Fantastic Font

Phil Gurnee ♦ July 28, 2017 ♦ 1 Comment

Wilmer Font has done everything you could ask in 2017 to get a shot at some kind of major league role.  In most organizations, he would have gotten a few starts by now but in the deep Dodger organization, he bides his time behind a deep major league rotation.

With the injuries to Kershaw and McCarthy, he can start to see through a porthole but not yet a complete window.  Ryu and Hill are always on shaky ground when it comes to health and Alex Wood is no oak tree himself.

When the deadline passes, it is possible that Font will find himself further back in the depth chart if the Dodger acquire a rotation piece or in another organization that can take a chance on him.

This is what he has done in AAA OKC in 2017.

• Leads the PCL in strikeouts with 147. 2nd is 114. Talk about a leadership role.
• Leads the PCL in KK/9 for starters at 12.5. Next starter on the list is his teammate Fabio Castillo at 10.0
• Is 4th among starters with a WHIP of 1.109. Just above Font was Marco Gonzalez who was just traded to the Mariners for their 2nd best hitting prospect Tyler O’Neil.

I understand Wilmer Font was not a real prospect entering 2017 but he has certainly pitched like one. Enough so that the Fangraphs experimental prospect tool called Katoh has Font now listed as a top 100 prospect. Of course he’s in the 90’s but still, he finally made a prospect list. Woo Hoo.

Here is a collection of his best games this year. Notice his last three starts.

Date          IP H ER BB SO GSc
2017-04-12   5.0 3  0  1 11  71
2017-05-03   5.0 4  3  1  9  55
2017-05-09   5.1 4  2  0  6  58
2017-05-15   7.0 2  1  1 15  83
2017-05-21   5.0 5  3  2 10  53
2017-06-02   6.0 2  0  1 10  77
2017-06-08   6.0 5  1  0  7  65
2017-06-14   6.0 3  0  1  7  72
2017-07-16   6.0 3  1  0  8  70
2017-07-21   7.0 7  2  1 11  65
2017-07-27   6.0 4  0  1  9  72

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/28/2017.