Twins in the WBC: De Leon Dazzles in Historic WBC Start

Hopefully De Leon can get an opportunity in St. Paul, maybe in long relief because the Saints might be deep in starters.

These games are fun.

I hope De Leon gets noticed enough to be rewarded with a chance to shine with the Twins. He's got sharp stuff and just needs to stay healthy. He just may be the real deal and is locked & loaded to do battle this year. This year is a big deal for him to make up for lost time due to an injury plagued career. I hope that the Twins don't waste his time if he's ready to pitch & can be an asset. This outing was a big first step. He may very well be the 1st to get called up, ASAP if he's ready.

It's great to see our Twins do so well in the WBC. Even with the great range of talent, WBC helps to grow baseball around the world. We should extend Lopez as soon as possible. De Leon could be a good BP arm.

Good article.

The WBC is a lot of fun to follow. Many great story lines, I mentioned a few in another post - 

Also, the Nicaraguan pitcher striking out - Soto, J-Rod & Devers in the same inning & then getting a contract with the Tigers after the game. 

Of course what's mentioned above with Julien & De Leon. If you're a baseball fan you have to be enjoying this!

Great news from DeLeon, but let's remember it was against Israel.  Question, Seth.  Do you know if his MiLB contract has an opt out date?  Hopefully not and he will be available to be called up when needed.  And yes, the Saints should have one hell of a team....starting pitching, outfield, and infield with three vet catchers.

Before we get real excited, DeLeon was pitching against Team Israel.   Let me know if I’m wrong about Israel, but I would think Taiwan and Israel probably edged out Team Botswana  and Team Fiji Islands to make it to this tournament.  

If DeLeon pans out, kudos to Falvey.  He’s putting together a deep and rich pitching staff.  Should be a fun season.

No disrespect intended, but if you watch the strikeouts that Deleon had in the game, it appears the WBC strike zone is much larger than MLB's........

7 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

My assumption is that De Leon hasn't done enough to get an opt-out... that said, Boras is his agent, and he may have got him one mid-season or so. 

Thanks, Seth.

On 3/15/2023 at 1:31 AM, Seth Stohs said:

There's a reason that they signed him, because they know and have seen for years what he may be capable of. They didn't need this outing to know that. 

There's a reason that he was available on a minor-league deal. He hasn't been healthy and he hasn't been particularly good.

The Twins, and hopefully most fans, realize that this was a great start, but it was just one start against a lineup that wouldn't rank in the top half of all Triple-A offenses, and probably several Double-A lineups too. So, no, I don't think that one start should alter the Twins thinking of where he ranks in terms of starting pitcher options (which would be no higher than about 10. 

You're right that it was only 1 start. However he started 11 games in the Puerto Rican Winter League this past November & December which means that he's healthy and perhaps more ready to pitch longer outings & more effectively than some other Twins AAA pitchers.  He had a 1.51 ERA in 47.2 innings which could show his advanced level of readiness.

Just because Team Israel couldn't hit the ball doesn't mean that De Leon wasn't pitching well. His pitches seem to have good movement & zip. I'm looking forward to seeing him make the jump hopefully sooner rather than later considering that he was such a high level prospect that had a long and apparently successful recovery from TJ surgery in 2018.

He seems to be at least on par if not able to exceed expectations of Chris Archer last year. De Leon just showed that he could hold up for 60+ pitches just like he was able to do playing PR winter ball. I think that puts him ahead of at least some of the Twins pack of AAA pitchers. Hopefully the Twins and fans will give him some credit when credit is due as he proves himself, which should include his WBC performances.

On 3/14/2023 at 9:04 AM, Cory Engelhardt said:

Count me among those who were pining for both DeLeon and Stewart in a Dozier trade back in the day. :)

Is that you, Dave?*

*For those newer to TD, there was a bazillion-comment long thread started by a "Dave" who claimed to have inside knowledge that a Dozier-for-DeLeon trade was imminent.

On 3/14/2023 at 9:24 AM, strumdatjag said:

Before we get real excited, DeLeon was pitching against Team Israel.   Let me know if I’m wrong about Israel, but I would think Taiwan and Israel probably edged out Team Botswana  and Team Fiji Islands to make it to this tournament.  

According to Wikipedia, Team Israel 🇮🇱 had an unexpectedly powerful performance at the 2017 WBC.  They received an automatic spot for 2021, delayed to 2023…..

Prior to the start of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, ESPN considered Team Israel, ranked 41st in the world, to be the biggest underdog in the tournament, referring to it as the "Jamaican bobsled team of the WBC". Israel's odds to win the WBC were 200-1, before the tournament began. As the team began to win games at the WBC, its performance was described variously as a Cinderella story, a "David and Goliath" tale, and a baseball version of The Mouse That Roared

. ^{Israel beat all three opposing teams in the first round to finish atop the pool, defeating South Korea (ranked # 3 in the world), Chinese Taipei (ranked # 4 in the world; Israel's 15 runs were the most Taiwan had ever given up in a game in World Baseball Classic play), and the Netherlands (ranked # 9 in the world). Israel became the first baseball team to go undefeated in the first round of the WBC’s main draw after entering the main draw by winning in a qualifying round. Team Israel's catcher, Ryan Lavarnway, was named Pool A MVP. Team Israel qualified for the second round; Pool E in Tokyo, Japan, to be played later in March 2017. Furthermore, the team qualified for the 2021 World Baseball Classic.}

^{In the first game of the 2017 World Baseball Classic second round, Israel beat Cuba (ranked # 5 in the world). In a rematch of their Pool A game in which Israel prevailed, the Netherlands defeated Israel, giving the team its first loss of the tournament, and then world # 1 Japan beat Israel. Israel finished in third place in Pool E with a 1-2 record, and 4-2 (and sixth) overall in the tournament. Pitcher Josh Zeid was named to the 2017 All-World Baseball Classic team.}

9 hours ago, Boswell said:

According to Wikipedia, Team Israel 🇮🇱 had an unexpectedly powerful performance at the 2017 WBC.  They received an automatic spot for 2021, delayed to 2023…..

Prior to the start of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, ESPN considered Team Israel, ranked 41st in the world, to be the biggest underdog in the tournament, referring to it as the "Jamaican bobsled team of the WBC". Israel's odds to win the WBC were 200-1, before the tournament began. As the team began to win games at the WBC, its performance was described variously as a Cinderella story, a "David and Goliath" tale, and a baseball version of The Mouse That Roared

. ^{Israel beat all three opposing teams in the first round to finish atop the pool, defeating South Korea (ranked # 3 in the world), Chinese Taipei (ranked # 4 in the world; Israel's 15 runs were the most Taiwan had ever given up in a game in World Baseball Classic play), and the Netherlands (ranked # 9 in the world). Israel became the first baseball team to go undefeated in the first round of the WBC’s main draw after entering the main draw by winning in a qualifying round. Team Israel's catcher, Ryan Lavarnway, was named Pool A MVP. Team Israel qualified for the second round; Pool E in Tokyo, Japan, to be played later in March 2017. Furthermore, the team qualified for the 2021 World Baseball Classic.}

^{In the first game of the 2017 World Baseball Classic second round, Israel beat Cuba (ranked # 5 in the world). In a rematch of their Pool A game in which Israel prevailed, the Netherlands defeated Israel, giving the team its first loss of the tournament, and then world # 1 Japan beat Israel. Israel finished in third place in Pool E with a 1-2 record, and 4-2 (and sixth) overall in the tournament. Pitcher Josh Zeid was named to the 2017 All-World Baseball Classic team.}

I should never have doubted Israel.  The ghosts of Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax are turning me into a pillar of salt.