Diego Perez had his best outing of the year for the ACL White Sox on Saturday, which isn't to say it was a good one. He allowed one run in one inning, working around two hits, a walk and a hit batter, but he still managed to lower his ERA to 19.80 on the season, and his WHIP to 3.40.
Perez is only 17, and only had one year of mildly interesting DSL work to his name before this season. But his debut season's numbers were skewed by a handful of bad outings, and the White Sox liked his feel for spin, so he was moved stateside on an aggressive timeline.
This is par for the course in complex ball right now, and Jake Mintz at Yahoo! Sports wrote an article this past week sounding the alarm about the concerning state of rookie ball, which is beset by short rosters, and the increased percentage of raw players that comprise them.
Mintz describes a cascade of issues, stemming first from the latest CBA reducing an organization's Domestic Reserve List from 180 players to 165. That reduced the amount of roster spots a team could devote to low-level pitchers, which means teams prioritize the live arms over the ones that can throw strikes and help throw innings. The harder young pitchers throw, the likelier they are to get injured, and the more appearances that are required from even less qualified arms. This is where Perez comes in:
A few years ago, a club could simply pluck a soft-tosser from Independent Ball to fill innings on the complex. But with the new cap, roster spots have become a commodity all their own, one that clubs are more likely to use on low-command flamethrowers with an incremental shot of having an impact down the road. Those types of pitchers tend to be more injury-prone, further reinforcing the cycle.
“The downstream impact of the roster limits is that you're increasing the likelihood that guys get injured because guys are gonna have to throw more often,” a scout explained. “And they're not gonna necessarily change how they throw, when we're paying them a certain way in arbitration and we're valuing certain things as an industry. They’re gonna redline every time they touch the mound because we’re measuring everything.”
With fewer healthy pitchers available, unqualified pitchers are often pushed up the organizational ladder to fill in. This scout described that unfortunate trend as “microwaving.” It happens even more during this part of the year — after spring training roster cuts but before the influx of new players from the draft in July.
The shortage of pitchers leads to more seven-inning games and forfeits. The more seven-inning games and forfeits, the fewer plate appearances and innings there are for position players who are there to learn.
Mintz extrapolates this concern further, saying the league might use the poor quality of low-level ball to further contract minor league baseball when the minor league CBA expires after the 2027 season, with the idea that outsourcing development to college programs and independent ball is far more cost-effective. It's a pretty grim view of the future because you can't grow by cutting, but if the only priority is reducing spending, the decision are a lot easier to rationalize.
Jacksonville 15, Charlotte 6
- Junior Pérez went 2-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Braden Montgomery was 3-for-5 with a double.
- Austin Hays played seven innings of right field while going 0-for-4.
- Ryan Galanie was 1-for-3 with a double.
- Jonathan Cannon: 5 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 2 HR, 2 HBP, 56 of 84 pitches for strikes.
- Ben Peoples had a rough one: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 12 of 32 pitches for strikes.
Pensacola 7, Birmingham 2
- Samuel Zavala was 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Colby Shelton went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Anthony DePino, 2-for-4.
- Jeral Perez was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Gabe Davis' Double-A debut: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 41 of 66 pitches for strikes.
Winston-Salem 6, Rome 2
- Caleb Bonemer went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a stolen base.
- George Wolkow walked twice, struck out twice and stole a base.
- Kyle Lodise went 1-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
- Mathias LaCombe: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 25 of 40 pitches for strikes.
- Pierce George: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 13 of 18 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 2, Augusta 1
- Abraham Nunez went 1-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
- Jaden Fauske was 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Javier Mogollón, 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
- Matthew Boughton went 0-for-3.
- Alexander Albertus hit his first Kanny homer, finishing 1-for-3.
ACL Mariners 7, ACL White Sox 0 (7 innings)
- Jordan Rich had the Sox's only hit, finishing 1-for-3 with a strikeout and a CS.
- Jose Mendoza and Landon Hodge both were 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
- Yordani Soto went 0-for-2 with a K.
- Christian Gonzalez, 0-for-2.
- Diego Perez: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP.
