Written by Greg Fertel
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09 June 2007
Dominican switch-hitting 2b Prilys Cuello , a member of a highly touted Latin American free agent class for the Yankees, is making his minor league debut tonight with the high-A Tampa Yankees. He is starting at second, and will be leading off. Cuello excelled last season in the Dominican Summer League as a 17 year-old, putting up a .279 average, with 7 homers, 8 steals, a .408 OBP and an impressive .906 OPS in 59 games. While the competition in the DSL is not major league quality, there are plenty of talented (and older) players there, which makes Cuello's performance as a 17 year-old even more impressive. Cuello, who is 3 months younger than teammate José Tabata, will be the 2nd-youngest player in high-A, (the Mets' Deolis Guerra is younger). The Yankees must be very impressed with his performance so far in Extended Spring Training to promote him so aggressively, and skip the GCL, low-A, and short-season A ball. Cuello has good speed and impressive power for a second baseman, and it will be interesting to see how he performs, because the Yankees are challenging him by placing him in Tampa. I'll keep you updated on his progress, and try to find out more about the Yankees' other Latin American phenoms.
