Pedro Martinez, Bartolo Colon and Juan Marichal are but three from the endless list of Dominican Republic-born pitchers to excel in Major League Baseball.
A new Oriole prospect hopes to have the same future ahead of him, as he lights up hitters in the Carolina League with a 97 mph fastball.
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Radhames Liz, a right-handed starter who turned 23 on Saturday, has been blowing away hitters this season with the Single-A Frederick Keys. But his coaches said they know he will break into the majors sooner rather than later.
“I would say a year or two,” hitting coach Alex Arias said. “He is one of those guys who gets twice as good each year. He is going A to Z while others go A, B, C, D, E.”
Describing himself as humble, Liz ? recently named to the Carolina League All-Star Game ? tries to stay out of the spotlight. He finds it difficult though, considering he routinely throws a 95-96 mph fastball in Frederick, according to manager Bien Figueroa.
One of the downsides to his fastball is the strain it puts on his shoulder.
“His shoulder pops every time. You can hear it from the dugout,” catcher Brian Bock said. “The first couple of times the trainers came out and asked if he was alright, he said, ?No, it pops all the time.?”
This season Liz is 5-3 with a 2.53 ERA. The tall and slim Liz is 6-foot-2 and weighs just 170 pounds. His roommate, catcher Morgan Clendenin, attributes his size to his eating habits.
“He eats real healthy and drinks a lot of water,” Clendenin said.
The biggest question mark this year has been his control, according to scouts. Thus far he has 32 walks in 64.0 innings. Figueroa said Liz can throw up to five pitches for strikes, including two change-ups, a sinker, a slider and his potent fastball.
“All I do is play baseball,” Liz said, through Arias? translation.
THE LIZ FILE
Position: Right-handed pitcher
Organization: Orioles
Did you know? Pitchers Chorye Spoone, Jim Hoey and Erbe and outfielder Quincey Ascencion will represent Delmarva in the South Atlantic All-Star Game, on Tuesday at 7:35 p.m. in Lake County, Ohio ? Outfielder Nolan Reimold and Figueroa will also represent Frederick in the Carolina League All-Star game, which is June 27 at 7 p.m. in Salem, Va. … In his first start in Frederick this season, Liz struck out 13 batters in five innings and combined with three other Keys to complete a no-hitter. As of Friday, he had 80 strikeouts.
