Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
Background
Born: March 21, 1986 in Bronx, NY
6'3" 225
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Drafted: 4th Round, 108th overall by the Cincinnati Reds.
http://www.rookiesquantities.com/ima...ilver_auto.jpg
Background information
Rafael was originally signed by the New York Yankees out of the Dominican Republic in 2003, but that contract was voided once it was found out that Rafael was a United States citizen who had pitched for a HS in New York his sophomore year before moving to the Dominican Republic. He played in the Gulf Coast League in 2004, but showed up in 2005 to Dayton overweight and out of shape. His game suffered a bit and was demoted to Billings. During ST for the minor leagues in 2006, Rafael left for personal reasons and the Reds had troubles staying in contact with him. He returned shortly before short season baseball began this season.
Scouting Report
Rafael sits in the 92-94MPH range with his fastball and can get it to 97 on occaision. He has a plus curveball when he is on, but needs to work with his change up. He is inconsistent with his control and needs work on it also.
mlb.com pre-draft scouting report:
FORMER LEAN PITCHERS BODY NOW HEAVY & SOFT. WIDE, ROUNDED SHOULDERS. ADDED WEIGHT THROUGH MIDDLE, HIPS & THIGHS, CORRECTABLE W/ HARD WORK. HIGH WINDUP, LOW ELBOW, 3/4 SLOT, LANDS TO 1B LINE. LOOSE ARM, NEAR COMPACT IN BACK, FINE OUT FRONT. MOST FB 90-91. KNUCKLE-CB, FLASHED 1 FAIR, 3/4 ROTATION. PLAYER STATES KNUCKLE-CB GRIP CHANGEUP. DEFINITE RAW PWR ARM STRENGTH.
Minor Leagues
Rafael showed up overweight and out of shape in 2005 and his game suffered because of it. The Reds were very disappointed in him and demoted him to Billings once short season started. He had much better success in Billings in his first season than he did in Dayton. 2006 did not get off to a good start either. During ST he left the Reds and the Reds had some problems getting in contact with him. He was gone for nearly 3 1/2 months before coming back. He started the season in Billings.
2004-2006 Stats
Code:
Year Team Age W L ERA IP H ER HR BB SO H9 HR9 BB9 K9 WHIP
2004 GC Reds 18 1 6 4.20 40.2 38 19 3 18 32 8.41 0.66 3.98 7.08 1.38
2005 Billings 19 3 0 3.43 42.0 36 16 7 23 37 7.71 1.50 4.93 7.93 1.40
Dayton 19 3 5 9.35 26.0 24 27 5 24 22 8.31 1.73 8.31 7.62 1.85
2006 Billings 20 1 1 2.40 15.0 12 4 3 2 6 7.20 1.80 1.20 3.60 0.93
GC Reds 20 0 1 15.00 3.0 6 5 0 2 0 18.00 0.00 6.00 0.00 2.67
Dayton 20 2 4 5.22 39.2 32 23 7 25 33 7.26 1.59 5.67 7.49 1.44
2007 Stats through April 19, 2007
Code:
Team W L ERA IP H ER HR BB SO
DAY 2 0 0.82 11.0 8 1 0 4 8
Sources for information
http://www.baseballamerica.com
http://www.thebaseballcube.com
http://www.milb.com
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
In other player news, pitcher Rafael Gonzalez was sent to the Reds' complex in Florida for health reasons. After he's cleared to play again, Gonzalez will likely have a couple rehab starts before being re-assigned. It's unsure if he'll return to Billings. Gonzalez was 1-1 with a 2.40 ERA for the Mustangs.
Dont know much more than that, but it comes off as odd.
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
Promoted to Dayton:
• Rafael Gonzalez gets the start today for the Dragons, taking the spot of Elizardo Ramirez, who is back with the Reds. Gonzalez went 3-5 with a 9.35 ERA last year for Dayton before ending his season at rookie-level Billings.
"He's got a good arm, from what I saw of him last year," pitching coach Larry Pierson said. "I'd like him to maintain his delivery so that he can work on spotting the ball and locate his fastball down in the zone."
http://www.daytondailynews.com/sport...06dragons.html
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
Rafael has now played in 4 games for the Dragons. Last night he did very well, he went 5 innings, allowed 1 hit and 2 walks, while striking out 3 and not allowing a run.
I updated his season stats this in the first post.
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
Gonzo has made slow progress essentially since July was his spring training.
Hopefully he has a mentally "normal" year next season;)
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
I like most of his numbers since he got to Dayton except for those HR's. i have yet to actually see him pitch outside of his HS scouting video, but I wonder why he gets rocked for the long ball so much.
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
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Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
Updated through today with his season stats.
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
Since we can no longer edit our past posts, below are up to date Stats for Rafael Gonzalez
Code:
W L ERA IP H ER HR BB SO AVG
9 2 2.58 83.2 71 24 12 27 46 .232
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
2007 Season Stats
Code:
W L ERA GS IP H ER HR BB SO GO/AO AVG
13 5 3.53 25 135.0 131 53 18 56 75 0.96 .256
Rafael tied for the Midwest League lead in wins and finished 11th in ERA.
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
is rafael still throwing in the 92-94 range, touching 97? his K-rate is so low that it prompted me ask this? other than that he looks like he had a pretty nice bounce back season.
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
Honestly, I haven't seen a scouting report on him from this year, so I don't know exactly.
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
Nice to see Gonzo finally throw a full season, but he has alot of improvement to do, ALOT of improvement to do if he wants to stay a starter. Otherwise he is another conversion candidate.
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aronchis
Nice to see Gonzo finally throw a full season, but he has alot of improvement to do, ALOT of improvement to do if he wants to stay a starter. Otherwise he is another conversion candidate.
Everybody in the minors has alot of work to do. Thats why they are in the minors. I like this guy tremendously. I hope to see him up here soon.:)
Re: Prospect Profile: Rafael Gonzalez
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GoReds33
Everybody in the minors has alot of work to do. Thats why they are in the minors. I like this guy tremendously. I hope to see him up here soon.:)
He just finished the year in Dayton in Low-A. It will be quite a bit of time before we see him in Cincinnati. Your smiley might mean you weren't serious about that statement, however.