Prospect Watch: Joel Cesar Looking to Thrive in Late-Inning Situations in Altoona
While the main focus of with pitching prospects is with the starting pitchers, there are plenty of Minor Leagues looking to pave their path to the Major Leagues in the bullpen. One of those pitchers in the Pirates system is reliever Joel Cesar, who is slated for his first full season in the Altoona Curve bullpen. Coming out of the Dominican Republic, Cesar has been trying to follow the path of many of his fellow Dominican Republic comrades and get to the Major Leagues. After being a middle-of-the-road reliever during his first three years in professional baseball, but finally, put it all together at Single-A Bradenton last season.
Between Single-A and Double-A, Cesar went 5-4 with a 3.02 ERA appearing mostly out of the bullpen for the Curve and Marauders. His strikeout rate shot up from the year before as he fanned 52 batters in 50.1 innings of work, the highest mark of his young professional career. His control was a little worse than you would like to see as he walked 17 batters during that timeframe, but he still has time to develop his control. After injuries delayed the start of his professional baseball career, he is now back on track and looking to provide help for the Curve bullpen while working on his development this season.
Cedar was born in Altmira, Dominican Republic and it was his velocity that was catching the eye of the Major League scouts. While participating in a showcase for MLB teams, Cesar hit 100 miles per hour on multiple occasions. However, the 19-year old was extremely raw and lacked the control you would like to see from a top pitching prospect. The speed was impressive for a 5 foot 11 inch tall right-handed and the Pirates would end up being the ones to sign him to his first professional contract on October 30th, 2015. He would start his professional career in June of 2016 and would get the opportunity to start in his home country playing with the Dominican Summer League Pirates.
He started his career with the Pirates as a starter and made his professional debut on June 9th, 2016. The Pirates tried him as a starter during that first season, and his professional debut went pretty well. He lasted three innings giving up two runs, one earned, on one hit while walking three and striking out two. It would have been a scoreless outing hadn't it been for a home run. He lasted a little longer in his next outing going 3.2 innings of work giving up just one run on three hits. However, an injury would limit Cesar to just the two outings that seasons, but he was able to come back and participate in the instructional league in the fall.
After getting to know the Pirates system a little better, the 20-year old would move to the states and pitch for the Class-A Short Season West Virginia Black Bears. This is where Cesar made the transition from starting pitcher to bullpen arm. His control issues started to get the best of him, as his ERA ballooned to 3.70 while he went 1-1 with seven saves in 27 innings of work. He walked 18 batters during those 27 innings of work but made up for it by striking out 27 batters. His velocity helped him thrive in late-inning situations as he would regularly hit between 96 and 97 miles per hour during games. He started as the Black Bears closer right from the get-go and thrived under pressure.
He gave up just two earned runs and earned four of his seven saves over his first 17 innings of work spanning 13 outings. He allowed two earned runs or less in all but one outing all season, but his one bump in the road was enough to shoot up his ERA. It was in a game on August 21st of 2017 when Cesar gave up four earned runs on six hits in 0.2 innings pitched. He walked a season-high three batters in that game, and the free passes got him into trouble before things started to snowball on him. However, he would bounce back from that bad outing and allowed just two earned runs over his final five outings.
With Cesar showing promise as a late-inning reliever, he moved up to the West Virginia Power where he continued his path as a late-inning reliever. He appeared in 29 games for the Power and saw his ERA drop to 3.15 while he posted a 2-1 record. He worked on his control and was better in 2018 walking 23 batters in 54.1 innings of work. With his control getting better, his strikeout pitch was more effective as he struck out 50 batters. It was the first time in his professional career that he struck out fewer batters than innings pitched. Opponents hit just .222 against Cesar during 2018 and he would add to his arsenal adding an effective curveball to his arsenal.
Prior to last season, Cesar spent his first season in the Dominican Winter League with the Gigantes del Cibao. He appeared in just one game and faced one batter striking him out. He would move to Advanced-A Bradenton to start the year and kicked off what would be his best season of professional baseball. He would go a perfect 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA in nine games for the Marauders as he became a dominant shutdown reliever. His control was getting better by the season, and he would walk just five batters in his 12.1 innings of work. In his nine games with Bradenton, he never allowed more than one earned run in a game and used his fastball to dominate the competition.
With his success at an all-time high, Cesar got the opportunity to advance to Double-A Altoona in early May. Although he wasn't able to reproduce the strong numbers he had with Bradenton, he still performed well. He appeared in 28 games and made one start for the Curve pitching to a 3.76 ERA. However, his one start was as an opener and he never worked in more than two innings in a game. All-in-all his numbers were good and if it wasn't for one bad outing where he gave up four earned runs in an inning of work, his ERA would have been much better. He walked just 12 batters in 38.1 innings of work while striking out 36.
Cesar will return to the Curve bullpen for the 2020 season as he continues to develop into a Major League reliever. His control has been better over the years and, if he can just nail down his control, his speed will play well in the Major Leagues. As of now, he is projecting as a back-end reliever where he can use his plus speed to strike hitters out. It will probably take at least another full season in Double-A for Cesar to develop before he makes the move to Triple-A Indianapolis. If I had to make a guess, I would say we could see Cesar in a Pirates uniform by the 2023 or 2024 season depending on how the pandemic effects Minor League baseball.
It is still uncertain as to when the 2020 MLB season is set to begin, but we at Buccos Cove are determined to continue to bring you strong content. Until the 2020 season begins, we will continue looking at the players who make up the 2020 Pirates organization and how they will impact the organization this season.
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