Baseball sabermetricians tell us that pitching victories are a misleading statistic on judging the worth of a pitcher. But it’s not often that a Shorebird leads the league in a positive category, and since this April 27 appearance photographed above Dylan Rheault has led the South Atlantic League with five victories, which he garnered in five consecutive April appearances.
In a league where you may have a closer but starting pitchers rarely go more than six innings, the role of long relief is an important one and Rheault (whose last name is pronounced “row” as in “row your boat”) has excelled at the task, being unscored upon in six of his eight appearances thus far and picking up two three-inning saves along the way, including one last night in the Shorebirds’ 5-0 whitewashing of Augusta. Statistically, Dylan is 5-0 with a microscopic 0.98 ERA in 18 1/3 innings, allowing 20 hits but only four walks for a respectable 1.31 WHIP. Aside from giving up two runs in each of his first two appearances April 4th and 10th (the latter the first of his five straight wins), Rheault has remained basically unblemished. Only two of his four runs allowed were earned.
Intriguing because of his stature – Dylan is listed at 6′-9″ and 245 pounds – the Ontario native crossed the border and played for Central Michigan University. Given that he played for a mid-major school, Rheault lasted until the 19th round in last season’s draft but pitched well enough for Aberdeen (1-2 with a 3.57 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in 40 1/3 innings) to merit the promotion this year. Rheault made four starts for the IronBirds but basically pitched out of the bullpen last season as well – he just wasn’t as fortunate as far as picking up victories went.
At just 22 years of age, Rheault is one of those guys who could end up being a sleeper prospect. It’s doubtful too many scouts find their way to the northern reaches of Ontario above Lake Huron, so it’s likely Dylan wasn’t on anyone’s radar until he went to college. But he’s a Shorebird now, and it’s possible by season’s end he could have double-digit wins if he keeps finding the right place to be at the right time.