Indians Top 50: #19 Jeanmar Gomez

Jeanmar Gomez - Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 02/10/1988 - Height: 6'4" - Weight: 190 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2005	17	DSL Indians	R	5	3	1.33	13	10	61.0	47	9	2	9	46	.210	1.3	6.8	0.92
2006	18	GCL Indians	R	4	3	2.48	11	9	54.1	50	15	2	12	34	.238	2.0	5.7	1.15
2007	19	Lake County	A	11	7	4.80	27	27	140.2	152	75	19	46	94	.278	3.0	6.0	1.41
2008	20	Kinston	A+	5	9	4.55	27	27	138.1	154	70	14	46	110	.283	3.0	7.2	1.45
2009	21	Kinston	A+	2	2	2.63	4	4	24.0	17	7	2	5	15	.202	1.9	5.6	0.92
2009	21	Akron	AA	10	4	3.43	22	22	123.1	117	47	11	40	109	.249	2.9	8.0	1.28
		Totals		37	28	3.71	104	99	541.2	537	223	50	158	408	.259	2.6	6.8	1.28

History:  Gomez was signed by the Indians as a non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela in April of 2005.  On May 21st last year he pitched his way into minor league baseball history with a perfect game needing just 87 pitches to pitch the first perfect game in Double-A Akron history and the first in the minor leagues since 2007.  He was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year, and is just the second Akron pitcher to ever win the award (Adam Miller in 2006).  He finished 6^th in the Eastern League in wins (10), 3^rd in ERA (3.43), and 3^rd in WHIP (1.27).

Strengths & Opportunities:  Gomez has very good upside and growth potential because of his size and stuff, and shows a good feel for his three pitch mix of a fastball, slider and changeup.  His fastball consistently clocks in at 90-92 MPH and has touched as high as 95 MPH, and there is the potential for more velocity down the road because of his plus arm strength.  While he really made some strides with his secondary pitches last year, both his slider and changeup only project to be average major league pitches.  His slider is his best secondary pitch, and while it flashes plus potential it comes and goes and lacks consistency, but he did improve the velocity of it by cleaning up his mechanics which made it sharper and gave it much better late break.  When he is racking up strikeouts it is a good indicator that the slider is clicking and has some bite to it.  He has a great feel for his changeup and he commands it well, but it is just an average pitch with inconsistent movement and does not get enough sink and fade out of it.

Gomez has proven to be very durable as the Indians have never had to back him off any of his starts.  He doesn't have dominating stuff, he just knows how to pitch and gives a quality outing every time out.  He competes well, and has a very clean delivery.  He continues to improve in some of the mental aspects of pitching such as reading swings.  His command and control is still only average but it is something the Indians have worked with him to improve and they feel he has the ability to have better command/control in the future.  He has Victor Martinez-like makeup, and is committed and passionate about baseball.  He has been pushed in the system the last three years where he has been one of the youngest pitchers in the league every year, and shown an ability to hang in there and compete even though the numbers have not always been very good.

Gomez opened last season at High-A Kinston because a spot was not open for him in the Double-A Akron rotation to start the year, but the Indians also wanted him to open in Kinston so they could make a subtle change to his arm swing by making his circle just a little shorter.  He used to fly open and expose his arm slot in his delivery which caused problems in getting proper velocity on his pitches, but last season he was throwing with his arm more out front which resulted in him throwing much easier and getting much more life on all his pitches.  He eventually moved to Akron a month into the season, and he experienced early success as a result of being more aggressive with all of his pitches and throwing more strikes. He displayed better command and control of his fastball and changeup to both sides of the plate, and his slider was down in the zone and away from right-handers and in on the feet of left-handers.  Over the course of the season he showed signs or gaining maturity as a pitcher in that when he used to give up a couple hits the game would speed up on him, but he did a lot better job of staying focused on what he needed to do when the hits piled up against him and in turn showed the confidence that he can get out of any situation with the stuff he has.

The problem with Gomez is while he has average major league stuff - which could be dominant in the minor leagues - he has no true plus pitch in his arsenal.  That's the knock on him, as nothing stands out when you see him pitch.  His secondary stuff was a concern when he first came to Double-A last year, and he competed there the entire season with essentially no average secondary pitches.  At times his slider showed a lot of progress last year where it was unhittable, but it was inconsistent.  He has to work a little harder than some of the Indians' other high end pitchers to locate his fastball and for the most part has done a good job, now it is a matter of being able to maintain it and being able to consistently get Double-A and above hitters out.  The Indians are also still working on his delivery and just want really want to eliminate the inconsistencies with his offspeed pitches since both the slider and changeup come and go.

Outlook:  Gomez has often been two or three years younger than the league and been put in situations to develop and have success and learn to make strides along the way.  He took arguably the biggest step of any pitcher in the organization last year and is now considered major league starting depth this season, and could continue to come onto the scene strong.  He has often spent a lot of time learning on the job, but last year for the first time in his career his numbers matched his potential as a pitcher.  Having been put on the big league 40-man roster in the offseason, he was the third pitcher in the Latin Trifecta added to the big league roster in the last two years (Hector Rondon, Kelvin De La Cruz).  He profiles as a back of the rotation major league starter, and should open the 2010 season in the starting rotation for Triple-A Columbus.

Photo courtesy of Tony Lastoria

Jeanmar Gomez MinorLeagueBaseball.com page

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