Can someone explain to me why home runs are so rare, and hitting seems to be so far behind pitching in general in that league? It strikes me as really odd because I feel like that country is more known for producing exceptional position players.

Players down there have chicken arms, they don't hit for power, period. That's why you can't take those pitcher's sexy ERA seriously.

Can someone explain to me why home runs are so rare, and hitting seems to be so far behind pitching in general in that league? It strikes me as really odd because I feel like that country is more known for producing exceptional position players.

 

You are talking about 16/17/18 year old kids down there. There is a lot physical maturity still be to be had. They are glorified high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

You are talking about 16/17/18 year old kids down there. There is a lot physical maturity still be to be had. They are glorified high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

 

I don't pay attention to high school. Do you see the same disparity between offense and pitching there?

I don't pay attention to high school. Do you see the same disparity between offense and pitching there?

Almost all high school leagues use metal bats whereas in the Domincan League, they use wood bats (almost positive of this). For teenagers, you would really have to get ahold of one to hit it out of a field with 300-plus foot fences.

I don't pay attention to high school. Do you see the same disparity between offense and pitching there?

 

Offense is concentrated into a very few psychically mature players. Most guys can't hit homers at that level.

Can someone explain to me why home runs are so rare, and hitting seems to be so far behind pitching in general in that league? It strikes me as really odd because I feel like that country is more known for producing exceptional position players.

 

I think a lot of it has to do with experience, there are a lot of handlers in the Latin countries that will not let their position players hit off top flight pitching and some will keep them from playing live competition altogether and only allow them to be seen by scouts in showcases. Its why it is also really hard to evaluate the tools of some of these 16 year old players as a lot of the raw plus power that you hear about is from batting practice and not from actual games. For many of these hitters, it is the first time they have faced such a concentrated amount of quality pitching, you may see one or two quality guys a month instead of 3 or 4 every night.