BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
La Joya Palmview is bringing “Moneyball” to the Valley.
The popular book by Michael Lewis details the way the Oakland Athletics organization used data and statistics to make decisions about every part of the game. The data informs decisions about player development, lineup construction, allocation of funds and more.
Those tactics have helped Palmview ace Leonel Perez.
Perez is a star pitcher and hitter, and the Lobos have made him even stronger on the mound by teaching him how to throw a cutter.
“He has a lot of movement on his cutter,” Palmview coach Rick Garcia said. “My pitching coach threw a cutter in high school. It helped him by not putting a lot of pressure on his elbow. A lot of times, a lot of coaches teach the curveball, and sometimes the kids don’t last that long. So, we teach the cutter to avoid putting too much pressure on the elbow. We are able to throw that in any count.”
The pitch helps Perez now and is meant to help lengthen his career. The cutter has been very effective for Perez this year. In 17 innings pitched, he has a 1.24 earned run average and 26 strikeouts.
Palmview’s lineup is constructed with him in mind. Perez hits third — the spot typically reserved for the best hitter on a team.
“As a coaching staff, we knew that Leo was no longer going to be pitched to,” Garcia said. “So, we are trying to put the best guy right behind him, to help him out. And I think we are doing that. The other teams are finding out that our number four hole is coming around. To start district, Jesus Guzman is 7-for-8, so that’s not too bad. Now teams are thinking about, ‘Do we walk Leo, or do we pitch to him?’”
Guzman is hitting .545 from the DH spot. He has seven RBIs on the season.
The first and second batters in the lineup also benefit Perez.
“Andrew Puente is our leadoff guy because he works the counts,” Garcia said. “He’s one of the best that I have seen at working the pitchers. We know that when goes up there, he can get eight or nine pitches out of the pitcher. … Last week, in the McAllen Memorial game, our one and two hitters made their pitcher throw 16 pitches. That puts us in a very good situation. If those two guys can do that every time, and we come out of that with maybe one or two guys on and Leo up to bat, the pitcher is going to have to throw at least 20-25 pitches to start the game.”
While these adjustments aren’t just for Perez, they have paid off for him so far.
Perez is hitting .526 with six RBIs, a triple and a home run.
“The young man is a very coachable kid,” Garcia said of Perez. “He works hard. He’s one of those kids where, you would like for all nine of your ballplayers to be like that. I know that isn’t going to happen, but he carries himself as a leader, and the kids follow him.”
CHANGING THE TUNE
With Edcouch-Elsa’s ace from last year, Jacob Martinez, graduating over the summer, some teams saw the Yellowjackets as prime candidates for a step back this season.
Edcouch-Elsa didn’t help matters by struggling a bit at its early tournaments. But the Yellowjackets are 2-0 to start district and have been getting what they needed from their key players.
Filling the shoes of Martinez is junior pitcher and shortstop Joseph Gonzalez. Gonzalez has thrown just under 30 strikeouts in three outings, including one in relief. He pitched two innings Tuesday against Donna High, and he fanned all six.
Another player who took a major step forward this year is senior catcher Steve Perez, who was sparked by a move to the leadoff spot.
The obvious question is: does a catcher have the speed to bat leadoff?
“He does not. He’s not very fast,” Edcouch-Elsa coach Ryan Garza laughed.
Many advanced sabermetricians believe a team’s best hitter should bat first. The concept is very simple: the first person in the order will inevitably get the most at-bats, and giving more at-bats to a team’s best player can be expected to yield more production.
While only time will tell if Perez is the Yellowjackets’ best hitter, the move gave him a confidence boost, which has turned into production.
“We had him in the three spot, early in the year,” Garza said. “The middle and bottom of the lineup wasn’t producing as much. So, we started off with him, and he would get on just about every game. He’s been hot, right now, but now the middle of the lineup has been helping him out and bringing in runs.”
The number of at-bats for Perez isn’t the only benefit.
“Seeing a runner on second, to start the game, and then we play a little small ball, a bunt or a hit-and-run and you have a runner on third with one out,” Garza said. “That really helps everyone else in the lineup. And it takes pressure off of our pitchers.”
Perez has also played a part defense, catching Gonzalez’s nasty curveball.
“He’s been throwing it really well,” Garza said. “He’s been throwing it with some confidence. He’s the type of kid that full count, bases loaded, he’s going to throw that curveball. He’s either going to throw it for a strike, or he’s going to hit his spot and he’s going to get the batters chasing.”
The only way Gonzalez can throw that curveball, especially low, is to trust Perez to stop it.
“Steve is the best catcher that I have seen in our district since I have been coaching,” Garza said. “He’s an animal behind the plate. We work on blocking every single day. He hardly lets anything get by him. We are confident when he is behind the plate.”