NLCS: Seranthony Dominguez Leads a Rebuilt Phillies Bullpen
If you don’t know Seranthony Dominguez by now, well, you’re probably not going to get to know him. As you might have guessed from his last name, the 25-year-old pitcher has just about everything: great speed, great fastball, great changeup, a huge girth and great potential for success. Those qualities in combination make him one of the most exciting young pitching prospects in baseball, and he has yet to put himself in any serious doubt about being the best in the league.
His power numbers haven’t shown that they’re going to come anywhere close to that. But they wouldn’t be the first time that has been the case in his career. In his first full season of full-season ball, in 2010, Dominguez posted a.247/.342/.406 line. In 2011, he posted a.248/.337/.411 line. While those are promising numbers, his strikeout rate in 2011 was over 17 percent, which was higher than it has been in previous seasons.
All of that is indicative of a pitcher who is going to have a breakout season this year. For his career, Dominguez is striking out hitters at a rate of over 16 percent, and he has held that number down over the past five years. If he can achieve his usual excellent numbers at age 25, there is no reason to believe that he won’t be a top pitcher once he arrives in Double A ball.
In his first 20 games with Altoona this season, Dominguez has only had to face two hitters above the Mendoza line — but that’s a far cry from his first two seasons, where he had only faced three hitters above the Mendoza line.
As he worked through the Phillies lineup, he displayed a bit of that old-school workmanlike demeanor that he developed in the minor leagues. He threw the ball the way he would throw it to him at the big-league level, in his own way, and to show that he could do it, he did just that.
His fastball velocity was up a tick from last season, up to 92.2 mph from 91.2 mph. And he added more curveball action to the mix this year, which gave him three different breaking balls in his arsenal. He still had the