Rancho Cucamonga, California —— Entering play on Friday night, Los Angeles Dodgers veteran minor league right-handed pitcher Daniel Corcino is 2-1 with a 4.38 ERA over 20 games (two starts) with three minor league clubs, including most recently the California League‘s Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, with 45 strikeouts against 30 hits and 18 walks over 37.0 innings pitched in 2017. I observed the 26-year-old Dominican in his strong August 24 long relief outing against Lake Elsinore; below is Baseball Census‘ full Daniel Corcino scouting report, including video.
Daniel Corcino Scouting Report — Video
Our video of Los Angeles Dodgers right-handed pitcher Daniel Corcino shows his pitching mechanics in that August 24 relief outing against the Lake Elsinore Storm, where he allowed two runs on one hit and two walks against five strikeouts over 4.1 innings pitched:
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Daniel Corcino Scouting Report — Notes
Daniel Corcino sat 92-94 mph on Thursday night, topping out at 95 mph once — on the final pitch of his third inning of work. There’s good life on his fastball, with considerable arm-side run and occasionally some sink when he stays on top of and through the pitch, though his tendency to pull off and finish hard to the first base side leaves the fastball flat and on one plane too often. Command is ahead of control right now, but he’s a max effort guy (even in long relief) who can get by on iffy command so long as he’s low in the zone; when working up, he can run into trouble even with good velocity. Last night, the Los Angeles Dodgers farmhand paired the fastball with an 82-83 mph slider that I actually really liked. It has good, late break with a 10-to-4 sweeping action, and there’s enough depth there to consistently miss bats. His slider falls prey to the same issue as his fastball, though: when Daniel Corcino spins off and falls hard to his glove-side, the slider turns into a cement mixer and spins into the hittable part of the zone (occasionally even backing up). Staying on top and behind the ball considerably helps his pitch life, and his command.
Corcino showed a second issue with his slider on Thursday night, too: at times, especially with no one on base, he considerably slows his body and arm action through the pitch as if to guide it. You can see it some in our video of his pitching mechanics above; Corcino sometimes lands softer and slows through his mechanics on the off-speed pitch, undoubtedly tipping it in the most egregious cases. It’s ironic, because the best sliders he threw on Thursday were ones he tried to throw hard through the catcher. He’d be best served to keep throwing that pitch as hard as possible; the pitch grip and his arm action will take care of its life in doing so. Mechanically, Corcino also flashes an effective quick-pitch wrinkle with no one on base, using it three times across his four-plus innings of work on Thursday and frustrating hitters by catching them pretty significantly off balance each time.
Daniel Corcino Scouting Report — Projection
At 26 years old, and after having made his big league debut with the Cincinnati Reds way back in 2014, Daniel Corcino is a fascinating case study in the myriad bizarre, under-the-fold transactions that occur during a player’s career. He’s far beyond prospect status at this point, and too old for the Cal League right now, but here he is pitching in long relief with Rancho Cucamonga. That said, his arm is live and he has some deception; having whiffed 45 hitters in 37 innings across three levels this season, even playing against more age-appropriate competition there’s no reason Corcino couldn’t still miss bats at a rate necessary for a reliever. But he’s still raw, especially in his mechanics, and that affects both his pitch life and command, each of which must become markedly more consistent if he’s to ever get another shot at the big leagues.
This is the second stint Daniel Corcino has had with the Los Angeles Dodgers, having spent 2016 in the system, too, before electing free agency last winter and beginning this season at Double-A with the Chicago Cubs. He’ll be a minor league free agent again this winter, and now having been in professional baseball for a decade with not much to show for it besides that brief big league stint in 2014, I find it hard to imagine he’ll be too high on organizational wish lists in the coming months. That said, with a good arm and lively stuff, he may yet get a chance to prove himself again somewhere on a minor league deal come spring training.
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