We reached the halfway point in the Dominican Summer League this week. It’s a good place to take a look at just exactly how the two teams are doing statistically by breaking down some numbers that they have put up so far. These are the stats that I check out to see how players are doing.

Let’s take a look at hitters first.

Only players who have 30 or more at bats were eligible for today’s post.

Batting Average – Only one player on both teams is hitting about .300 and that’s recent signee Alexey Lumpuy from Cuba. The 19-year-old is batting .310 in 14 games so far.

Doubles – OF Joan Delgado leads both teams with eight.

Triples – This one is all Edward Vargas. The 19-year-old outfielder has five so far while also hitting .297. His nearest competition has just 2.

Home Runs – Despite missing two weeks, SS Derniche Valdez leads both DSL teams with four.

RBI – This is also Delgado who has 21 which is seven more than three other players

Walk Percentage – This is a strange stat but I like to see who is getting on base and showing a patient approach. Andres Bonolis is a 19-year-old outfielder and this is his second season in the DSL. He is currently walking 28% of the time,

K Percentage – Outfielder Derik Alcantara is just 18 and has struck out only 4.9% of the time. That’s a little weird because he’s only hitting .214. Edward Vargas, who is in second place, is only striking out 9.9% of the time and he is hitting .297.

Onbase Percentage– Recent signee SS Ramon Eriandys from Cuba blew away everybody as his OBP is at .468. He has missed the past few games with an undisclosed injury.

Slugging percentage – This goes out to Joan Delgado for his third category as he has a .505 power number.

wRC+ – Ramon Eriandys is heads and shoulders above everybody else at 147. His nearest competition is Delgado at 123.

If I had to pick a couple of leaders for the hitter of the year award, Eriandys and Delgado would be neck and neck. Then again, you can put up a lot of stats in 30 games and Derniche could do that now that he is back. He went 2-for-4 in his return yesterday.

Pitching Stats

When it comes to pitching stats, these are all based on a minimum of 10 innings pitched.

ERA – Alfredo Romero is a starting pitcher who has a 1.57 ERA over 23 innings. He’s made seven starts so far.

Strikeouts – Diego Dugarte currently leads both teams in the Dominican with 33 strikeouts. He’s done that in 31.2 innings over eight games.

Strikeouts per nine innings – Francis Reynoso, who is a reliever, dominated this category at 12.33

Batting Average Against – Reliever Ronny Lopez leads this category as opponents are only hitting .419 against. He is 20 years old and still getting in the hang of pitching.

WHIP – Reliever Francis Reynoso, who roving pitching instructor Carlos Chantres bragged to me about, has a 1.11 WHIP.

xFIP – Pitcher Justin Florentino has a 3.37 xFIP in 21.1 innings. He is a reliever who’s also struck out 24 in his short amount of innings.

There is no magic stat to look at for pitchers in the DSL to judge future success. These guys are mainly 16-21 years old and players at that age can change drastically in the physical appearance in just a couple of years. Many have not been in an offseason throwing program yet. And the one guy I am watching for  in the box score is Emmanoel Madeira and he is only 16. 

For most of these pitchers, their focus is on nutrition, gaining strength through weight training, and staying healthy. They should make big jumps in year 2 as Cubs.

The next 30 games should be a lot of fun as many of the starters are now getting into the fourth innings and the relievers have some experience under their belts. We shall see in just over a month who stays as leaders and who steps it up.