Miguel Del Pozo Hoping to Find Himself With Pittsburgh
Over the past eight seasons, Miguel Del Pozo has been making his rounds around the Minor Leagues. He has played in three different organizations and finally got the breakthrough he needed making his MLB debut last season with the Los Angeles Angels. While he won't appear on any top prospects lists, his work in the Minor Leagues has been solid. The Pirates took a chance on him signing Del Pozo to a Minor League contract and inviting him to Spring Training, giving the team another left-handed option to turn to.
He got the call-up to the Major Leagues on August 18th, 2019, and appeared in his first game just two days later. He pitched 0.2 scoreless innings against the Texas Rangers and struck out a batter, getting off to a positive start at the Major League level. He continued the streak throwing three straight scoreless appearances before giving up his first run. He would finish the year appearing in 17 games for the Angels going 1-1 while pitching to a 10.16 ERA. He showed excellent strikeout numbers with 11 in 9.2 innings of work but had trouble with his control walking eight batters.
Del Pozo was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and grew up surrounded by baseball. He signed with the Miami Marlins as an international free agent at 18 years old and was assigned to the Dominican Summer League Marlins. His ERA was a modest 5.09 while he went 3-3 in 12 games, six starts. He showed great strikeout ability with 47 in 40.1 innings of work, but his control needed some work with 25 walks. Del Pozo spent two years in Rookie Ball playing both in the DSL and the Florida State League as he matured as a pitcher.
He got the call to class A short season Batavia Hammerheads where he made the transition to the bullpen. He appeared in 17 games for the Hammerheads and improved his ERA to 4.81 finishing 2-1 over 24.1 innings of work. His strikeout rate continued to rise, as did his velocity, and he found ways to rack up the strikeouts with 46 on the season. He would end up pitching two innings for Class High A Jupiter Hammerheads at the end of the season, coming up in an emergency situation.
He played his first full professional season the next season starting the year with Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers. While his ERA stayed inflated at 4.91, Del Pozo saw the biggest workload of his young career throwing in 66 innings of work. He was getting hit less often and, for the first time in his professional career allowed fewer hits than innings pitched allowing 59 hits in those 66 innings of work. As a result, he earned the call to Advanced-A Jupiter Hammerheads the next season and had the best year of his professional career.
He saw his ERA drop to 4.25 with the Hammerheads and he made his way back into the starting rotation making five starts that season. He pitched 59.1 innings of work that season and struck out 55 batters while walking just 21. With Del Pozo developing nicely at the Single A level, it was time for him to make the jump to the Double-A level in what would be a crazy season for the left-hander. He would start the 2017 season with the Hammerheads and had to go on the 7-day Disabled List with a sprained elbow. He would return to the Hammerheads three months later and pitched in 12 games before moving to Double-A Jacksonville.
He would finish 2017 at Double-A appearing in five games for the Jumbo Shrimp and pitched to a 2.25 ERA. The success continued into 2018, as Del Pozo set a career-low with a 3.97 ERA appearing in 28 games for the Jumbo Shrimp. It was his first completely healthy season since 2016 and he would take advantage rediscovering his strikeout pitch with 34 in 34 innings of work. He also posted career-high control numbers walking a career-low 15 batters during that time frame. Despite the improvements, Del Pozo was once again sent to Double-A by the Marlins in 2019 and elected for free agency.
The Texas Rangers would then sign Del Pozo in the off-season to a Minor League contract and received an invite to Spring Training. He didn't make the Big League club, but the Rangers gave him his first shot in Triple-A as he pitched for the Nashville Sound. In 38 games with the Sounds, Del Pozo saw his ERA inflate once again to 5.12 and he went 2-3 in 45.1 innings of work. However, his strikeout numbers were the highest of his career as he struck out 65 batters and walked 21. With no room on the Rangers roster, it was time for another change as the Rangers traded Del Pozo to the Angels who needed bullpen help.
The Angels gave him his first shot as a Major Leaguer and he spent the final month and a half in the Halos bullpen. He allowed one earned run or less in all but two appearances last season and, if it wasn't for back to back appearances when he allowed three runs, his ERA would have been a lot better than it appeared on paper. After getting sent to Triple-A by the Angels again in 2020, he once again elected free agency and was picked up by the Pirates and given a chance to compete for a spot in the bullpen with an invite to spring training.
The 2020 Spring Training was Del Pozo's third in the Big Leagues and he showed impressive strikeout numbers cutting down 10 batters in 7.2 innings of work and walked just one batter. He gave up four earned runs during that time and had an ERA of 4.70 in six appearances. Another thing he had going for him was the fact that he was another left-handed option for the Pirates bullpen. Even if he doesn't make the Pirates bullpen now, they are going to need someone to break the monotony of all the right-handers the Pirates will throw at opponents.
With a fastball averaging around 94.7 miles per hour, Del Pozo is another pitcher who relies on movement rather than speed. His four-seamer was not fooling hitters at the Major League level as it got hit at a .364 clip last season and generated five of his 11 strikeouts. The pitch that was working, was his Curveball that he threw 39.9% of the time. He ran the curve down and into left-handed hitters and opponents hit just .154 against the pitch. He allowed just two hits and no extra-base hits off the pitch and it was the top pitch used against lefties for Del Pozo.
In a small sample size at the Major League level, Del Pozo did not allow a lot of solid contact and did not allow them to get the barrel on the ball. Del Pozo allowed just a 26.9 hard-hit percentage last season meaning guys weren't making solid contact off his pitches. Other than the two tough games, Del Pozo did a good job of holding leads and not allowing the opponent to score. His flyball rate was high last season, 30.8%, but most of those were soft contact as batters barreled up the ball just 15.5% of the time.
For Del Pozo, change has been the constant theme over the last two years of his career. He has pitched as a member of three different organizations moving between Double-A, Triple-A, and the Major Leagues. He is looking for a constant in 2020 and is hoping this change of scenery will be the one that finally makes a difference for the 27-year old, as he tries to find a permanent home in the bullpen.
Prediction: 1-3, 4.23 ERA (29 Games MLB)
While Miguel Del Pozo will start the year in Triple-A, I think he will eventually make his way to the Big Leagues with the Pirates. With so many right-handed options in the Pirates bullpen, Del Pozo can offer a nice change of pace during the season and get outs against tough left-handed batters. I think Del Pozo will be a solid Major League reliever, but all the movement he has seen throughout his career I think affected his development. Give him time to grow and mature and I think he could have a chance to be a middle of the road reliever.
As of now, the season is expected to begin somewhere around May 25th. Until then, we will continue to look at the men who make up this year's team and their contributions in 2020.
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