White Sox Acquire Minor Leaguer for Intl Bonus Slot $

[bmags]

Just in time for board revival.

 

The #WhiteSox have acquired right-handed pitcher Ricardo Pinto from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for international signing bonus pool money.

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) March 28, 2018

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[bmags]

"Scouting Report

Pinto is undersized but still sits 90-94 and touches 96 as a starter. He?€™s also got a straight, planeless fastball that might not play in the majors, even at that velocity, and a fringey slider. The changeup is above average and Pinto?€™s best pitch, and it could be plus at peak.

 

Pinto throws enough strikes to start, but when I saw him mid-year with Reading I thought the stuff really started to play down after multiple times through the lineup and, without a good third pitch to which he could resort, Pinto started getting tagged. I think, if the velo ticks up in short relief stints (it was 93-96 in the Futures Game), it will give him more margin for error on the fastball and suddenly a 60 fastball, 60 changeup with a good amount strikes starts looking pretty good one inning at a time. I have him projected in the bullpen, but the present fastball grade is as a starter where I think it plays down due to a lack of movement."

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/top-33-pros...lphia-phillies/

 

Another guy with a good changeup, and seems from this like a decently intriguing bullpen spect

[southsider2k5]

https://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/6/1/15...elphia-phillies

 

The Phillies signed Pinto as a free agent from Venezuela in 2011. Very successful at the lower levels, he posted a 15-4 record with a 2.97 ERA and 105/37 K/BB in 145 innings in High-A in 2015, then a less impressive 4.10 ERA in 156 innings in Double-A in 2016 with a 101/51 K/BB. This season he had a 5.53 ERA in 42 innings in Triple-A with a 27/17 K/BB.

 

Pinto was rated as a Grade C+ but did not rank among the Phillies Top 20 Prospects for 2017 list. He would have been in the 21-25 range.

 

Listed at 6-0, 185, Pinto is a right-handed hitter and thrower born January 20, 1994. His main attraction is a hot fastball clocked as high as 98 MPH in the minors; he clocked in with a max 97.5 in his MLB debut. His second pitch is a mid-80s change-up and it is solid enough, but his slider is below average and has kept his strikeout rate at a mediocre level.

 

Pinto will need to improve his breaking ball and overall command to thrive in the majors, although the Phillies will likely be patient given his arm strength. Most observers view him as a future middle reliever.

 

https://thatballsouttahere.com/2016/10/04/p...-ricardo-pinto/

 

According to Kiley McDaniels of Fangraphs, Pinto had no fear on the mound. Scouts McDaniels asked said Pinto was “mean as s***” and has “huge balls.”

 

Pinto only continued to succeed in 2015. He started the year in Low-A Lakewood, striking out 8.06 batters per nine with a 3.09 ERA in 11 starts. The team promoted him to Clearwater in June of that year, where his strikeouts lowered but so too did his walk rate and ERA.

 

After the 2015 season, Pinto received the Paul Owens Award for the top pitcher in the Phillies farm system.

 

Philadelphia fans, including myself, got their first look at Pinto in the Phillies Futures game before the 2016 season started. He put together three shutout innings in the game before the “real” Phils finally tagged him for three runs in the ninth.

 

In his Futures Game appearance, Pinto’s fastball maxed out at 95 and averaged 93 according to Brooks Baseball. As for his secondary pitches, Brooks said the following:

 

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primarily 12-6 movement.

 

Pinto hit a snag when he joined Double-A Reading this year, starting the year with a 5.48 ERA in April. However, Pinto slowly got better as he progressed through the year. His best month was in August, where he allowed a 0.85 WHIP and 2.84 ERA in five starts.

 

Pinto understood that Double-A hitters are a step above the competition he faced in 2015. He told Evan Webeck of MLB.com, “I’ve noticed the hitters are more mature. If you throw a mistake, they’re going to make you pay…Sometimes I could get away with those mistakes in High A ball, but here I don’t get outs with the mistake pitches.”

 

Despite his poor start the year, Pinto got to represent the Phillies in the All-Star Futures Game in San Diego this year. Pinto retired two batters for the World Team with the help of San Diego’s Manuel Margot, who saved a ball from going for a home run.

 

Dan Farnsworth of Fangraphs said “Pinto could pitch in a big-league bullpen right now” before this season started. While that gives Pinto a solid floor, his ceiling could easily be much higher. The main thing to watch in Pinto’s development is his slider. If he can get it to at least a fringe-average pitch, he has all the makings of a mid-rotation starter.

 

MLB.com ranks just Mark Appel above Pinto as the best pitcher in the upper level of the Phillies minor-league system. When the next set of rankings come out this offseason, Pinto could easily move above Appel after his poor season and surgery.

 

The hope for Pinto going into 2016 was that he could reach Triple-A by the end of the year for a mid-2017 MLB debut. Instead, Pinto’s debut will likely be towards the end of next season, perhaps during September call-ups. Knowing the volatility of Phillies pitchers, Pinto will likely reach the majors due to an opening in the rotation.

 

 

[bmags]

More from fangraphs:

"Profile: Despite possessing some potential as a reliever, Ricardo Pinto was torched in his major league debut. Hitters punished his two fastballs. They posted a .407 average and .704 slugging percentage against Pinto’s 95 mph four-seamer. His 94 mph sinker was just as ineffective, allowing a .375 average and .625 slugging percentage. Fortunately, his best pitch – a plus changeup – showed well. There’s potential for Pinto to grow into a relief role, but he’ll need to substantially improve his command. When he did throw strikes, far too many of them were located middle-middle. (Brad Johnson)

 

The Quick Opinion: Mid-90s velocity is no longer enough to succeed in the majors. Pinto needs to learn more about the craft of pitching. Fortunately, he can turn to a good changeup as a foundation."

 

Again, will be interesting to see if our scouting of relievers has become a point of value for org. This year will be interesting after them doing a good job with Kahnle/Swarzak last year. Lots of guys in camp with an interesting pitch.

[GenericUserName]

He was also #15 on the Phillies 2016 Pipeline list.

 

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 45 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 55 | Overall: 45

Sometimes, young prospects struggle when they make their United States debut. Pinto, on the other hand, stood out immediately as a 20-year-old in the Short Season New York-Penn League in 2014, then really took off in 2015 pitching across two levels of Class A ball and earning the organization's Minor League pitcher of the year honors. The jump to Double-A in 2016 proved to be a little more challenging.

 

What makes Pinto's year stand out even more is the fact he did it while largely putting his best pitch in his back pocket. The right-hander has always been a strike-thrower with an outstanding changeup, but he bought into the Phillies' plan for him and focused on his slider all year, which undoubtedly hurt his strikeout rate. He'll show an average slider at times and the work he put into the pitch in 2015 should pay off in the future, moving it closer to his plus fastball and offspeed pitch.

 

Clearly willing to do whatever it takes to make him a more complete pitcher, Pinto is learning what he needs to work on to succeed at the upper levels. The Phillies are excited to see what he can do there, with the hope they have a mid-rotation starter on their hands.

 

I wonder if we'll try to teach him a cutter so that he actually can get some movement on his fastball. Could be an interesting relief profile and maybe a swing guy.

[bmags]

Daryl Van Shouwen just tweeted that he's reporting to W-S, which is kinda odd? He was in AAA and majors last year. I wonder if that's becasue they want a specific coach to work with him?

[southsider2k5]

Daryl Van Shouwen just tweeted that he's reporting to W-S, which is kinda odd? He was in AAA and majors last year. I wonder if that's becasue they want a specific coach to work with him?

 

Bobby Thigpen is the pitching coach down there.

 

http://www.milb.com/content/page.jsp?sid=t...amp;vkey=roster

[Jake]

Yeah I also found it very curious that we sent him to A-ball. Would make more sense if he hadn't been in camp for a while and this was going to basically be his "rehab" stint.

[bmags]

Bobby Thigpen is the pitching coach down there.

 

http://www.milb.com/content/page.jsp?sid=t...amp;vkey=roster

 

Weird, I thought it was Zaleski, which made more sense to me after some of the success he's had recently getting guys under control.

[Dick Allen]

Yeah I also found it very curious that we sent him to A-ball. Would make more sense if he hadn't been in camp for a while and this was going to basically be his "rehab" stint.

It could be they had the AAA roster set and didn't want to mess with anyone. He probably goes to Charlotte fairly soon.

[BurlyMan56]

Weird, I thought it was Zaleski, which made more sense to me after some of the success he's had recently getting guys under control.

 

I’m pretty sure it is. That link slso shows Mcewing as Manager instead of Omar.

[southsider2k5]

Weird, I thought it was Zaleski, which made more sense to me after some of the success he's had recently getting guys under control.

 

I take that back, evidently they haven't updated the MiLB pages. According to the Trib, Zaleski will be at WS.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0116-story.html

[Quin]

How to build a bullpen using money you can't spend anyway: an op-ed by Rick Hahn.

[Superstar Lamar]

Your Delta Tau Chi nickname is...Pinto

[HaroldSouthside]

Your Delta Tau Chi nickname is...Pinto

Why Pinto?

 

[Lip Man 1]

Why Pinto?

 

"Why not?" (Burp)

Edited March 28, 2018 by Lip Man 1

[kwolf68]

 

Plan the parade baby.

[Eminor3rd]

Saw a lot of Pinto last year (I work for the AAA affiliate where he played). The breaking stuff never seemed to fool anyone. He gave up a lot more contact than you'd expect given his velocity. Also worth noting that our park is well-known for suppressing homeruns.

[Southwest Sider]

How to build a bullpen using money you can't spend anyway: an op-ed by Rick Hahn.

 

Seriously. People will never shut up about him being a trailblazer or a genius if we built a serviceable or good bullpen using International Draft Money we weren't planning on using anyway. We have been getting some very interesting guys with this money.

[southsider2k5]

Seriously. People will never shut up about him being a trailblazer or a genius if we built a serviceable or good bullpen using International Draft Money we weren't planning on using anyway. We have been getting some very interesting guys with this money.

 

How dare Rick Hahn discover a new way to build a team!

[bmags]

Saw a lot of Pinto last year (I work for the AAA affiliate where he played). The breaking stuff never seemed to fool anyone. He gave up a lot more contact than you'd expect given his velocity. Also worth noting that our park is well-known for suppressing homeruns.

 

Hope will be they can have him focus on relief and find a way to give him something like a cutter.

[BamaDoc]

I saw someone mention that the cross town team, who was also in the international penalty, signed 36 or so international talents. Obviously, they are under 300k (if done legally cough cough Braves) and show some teams take a quantity approach. I don't know how many we signed beyond a kid from Aruba, but if we can't find at least a dozen then I question our scouting ability. I have long advocated setting up a couple of academies to get the kids in contact with us early, teach baseball, english, and some basics(nutrition) so if they do get over hear there is less culture shock. The Moncada twinkie story was cute but if it had continued could have prevented him from reaching his potential. If a kids potential is a 1-2 war player that matters.

[GenericUserName]

I saw someone mention that the cross town team, who was also in the international penalty, signed 36 or so international talents. Obviously, they are under 300k (if done legally cough cough Braves) and show some teams take a quantity approach. I don't know how many we signed beyond a kid from Aruba, but if we can't find at least a dozen then I question our scouting ability. I have long advocated setting up a couple of academies to get the kids in contact with us early, teach baseball, english, and some basics(nutrition) so if they do get over hear there is less culture shock. The Moncada twinkie story was cute but if it had continued could have prevented him from reaching his potential. If a kids potential is a 1-2 war player that matters.

We have signed like 10 kids. I think the bigger problem for us was that we didn't know if we were getting Robert or in what period, so we didn't agree to any deals early. The Cubs had the benefit of knowing they were going to be in the penalty to find some guys they could lock up for under $300K.

 

Personally, I would like us to get a second DSL team and sign a ton of guys for small amounts. I believe that anyone signed under $10K doesn't even have their bonus count against the pool, so we could find anyone with an inkling of talent and try to sign them for that and see what we can have them do.

[southsider2k5]

I saw someone mention that the cross town team, who was also in the international penalty, signed 36 or so international talents. Obviously, they are under 300k (if done legally cough cough Braves) and show some teams take a quantity approach. I don't know how many we signed beyond a kid from Aruba, but if we can't find at least a dozen then I question our scouting ability. I have long advocated setting up a couple of academies to get the kids in contact with us early, teach baseball, english, and some basics(nutrition) so if they do get over hear there is less culture shock. The Moncada twinkie story was cute but if it had continued could have prevented him from reaching his potential. If a kids potential is a 1-2 war player that matters.

 

We have also used that money to bring in about half a dozen upper level minor league players, so you can't just look at the total number.

[Quin]

We have also used that money to bring in about half a dozen upper level minor league players, so you can't just look at the total number.

 

Yeah, it's more like Robert, Yzzari, Burr, Vieria and now Pinto.