Yeiber Cartaya Shows Advanced Pitchability in Piggyback Outing

Yeiber Cartaya’s outing on Sunday was one of those appearances that was impressive because of more than just the raw stuff. This wasn’t a pitcher simply reaching back and trying to overpower Low-A hitters. Cartaya looked like a young arm with a plan, a feel for sequencing, and the confidence to use his entire arsenal in different counts.

The fastball sat mostly 93-95 MPH, and he still had enough in the tank late to reach 95 in the 9th inning. That’s a good sign because the velocity did not appear to fade as the outing went on. He worked with the fastball enough to establish the zone, but this was not a fastball-heavy, one-dimensional look. He mixed in a curveball, slider, and changeup, with the curveball standing out as the best secondary offering.

The curveball was the pitch that gave him the most identity. He showed the ability to land it for strikes, use it to change eye levels, and go to it when he needed something other than the fastball. The slider is there, and it flashed in the low-80s, but at times the curveball and slider can blend together a little bit. The curveball is clearly the better pitch right now, while the slider probably needs to separate more distinctly, either by getting firmer and tighter or by developing a different enough shape to give hitters a separate look.

What I liked most was the overall pitchability. Cartaya calls his own game and appears very comfortable doing it. He shakes off the catcher more than any Frederick pitcher I’ve seen so far, and it doesn’t come across as random. He looks like a pitcher who has conviction in what he wants to throw. He’s reading swings, changing sequences, and showing a pretty advanced feel for how to attack hitters.

The changeup was another encouraging part of the outing. He’s not afraid to throw it right-on-right, which is always something that catches my attention with a young pitcher. He showed one late with good drop, and while it’s not a heavy-usage pitch yet, it gives him another weapon and keeps hitters from sitting on the fastball/breaking ball combination.

Command-wise, he was around the strike zone all outing. There were a couple of uncompetitive breaking balls, but for the most part, his misses were competitive. He worked near the edges, changed locations, and didn’t spend much time completely losing the zone. That’s important because his stuff plays up when he’s forcing hitters to make decisions rather than giving away counts.

Overall, this was a very encouraging look. Cartaya showed four pitches, held his velocity deep into the outing, threw strikes, and showed a level of mound maturity that stood out. The curveball is the separator right now, the fastball is plenty playable at 93-95 t-96, and the changeup has enough feel to become a useful weapon. The next step is creating more separation between the curveball and slider, but there is a lot to like here and he may need to get challenged at Double-A soon.