Octavio Dotel : Return to dominance?
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It’s early but Dotel is showing some nice signs of life out of the Royals camp early this season. In 6 IP he’s given up only 2 hits, 1 walk and has 10 strikeouts. I don’t think Octavio’s stuff has ever been questioned; it’s his durability that will scare some away.
In his past seasons in Houston, Dotel was nearly unhittable and probably one of the top relief pitchers in the game, although as a set-up man. In 2001 Dotel had a 2.66 ERA in 105 IP. Guess how many he struck out? 145. 145 in 105 IP! Just nasty. He followed that up with a 1.85 ERA in 2002 and 118 K in 97.1 IP. 2003 brought more of the same, with a 2.48 ERA and 97 K in 87 IP. But after that season he was moved into primarily a closer’s role and struggled (by Octavio’s standard anyways (era above 3.50).
With less pressure in Kansas City, and hopefully the return of good health, I could see 35+ saves and well over a K per IP. He’s only thrown 25.1 IP in the past two seasons though, so nothing is etched into stone at this point. Health is the key here, but so far this spring he’s been dynamite.