Its been more than a decade since the value of on-base percentage reached the mainstream, yet the significance of that has yet to hit the island. While the industry has evolved to evaluate players based on advanced metrics that capture the impact of previously overlooked contributions, scouting and teaching in the Dominican continues to be based on raw skills grounded in flawed fundamentals.
Put simply, among other things, Dominican players dont walk. Some stunning number to consider: out of the top 10 leaders in walks last year in each of the 10 full-season minor leagues, only four of the possible 100 players were Dominican. Since 2009, only one undrafted, non-U.S.-educated, Dominican-born player ranked in the top 30 in baseball in walk rate: Clevelands Carlos Santana.
In the short term, this deficiency is causing teams to waste valuable developmental time in trying to teach on-base skills and plate discipline to kids who have no concept of what that means or who have grown up believing that watching a pitch pass by is a sin. And in the end, it might be a fruitless cause anyway.
I think you can help a kid, but I dont think you can change a kid from what he is, said one American League international scouting director. Youre not turning someone like Vladdy (Vladimir Guerrero) into a disciplined hitter.
Mark Newman, a Yankees senior vice president, believes that with hard workusually during periods such as the instructional league, which will take place for most organizations in the next month or soa team could significantly improve the walk rate of approximately 10-15 percent of players, a number that hardly seems encouraging. In that example, only one out of 10 offensive players signed out of the Dominican will ever acquire the secondary skills that would make him a very valuable hitter in the majors.
Dominican youngsters are trading potentially lucrative long-term contracts as professionals for the quick profit they can turn by exhibiting skills that will get them a signing bonus as amateurs. Only one of the 30 biggest contracts ever handed out was given to a Dominican-born, amateur free agent player: Alfonso Soriano. And the biggest reason why the Soriano contract has turned into such a disaster for the Cubs? While Soriano can hit (he has 372 career home runs), he cant walk (a lowly .323 career OBP and 7.2 percent walk rate).
The simplest explanation for this endemic lack of discipline is that Dominican kids rarely play games. Socioeconomic conditions have made sports a low government priority in the poverty-stricken country. By the time players are 17, the AL international scouting director estimates, Dominican players are at least 1,000 at-bats behind their American counterparts.
Full article here: Baseball Prospectus | Baseball ProGUESTus: Finding a Way to Walk off the Island
Put simply, among other things, Dominican players dont walk. Some stunning number to consider: out of the top 10 leaders in walks last year in each of the 10 full-season minor leagues, only four of the possible 100 players were Dominican. Since 2009, only one undrafted, non-U.S.-educated, Dominican-born player ranked in the top 30 in baseball in walk rate: Clevelands Carlos Santana.
In the short term, this deficiency is causing teams to waste valuable developmental time in trying to teach on-base skills and plate discipline to kids who have no concept of what that means or who have grown up believing that watching a pitch pass by is a sin. And in the end, it might be a fruitless cause anyway.
I think you can help a kid, but I dont think you can change a kid from what he is, said one American League international scouting director. Youre not turning someone like Vladdy (Vladimir Guerrero) into a disciplined hitter.
Mark Newman, a Yankees senior vice president, believes that with hard workusually during periods such as the instructional league, which will take place for most organizations in the next month or soa team could significantly improve the walk rate of approximately 10-15 percent of players, a number that hardly seems encouraging. In that example, only one out of 10 offensive players signed out of the Dominican will ever acquire the secondary skills that would make him a very valuable hitter in the majors.
Dominican youngsters are trading potentially lucrative long-term contracts as professionals for the quick profit they can turn by exhibiting skills that will get them a signing bonus as amateurs. Only one of the 30 biggest contracts ever handed out was given to a Dominican-born, amateur free agent player: Alfonso Soriano. And the biggest reason why the Soriano contract has turned into such a disaster for the Cubs? While Soriano can hit (he has 372 career home runs), he cant walk (a lowly .323 career OBP and 7.2 percent walk rate).
The simplest explanation for this endemic lack of discipline is that Dominican kids rarely play games. Socioeconomic conditions have made sports a low government priority in the poverty-stricken country. By the time players are 17, the AL international scouting director estimates, Dominican players are at least 1,000 at-bats behind their American counterparts.
Full article here: Baseball Prospectus | Baseball ProGUESTus: Finding a Way to Walk off the Island
Baseball players don't take walks for the same reason why you don't shoot free throws during a pickup game. Sure you could do it, and yes it would be a positive, but it's boring, time consuming, and like the article said, it's not like kids are out there playing actual games, so most times kids just stay in the plate until something happens. Either you strike out or you make contact. 
