Repertoire: It's all about the heat. Alvaro Bacil already has a low-90s fastball that he can occasionally pump up to about 94 mph. The Phillies are working with him to add velocity naturally and are holding Bacil back from simply throwing as hard as he can. He's got a decent curve and change, but both are going to need some work.

Pitching Style: Bacil is fairly relaxed on the mound for being such a young player. He's got decent size and is able to locate his pitches pretty well. He also tends to miss low or outside when he does lose command, meaning that he generally doesn't put himself in harm's way with any mistakes that he throws. Bacil is a strikeout pitcher, who averaged just over one K per inning this past summer in the DSL.

Projection: It's too early to tell how Bacil will turn out. He just turned 18 and has a lot of developing to do. The Phillies will work on getting his mechanics squared away and bringing his secondary pitches up to where they will need to be.

ETA: There's no timetable for even bringing Bacil to the United States. It's likely that he'll pitch at least one more season in the Dominican before coming to the states for a shot at the minors in 2010. He's got all the basics down and has a lot of tools, but simply needs some quality coaching to get him prepared. The Phillies tend not to rush players through the Dominican League and they're not likely to change that approach with Bacil.

Career Stats

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