Major league teams need pitchers like Harol Gonzalez too.
- Born: March 2, 1995
- B/T: R/R
- 6’0″, 160-lbs
- Signed by the New York Mets in 2013 out of the Dominican Republic
The Numbers
His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:
In short season low-A ball in 2016, Harol had a really dominant season. He might have struck out a few more batters, but otherwise there was nothing to complain about.
At A-ball and High-A in 2017, he took a step backward in every respect.
At three levels, mostly High-A and Double-A, he got worse, other than his walk rate which is usually pretty good.
In 2019, at Double-A and Triple-A, he improved in every respect.
He seems to handle batters equally well.
A fairly balanced chart too, so again, it’s not as if lefties or righties are hitting him harder.
Here’s the visual aspect of his up-and-down four-year trend:
2016: Outstanding
2017: Fell under his career average K-BB%, then struggled to get back there, got promoted to A+ and stayed at that level.
2018: Fell behind at A+, and then spent May and June getting back to average, got promoted to AA, faded.
2019: Started where he left off at AA, climbed into summer above his career average, then faded in AAA.
I see a pitcher who adjusts to a level, and then puts up decent, not dominant numbers.
The Scouts
- Rotowire: Not on their Top 400.
- BaseballHQ: Not on their Top 100.
- Fangraphs: Not on their Top 120.
- Fantasy Six Pack: Not on their dynasty list.
- Prospects365: Not on Ray Butler’s Top 200.
- Imaginary Brick Wall: Not on the Top 487.
- Fantrax: Not on the Top 250.
Warnings
Although he doesn’t walk many, he also doesn’t strike out enough to be a dominant pitcher.
He’s 25, so he’s done growing, and he stands just 6’0″ and weighs only 160 pounds. So if you hope his fastball will add velocity with added strength to his current 90mph, stop, just don’t even.
He does command his fastball well, and that helps, but neither it, nor his curve, slider, nor changeup is a plus pitch.
Conclusion
He is what he is. Despite his size, he remains a starting pitcher and has pitched 130+ innings for three years in a row. With 46 IP at AAA, he’s ready to help when the Mets need the help. He’s just not first in line, or even second or third. But whenever he gets the chance, he will probably put up decent, not great, numbers in the majors too.
Not exciting, but teams needs guys like this too. It’s always good to know that a AAA pitcher is ready for the call when you need him.