As many of you know already, over these next few days I will be profiling some of the international free agents that figure to have an impact on the MLB in the next year or so. These guys are some of the best international players from all sorts of different places that are thinking about making the jump to Major League Baseball. Some of these guys you may have heard of, and others maybe not. There will be many different types of players that I will be looking at, but they all have one thing in common, they are the best of the rest throughout the world. Next up is Raciel Iglesias who recently defected out of Cuba. He is a 23 year old right handed pitcher.
Raciel Iglesias is a 23 year old right handed pitcher out of Cuba. You may remember him when he pitched against Team USA in the world baseball classic last year. He is not a big guy as he stands at a diminutive 5'11" but he can still get his heater up to the low to mid 90s and currently tops out at 95mph as a reliever. This is an improvement from just last March when he topped out in the low 90s in the World Baseball Classic. He also is very lean and looks to have room to pack on some muscle, making it very possible that he could gain even more velocity on his fastball. He also throws a big sweeping curveball to counter his fastball and he is able to effectively change the speed and path on this breaking ball rather well. This curve is usually ranged from mid 70s to low 80s, and with his ability to change the speed and plane of it is what really makes it a good pitch. He also has a slider that he mixes in every once in awhile. As far as his command goes, he stands to improve a little bit, and having a major league quality pitching coach will without a doubt help him improve his command. Over the last few years in Cuba, Iglesias has been predominantly a reliever, and will most likely be signed as one, but because he is still young and if he can develop a third pitch, a team may take a chance on trying to develop him as a starter. This in fact would attempt to maximize his potential, and if it worked he would be a major free agent steal.
Now time to dive into the numbers. There isn't a whole lot available, but I could find his last year's stats in Cuba's Serie Nacional, which include a 1.68 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 20 walks over 53 2/3 innings. His K/9 rate of 8.4 is strong, but his BB/9 rate of 3.4 is not great. Once again it looks like control will be his biggest issue in coming over to the states, and any team who signs him will need to work hard with him to help improve this. He also had some experience over the summer pitching against the US in the world baseball classic as well as pitching against some of the better US college players in a 5 game set of friendlies, and he pitched well in both of these exhibitions, opening some eyes around the world. He had 6 Ks in 4 2/3 innings pitched in the WBC against some of the game's better players, and like I said earlier, he has improved his velocity since then. With his potential to develop even further as well as teams not being required to use international slot money to sign him, Iglesias will have some interest on the free agent market. He most likely has a ceiling of a mid rotation starter with a floor of a good major league reliever. He will be an intriguing option for teams to consider this winter.
Now time to dive into the numbers. There isn't a whole lot available, but I could find his last year's stats in Cuba's Serie Nacional, which include a 1.68 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 20 walks over 53 2/3 innings. His K/9 rate of 8.4 is strong, but his BB/9 rate of 3.4 is not great. Once again it looks like control will be his biggest issue in coming over to the states, and any team who signs him will need to work hard with him to help improve this. He also had some experience over the summer pitching against the US in the world baseball classic as well as pitching against some of the better US college players in a 5 game set of friendlies, and he pitched well in both of these exhibitions, opening some eyes around the world. He had 6 Ks in 4 2/3 innings pitched in the WBC against some of the game's better players, and like I said earlier, he has improved his velocity since then. With his potential to develop even further as well as teams not being required to use international slot money to sign him, Iglesias will have some interest on the free agent market. He most likely has a ceiling of a mid rotation starter with a floor of a good major league reliever. He will be an intriguing option for teams to consider this winter.