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Yoniel Curet
Scouting grades: Fastball: 70 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 40 | Control: 40 | Overall: 45
Signed for $150,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2019, Curet has quickly risen up the Rays’ ranks since making his stateside debut in '22. His professional debut was pushed back due to the pandemic, then he pitched well enough to get on the radar in the Dominican Summer League in 2021. He more clearly established himself in ’22, striking out 58 in 42 innings, then earned Tampa Bay’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award last year by striking out 144 with a 2.94 ERA in 104 innings between Single-A and High-A.
Curet became one of the most promising arms in the Rays’ system and earned a spot on their 40-man roster -- a rare choice for someone so far from Tropicana Field -- with a pitch mix built around power. More specifically, a power fastball. Curet has an electric heater, which sits in the mid-90s but touches 97-98 mph with life up in the zone that generates a ton of swing-and-miss. His slider can be effective as a change of pace off his fastball as it darts gloveside. His changeup isn’t much to be reckoned with at this point.
The question is whether Curet will throw enough strikes for any of that to matter. He’s built like a starter, isn’t a max-effort pitcher and handled a decent chunk of innings in his first full season. But he walked 16.9 percent of his batters faced, meaning half the hitters who stepped into the box against him either walked or struck out. More patient, experienced hitters might capitalize on that wildness out of the zone. The worst-case scenario, at this point, seems to be that Curet taps into his future-closer floor and attempts to overpower hitters with fastballs and sliders in shorter bursts. - mlb pipeline
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