The Astros select 6'2" 215lb RHP Rodney Quintero, out of Chipola Junior College.
Perfect Game:
Quintero was one of the more pleasant surprises from the tournament. I had seen his stats prior to game play and was happy to see that his stuff matched his early success.
He started the game throwing 88-89, but was up to 92 before the first inning was over. Once he had a chance to warm up, he was throwing more consistently in the 92-93 range.
His secondary stuff never seemed to come together for him. He eventually seemed to tire, as hitters knew to identify and wait for his fastball, including one that CSN left fielder Marvin Campbell blasted over the wall in left-centerfield in the bottom of the fourth inning. Quintero appeared to throw a slider that lacked bite thrown at 77-78, and while he did snap off a couple of good, low-70s curveballs, the pitch wasn’t thrown consistently well. At least not on this day.
Possibly his most impressive attribute was his fearless approach. He challenged hitters with his fastball, and stepped up twice to strike out Bryce Harper swinging on high heat, both times with the count full. He has a stocky strong frame, and frequently changed his arm angle from a high three-quarters slot to nearly side-arm to give hitters different looks. Once he is part of a professional organization I see his delivery settling in to the low-three-quarters area, and he may be better off in relief given the lack of a polished repertoire. And if he is given the chance to relieve, I could see him throwing harder in shorter stints, and his aggressive nature would serve him well in such a role.
Baseball America:
Cuban righthander Rodney Quintero also bumped 93 but is still a work in progress and could probably use some time with a D-I team before he's ready for pro ball, according to two evaluators.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
