Yoervis Medina

WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

2006
VSL:  3-4-1, 3.60 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 50.0 IP, 2.5 BB/9, 4.0 K/9

Medina pitched decently in his debut, although he struck out very few batters.

2007
VSL:  4-2-2, 3.42 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 50.0 IP, 3.4 BB/9, 6.5 K/9

The Mariners sent Medina back to the VSL and he got hit much harder.

2008
VSL:  4-3-5, 1.79 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 43.1 IP, 2.7 BB/9, 8.0 K/9

Medina went back to the VSL for his third year and served as a closer, putting up good numbers.

2009
VSL:  3-4-1, 2.65 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 68.0 IP, 3.0 BB/9, 8.2 K

The Mariners sent Medina back to the VSL for a fourth year, this time mainly as a starter.  He had another good year, with solid numbers across the board.

2010
A-:  3-2-0, 4.20 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 40.2 IP, 3.3 BB/9, 10.6 K/9
A:  5-0-0, 2.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 36.0 IP, 3.0 BB/9, 10.5 K/9
AAA:  1-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 5.2 IP, 6.4 BB/9, 6.4 K/9

The Mariners moved Medina up to short season ball, where he mostly struggled as a starter, apart from a very high K rate.  They moved him up to low A for six late-season starts, though, and he pitched very well, again with a very high K rate.  Baseball America rated him the Mariners’ 30th best prospect after the season and Seattle added him to its 40-man roster.

2011
R:  0-0-0, 7.20 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 5.0 IP, 1.8 BB/9, 16.2 K/9
A+:  1-13-0, 6.50 ERA, 1.75 WHIP, 101.0 IP, 3.4 BB/9, 6.5 K/9
AA:  0-1-0, 4.68 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 25.0 IP, 3.2 BB/9, 6.1 K/9

The Mariners sent Medina to High Desert in the California League, which is probably the most extreme hitting environment in organized baseball.  He had a terrible time there, as opponents batted .333 against him, with 19 HRs.  Seattle moved him up to AA for four late-season starts and, oddly enough, he was much more successful.  Medina went 0-7 in the Venezuelan Winter League, leaving him with a total of one win and 21 losses on the year.

2012
AA:  5-5-5, 3.25 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 69.1 IP, 4.5 BB/9, 10.0 K/9

The Mariners moved Medina to relief in AA and he put up a very high K rate, but also had control problems.  He had a large platoon split, allowing a .649 OPS to right-handed hitters and .857 to left-handed hitters.

2013
AAA:  0-1-0, 1.50 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 6.0 IP, 4.5 BB/9, 10.5 K/9
MLB:  4-6-1, 2.91 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 68.0 IP, 5.3 BB/9, 9.4 K/9

Medina appeared in four games in AAA, then spent the rest of the year in the Mariners’ bullpen.  He was very hard to hit, fanning over a batter an inning and holding opponents to a .201 average.  He did, however, have significant control issues.  He didn’t have a meaningful platoon split.

2014
MLB:  5-3-0, 2.68 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 57.0 IP, 4.4 BB/9, 9.5 K/9

Medina spent the year with Seattle and produced similar results, although his walk rate improved from very high to just high.  He had a reverse platoon split, holding left-handed hitters to a .563 OPS and right-handed hitters to .691.

2015
AAA (Sea):  1-0-1, 1.59 ERA, 0.35 WHIP, 5.2 IP, 1.6 BB/9, 6.4 K/9
AAA (ChiC):  0-2-1, 6.29 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, 34.1 IP, 5.5 BB/9, 9.2 K/9
MLB (Sea):  1-0-1, 3.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 12.0 IP, 5.3 BB/9, 6.8 K/9
MLB (ChiC):  0-0-0, 7.00 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, 9.0 IP, 4.0 BB/9, 7.0 K/9

Medina had a rough season, as everything about his game went south.  He lost a full two mph off his fastball, his K rate plummeted, and his ground ball rate went from over 53% to under 39%.  He also continued to struggle with the strike zone.  Seattle sent him to the minors in early May and traded him to the Cubs two weeks later.  Chicago called Medina up briefly twice and he struggled in the majors.  He spent most of the rest of the season with the Cubs’ AAA affiliate and pitched poorly there as well.  After the season, the Cubs designated Medina for assignment and the Pirates claimed him off waivers.

Medina will be one of a number of hard-throwing, right-handed relievers in spring training trying to win bullpen jobs with the Pirates, along with Juan Nicasio, Guido Knudson and Jorge Rondon.  All appear to be projects for pitching coach Ray Searage, who’ll be trying to duplicate his success with Arquimedes Caminero.  With Medina, the obvious questions will be why he lost velocity and whether the issue can be resolved.  Medina has no options left and have had to make the team out of camp, but the Pirates designated him for assignment to make room for A.J. Schugel.  He cleared waivers and was outrighted to Indianapolis.  If he does well there, he stands a reasonable chance of reaching Pittsburgh.