ELIECER NAVARRO
LEFT HANDED PITCHER
Born: October 26, 1987
Height: 5′ 9″
Weight: 177
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Signed: Int. FA, Pittsburgh Pirates, 2006
How Acquired: Int. FA
Country: Panama
Agent: N/A

WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

Navarro is one of a handful of small LHPs in the Pirates’ system who put up good, or in some cases spectacular, numbers in the Latin American summer leagues, but whose stuff may not play well at higher levels.  He’s not an extreme soft-tosser, as his fastball registers in the upper 80s.  He mixes it in with a lot of offspeed stuff.  He’s generally been a flyball pitcher and LH batters have hit him better than RH batters, so a career as a LOOGY may not be in the offing.

2007
DSL:  8-2-1, 2.83 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 70 IP, 2.2 BB/9, 10.9 K/9 

Navarro pitched well his first year in the DSL, with well over a strikeout an inning.

2008
DSL:  4-3-0, 1.42 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 76 IP, 0.9 BB/9, 12.8 K/9 

Returning to the DSL, Navarro had playstation numbers, including a 13.5:1 K:BB ratio.

2009
R:  4-2-1, 3.77 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 31 IP, 1.7 BB/9, 6.7 K/9 

Didn’t dominate the GCL, but mostly pitched well.  He allowed seven earned runs in his first six innings, but only six in last 25.  He walked very few, but his K rate was nothing like what it was in the DSL.

2010
A-:  1-0-1, 1.04 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 1.0 BB/9, 11.4 K/9
A:  1-2-1, 3.49 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 49 IP, 2.2 BB/9, 7.7 K/9 

Navarro opened at State College, but after pitching very well in three long relief outings, he moved up to serve as a swing man for West Virginia.  He was one of the Power’s few effective pitchers, especially out of the bullpen, where he had a 2.91 ERA.

2011
A:  5-0-0, 2.83 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 57.1 IP, 1.4 BB/9, 8.5 K/9
A+:  1-2-0, 6.12 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 32.1 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 8.6 K/9 

Navarro joined Bradenton in mid-April, but struggled in a dozen relief appearances and one start, with a .292 opponents’ BA.  He’s always been somewhat of a flyball pitcher and he had trouble in the FSL with gopher balls, allowing nearly one every five innings.  He did have good walk and K numbers.  He spent some time in extended spring training and was assigned to West Virginia in July.  He made half a dozen relief appearances, then joined the rotation in late July, making eight starts through the end of the season.  He pitched well, somewhat better in relief than starting.  His BB and K numbers were very good.  He was tough on left-handed batters, who hit only .205 against him in the SAL.

Navarro will return to Bradenton to open 2012.  He was eligible for the Rule 5 draft after the 2011 season, but wasn’t selected.  By the time the next season starts he’ll be 24, which is a couple years older than preferable for that level.  He’ll pitch out of the bullpen along with two other very similar lefties, Porfirio Lopez and Jhonathan Ramos.

STATS
Baseball Reference–Minors
Fangraphs
MiLB.com
CONTRACT INFORMATION
2012: Minor League Contract
PLAYER INFORMATION
Signing Bonus: N/A
MiLB Debut: 6/5/2007
MLB Debut: N/A
MiLB FA Eligible: 2013
MLB FA Eligible: N/A
Rule 5 Eligible: 2010
Added to 40-Man: N/A
Options Remaining: 3
MLB Service Time: 0.000
TRANSACTIONS
2006: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an international free agent.