LUIS MUNOZ

1/10/82; NDFA '00; Dominican Republic
R/R; 6-2, 150

Level	W-L-Sv	G	GS	IP	H	BB	K	ERA
2001 DSL	0-4-0	11	7	35.1	40	15	26	4.33
2002 DSL	3-2-1	18	0	42.2	42	16	41	3.38
2003 R	2-1-0	9	5	38.2	38	11	29	4.89
2004 A-	2-4-0	15	8	61.0	80	14	36	4.57

Level	W-L-Sv	G	GS	IP	H	BB	K	ERA	OAVG	OOBP	OSLG
2005 A	0-0-0	1	0	2.2	2	1	4	0.00	.182	.250	.273
2005 A-	6-3-0	16	13	78.0	69	22	46	3.81	.240	.293	.358
2006 A+	4-3-0	11	11	66.0	66	29	36	3.82	.261	.337	.379
2006 A	6-2-0	16	14	85.0	82	20	55	3.28	.255	.297	.376
2007 AAA	2-1-0	3	3	17.1	22	4	16	3.12	.319	.355	.500
2007 AA	12-5-0	25	23	136.1	130	32	89	3.63	.250	.296	.376

Munoz played two years in the DSL under the name Reynaldo Reyes.  He's a sinker/slider pitcher who throws in the low 90s.  He turned out to be nearly two and a half years older than the Pirates realized.  They assigned him to the GCL anyway and, despite being old for the level, he put up mediocre numbers.  He was promoted to Williamsport and got hit hard.  He also had a low K rate.  Back there in 2005, he was much more successful, but still with a very low K rate.  The Pirates regard Munoz fairly highly—they don't seem to place any significance on K rates—and he justified their faith to some degree in 2006, pitching well at Hickory.  After a promotion to Lynchburg, he wasn't as effective, allowing a lot more baserunners.  Unlike many of the finesse pitchers the Pirates seem to like, he's not a groundball pitcher.  He had large platoon splits at both stops.

Munoz opened 2007 in the Altoona rotation and for a while was a minor sensation.  In his first seven outings, including six starts, he went 5-0, 1.58, while greatly increasing his K rate and allowing far fewer hits.  Neil Walker, who'd caught Munoz at lower levels, said the difference was that Munoz started trying to locate his pitches instead of trying to throw the ball past hitters.  Munoz cooled off after the great start, posting an ERA of 4.30 the rest of his time in AA.  His K rate also dropped off markedly:  he fanned 6.9 per nine IP in April and May and 5.2 after that.  He did OK in several AAA starts during temporary stints in July and August.  It's hard to say at this point whether Munoz established himself as a prospect.  He did, however, show enough to move the Pirates to put him on the 40-man roster after the season, a move they had to make to keep him from becoming a minor league free agent.  Given their lack of pitching depth throughout the farm system and the problems experienced by Sean Burnett, John Van Benschoten and Bryan Bullington, they probably had little choice.  He was an early cut in spring training and opened 2008 in AAA, but did poorly there and ended up back in AA.  He was designated for assignment in late July.

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