Marino Salas

Organization Prospect Rankings

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  Ranked Baltimore Orioles #18 prospect in 2007
  The Orioles are exceedingly patient with their Dominican pitchers, and the approach is paying dividends with Salas, who didn't make it out of short-season ball until his seventh season in the system. He served as Bowie's closer in 2006 and thrived in the role, and he impressed in instructional league as well. Salas has boosted his fastball to 93-95 mph, and he also has a plus slider. He showed an ability to get both lefthanders and righthanders out in 2006 after struggling against lefties in previous seasons. He still needs to improve his fastball command and keep the ball out of the middle of the plate. He also needs to maintain his concentration and his mechanics. When he gets sloppy, he gets in trouble, but that's happening less often as he matures. Salas continues to make good progress and will be in the big league mix during spring training, though he's likely to open the year in Triple-A.
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  Ranked Baltimore Orioles #25 prospect in 2006
  Salas has been in the organization so long that he had to re-sign with Baltimore as a minor league free agent before he made it out of low Class A. After his 2005 performance, he finally was added to the 40-man roster. The Orioles call him a late bloomer--an understatement, considering he spent six years in short-season leagues and still hasn't pitched above high Class A. Salas has taken to the closer role, saving 29 games over the last two years. He has improved both his fastball, now pitching at 92-94 mph, and his slider, gaining trust in his No. 2 pitch. He needs to hone his slider further and improve his command of both pitches. Because he lacks an offspeed offering, he had trouble getting lefthanders out in 2005. They batted .299 against him, compared to .185 for righthanders. Salas will go as far as his fastball takes him, and his next destination is Double-A.