The bullpen was identified as an area of concern by the new management, and the Monarchs owner, 74-year-old
Yahyah Talal, has concurred, asking them to improve their record in close games. Three pitchers were inked to major league deals in free agency: right-handed starter
Álex León, right-handed long reliever
Héctor Meléndez, and lefty
Ángel Gómez. In addition, the Monarchs also signed minor league deals with starting pitchers
Jed Flores,
John Reed,
David Williams,
George Hendrickson,
Michael Newcombe,
Roberto Banda, and
Fedya Manakov.
Álex León
León, from Panama, has an assortment of four pitches, including a heavy fastball that induces lots of groundballs. Rarely do batters hit the ball out of the park when he is on the mound.
Héctor Meléndez
Both Meléndez, from Ecuador, and Gómez, from Cuba, throw an unusual combination of cut fastballs and curveballs. Their pitches feature late movement making it very difficult for a batter to square up the baseball.
Ángel Gómez
