Meet the Braves: Jairo Asencio

By foxsports
Published

FOXSportsSouth.com invites you to meet
the Braves as we continue a month-long look at our team,
player-by-player. We'll revisit 2011 and project what 2012 might look
like.

Jairo Asencio

Position: Pitcher
Height: 6-2; Weight: 180
Bat/Throw: R/R
Hometown: Sabana Grande de Palenque, Dominican Republic
Experience: Rookie

2011 in review: Pitched six games with the Braves, with no decisions and a 6.97 ERA in 10 1/3 innings. Was dominant at Triple-A Gwinnett, going 3-2 with 26 saves and a 1.81 ERA to earn MLB.com’s Triple-A Relief Pitcher of the Year award.

Career highlight: He has led the International League in saves under two different names. In 2009, going by Luis Valdez, he had 27 saves for Gwinnett. After it was discovered he was using a false name, Asencio led the league with 26 saves in 2011.

Outlook: Asencio hopes to use the momentum from being named MVP of the 2012 Caribbean Series, where he saved three games for the Dominican team, to make the Braves. He is in the running for one of the remaining bullpen spots.

You should know: Asencio spent the 2010 season on the restricted list with visa problems in the Dominican Republic. That’s when Dominican officials realized his real name was Jairo Asencio, not Luis Valdez.

Monday: Josh Wilson