2011 Season in Review: Stalin Gerson

Stalin Gerson didn’t get his season started right away, as he didn’t make his debut until June. Once he did make his debut though, he had a strong season and a step forward from his 2010 season that he spent with the Billings Mustangs.

Gerson began the year in extended spring training and didn’t get into any games until June, when he made his 2011 debut for the Dayton Dragons on June 11th in a spot start. He threw 6 shutout innings with a walk and 5 strikeouts while allowing just 4 hits. He would follow that up with 5 more strong innings with just one run allowed, 4 strikeouts and no walks in a win for Dayton. Despite two strong starts, Gerson was sent to Billings where their season was just beginning. He would make two more starts in June, both for Billings where he would threw 6 shutout innings with 5 strikeouts while taking a win and then 6 innings with just one earned run in his final start of the month. For the entire month, he threw 23 innings with a 0.78 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 19 strikeouts and just 4 walks while posting a 3-0 record.

July saw Gerson return to Dayton to pitch for the Dragons, where he would spend the rest of his season. In his first start back he threw 6.2 innings with one run allowed, 6 strikeouts and a walk as he picked up his 4th win in a row. He followed that up with 6.1 innings of shutout baseball while picking up his 5th win in his last 5 starts. He finished off July with four unspectacular starts though, throwing a combined 17.1 innings with 14 earned runs. He finished the month with a 4.45 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 23 strikeouts and 12 walks in 30.1 innings pitched.

In August and September Gerson made four more starts as well as two relief appearances. He threw 3 innings of relief on August 4th with an earned run before making it back into the starting rotation in his next appearance. Over his next two starts he threw a combined 10.2 innings with a 4.22 ERA, 7 strikeouts and 2 walks. His next appearance came out of the bullpen before making two final starts that each lasted 5 innings where he allowed 2 combined earned runs with 9 strikeouts and 5 walks. Gerson finished with a 3.29 ERA over the stretch, but a WHIP of 1.54 in the 27.1 innings.

Overall Thoughts

Gerson took a step forward in 2011, improving his strikeout rate while keeping a solid walk rate and stepping up the level of competition. While he has three pitches that he can use, his slightly below-average fastball coming out of the rotation and plenty of competition in the rotation may push him to the bullpen in the future where his fastball may be able to play up a little bit and his change up could be a go to pitch.

Stats