Arizona is impressed with 18-year-old right-hander
PHOENIX -- Twice during press conferences over the past week, Jerry Colangelo has mentioned Adriano Rosario's name when talking about the future of the Diamondbacks' organization.
Most Arizona fans have never heard of Rosario, but that could change in a hurry, maybe as soon as this spring.
The 18-year-old has definitely created a buzz within the offices of Bank One Ballpark with his pitching over the past year.
First there was his performance in the Midwest League where he was 9-5 with a 2.86 ERA for South Bend. Then the right-hander followed that up by getting off to a 3-1 start with a 1.35 ERA in the Domi
nican Winter League where he's pitching for Gigantes.
Diamondbacks director of player development Tommy Jones and scouting director Mike Rizzo watched Rosario pitch last month against Escogido and came away impressed.
"He overmatched the club," Jones said. "There were around 15 scouts there and the buzz in the ballpark that night was, 'This guy looks like a Major League pitcher right now.' He's being discussed as
much as any pitcher in our minor league system within this office."
According to Jones, one of the things being discussed when it comes to Rosario is whether to invite him to Major League camp this spring.
"It's going to be interesting to see what kind of opportunity he is given in Spring Training," Jones said. "I think it'll be between now and the end of December before we make a determination."
Rosario, a 6-foot-3, 210-pounder, throws a fastball in the 94-97 mph range along with a power slider and has excellent control. In 160 1/3 innings for South Bend, he struck out 119 and walked 30.
"He's very mature for his age," Jones said of Rosario, who was signed less than a month after his 17th birthday by Rizzo and Junior Noboa, who heads up the club's Latin America efforts. "He has No. 1
starter-type stuff. You can't just throw a tag like that around loosely."
The Diamondbacks have invested a lot of time and resources in building their academy in the Dominican and their efforts paid off when it came time to sign Rosario.
"He was a high profile free agent in the Dominican Republic," Jones said. "There was a lot of bidding on him. He took less money to go with the Diamondbacks I think because of Junior Noboa and the pr
ogram we have there. I think parents there know that if your son comes to our academy, he's going to be taken care of and be taken care of like he's our own son."
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