Deivy Estrada: Jays Prospect to Watch in ’10 (8 of 10)

RHP Deivy Alexander Estrada – 17 years old, 5’11” 180 lbs, from Venezuela

To say that this prospect to watch is a huge reach would be an understatement, but his performance at his age is just too good to ignore. Deivy was the youngest regular pitcher on the DSL Jays squad by 2 years and performed much better than anticipated. I’d love to be able to add what pitches he throws, his velocity, and other attributes, but I was unable to find any of these facts anywhere. All I know for certain is that whatever he’s doing, it’s working a lot better than it should at his age.

In 13 games (10 starts), Deivy threw 44 innings, got 48 Ks to his 13 walks, maintained a 2.66 ERA and 1.205 whip. That’s pretty impressive for a 16 year old, even in the DSL. He only allowed 1 HR and kept hitters to a .244 average.

The best comparison I could come up with was Jhoulys Chacin, who is one of the best pitchers in recent memory to come out of the DSL. At age 18, he started 11 games in the DSL, threw 72 innings, had 67 Ks, a 1.49 ERA and 1.073 whip.

If we compare Deivy’s performance at 16 to Jhoulys’s at 18, we can see why some of us are so anxious to see how much better this kid can get. There are many other questions to be answered, however. Will he grow much more, and if he does will it make him better or worse? Will he listen to people who teach him how to get better as (or if) he moves up to the GCL and higher levels? And finally, if he doesn’t add any height or weight to his slight frame, will he be durable?

Despite all of those questions, I am very happy to put Deivy on my list of prospects to watch. Performing at that level at such a young age shows poise, adds maturity, and should make him that much better in 2010. He’ll repeat the DSL and I’ll update his information as he goes along. If he ends up being at or above the caliber of Jhoulys Chacin, Jays fans everywhere will be one very happy group.