7/2/25 : 2021 DSL standouts - Then & Now

This article is a follow up of one I published on 9/21/23 entitled “Spotlight - Six Young Hurlers” - here’s the link to that article https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/9-21-23-spotlight-six-young-hurlers.

It was the fall of 2021 and we were still observing Covid restrictions at Carpenter Complex, no public entrance. Fortunately the Fall Instruct games and scrimmages were played on Ashburn Field which enabled me to set up an isolated high top chair (so as to see over the hedges) in the right field corner next to the complex entrance and watch with binoculars, yes I was either that stupid or “dedicated” 🤓.  I wrote daily observations and posted on what was then my only platform, the Facebook page entitled Phillies - A Fan’s View.

Leading into 2021 Fall Instructs the DSL (Dominican Summer League) Phillies White squad was coming off a successful season, there were no league playoffs that year however they earned a division title with a 36-20 record at the top of the San Pedro Division. The club had multiple pitching standouts, five (Jean Cabrera, Estibenzon Jimenez, Eiberson Castellano, Jaydenn Estanista, Guissepe Velasquez) that still remain in the organization were invited to Fall Instructs which was the first glimpse I got of each in action. After seeing them pitch for the first time in person this is what I wrote on 10/13/21  - “What stood out to me is the compact deliveries each presented, smooth and quick with a simple aligned approach, very well coached.  Each brings different attributes, Cabrera, Castellano and Estanista have bigger fastballs while Jimenez and Velasquez have a broader mix with put away secondary offerings.”

The only position player still remaining in the organization from the 2021 Phillies White club is infielder Erick Brito who was also part of the 2021 Fall Instructs Camp. Erick is now a utility infielder with the AAA level Lehigh Valley IronPigs, he played seven different positions for the 2021 DSL club primarily though at third and first base. RHP Jean Cabrera is now on the 40 man roster and is at the top of the AA level Reading Fightins rotation. RHP Estibenzon Jimenez was just promoted to Reading on 6/22/25 from High A Jersey Shore and is also part of the rotation. RHP Eiberson Castellano is currently on the Injured List for Reading, he’s been there since 5/29/25. RHP Jaydenn Estanista is a back end reliever for High A Jersey Shore and will likely be promoted to Reading before the season ends and RHP Guissepe Velasquez just returned to game action on 5/20/25 (first with the FCL Phillies and now as a member of the Clearwater Threshers) after missing all of the 2024 season recovering from TJ surgery in the fall of 2023.

Erick Brito (from Venezuela) hit .327 and posted a .470 OBP in 202 PA’s for the 2021 Phillies White squad in 54 games as a nineteen year old. The following spring he was slated to play for the FCL Phillies however he impressed in spring camp and instead became the everyday shortstop for the 2022 Clearwater Threshers eventually playing in 97 games. I remember him turning on a breaking pitch that spring in an intra-squad game on Roberts Field against an AAA level pitcher and driving the baseball over the left field fence - folks scrambled to discover who he was, back then they didn’t have their names on the backs of the practice jerseys 😎.  Erick began the ‘23 season once again with Clearwater but bumped up to High A Jersey Shore on 6/13/23 - he played primarily shortstop but also saw significant time at second base. In 2024 he started the year with JS but was promoted to Reading on 7/16/24 with third base becoming his most frequently played spot albeit still seeing time at both second base and shortstop. This spring he made the AAA Lehigh Valley roster directly out of camp and has been a key reserve seeing time at both third base and shortstop. He’s now 23 years old, this will be his 6th full season of active play (2020 being excluded) therefore he’s eligible for minor league free agency at year end. He’s always been a strong defender who’s also shown decent offensive skills - a minor league version of Edmundo Sosa. Erick is a solid professional who’s playing at the AAA level at a relatively young age (the average age for AAA level position players this season is 26.7) - he’s got a chance to reach the major leagues in the right situation. Update : Erick was transferred to AA level Reading on 7/2/25.

Venezuelan Jean Cabrera won the 2021 Paul Owens Award for his season with the Phillies White squad - in 13 games he recorded a 1.54 ERA and 0.84 WHIP in 52.2 IP with 61 K’s and only 10 walks - opposing hitters hit just .185 against him. Jean said about that season “I remember that we were very united and that we worked as a team, that was one of the things that helped us win the division. We went out onto the field every day supporting each other and we were very competitive, we played hard every inning. We were fortunate to have a good manager in Orlando Muñoz, he taught us how to play ball with respect.”  Jean is known for his competitiveness as a pitcher, he’s not the biggest in size but certainly one of the biggest in heart. He spent both the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Clearwater Threshers appearing in 31 regular season games (25 starts) and two playoff games, (2023 playoffs - he posted a 0.73 ERA in 12.1 IP with 11 K’s & 3 walks). In 2024 he began the year with High A Jersey Shore but was promoted to AA level Reading on 7/9/24 - Jean threw a career high 106.2 IP during the year, on 11/19/24 he was added to the Phillies 40 man roster and attended his first major league spring camp this year. He’s made 15 starts for Reading so far this season and has already accumulated 78.2 IP with almost a full half season yet to play. Jean is fun to watch - gives everything he has when he’s out there - generally uses a sinker/sweeper/change up combination with the fastball in the 93 to 96 mph range - the stuff and his moxy are big league caliber as is his dedication and work ethic. He told me “In this organization I have learned that we have to improve at least one percent every day to be better. I have learned that here they teach you how to play the right way and that they are very good at doing so.”   Jean has proven himself over his five years of competing to be reliable, willing and able to get hitters out at every level he’s performed. He’s likely often brought up by other teams in trade discussions with good reason - he’s got the ability to be a major league contributor - like Brito he’s just 23 years old.

Estibenzon Jimenez (23 yrs old - from Venezuela) is a very popular teammate - nicknamed “Jimmy” he’s also been a loyal follower of my articles, often hitting the “like” button on the Facebook versions. In 2021 Jimmy pitched primarily out of the bullpen for Phillies White posting a 1.59 ERA in 16 appearances (three starts) over 45.1 IP - he had a 6-0 record and 2 saves with a WHIP of 0.82. We first saw him in live game action in 2022 as a member of the FCL Phillies where once again he pitched primarily out of the bullpen (12 appearances - 3 starts) - he finished the season making two starts for Clearwater. During 2023 spring training a medical issue delayed the start of his season but once he got going he pitched very well totaling a career high 90 IP for the Clearwater Threshers in 21 games (19 starts) posting a 3.60 ERA - he was voted by opposing coaches and evaluators as having the best changeup in the 2023 Florida State League in a Baseball America poll. A bump up to Jersey Shore came in 2024 and he struggled posting a 7.02 ERA in 27 games (82 IP).  He told me last July “Well Steve, one of the things I have learned this season is knowing how to handle the things that happen to me when I go to pitch. I know that I haven’t had a good year and haven’t had any luck since the season started but one of the things that has helped me throughout this season is learning and accepting that I can’t control all the things that happen in the game. I will always give 1000% every day, that I can control.”   Jimmy was then selected by the organization to pitch in the Australian Baseball League for the Adelaide Giants over the winter - he told me that he would go there to work hard and improve the details of his game - he indeed pitched well - recording a 2.77 ERA in 14 games (18 IP), during one of the game broadcasts that I listened to the Australian announcers marveled at his fastball velocity (was reportedly in the 94-96 range) and how the change up played off of it effectively. This spring he broke camp with Jersey Shore and pitched primarily as a bulk reliever before being promoted to AA level Reading on 6/22/25 where he’s been inserted into the starting rotation - he pitched very well in his 6/28 start tossing five scoreless frames before tiring and yielding two runs in the sixth - his 5.2 innings of work earned him his first W for Reading.  Jimmy is a loyal and appreciative member of the organization - he said “No matter what happens going forward I will always be very grateful to the organization because they have given me the opportunity to be part of this family. I will always be appreciative to the Phillies because they are the organization that trusted my abilities and gave me a chance.”   He’s a warrior who plays to win - gotta like that! Jimmy has one more year of play after this one before becoming eligible to be a minor league free agent.

Eiberson Castellano is 24 years old and also hails from Venezuela, this is his sixth season of play in the organization which means he’s a minor league free agent at the end of this year. In 2021 he recorded a stellar 1.09 ERA in 16 appearances (one start) with three saves covering 33 IP for the Phillies White team. Opponents hit a minuscule .148 against him as the combination of a power slurve and mid to high nineties four seamer and sinker were overpowering. The repertoire remained consistent but with mixed results in 2022 and 2023 as a member of the Clearwater Threshers - he made 39 appearances over those two seasons - 15 as a starter. The 2023 season was a bit of a personal struggle with conditioning leading to a downturn in velocity but being part of a playoff team had a positive impact - Eiberson said “it caught my attention and amazed me to see the great team that we had -  the encouragement of each of us in the club house was impressive.”  He played winter ball in Venezuela that year to regain his command along with the velocity on his fastball - it resulted in a strong spring camp in 2024. The season got even better for him as he won the Paul Owens Award splitting time between Jersey Shore and Reading making 22 appearances in total (20 starts), throwing the most innings in his career (103.1) posting 136 K’s against 29 walks and recording a 3.99 ERA. The Minnesota Twins selected him in the 12/11/24 Rule 5 draft and he went to big league spring camp with them where he was converted back to bullpen duty in order to potentially make the Twins opening day major league roster. I talked to a Twins scout earlier this year, he told me the Twins were very impressed with Eiberson’s stuff (especially the slurve) but he had trouble with control and command, they returned him to the Phillies on 3/25/25. He was assigned to Reading but has made only five appearances to date there going on two IL stints - the latest on 5/29/25 on which he remains with what was originally reported as shoulder discomfort. The reported  plan is for him to pitch out of the pen once he returns, there’s big league potential as a power reliever with the slurve being an out maker.

Twenty three year old Jaydenn Estanista is from Curacao and was the least experienced member on the 2021 Phillies White roster - he recorded a 3.06 ERA in 10 games (6 starts) over 30.2 IP with 33 K’s and 19 walks. The tall slender hurler had a solid 2022 season with the FCL Phillies posting a 2.01 ERA in 12 games (31.1 IP). Scouts would gather en masse behind the backstop of home plate at the complex with radar guns to watch him, the fast ball climbed to a regular range of 93 to 96 mph and touched 97 mph. It wasn’t just the velocity that played but the movement - it jumped out of his hand. Secondaries were a work in progress but the heater was given a high grade. A bump up to Clearwater in 2023 came but the season was a struggle with injuries, focus and performance. Jaydenn broke spring camp with the Threshers but was placed on the sixty day IL in June and albeit activated in August just never got his footing that summer. A very high 8.51 ERA in 24.1 IP reflected that. That off-season he told me “ I will have a bigger focus for 2024 because I need to, I will go all in.”  2024 was a much better season for him as he split it between Clearwater and Jersey Shore being promoted to JS on 6/20/24 - in 31 total appearances (53.2 IP - a career high) he recorded a 3.52 ERA with 71 K’s and 31 walks - he also further developed his secondary pitches, a splitter and slider. After a good 2025 spring camp he was once again assigned to Jersey Shore and has pitched well - a 3.57 ERA in 21 games (22.2 IP) with four saves. Jaydenn’s favorite pitcher is Kenley Jansen who is from the same home town (Willemstad) in Curacao. Although they are much different in physical build their mix of pitches are akin. When training camp broke this March Jaydenn told me one of his goals this year was to be promoted to Reading, he’s on course for that. With a three pitch mix and capabilities of consistently sitting in the mid to upper nineties with the heat he’s got a viable chance of reaching the show as a power reliever just like his favorite pitcher has done for 16 seasons!  Jaydenn is in his fifth year of minor league play with the Phillies.

Venezuelan born Guissepe Velasquez (22 years old) made 14 starts for the 2021 Phillies White squad recording a 2.75 ERA in 52.1 IP with 56 K’s and 19 walks. He’s a true “pitch-ability” pitcher who changes speeds, hits locations and uses mix to force soft contact from hitters - a right handed model of Ranger Suarez in regard to approach. He’s a welcoming young man who’s always greeted me with a fist bump and smile. He pitched in the FCL IN 2022 and also began there in 2023 (1.20 ERA in 20 IP) before being promoted to Clearwater on 7/23/23 where he made five starts. He was placed on the full season injured list in late August that year, we saw him at a playoff game with the TJ sleeve on, he acknowledged later to me in a text that he had underwent the surgery. Guissepe missed the entire 2024 season and spent the year at Carpenter Complex working with the Rehab team. He just returned to game action on 5/20/25 and made five appearances (16.2 IP)  with the FCL Phillies (0.54 ERA and 0.66 WHIP ) before being added to the Threshers roster on 6/26/25, he pitched five innings in relief on 6/27 allowing four hits and one unearned run. Giuseppe has returned with his strong pitch-ability skills in tact, reading hitters well and attacking the zone. The arsenal includes a four seam fastball (90 to 93 mph), a tumbling curve ball (76 to 79 mph), changeup and sinker. In his fifth year of service in the organization hopefully he continues to pitch well and positions himself to pitch at the upper minor league levels either later this season or next spring. When he’s at his best he can carve up opposing hitters with mix, deception and location - as a former pitcher it’s a kick to watch.

Six international players who’ve climbed the development ladder after beginning or continuing their careers as part of a 2021 Dominican Summer League division championship squad - we will continue to follow  to see how they progress.

Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️

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