CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #151
Rakuten Monkeys News: Aaron Wilkerson
On December 17, the Rakuten Monkeys announced the signing of 31-year-old right-hander Aaron Wilkerson.
“I know the professional baseball league in Taiwan is a hitter’s league, and I hope we can win the championship for the Monkeys in 2021,” said Aaron Wilkerson.
Aaron Wilkerson began his professional career in 2014 with the Boston Red Sox organisation. Over the next few years, he climbed the minor league ladder and eventually made his MLB debut with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2017.
From 2017 to 2019, he had a combined MLB record of 6.88 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in 35.1 innings. However, it’s a different story for him in the Triple-A, in 2019, Aaron Wilkerson posted a respectable 3.54 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over 76.1 innings.
Scouting Report: Aaron Wilkerson
According to FanGraphs, Aaron Wilkerson has the following pitches in his repertoire:
- Fastball – 144 kph (52%)
- Slider – 133 kph (19%)
- Curveball – 120 kph (16%)
- Changeup – 134 kph (12%)
Aaron Wilkerson has a below-average fastball velocity, but with a decent spin rate, he also throws a curveball with a 12-6 movement, can expect to see that pitch regardless of the batters’ handedness.
With his other two breaking pitches, he mostly attacks left-handed batters with his changeup, and when facing right-handed batters, he relies on his slider.
Further Readings
Foreign players come and goes, therefore we compiled a foreign players tracker to keep track of all the foreign players signing for the 2021 CPBL season.