José De León

[UK Reds Fan]

1. Exactly how did the reds get him? Was it literally 500k and nothing else?
2. Is he a legit starting pitching prospect...5th spot? Or possilby 3rd spot?...Or could he be a legit ace?

[RedTeamGo!]

1. Exactly how did the reds get him? Was it literally 500k and nothing else?
2. Is he a legit starting pitching prospect...5th spot? Or possilby 3rd spot?...Or could he be a legit ace?

Rays, Reds Finalize Trades For Jose De Leon, Brian O’Grady
March 26th, 2020 at 8:58pm CST • By Mark Polishuk
The Rays and Reds have worked out the final details of a pair of offseason trades between the two clubs, as per multiple reporters (including MLB.com’s Juan Toribio). Back in November, the two clubs engaged in two trades, one that sent right-hander Jose De Leon to Cincinnati and (a week later) another that sent first baseman/outfielder Brian O’Grady to Tampa Bay. Both trades saw the players exchanged for either cash considerations or a player to be named later, and today’s news confirms that the two teams have agreed to accept money to complete the transactions.

Cincinnati optioned De Leon to the minors two weeks ago, after the righty posted a 6.75 ERA over 2 2/3 Spring Training innings. When and if the season gets underway, the 27-year-old De Leon will continue to work to get back to the form that made him a highly-touted top-40 prospect prior to the 2016 and 2017 seasons. De Leon’s progress was halted, however, by Tommy John surgery in March 2018. He returned to throw 56 minor league and four Major League innings in 2019.

From mlbtraderumors

He’s probably a back of the rotation starter at best, but that’s ok.

[Bourgeois Zee]

He’s probably a back of the rotation starter at best, but that’s ok.

Nah.

At best, he's a poor man's Luis Castillo.

(Look at his minor league numbers.)

His key-- as always-- is to find a release point that'll allow him to control the strike zone enough to be moderately successful. Cincinnati has, of late, been solid at developing just that type of big stuff/ high spin rate/ bad location pitcher.

[M2]

He's not a prospect (he's a few months older than Castillo), but he could be a decent pitcher now and moving forward. He was a highly regarded prospect back in 2016 and 2017. The Dodgers and Rays both had high hopes for him. Hopefully he's a late bloomer, or the Reds are super smart about unlocking a pitcher's potential. Either way works for me.

[Griffey012]

I think De Leon has a chance to be a phenomenal grab for the Reds. He put up outstanding numbers as a Dodgers top prospect and made it to the bigs in 2016 at age 23. He was traded straight up for Logan Forsythe who had combined for over 6 fWAR the previous 2 seasons. At this point, he has thrown 111 innings since he was traded to TBR due to injuries and a pandemic. In my eyes, he is very much still a prospect due to the lack of actual innings pitched. In those limited innings, he has continued to show an ability to rack up strike-outs. His previous great control has yet to come back after his string of injuries, but that raw stuff looks very good. If he can generate control/command there is nothing holding him back from being a very good starting pitcher.

And obviously, the injury history and control issues could make last night his peak, but I'll bet on the Reds pitching development system when given the opportunity.

[sdwagers]

I like to call him a late bloomer that has overcome some adversity. No all roads to show are the same. Heck Castillo was a bit of train wreck as well.

When De Leon commands his pitches - he becomes nasty. Best example was the 5th inning of his start last night.

https://www.mlb.com/reds/video/jose-...13-default-vtp

I tend to look at him as 3-4-or 5 in a rotation for now. Especially with Lodolo and Greene on the way.

[RedTeamGo!]

Nah.

At best, he's a poor man's Luis Castillo.

(Look at his minor league numbers.)

His key-- as always-- is to find a release point that'll allow him to control the strike zone enough to be moderately successful. Cincinnati has, of late, been solid at developing just that type of big stuff/ high spin rate/ bad location pitcher.

“Probably....”

[CaiGuy]

I don't know if his fastball is really deceptive or they set it up well, but my untrained eye saw a lot of 94 MPH fastballs right in the zone were either going right past guys or getting fouled off. Maybe his fastball is that deceptive, or maybe it was just a weak opponent who didn't pounce.

I am just going off of memory, but I wasn't seeing many breaking balls that were generating swings, dropping into the strike zone, or fooling anyone. He did have at least one K on a nice changeup, though. I definitely wouldn't get to excited from a game against 2021 Pittsburgh.

I would be thrilled if "all" he became is a solid bullpen arm, which seems way more likely to state the obvious.

Good game, and good for him...great piece of hitting, too.

[Mitri]

I don't know if his fastball is really deceptive or they set it up well, but my untrained eye saw a lot of 94 MPH fastballs right in the zone were either going right past guys or getting fouled off. Maybe his fastball is that deceptive, or maybe it was just a weak opponent who didn't pounce.

I am just going off of memory, but I wasn't seeing many breaking balls that were generating swings, dropping into the strike zone, or fooling anyone. He did have at least one K on a nice changeup, though. I definitely wouldn't get to excited from a game against 2021 Pittsburgh.

I would be thrilled if "all" he became is a solid bullpen arm, which seems way more likely to state the obvious.

Good game, and good for him...great piece of hitting, too.

Yeah, I am still skeptical. More of De Leon than Hoffman, though if you watch that clip sdwagers posted JDL does look like a God. I never love guys who can't consistently find the zone, they usually always revert to their wild norms. I think his fastball spins like crazy, which makes it more deceptive. De Leon is sort of the prototypical DJ reclamation project, and he has now flashed brilliance after reports of a good winter and striking out a ton in spring training, so he'll get a long leash. But it may end up becoming a bullpen leash really soon.

[sdwagers]

here's all kinds of stats to process (and I mean a lot) from MLB Advanced Media.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savan...r-pitching-mlb

[sdwagers]

DeLeon was flat out flithy vs the Tribe. I wonder with Bedorsian gone and Lorenzen on the 60 day if he doesn't just settle into the pen nicely.

[Bourgeois Zee]

DeLeon was flat out flithy vs the Tribe. I wonder with Bedorsian gone and Lorenzen on the 60 day if he doesn't just settle into the pen nicely.

I'm wondering if he can get on the TeJay Antone train as a multi-inning weapon who sees lineups one time through.

That's a weapon that can be incredibly helpful in the 'pen, IMO-- perhaps more useful than as a fifth starter.

[mth123]

DeLeon was flat out flithy vs the Tribe. I wonder with Bedorsian gone and Lorenzen on the 60 day if he doesn't just settle into the pen nicely.

Yeah. It seems like his breaking ball is what fails him most. Frequent cement mixer/hanger/meatball or whatever that gets hit out of the park. As a reliever, he can shelve that and stick to fastball/change-up. If he can do that, it really helps the pen. Fingers crossed.

Not really counting on anything from Lorenzen. He's on the 60 day DL with arm problems. If he comes back at all, who knows if he'll be the same guy. If he comes back, great, but any plans need to exclude him completely.

[Hamilton95]

I'm wondering if he can get on the TeJay Antone train as a multi-inning weapon who sees lineups one time through.

That's a weapon that can be incredibly helpful in the 'pen, IMO-- perhaps more useful than as a fifth starter.

I liked the Miley/Antone combo that they shut the Giants out with the other day. a Hoffman/De Leon combo with maybe another reliever at the end like Sims if need be would be pretty cool. Keeps that said starter that day from going through the lineup a third time.

[HokieRed]

Yeah. It seems like his breaking ball is what fails him most. Frequent cement mixer/hanger/meatball or whatever that gets hit out of the park. As a reliever, he can shelve that and stick to fastball/change-up. If he can do that, it really helps the pen. Fingers crossed.

Not really counting on anything from Lorenzen. He's on the 60 day DL with arm problems. If he comes back at all, who knows if he'll be the same guy. If he comes back, great, but any plans need to exclude him completely.

The baseball savant article that sdwagers posted above suggests it is his changeup that is the problem. He's got a very high "barrel" % too. High K rate, high percentage of balls hit very well. Still a small sample size of course.