On February 10th, the RailCats bring back two more players from last year: INF Jose Contreras, who is returning for his third season, and RHP Julio Pinto, who is returning for his second season with the RailCats.

Looking at Julio Pinto’s stats from last season, he was one of the backbones of the bullpen. Last season, he played in 40 games and pitched 41.1 innings, which landed him 3rd on the team in games played, just below Nate Alexander and Josh Smith, who both pitched in 47 games. Julio had an ERA of 6.75, gave up 38 hits, 32 runs, 31 earned runs, allowed 2 home runs, walked 33 batters, and struck out 38. He did hit 8 batters and had a WHIP of 1.718, H/9 of 8.3, HR/9 of 0.4, BB/9 of 7.2, SO/9 of 8.3, and SO/W of 1.15.

With relief pitchers, a lot of numbers can be inflated, and this is the case with Julio. His numbers didn’t spike until the end of the year. Yes, he was hovering in the 4’s for the ERA for most of the year. Julio pitched about 1 inning each time he went out, giving up 1 run and blowing your ERA out of the water. The month of August was his downfall, giving up 10 runs in 8 innings; I believe that is due to the overuse that was under high stress.

Bring back Julio can be a nice piece of veteran presence and dependability. He just wrapped up a season with the Caribes de Anzoátegui of the Venezuelan Winter League, where he played in 15 games and pitched in 13.1 innings. He had an ERA of 8.10, gave up 14 runs on 13 hits, struck out 5, and walked 13. He had a WHIP of 1.950 and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of .38.

WELCOME BACK TO THE SOUTHSHORE!!

Jose Contreras is going into his third season at the age of 29 when the season starts. Looking at his career, Jose has played in 111 games, 354 at-bats, 45 runs scored, 88 hits, 11 doubles, 16 home runs, 50 RBI, 26 walks, 130 strikeouts, 17 stolen bases, a batting average of .249, SLG .429, and OPS .752.

Last season with the RailCats he played in 75 games, had 238 at-bats, scored 29 runs, 60 hits, 6 doubles, 3 triples, 12 home runs, 39 RBI, 13 walks, struck out 86 times, and achieved 10 stolen bases. He slashed .252/.310/.454 and had an OPS of .752.

Jose is a very powerful right-handed batter who can launch the ball far and hard. He is a very dependable 1st baseman who can play in the corner outfield position. I think the biggest downside to Jose in the batter’s box is the strikeouts. With a team that struggled offensively, having a player that doesn’t always move the line did stop the momentum of the RailCats. But Jose can be electric with his power, and when he is in the groove, he can be one of the best hitters in the American Association.

Jose finished up winter ball with Tigres de Cartagena of the Colombian Winter League. He played in 19 games, achieving 12 hits and scoring 8 runs. He had 4 doubles, 3 home runs, and 13 RBI, while stealing and being caught stealing twice. He walked 13 times while striking out 26. He slashed .194/.359/.403 with an OPS of .762.

WELCOME BACK TO THE SOUTHSHORE!!