Alright so today I gotta walk you through how this Rafael Dolis rabbit hole pulled me in. Started simple – was digging into Triple-A stats last Tuesday cause honestly, minor league pitchers are like hidden gems sometimes. Opened up my usual spreadsheet mess, coffee in hand.
The Filter Grind
First thing? Filtered for relievers over 30 with 50+ innings last season. Sounds boring? Hell yeah it was. My eyes glazed over scrolling through rows until… boom. Dolis kept popping up with outlier numbers. Control rate? Weirdly low walk counts. Swing-and-miss stuff? Higher than dudes throwing 100mph. Made me tilt my head like “How’s this guy not in MLB right now?“
Digging Like A Raccoon
So I wasted Wednesday night hunting down Korean league footage. Found his old KBO highlights – dude was a literal wall over there. Noticed two things immediately:
- That funky slingy arm angle makes hitters look stupid
- He NEVER speeds up. Bases loaded? Just shrugs & throws same junk
Then Thursday happened. Went down the injury history trapdoor. Eight seasons of shoulder/elbow nonsense! Most guys quit after half that. This dude? Nope. Had Tommy John… twice. And still came back throwing nasty splitters.
The Lightbulb Moment
Friday morning I’m staring at my notes and it clicks. Five things jumped out:
- Survives damage control better than cockroaches survive nukes
- Pitches like grandma knitting – zero emotion EVER
- Makes closers earning millions look overpaid with junk pitches
- Literally disappears hitters’ bats
- Throws strikes when it actually matters
Suddenly his AAA domination makes sense. Teams ignore him cause he ain’t flashy. Doesn’t throw triple digits. But dude out-pitches half the bullpens in the majors while earning peanuts. Wild right?
Why This Stuck With Me
Honestly? Felt embarrassed for sleeping on him years ago. Scratched out tons of scrappy notes that Friday. Kept thinking about pitching coaches focusing on radar guns instead of brains on the mound. Feels like we miss guys like Dolis every damn day cause baseball loves shiny things.
Oh and side note? This whole obsession accidentally burned my weekend plans. Worth it though. Went down this path just filtering spreadsheet cells… came out questioning modern pitching development. Baseball’s weird like that.
