- Full name Diegomar Markwell
- Born
Top Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings
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The Blue Jays have few lefthanded starters in sniffing distance of the major leagues. While Gustavo Chacin has advanced further in his development and will start 2002 in Triple-A, his fastball-changeup repertoire pegs him more as an Omar Daal clone with a limited ceiling. Markwell offers hope for the future. He drew headlines in 1996 when he signed for $750,000, breaking the club's foreign-bonus record held at the time by Brazilian Jose Pett, and finally started to show signs of progress last season in his fourth try at the short-season New York-Penn League. Markwell works off his average 87-91 mph fastball, mixing in two plus pitches in his curveball and changeup. His curve has a tight rotation and he gets good arm speed on his changeup, helping him shut down lefthanders. As his strength has caught up with his poise and feel for pitching, he has started living up to his bonus. Markwell figures to start 2002 in high Class A but soon could catch the more polished Chacin.