Prospect Profile: Angel Reyes

(Image not found for some reason, leading me to think he may be a vampire)

The Yankees minor league pitchers are well touted. While they all are very talented, they all have one thing in common, they are all right handed. The all right handed farm system is thrown off by one legitimate prospect in the Yankees system, and that is Angel Reyes. The diminutive southpaw was signed by the Yankees as an international free agent back in 2004. The 5’11, 170 lb starting pitcher is from the Dominican Public and listed as 20 years old (although it seems a bit debatable). Reyes is still a relative unknown, as he has only pitched in 30 professional games (19 starts), none above the A level. Reyes took the league by storm, as in his first professional season, he went 3-2 with a 1.35 ERA and 45 K’s in 46.2 innings in the GCL Yankees rookie league and finished up the season in low A Staten Island where he went 1-1 with a 1.53 ERA and 16 K’s in 17.2 innings. Things were going pretty well for Reyes, but the wheels came off in 2007. Reyes split the season between the GCL League, the A- class Staten Island Yankees, and A class Charleston, but only his first stop at the GCL went well. Things went particularly bad for Reyes with the Staten Island Yankees, when he completely lost the strike zone and was bombed to the tune of a 14.54 ERA. Things went a little better when Reyes moved to Charleston, but that still only lead to 4.56 ERA.
The only thing keeping Reyes from becoming an elite prospect in the league at this moment is his control. Reyes’ 64 to 110 career walk to strikeout rate is not great, but it is not horrific. He does though have the tendency to completely lose the strike zone, as illustrate by his 12 walks to 3 K’s in his stint with Staten Island. Reyes absolutely has the pure stuff to dominate, but like many young, inexperienced players control is a problem. Reyes features a 93-95 mph fastball, an above average curveball, and budding changeup that he has been working on, which could be an explanation for all of his walks. As long as the changeup develops then Reyes will have enough variety to be an effective starter, but his size may eventually lead to a move to the bullpen. A lefty throwing 95 mph is always a welcome addition to any bullpen. It certainly is not unheard of for smaller pitchers to be durable enough to last as a starter (Roy Oswalt for example). It is hard to say where Reyes will begin the 2008 season, it could be at any one of the three spots he pitched at in 2007, or the Yankees could be aggressive with him and start him in high A class Tampa’s rotation. However, it may be better to let him work on his control at a lower level, since the Yankees have little need to rush him. Regardless, 2008 will be a big year for Reyes to determine if he’s the pitcher who dominated in 2006 or the one who could not throw a strike in 2007.