The Pittsburgh Pirates signed their 49th international player since July 2, 2019 on Tuesday night, reaching a deal with 18-year-old right-handed pitcher Wilber Dotel from the Dominican Republic. The current international signing deadline, which was originally scheduled to end on June 15, 2020, was extended to October 15th. The deadline is now 5 PM on Thursday.
Dotel is 6’3″, 178 pounds with a frame to add weight. He has been training at the Marmolejos Baseball Academy. His fastball has recently reached 95 MPH. He also throws a 74-78 MPH curve and and a 78-81 MPH changeup. He projects as a future starter and shows a good feel for pitching. He just turned 18 two weeks ago. While he has been eligible to sign since July 2, 2019, his recent progress has led to a jump in his prospect status.
Here’s the updated signing tracker with links to scouting reports on all 48 previous signings.
