Getting to know Felix Doubront

It looks like Felix Doubront will be called up for one or two startsto fill in for Daisuke Matsuzaka, so I thought folks might be interesting in learning a little more about him. Doubront is a tall and skinny 22 year old right hander, and was signed as an international free agent at age 16 out of Venezuela, and has spent six years in the Sox system. He throws a fastball in the low 90s , a plus changeup, and an inconsistent curveball. The changeup is his probably his best pitch, and as such he’s had a reverse platoon split in the minors. Baseball America rated him as the 18th prospect in the system. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus didn’t rank him in the top 15, and described him as “just kind of a generic solid lefty for me. [He’s] not a bad prospect, but not special.”

That said, this season Doubront has succeeded at both AA and AAA, and seems to have taken a step forward, cutting down on his walks and improving his strikeout to walk ratio. His overall numbers are solid- 6-1 with an ERA of 2.11 while striking out nearly a batter an inning and walking 3.3/9. Doubront is a groundball pitcher, and has yet to give up a homerun this season. Normal caveats about small sample sizes apply, since it has only been 60 innings in the minors, but if this improvement in limiting homeruns and keeping the ball on the ground is for real, the Sox could have a solid, inexpensive backend starter or swingman. Even if he’s not ready for the majors now, Doubront could still develop into a major league starter, given his young age.

Andrew’s wild ass guess stat line for Doubront’s start against the Dodgers:
5 1/3 IP, 3 Ks, 2 BBs, 6 hits, 3 runs

For further reading about Felix Doubront, or for his minor league stats, check out these links.