In Ubaldo Jimenez, the Colorado Rockies have a young, electric arm that would be the envy of the other 29 big league organizations.
Jimenez, signed as a free agent back in 2001 out of Nagua, in the Dominican Republic. The , 6-2, 22 year-old right-hander was a bean pole when he arrived in pro ball where a breeze could blow him away at 160 lbs. His weight has been climbing steadily another forty, to 200. With the added heft comes increased power: The big right-hander from the Dominican Republic can blow the ball past overmatched hitters with 98 m.p.h. heat, or he can baffle them with a breaking ball that gets better with nearly every outing.
Some players are on the fast track. Ubaldo has been on the freight train: Slow, steady, solid development since he was 18 years old. His first pro assignment was with the Pioneer League Casper Rockies, where he had a rocky 6.53 ERA a 3-5 win-loss, and 65 strikeouts in 62 innings of work. He was promoted in 2003 to the Asheville Tourists in the South Atlantic League where he got in a full season of work, 153.2 innings, went 10-6 and dropped into a more comfortable, but high for the SAL 3.46 ERA. His best year to date was with the Visalia Oaks in the High-A California League, where he went 2.23 with a 4-1 record, 61 strikeouts and allowed only one home run all season.
This season, Jimenez got off to a great start at Double-A Tulsa, going 9-2, 2.45, before earning a late June promotion to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Over the course of his five-year career in the minors, Jimenez has averaged better than a strikeout per inning, or nine per game, and more than twice as many strikeouts as walks.
Jimenez struggled in his six weeks with the Sky Sox, as witnessed by his 6.07 ERA following his first 10 starts. This is typical of his pattern though, where it takes him some time to adjust to the level of play.
Jimenez has shown the ability to figure out hitters at each level, and can back that up with his arm. His confidence continues to grow as he matures. He was our No. 32 player in 2004, the 30th ranked player in 2005, and tops out on the MLN FAB50 Baseball 2006 at 24. Given his performance at Colorado Springs, and his adjustment pattern, we expect he’ll be up and down a bit before he settles into the major league roster full time.
- Dan HICKLING & Brian ROSS
