Born03/16/1992 in San Pedro De Macoris, Dominican Republic
ProfileHt.: 6'4" / Wt.: 205 / Bats: L / Throws: L
Debut05/31/2017
Top Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings
Track Record: When Guduan signed with the Astros, Ed Wade was still the team's general manager, and Jose Altuve had yet to play a game in full-season ball. It's been a long road from there to here, but Guduan has managed to make 25 appearances for the Astros over the past two seasons.
Scouting Report: There is no subtlety to Guduan's approach. He attacks hitters with a 95-98 mph plus fastball from the left side. There's not much of a Plan B. He has improved his confidence and feel for his sweepy slider, which is an average pitch, but he struggles to locate both. At this point, it's hard to envision Guduan developing even fringe-average control, as his scouting report (outstanding fastball, below-average control) is the same as when he signed nearly 10 years ago.
The Future: Guduan's control troubles keep him from filling a high-leverage role, but the quality of his arm will keep giving him chances. He fits best in a more modest relief job.
When the Astros signed Guduan, he was a pure arm strength lefty whose poor control ensured he mixed dominant stretches with wild moments of terror for his manager as he'd walk everyone in the lineup. Seven seasons later, Guduan has made some modest improvements, but that scouting report still stands--he's walked 7.1 batters per nine innings for his career and walked exactly that at Triple-A Fresno in 2016. There are few better lefty power arms in the world than Guduan, as he'll sit 93-99 mph. Seen on the right day, Guduan is a pitcher with a top of the scale fastball and a plus slider, but neither pitch plays to that grade because of his inability to consistently locate them. Guduan is hard on the rest of bullpen because his below-average control leads to very few clean innings despite no glaring flaws in his delivery. For all his control issues, he still has the potential to be a viable power lefty reliever. Houston added him
Guduan has one of the best lefthanded arms in baseball. He can touch 100 mph at his best and will reach 98 in most outings although his comfort zone is 93-96 mph. He'll mix in an 82-86 mph slider that will flash average but is still a little inconsistent. Guduan is the ultimate high ceiling, low-probability prospect. He took six years to reach full season ball for good and even now his control is frightening considering how hard he can throw. But if Guduan can figure out how to develop even fringy control, his fastball/slider combination would give him a chance to be a dominant reliever or at least a viable left-onleft matchup reliever. Guduan was left unprotected for the Rule 5 draft because the Astros took the gamble that no team would be able to stash him in a bullpen because of his ineffective control.
When the Astros needed an emergency reliever to fill in at Triple-A Oklahoma City at the end of the 2013 season, they promoted Guduan from the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. Making his RedHawks debut, the lanky 6-foot-4 lefty not only hadn't pitched in a ballpark with a second deck, he had never pitched in a game where they charge for admission. Jumping straight from the backfields to the Pacific Coast League, Guduan didn't seem awed. He struck out four batters in 2 1/3 innings, allowing one run. The Astros were comfortable with him making the massive jump because few lefties in baseball have a better one-two punch with a 94-97 mph fastball that touches 99 to go with a slider that flashes plus thanks to a two-plane break and good bite. Guduan has an amazingly quick arm, and like many Astros pitchers, he gets excellent extension in his delivery. His control is scattershot, but his delivery doesn't have excessive effort, so many believe he will eventually find the strike zone. Guduan is a long way from his ceiling, but he has the potential to be a closer if his control improves. He's ready to join a high-octane low Class A Quad Cities bullpen in 2014.
Career Transactions
Toros de Tijuana released LHP Reymin Guduan.
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