Washington Nationals starting pitcher Yunesky Maya was recently named Dominican Winter League player of the week. He has been lights out in the DWL, going 4-1 with 41 Ks in 39.0 IP. He has allowed just a .164 batting average and posted a microscopic 0.69 ERA, in seven starts this DWL season. He is a great prospect who signed a 4 year/$8 million deal in July with the Nationals.
Yunesky Maya is a pitcher who hails from Cuba. He was a member of the Cuban national team from 2005-2009. Maya first joined the Cuban national team for the 2005 Baseball World Cup, striking out 11 in 7 1/3 IP and getting a save, allowing 3 runs(1 ER). Maya became a full-time starting pitcher for the only time in 2005-2006, with a 7-9, 3.79 record. In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, he allowed 4 hits and 2 walks in 3 innings but did not give up a run.¹
He got the win over the Panamanian national team. Maya was 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA in the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games. In the 2006 COPABE qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics, Yunesky had a 4.35 ERA and struck out 12 in 10 1/3 IP. During the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, the right-hander allowed two runs in 3 1/3 innings.²
Maya throws from 88-92 on his fastball and also features a curve, change and sinker. He used to throw a slider but has since replaced it with his curveball. In 2008, he was named the top right handed pitcher in Cuba. He was thought to be choosing between the Chicago White Sox and NY Mets after defecting from Cuba in 2009, before signing with the Nationals in 2010.
Maya made his Major League debut on September 7th, 2010 against the New York Mets. He pitched 5 innings, allowing 4 ER on 5 hits, striking out 3 and walking 2. He averaged 88 pitches per start. In five starts, Maya faced the Mets twice, the Braves twice and the Phillies once, finishing 0-3 with a 5.88 ERA in 26 innings.
Now that he is doing very well in DWL, and has MLB experience, I look for a good rookie season out of him in 2011. The Washington Nationals are trying their best to build a pitching staff and Maya fits right in as a 3rd or 4th starter. I wish the White Sox had pursued him harder. He will certainly pay off as a good starting pitcher in the near future for the Nationals, although his numbers will not be as good as they would be if he were pitching for a contending team.
Some scouts are predicting that he would be a better fit for the bullpen as a long reliever, but I think he still has a great chance at 29 years old to be a Major League starter into the future. He will have to improve next year, but he is a hard worker and I think he will learn to adjust to Major League hitting and before long start racking up wins and statistics in a fine career.
¹&² Paragraphs reposted from a BR Bullpen article: http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Yuniesky_Maya
No comments:
Post a Comment