Coming into 2011, Daniel Corcino was a solid prospect with plenty of upside who hadn’t really established a “breakout” type of season. He had spent his 18 year old season as a closer and then made 15 starts between Billings and Dayton as a 19 year old in 2010, but only had solid results. He began the year as a starter for the Dayton Dragons and spent the entire season with them as they went on to post the best record in the league and set multiple team pitching records in the process.
The right hander would make his debut on April 8th and would only go four innings in the game while allowing four earned on four hits and a season high (tied twice) three walks. I was in attendance for the game and was left a little bit unimpressed as his stuff was not at the top of its game during the outing. He followed that up with a 3.2 inning start that allowed five earned runs. Over his next three starts though he was dominant, allowing just 2 earned runs (which came in the first of the three starts) in 17 innings with 21 strikeouts and just 4 walks. He finished the month with a 4.01 ERA and 26 strikeouts to go against 8 walks in 24.2 innings pitched.
Corcino continued what he had going in April and was very impressive in May. He gave up 2 earned in his first start of the month, then allowed just one run over his next three starts. In his last start of the month he allowed 3 runs in 6 innings with eight strikeouts and just a walk. For the month his ERA was 2.19 and he struck out 32 batters while walking just 6 in 24.2 innings pitched.
June was more of the same for the Dominican pitcher. He began the month with what was arguably his best start of the season, throwing 7 shutout innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks while allowing just three hits. That was the first game of three in in a row in which he didn’t allow a walk before he participated in the Midwest League All Star game. His final start of the month would see him allow 2 runs in 7 innings with 8 strikeouts and a walk. His numbers for the month were incredible, with a 1.42 ERA, 31 strikeouts, 1 walk and 16 hits allowed in 25.1 innings over four starts.
July saw some rough spots for Corcino though, perhaps as he entered a bit of a dead arm period, having thrown 74.2 innings through June, which was three more than he had thrown the previous season. His first start was strong, allowing just 2 earned in 6 innings with 6 strikeouts and a walk. Over his next three starts however, he would allow 15 earned runs in just 14 innings with 12 strikeouts and 6 walks before rebounding with 5 shutout innings in his next start. He would give up two in his final start over 6 innings. His numbers for the month weren’t pretty thanks to the three game stretch in the middle of the month. He had a 5.52 ERA with 28 strikeouts and a season high month total 11 walks in 31 innings pitched.
August and September saw the righty make six total starts before heading off to the Midwest League playoffs. August 15th marked one of his best starts of the season, when he allowed just three hits in 6 shutout innings while striking out 10 hitters and allowing just 1 walk. He would have 5 more shutout innings in a start on August 27th before getting hit around in his final start of the regular season in September. His totals for the six games led to a 3.47 ERA with 39 strikeouts and 8 walks in 33.2 innings pitched. In his only start during the playoffs Corcino threw 6 strong innings with 2 earned runs to go with 6 strikeouts and 2 walks.
Overall Thoughts
While Corcino hadn’t established himself as a big prospect coming into the season, he certainly was able to do that with his 2011 campaign. He finished second in the league in strikeouts (to teammate Josh Smith) and finished in the top 10 in several other categories. His strikeout to walk ratio of 4.59 was 5th among pitchers with 100 innings pitched. From a numbers standpoint and a stuff standpoint, I wound up ranking Corcino as the Reds best starting pitcher prospect in the system. He has long drawn comparisons to Johnny Cueto and their numbers from the Midwest League at the same age stack up comparatively and this season showed that the delivery is not the only reason the two are compared.
Stats
| W | L | ERA | IP | H | HR | BB | SO | BF | WHIP | BB% | K% | SO/BB |
| 11 | 7 | 3.42 | 139.1 | 128 | 10 | 34 | 156 | 584 | 1.16 | 5.8% | 26.7% | 4.59 |