With the Florida Complex League season over, we’ve seen a few names from those rosters start to trickle their way up to the Bradenton roster. One name not initially recognized that has recently made his full-season debut was 19-year-old Wilber Dotel.
The righty has spent most of the last two seasons in the FCL, putting up some impressive numbers from a teenager that skipped over the Dominican Summer League and came straight to America.
Dotel has posted a 2.95 ERA across 64 innings pitched, striking out 69 and walking 34. Of his 23 appearances, 14 of them were starts.
He was moved up from the FCL to Bradenton on August 27 and made his debut that same night.
Dotel has pitched twice for the Marauders since then, and while he has shown some promise, command issues have kept him from really showcasing anything. In 4 ⅓ innings with the Marauders, Dotel has walked a shade under 40% of the batters he’s faced, while owning a strikeout rate of just 13%.
In Wednesday’s game against Fort Myers, Dotel walked six of the 12 batters he faced. Not the most ideal of starts to his Bradenton career.
He attacks hitters with a fastball that he has reached as high as 96 MPH with, a curveball and changeup. Baseball Savant has credited him with a few sliders, but has just registered it five times in the 92 pitches he has thrown.
Fastball
| Usage% | 68.4% |
| Whiff% | 26.3% |
| Called Strike/Whiff% | 28.5% |
| Velocity | 92.39 mph |
| Spin Rate | 2291.03 rpm |
| Vertical Break | 20.03 inches |
| Horizontal Break | 9.93 inches |
Dotel has been able to get up to as high as 96 mph with his fastball, but has sat consistently around 92-93 while getting some good break and spin on the pitch.
He hasn’t generated a lot of misses with the pitch, but considering his problems throwing strikes a mid-20% whiff rate is pretty good. Of the 63 fastballs he has thrown with Bradenton, only 31 have gone for strikes.
The last pitch of the video also shows the only changeup he’s credited with throwing so far, which did get a swing and miss for a strikeout.
Breaking Pitches
| Curveball | Slider | Both | |
| Usage% | 25% | 5.4% | 30.4% |
| Whiff% | 16.667% | 0% | 16.667% |
| CSW% | 21.7% | 40% | 25% |
| Velocity | 78.8 mph | 82.82 mph | 79.5 mph |
| Spin Rate | 2300 rpm | 2344 rpm | 2308 rpm |
| Vertical Break | 46.8 inches | 39.4 inches | 45.58 inches |
| Horizontal Break | 5.9 inches | 5.4 inches | 5.8 inches |
Two games isn’t a great amount of games to really get a feel for a player when it comes to their swing and miss stuff, and with Dotel’s issues throwing strikes, his numbers so far shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.
The other metrics show some good potential for the pitches should he continue to develop his control. His spin rate on his breaking pitches is better than some other notable names Bradenton has used this year like Johan Montero, Sergio Umana, and Luis Peralta.
Final Analysis
The walks are obviously concerning, but it doesn’t seem like it’s possible for him to keep it up at this current rate. He didn’t have the best control in the FCL (12.3% walk rate in 2021 and 2022) but what Dotel is doing right now is on another level.
To a more extreme extent, this is reminiscent of when Po-Yu Chen came up from the FCL to Bradenton last year. Chen didn’t walk a single batter in 26 innings in the FCL, but then struggled with his control when coming to Bradenton (12 walks in 16 innings).
Pitchers not only have to adjust to new, better hitters at Single-A, but they also have to face the automated strike zone for the first time.
Dotel turns 20-years-old this month, and should be one of the leading candidates for a rotation spot in Bradenton next year. Getting this look now, while it’s been rough, can give him a great advantage going into 2022.
