 and Cubs1 each hit 43 home runs, which was 10 more than the next team behind them. The Cubs1 team added a monster lead in stolen bases, stealing 180 bases as a team, 35 more than any other team in the league.
On the pitching side, the Mets1 team led the league with a 2.42 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. The Phillies White and Giants led the league in strikeouts with 592 and 590 strikeouts, respectively, with the next closest team being 20 strikeouts behind. Incredibly, the Athletics pitching staff only gave up seven home runs on the entire season (72 games).
Statistical Leaders
The hitting leaders in each category:
Batting Average: Yoel Yanqui, Diamondbacks, .373
On Base: Yoel Yanqui, Dimondbacks, .460
Slugging: Andrison Pena, Rangers1, .558
Runs: Fernando Kelli, Cubs1, 61
Hits: Jhoander Saez, Mets2, 88
Doubles: Jose Peroza, Mets1, and Franklin Tineo, Cubs2, 21
Triples: Julio Francisco, Phillies White, 10
Home Runs: Maxwell Morales, Rangers1, 11
RBI: Luis Santana, Mets2, 52
Stolen Bases: Fernando Kelli, Cubs1, 58
Pitching leaders:
Wins: Luis Rivero, Red Sox, 10
Games: Orieny Quiroz, Giants, 30
Games Started: Jose Valenzuela, Reds, 15
Innings: Leonel Aponte, Phillies White, 81 1/3
ERA: Leonel Aponte, Phillies White, 0.77
WHIP: Leonel Aponte, Phillies White, 0.79
Saves: Orieny Quiroz, Giants, 13
Strikeouts: Norwith Gudino, Giants, 83
Next: Where Have Stolen Bases Gone?
Award winners
For each of these league wrap ups, I’ll include my own choice for my top hitter and top pitcher in the league with an honorable mention for each. This has 100% to do with statistical output, not prospect status. There will be top prospect lists for each affiliate league coming out later in the offseason!
Top hitter: Fernando Kelli, Cubs1, .320/.437/.443, 11 2B, 5 3B, 3 HR, 58 SB. Kelli’s incredible speed and defense was a huge impact for the Cubs1 lineup and turned heads all season long.
Honorable mention: Andrison Pena, Rangers1, .344/.447/.558, 17 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 4 SB. Pena had a 31/18 BB/K ratio and looks like a future beast at the plate with a powerful left-handed swing.
Top pitcher: Leonel Aponte, Phillies White, 7-1, 0.77 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 81 1/3 IP, 9/69 BB/K. Aponte was the best pitcher in the league from start to finish without question.
Honorable mention: Ramon Rosso, Phillies White, 6-1, 0.74 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 48 2/3 IP, 13/69 BB/K. Coming into the league later in the year, Rosso was the most dominant pitcher in the league while he was in the league, even getting more notice than teammate Aponte.