A Case for José

[MikeB]

The PEBA does not have an MVP award but ask anyone on Puerto Rico who is the most valuable player in baseball and the answer more often than not will be José Gómez and there is no one in the San Juan organization who would disagree right now.

“Obviously he is a fan favorite and a national hero.” said Coqui General Manager Mike Best. “But truth is the pitching staff has been in disarray and José is the Gorilla Glue keeping it together right now.”

Gorilla Glue Gómez is probably not a nickname that will stick. But the 6’5” lefty should expect the folks at Gorilla Tough to come calling soon because he’d make an excellent spokesman.

His 9-1 record out of the pen is a good reason the Coqui are 13-0 in extra innings, a stunning margin for a team just one game up on the Wild Card.

Globally, Gómez hasn’t quite gotten the acclaim. He’s finished second in IL Shutdown Reliever voting three times and he’s made four all-star teams but was left off during San Juan’s title year. He likely will be shorthanded at trophy time again but he’s never been harder to overlook than this year.

In July, he won pitcher of the month after going 2-0 with 6 saves and a 1.42 e.r.a. over 19 innings. His stats were virtually identical in August sans one win. And he’s kept the pace in September, his e.r.a. dropping to 1.35 and his strikeout-to-walk ratio at 17-0. June was his best month though: 3-0, 10 saves, zero runs in 18 innings.

But, thou protest. That’s all fine but he has never been the best reliever in the league let alone a MVP candidate. He’s never led the league in saves.

Well, San Juan’s pitching woes have thrust him back into the stopper role which he managed in 2030 when he threw 127 innings but saw his save totals dip. And that’s because he’s being called on beyond save opportunities which lead to him not being able to pitch as many consecutive days.

While he is tied for fourth in the IL in saves (34), he has pitched more innings than the guys ahead of him and those guys all pitch for division leaders.

He has thrown two innings or more 19 times this season. In July, in Havana, he came in to start the 7th in a 1-1 game and closed out a 5-2 win. In August, he did the same at home against San Antonio. pitching a full four innings before San Juan won the game in the 11th with Otis Pearson on the mound.

Looking at the IL’s qualified relievers, Gómez has a comfortable lead in WAR (4.6) over Hartford’s Zippy Brown (3.7), a lead that only increases in evaluating RA9-WAR (4.7 to West Virginia’s Gustavo Hernandez’ 2.6). He also leads in strikeouts (106) and trails only Amsterdam’s Ron Wilson in e.r.a. (1.07 to 1.21). Wilson, who is more of a setup man, has been a starter for the Lions as well.

The reason the Coqui have had to rely on Gómez so much is that last year’s setup men, possibly the league’s best in 2031, have been missing in action in 2032. Gary Walker has been reduced to being a lefty specialist whileRay Medrano just returned after missing three months with a shoulder injury. Medrano had not gotten into a groove before the injury and now will have to rehab quick during a wild card race. Fortunately, Pearson has returned to form this year (7-2, 1.98) but the team lacked confidence in him for a while. A poor 2031 had been followed by giving up home runs in three mid-June appearances, but those were the last ones he has allowed.

Gómez was selected 23rd overall in the 2023 draft, a gift to the current administration that would come in a year later. He had always been on pace for having the best slider in baseball but he wasn’t an overnight sensation.

Coming up from the minors, Gómez had a reputation as a troublemaker, his motivation and intelligence questioned at time. Early in his career there were concerns hanging with his old hombres in his hometown San Juan might not be good for him.

But four years into his PEBA career he began getting serious and his e.r.a. from 2028 on has never been higher than 1.98 and that being the year he threw 127 innings. If 1.21 holds it will be a career high e.r.a. for him and, barring injury, he will almost certainly throw over 100 this season.

“It’s shuddering to think where we’d be in the standings without him,” said one front office insider. “I think it’s pretty clear we’d have been in free fall awhile ago.”

[Sandgnats]

That $21.6M minor league bonus back in 2020 is something else...