DINESH KUMAR PATEL

5/8/89; NDFA '08; India
R/R; 5-11, 185

Level

W-L-Sv

BB/9

K/9

WHIP

OAVG

ERA

2009 R

1-0-0

6.1

0.0

5.7

0.79

.192

1.42

Patel and LHP Rinku Singh became the first native-born Indians to sign professional baseball contracts when the Pirates signed them in the aftermath of a Million Dollar Arm contest that drew 30,000 participants in India. That country has interested MLB officials for some time as an untapped source of talent, due in part to the extreme popularity there of cricket. The Pirates signed Patel and Singh after they spent a year at USC learning the game, which was part of the award for winning the contest. By the end of the training Patel was reportedly throwing in the low 90s. At the time of the contest, neither had any knowledge of baseball, which was pretty apparent when I saw Patel trying to learn to cover first during spring training. These two signings, as well as that of South African shortstop Mpho Ngoepe, show a newfound interest in thinking outside the box on the part of the Pirates. Patel got into six games in the GCL and got good results in almost all of them. Unlike Singh, he appeared only twice after late July, for unknown reasons. Of the two, the Pirates consider Singh the potential prospect. It'll be interesting to see whether they can move up successfully.

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