Yohan Almonte is not a household name, he's not talked about. However, Almonte is putting together a very impressive statistical season at Brooklyn this year, similar to what Cahoon was doing in Savannah earlier. It is hard learning about a prospect just by looking at the numbers, but for Almonte it is worth it because even though he is only in Brooklyn, he is only 20 years old and is already in third year of professional ball and is starting to improve on his numbers:
3-3, 2.95 ERA, 14 G, 9 GS, 61.0 IP, 23 BB, 55 K, 1.344 WHIP
2009 Gulf Coast Mets:
1-0, 1.37 ERA, 5 G, 5 GS, 19.2 IP, 2 BB, 20 K, 0.966 WHIP
2009 Kingsport Mets:
3-1, 4.40 ERA, 8 G, 8 GS, 43 IP, 8 BB, 37 K, 1.256 WHIP
2010 Brooklyn Cyclones (As of 8/10/10)
6-3, 1.92 ERA, 11 G, 11 GS, 65.2 IP, 11 BB, 46 K, 0.975 WHIP
From a purely statistical view, combining both 2009 stats into one stat line, Almonte is getting better single season he plays. His control is staying constant to getting better, he is striking out a good amount of batters and his WHIP (one of my favorite stats) started off “eh” and is getting very, very good.
For Almonte the remainder of this season is not only very important, it is critical to how he will move up through the system. He has already pitched more innings this season than he has had in any other season and he is continuing to build that arm strength. Also, with September right around the corner, there will be spots openning up as players get called to the majors. I would like to see how he performs at a higher A level (whether thats Savannah, St. Lucie or a longshot Binghamton). I'm not saying that Almonte will be a player for the majors, but depending on how he performs for the rest of year, especially against better talent, he could join the discussion for non-roster invites this Spring.
