Thursday night the White Sox announced the signing of thirty year old relief pitcher Ronald Belisario. Belisario has spent his whole career in Los Angeles with the Dodgers and posted a 3.97 ERA in 68 innings last year. Belisario is know for his fastball as it routinely touches 94 mph, but the question with Belisario is whether or not he can locate his pitches in 2014. If not, Belisario can be another Ramon Troncoso in disguise.
If fans don’t remember Ramon Troncoso, here is a refresher. Troncoso posted a 4.5o ERA in 30 innings pitched in 2013, and also walked 4.8 batters per nine innings. While Belisario has a career 3.6 walks per nine innings ratio now, it shows that he still has never had very good control. In addition to his walk ratio being subpar, his hits per nine went up from 6.0 to 9.5 from 2012 to 2013 and his strike ratio decreased from 8.7 to 6.5.
Belisario isn’t a glamorous addition to the South Siders bullpen, but it adds depth to a bullpen that features a lot of unproven talent at the Triple A level much less the major league level. This move also speaks volumes to Rick Hahn’s expectations for the upcoming season, as a signing of a mediocre at best relief pitcher while most teams are improving or rebuilding does not speak volumes to a fan base or a clubhouse.
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