Monday, September 13, 2010

GCL Astros: Pedro Gomez

Pedro Gomez
How did he get here?: Signed as undrafted free agent prior to 2008 season
Stats: 6'3", 204 lbs, Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2011: 19

2010 Overview




IPERA/WHIPK:BBBAAK/9BB/9
31.17.76/1.9823:8.3626.62.3


Previous Years (2008)




YearIPERA/WHIPK:BBHR/9K/9BB/9
200848.22.40/1.2114:81.12.61.5


What happened?

Pedro Gomez - who is virtually unsearchable, thanks to the Barry Bonds Enthusiast from ESPN - came back after missing 2009, presumably with an injury. He showed promise in his first professional season in the VSL in 2008, and bounced back to pitch in 2010.

I know what you're thinking, looking at his numbers and thinking, "Great. Another pitcher with a WHIP almost over 2.00." But hold on, friends. It's not as bad as it looks, because he was pretty damn unlucky.

First of all, he posted an FIP of 3.08, largely due to a .433 BABIP. Over 30+ innings, that's pretty unlucky. He also got 46.2% of his in-plays by groundball, 10% by line drive, and 39.2% by flyball. The low-ish line drive rate means that a lot of his in-play balls found a hole.

What went right?

Improvement over 2008. Gomez actually largely kept the ball in the park, giving up one homer in 2010. That's down from six homers allowed in 2008, before the injury.

Walks. While his BB/9 rate did increase in 2010 (from 1.5 in '08 to 2.3 in '10), they're still pretty good - with Gomez walking eight batters in 169 batters faced.

What went wrong?

July. Gomez allowed 25H/14ER in 10.2IP in July, but batters were hitting .446 off of him.

RISP. In 12.1IP, Gomez allowed 20 hits. That, and the six walks, combined to score 35 unearned runs, and 22 earned runs.

FIP. We've already talked about how unlucky Gomez was. So given the fact that he is coming off an injury (we suppose) and will still be 19 in April 2011, he still has a chance in the organization - particularly given his size.