I always forget that the Dominican Summer League starts before the other short season leagues. I guess because they don't need the draft to help fill out their roster, they can get a jump on everybody else.
The 2017 DSL Mets 1 won at such a prodigious rate (44-27, .620) that they'll be hard-pressed to top last year's results no matter how well the 2018 squad does. You've got to not just be good, but have some luck on your side, and with a 3-4 record, while Pythagoras thinks they should be 5-2, well, luck has a way of evening things out. They have more than a few players returned from last year's squad, and almost everybody on last year's squad did really well (thus, the record), so I imagine a bunch of them are only back for a handful of games, getting sharpened up for a few weeks before joining the Gulf Coast Mets, the Kingsport Mets, or the Brooklyn Cyclones.
DSL-ers get Sundays off, but the Mets 1 won (see what I did there?) yesterday, and did so handily, downing the Latin American teenagers of the DSL Twins, scoring in each of the last five innings. Rookie Cesar Loaiza took the win with 3 1/3 shutout innings across the middle of the game, giving up three hits and a walk, but striking out four to keep the Twins off the board. Cesar is currently killing it to the tune of a 1.59 ERA. I come to praise him, not to bury him.
Currently rocking a roster of 33, 57.5% of the DSL Mets 1 are not actually Dominican(!), with the team currently fielding 15 Venezuelans, 2 Colombians, and 2 more players form Curacao.
While DSL kids rarely have much power yet (2 homers thus far), the team has been otherwise burning down the house with their bats, with two players (catcher Andres Rgnault and shortstop Malvin Nuñez currently batting over .400, and five more batters coming in with averages over .300. Regnault, part of all Venezuelan catching staff for the team, is currently 14th in the league in OPS at 1.241, while throwing out 44.4% of would-be base-stealers.
Second-year pro Felix Sosa mostly struggled in his first season with the team, but so far in 2018, he has had one start, in which he has thrown five innings of no-hit shutout ball. I'd be tempted to shut it down right there, but expect to see Felix in the stateside leagues soon enough if he can build on that start at all.
Curacao native Nelmerson Xavier Angela (he uses all three names) has been the top reliever so far, throwing five innings out of the pen, giving up just one un-earned run on two hits, while walking none and striking out five.
The season continues tomorrow against those same Twins, as the Mets 1 try to close the gap on the DSL Nationals, who sit three games ahead of the Mets 1 in first place in the Dominican Summer League South Division.
YOUR 2017 DSL Mets 1
Position Group | Starting Pitcher | Starting Pitcher | Starting Pitcher | Starting Pitcher | Starting Pitcher | | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | Name | Adrian Aybar | Marcos Correa | Jender De Jesus | Junior Santos | Felix Sosa | DoB | 3/8/98 | 1/31/00 | 1/3/98 | 8/16/01 | 3/13/98 | B/T | R/R | R/R | R/R | R/R | R/R | Primary Position | Starting Pitcher | Starting Pitcher | Starting Pitcher | | Starting Pitcher | Other Positions | | rp | rp | | rp | Status Notes | | | | | | Position Group | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | Name | Nelmerson Xavier Angela #28 | Darling Baez | Carlos Castellanos | Joshua Corneily | Jhonfran Escalona | DoB | 2/20/98 | 6/26/97 | 1/27/01 | 1/15/01 | 4/8/99 | B/T | L/L | R/R | R/R | R/R | R/R | Primary Position | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | Other Positions | sp | | sp | sp | | Status Notes | | | | | | Position Group | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | Name | Benito Garcia | Daniel Guzman | Victor Isturiz | Jeffrey Colón | Cesar Loaiza | DoB | 3/10/00 | 2/16/98 | 3/8/97 | 11/9/99 | 7/10/98 | B/T | R/R | L/L | R/R | R/R | L/L | Primary Position | | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | | Other Positions | | | sp | | | Status Notes | | | | | | Position Group | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#008000] Catcher | | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | Name | Haniel Ogando | Jasson Peña | Ragui Rodriguez | Nixon Silva | Juan Loyo | DoB | 7/15/99 | 6/9/98 | 4/27/99 | 8/20/99 | 3/16/99 | B/T | R/R | R/R | L/L | L/L | R/R | Primary Position | | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | | | | Other Positions | | rp | | | | Status Notes | | | | | | Position Group | =#008000] Catcher | =#008000] Catcher | =#8000FF] Infielder | =#8000FF] Infielder | =#8000FF] Infielder | | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | Name | Alejandro Medina | Andres Regnault | Fidel Almario | David Lozano | Malvin Nuñez | DoB | 4/7/00 | 12/21/98 | 11/17/99 | 5/11/98 | 1/30/99 | B/T | R/R | R/R | S/R | R/R | S/R | Primary Position | =#008000]Catcher | =#008000]Catcher | | =#8000FF]Second Base | | Other Positions | | 1b | | 3b, 1b, c | | Status Notes | | | | | | Position Group | =#8000FF] Infielder | =#8000FF] Infielder | =#0000FF] Outfielder | =#0000FF] Outfielder | =#0000FF] Outfielder | | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | Name | Andres Parra | Wilmy Valdez | Juan de la Rosa | Patricio Diaz | Moisés Gonzalez | DoB | 9/9/99 | 7/3/97 | 6/22/98 | 3/13/01 | 6/10/00 | B/T | S/R | R/R | R/R | L/R | R/R | Primary Position | =#8000FF]Shortstop | =#8000FF]First Base | =#0000FF]Right Field | | =#0000FF]Center Field | Other Positions | | | lf | | lf | Status Notes | | | | | | Position Group | | =#0000FF] Outfielder | =#0000FF] Outfielder | =#0000FF] Outfielder | | | | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | | Name | | Adrian Hernandez | Julio René | Eduardo Salazar | | DoB | | 2/8/01 | 11/6/97 | 12/15/00 | | B/T | | R/R | R/R | R/R | | Primary Position | | =#0000FF]Center Field | =#0000FF]Right Field | | | Other Positions | | rf | lf | | | Status Notes | | | | | |
Position Group | Starting Pitcher | Starting Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#0000FF] Outfielder | | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | [fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg] | Name | Malky Mena | Michael Otañez | Williams Valencia | Edinson Valdez | DoB | 10/3/96 | 7/3/97 | 7/21/00 | 1/22/99 | B/T | R/R | R/R | R/R | R/R | Primary Position | Starting Pitcher | =#8000FF]Starting Pitcher | =#FF8000]Relief Pitcher | =#0000FF]Right Field | Other Positions | | | | lf | Status Notes | Not Yet Activated | Not Yet Activated | On 7-Day DL | Not Yet Activated |
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