Out of the Top 50 Jays Prospects (for now): Jairo Labour and Julio Carmona

There are prospects in the Jays system that deserve coverage  even though they didn’t make our top 50 list pre-2011. Most of these players are players that we foresee as possibly making the top 50 list in either mid-2011 or 2012. We continue the 25 extra prospect profiles with two Latin American wildcards…

Out of the Top 50 Jays Prospects: Jairo Labour

Pitcher /  16 years old / 6’4″ 180 lbs

Born: in Azua of the Dominican Republic

Bats: unk   Throws: Left

Signed: for $350,000 as an international FA in early 2011

Jersey: NA

Stats: NA

The Blue Jays continue to be aggressive in acquiring international talent under Alex Anthopolous, as they signed16-year old left-handed pitcher Jairo Labour. He hails from the Dominican Republic , is already 6’4″ 180 lbs at only 16, and apparently has a good feel for breaking balls. In order to sign this big Latin lefty, the Jays had to part with $350,000.

Labour did not make the top 33 list of international FA bonuses predicted by Baseball America in 2010, which is available here. It’s apparent that he worked his way to becoming a signed prospect this off season by improving on his stuff, particularly his velocity which has increased to a reported 92 MPH. When combined with an advanced feel for breaking stuff at his age, it leads to an attractive package of tools.

Hopefully, Baseball America and others will expand on his arsenal at some point in 2011. For now, we’ll have to wait and see how well he does while likely suiting up for the DSL Blue Jays this summer. As a big lefty with lots of projection, he’s a particularly interesting prospect to keep an eye on in the DSL, along with fellow international FA signees Adonis Cardona, Santiago Nessy, and Gabriel Cenas.

Expected 2011 Team: DSL Blue Jays

Top 50 Range if he makes the list in 2012: #40-50

Chances of making it into the Top 50 in 2012: 40%

Out of the Top 50 Jays Prospects: Julio Carmona

Right-Handed Pitcher / 20 years old / 6’1″ 205 lbs

Born: October 10th, 1990

Bats: Right   Throws: Right

Signed: as an international FA

Jersey: #58 for the DSL Blue Jays

Quick Facts:

• He made the most starts (14) for the DSL Blue Jays in 2010
• He allowed only 38 hits in 58 innings of work for a meager .189 average against
• Carmona may have been “effectively wild”, as he also walked a ton of batters, or 33 in 58 innings, and hit 14 of them.

Stats:

Club                      W L  ERA  GS     IP     H  ER  HR   BB   SO   BB/9   SO/9   WHIP

Blue Jays

(

DSL

) 1 3  3.26  14  58.0  38  21    0    33   67  5.12     10.40   1.22

The first thing I’d like to point out with Carmona is the fact that in 58 innings of work in 2010, he did not allow a single HR. While his BB/9 was extremely high, it’s almost expected at his experience level and does come with a promising SO/9 of 10.40. Still, DSL stats can be misleading, so we have to wait to see him pitch on American soil before we can pass judgment on his performance as a whole.

As pointed out in the quick facts, Carmona has a lot of honing in to do in order to get some consistency and to be able to go deeper into games as well. If he can work those issues out in the GCL in 2011, he could advance well enough through the system. However, with his control issues, he may be asked to concentrate on fewer pitches and wind up in the pen as a result. With that thought in mind, his pace of advancement through the system would be much quicker and could see him make it all the way to The Show.

Expected 2011 Team: GCL Blue Jays as a reliever

Top 50 Range if he makes the list in 2012: #45-50

Chances of making it into the Top 50 in 2012: 30%

– MG

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