2010 Top 50 Twins Prospects | No. 16 | Deolis Guerra
Position | Pitcher
Bats/Throws | Right/Right
Born | April 17, 1989 (San Felix, Venezuela)
School | Not Available
Height | 6'5''
Weight | 200 lbs.
2009 Ranking | 12
Breakdown
Deolis Guerra received a $700,000 signing bonus from the New York Mets in 2005 as a 16-year-old. He got started in the States in 2006 at 17 years old.
The Mets let him skip rookie ball and started to move him right up the ladder, where he appeared in 17 games for the Single-A Hagerstown Suns.
He had a 2.20 ERA with the Suns, and the Mets felt comfortable with promoting him late in August and allowing him to pitch for the St. Lucie Mets, who would later win the Florida State League Championship.
In 2007, Guerra found himself as an 18-year-old pitching in the Florida State League, where he posted a respectable 4.02 ERA in 21 appearances (20 starts). Despite his poor record of 2-6, everything seemed to be going right for Guerra.
In January 2008, Guerra was traded along with Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, and Kevin Mulvey to the Twins for Johan Santana. The Twins weren't going to promote Guerra just yet; instead, they wanted to see him prove that he deserved a promotion from the Florida State League.
In 2008, at the young age of 19, Guerra went 11-9 with a 5.47 ERA with the Fort Myers Miracle, a considerable regression from the year before. He began the 2009 season in the Florida State League, and after 16 appearances (15 starts), Guerra was finally promoted to Double-A New Britain.
Prior to the promotion, Guerra was 6-8 with a 4.69 ERA, which is clear evidence that he still wasn't where the Twins wanted him to be, but they felt that a change of scenery was necessary for Guerra. He finished the season by winning six games for the Rock Cats and posting a 5.17 ERA.
Two years later, Guerra is the only player still with the Twins from the Santana trade. It's hard to believe that he will only be 21 years old in 2010, and that if he began his career with the Twins, he'd likely be getting his first crack at the Florida State League.
He has a very long delivery, which many believe is the source for his lack of velocity. Baseball America considers Guerra's change-up to be the best in the system.
He also has a curveball, but it's far behind both his fastball and change-up. There's no reason to give up on Guerra yet, but it'd be nice to see some productivity from him this season.
2009 Statistics
Level W L ERA IP K BB WHIP FIP
A+ 6 8 4.69 86.1 54 25 1.39 3.83
AA 6 3 5.17 62.2 49 17 1.26 3.52
2010 Outlook
Guerra will begin the 2010 season at Double-A New Britain and at just 21 years old, he'll likely end the season there, too.
Pitching Repertoire
- Fastball (87-91)
- Curveball
- Change-up
Estimated Time of Arrival
2012
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