Jose DeLeon, starting pitcher, Tampa Bay Rays
The negative from DeLeon is that he got into four Major League games in 2016 and wasn’t very good. The positive is basically everything else.
In AAA Oklahoma City, DeLeon posted a 2.61 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and a highly impressive K/9 rate of 11.6. In fact, through DeLeon’s MiLB career, he had a 12.1 K/9 rate. Now, he’s moving from Los Angeles to Tampa. In most cases, that wouldn’t be such a great move.
But for someone like DeLeon, it is.
The Dodgers are one of baseball’s best teams. Teams like that can’t afford to let rookies struggle at the Major League level. That shouldn’t be such a problem for the Rays, who are unlikely to be anywhere near contention. DeLeon can go through the typical growing pains of a rookie and not worry about getting demoted.
With the ample MLB time that DeLeon should get, expect him to show the form that’s allowed him to dominate every level of the minors.