Enoli Norverto Paredes has been collecting more rewards for his hard work this summer as a member of the starting rotation for Houston’s Double-A Texas League Corpus Christi Hooks affiliate.

The precocious and high-spirited right-hander was named to Pipeline’s MiLB Prospect Team of the Week, July 8, joining Corpus teammate, slugger Seth Beer. Two days prior, Paredes was named that day’s top prospect performer for notching a career-high 12 strikeouts (with two walks and a hit batter) in six hitless innings against the Oakland A’s’ Midland RockHounds.

Paredes was dominant from the start in that game, as he fanned the first four batters he faced. Eleven of his first 12 outs were via the strikeout, a performance recalling, perhaps, a vintage Bob Gibson or, in an Astros’ lane, Nolan Ryan.

That game was actually Paredes’ third scoreless outing in five appearances since being called up to Corpus from the Class A Quad Cities River Bandits, but he allowed five or more in the other two.

So, while dominance is an occasional prized Paredes quality, working toward consistency needs to be a priority going forward.

Working Back From Elbow Injury

Paredes first became eligible to sign in July 2012 at age 16, but as the line to snap up skinny pitchers is historically short, he had to wait until October 2015 to land his $10,000 bonus from the Astros.

He made the Class A Midwest League All-Star Game in his 2017 full-season debut with the River Bandits, but he had to miss the game when an elbow injury ended his season in late May.

He returned, though, to all but dominate two Class A levels (including Advanced-A) last year, logging a 1.43 ERA with 90 strikeouts and a .141 opponent average in 69 innings.

Paredes’ ability to miss bats is being tested, now, with the Hooks, even as his lights-out performance in early July is still close enough in the rear-view mirror to almost touch. His first 28.2 innings have yielded 18 hits and 12 walks to Corpus Christi opponents, while he’s compiled a 4.71 ERA with a 1.05 WHIP, his first above-one figure since his initial pro foray in 2016 at the rookie league. He’s struck out 39 so far.

Enoli’s Dominican Idol

While Johnny Paredes was born in Venezuela, son Enoli was born and raised in El Limón, part of the Dominican Republic coastal province of Samaná, a tourist hotbed for whale-watching tours.

Paredes idolized the late Yordano Ventura, another slight-statured Samaná-area righty (6’0″, 195) with humble beginnings. “Ace” Ventura pitched four years for the Kansas City Royals before perishing in a Dominican car accident in January 2017 at the age of 25.

Paredes doesn’t throw quite as hard as Ventura did, but his electric arm speed produces 92-94 mph fastballs that can top out at 96. His low-80s slider is a solid second pitch, while his changeup is a promisingly deceptive work in progress:

Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40

About That 2020 Debut

Paredes has an athletic delivery and repeats his mound work without a lot of effort, likely due to his slight build, so don’t look for Houston brass to insist he hit the gym. While he has generally been equally effective as a starter and reliever, he’ll doubtless have to provide more strikes and prove his durability to remain in the rotation at any Houston system level.

Paredes becomes Rule 5 eligible in December 2019, so in order to avoid losing him to another team, Houston will have to add him to the 40-man roster prior to the Rule 5 Draft during the annual Winter Meetings.

One club official actually compared Paredes to a right-handed version of Cionel Perez, the Astros’ prized 5’11”, 170 lb Cuban southpaw currently residing at AAA Round Rock, but who has already made several short-lived appearances in Houston’s bullpen.

Similar to Perez, it’s highly likely Enoli Paredes, regardless of how many starts he makes at Corpus and soon Round Rock, will be expected to emerge as a dependable bullpen asset in Houston, able to eat up middle and late high-leverage innings, provided he reins in his often wayward control.

Also like Perez, Paredes might end up seeing his career swerve into the closer lane at some point. By then, he’ll know well the value of being a role model himself.