July 9, 2016
Angel Perdomo is an intimidating pitcher on the mound. (Kyle Castle)
One of the most overlooked players in the Blue Jays minor league system is Angel Perdomo. Viewed as the organizations third best left-handed prospect behind Ryan Borucki and Chad Girodo, Perdomo has gradually improved over the last couple seasons and could arguably be the top prospect at his position.
What makes Perdomo a special talent is his ability to get deception on all three of his pitches. Currently using a repertoire that consists of a fastball, slider, and changeup. Perdomo can mix up speeds well to keep hitters off-balance.
Explaining how he uses his pitches to advantage, Perdomo goes into detail about his approach on the mound. Focusing on changing speeds and looks throughout a contest, Perdomo feels he does a nice job at keeping hitters guessing.
“When I’m on the mound I’m focused on putting up nine zeros,” explained Perdomo. “I feel I’ve been doing a better job of that this year as I’ve been working on my fastball command a lot. I’m working on hitting my spots more consistently. When my fastball is clicking I can mix in my changeup to keep hitters off-balance. I’m comfortable throwing my slider in numerous spots as well. I could still improve a little bit with the slider, but it’s been a good pitch for me all season.”
Baffling batters is something Perdomo has done all season as opposing hitters are only managing a .183 average against the lefty. Factor that in with his 1.11 WHIP and 11.8 K/9 ratio and it’s obvious that Perdomo has been a tough nut to crack in the Midwest League.
While Perdomo is a promising young talent that’s worth keeping an eye on moving forward. The one thing that sets the prospect apart is his attitude. Openly willing to take coaching and direction is the area that impresses Lansing Lugnuts pitching coach Jeff Ware the most about the up-and-coming star.
“Angel is very coachable with big time deception,” stated Ware. “When hitters come into the box they seem to have trouble picking the pitches up. He gets a lot of swings and misses with his fastball. His slider has improved a lot over the last couple of seasons. His changeup is still coming around. It’s firm, but it still has a lot of deception so he’s having a lot of success with it as well.”
Another aspect to Perdomo’s game that he uses to his advantage is his size. Standing 6’7 and weighing 240 pounds, Perdomo is a force to be reckoned with on the mound. Believing his stature gives him an edge when facing opposing hitters the prospect describes what he likes about his body.
“I really try to intimidate the hitters,” said Perdomo. “Being a bigger guy I think I can do that and I’m always trying to use my size to its fullest potential.”
“I’m really happy with my body right now,” Perdomo added. “I’m comfortable with my size the only changes I would make is to cut a little fat in certain areas.”
His skill will be put on the big stage this week as he’ll take part in the MLB Futures Game on Sunday July 10th. Representing the Dominican Republic as a member of the World Team will give the prospect an opportunity to gain some global recognition for his ability.
This will mark Perdomo’s second all-star game in the last month as he took part in the Midwest League All-Star game on June 21st. The big lefty only got to face one batter in the contest. But he did what he does best as he sat that hitter down on strikes.
With all of the advances that Perdomo has already made this season the prospect should be receiving more love from ranking services soon enough. Currently ranked the 23rd best prospect in the Blue Jays system by MLB.com. Fans shouldn’t be surprised if Perdomo makes a huge jump on the list at the end of the season as he is a fringe top-10 talent in the organization.
But wherever he ends up on the list will just be another step forward for Angel Perdomo as he continues to make a name for himself in the Blue Jays minor league system.