Down in the Dominican: DSL Indians July 10-30

Wilfri Peralta

The Dominican Summer League Indians have been fighting the rain as well as their opponents of late with five games suspended or postponed since July 10th, but still managed a five game winning streak followed by a three game losing streak that allowed them to remain second to last in the division.

It isn’t all bad, however, with a handful of players really standing out. Cuban born pitcher, Roberto Hernandez, has been the team’s most reliable starter and has been even better of late. In his last three starts, he’s allowed just two earned runs over 12.1 innings, striking out 12 without a walk (although he did hit two batters). Overall, he leads the team with a 1.65 ERA with 28 strike outs in 27.1 innings.

One of the newest additions for the DSL team has been Wardquelin Vazquez, a 17 year old who was just signed this summer. He has made four starts already and has allowed more than one earned one just once.

As bad as the DSL Indians have been overall, they rank in the middle third of the league offensively and have been even better of late, scoring at least five runs in seven of their last nine games.

One player who didn’t have much to show in the first half, but has turned things around of late is outfielder Skeiling Rodriguez. He was hitting .229/.343/.301 through July 6th, then hit safely in eight of eleven games, pushing that line to .256/.355/.349. Only 17 years old, Rodriguez has five triples in 35 games with 21 walks. His primary set back remains the K and he has struck out 7 times his last three games with 45 overall.

One of the newest DSL Indians is Wilfri Peralta (pictured above), who came over from the Indians/Brewers team when Brayan Rocchio was promoted to Arizona. Hitting .233/.310/.289 when he switched teams, Peralta used five multi-hit games and five extra base hits to raise that line to .263/.284/.353. Peralta has played second, third and short and to this point has been most proficient defensively at his primary position of short stop. At the moment he is generally splitting time between short and second with Jose Tena now that Rocchio is gone.

Tena has continued his good start with a six game hitting streak and 18 hits since July 9th. He hasn’t shown much power of yet, but has walked 13 times and struck out just 23 in 151 at bats this season.

The DSL Indians 1B/3B Jhonkensy Noel has also been productive offensively, but his style has been a bit different of late. He’s hit four home runs since July 11th, but seen both his average and OBP drop considerably since then. His strike out rate has also risen considerably over this span and, while it could be random, it could also represent a change in strategy.

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