Perfect timing

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Cleveland Indians brought Joel Carreno into their complex in the Dominican Republic for nearly three months before they took a pass.

The Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets also took long looks at the right-hander, while five other teams worked him out, too, each saying thanks but no thanks.

Finally Carreno, just 17 at the time, found his way to the Toronto Blue Jays, wondering if anyone was ever going to sign him.

"Hilario Soriano saw me and he said maybe you can sign here, just live here at the complex and after that, he watched me and started to like me," recalls Carreno. "A couple more weeks after that I signed with them."

Soriano, who remains a Blue Jays scout based in Santo Domingo to this day, closed that deal on Oct. 11, 2004, and his investment is now starting to pay dividends.

Carreno has impressed since being recalled from double-A New Hampshire on Aug. 18, posting a 1.15 earned-run average with 14 strikeouts in 15.2 innings over 11 outings. He’s earned repeated praise from manager John Farrell for his poise and composure on the mound, and keeps working his way into the Blue Jays’ plans for at least the 2012 bullpen, if not more.

"I feel good because they gave me an opportunity to show them what I can do. I think I’ve done a good job right now," says Carreno. "I said to the Blue Jays I can do anything. If they put me in the rotation, or if they put me in the bullpen, they know about what I can do.

"I can pitch whatever they want me to pitch. The only thing I can do is do my job."

The 24-year-old Carreno, along with starter Henderson Alvarez and lefty reliever Luis Perez, is a bit of an anomaly in that he was a Latin American free agent signed during J.P. Ricciardi’s reign as Blue Jays GM.

Unlike now, the franchise was largely inactive on that front during those years, often picking through the players passed over by other teams because of an inability to pay top dollar for elite talent.

Perez signed in 2003, Carreno the next year and Alvarez in 2006, and they are the first products of the Ricciardi regime’s tepid toe-dip into Latin America’s waters to reach the majors. Double-A outfielder Moises Sierra, signed in 2005, may be the next, but they are all exceptions to the rule.

Carreno’s ascension is particularly timely given how the Blue Jays must rebuild their bullpen for 2012. Along with Perez, he has helped to stabilize a relief corps stripped down to acquire centre-fielder Colby Rasmus in July, and seems to have both the repertoire and demeanour to pitch effectively late in games.

He has a good two-seam fastball but key for him is a slider he throws in two ways, one for lefties, the other for righties. They are his dominant out pitches, and help generate many of the swings and misses he gets.

"I’m throwing my two-seamer and my slider a little bit more here," Carreno says of how he’s been attacking hitters in the majors. "I’m trying to be a little bit more perfect because there are a lot of good hitters. You’ve got to be careful when you leave the ball in the middle. You have to hit the corners to get people out."

Carreno only started playing baseball at age 12, picking the game up after his father took him to a field in the Dominican city of San Cristobal. The senior Carreno was a good amateur player as an outfielder and pitcher who never turned pro, and he noticed his son’s talent immediately.

"He told me maybe you can be a baseball player one day, let’s see what you can do," recalls Carreno.

At first he played outfield, third base and catcher, starting to pitch at 16. That’s when he started making the inroads that led him to the Blue Jays.

He pitched sparingly in his first season with the Blue Jays entry in the Dominican Summer League in 2005, but posted a good year in 2006. His most challenging season came in 2007, when as 19-year-old he left home for the first time to play with the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla.

"The first couple of months were hard because I left my family, I missed my family and my country," says Carreno. "But after that, when the day comes, you’ve got to think about what you do here, because if you think about the Dominican, you won’t do anything good.

"You’ve got to stay focused on what you do here."

In 2008 he moved up to advanced rookie ball Auburn and started there again the next year before advancing to low-A Lansing. Carreno spent all of 2010 at high-A Dunedin, and was 7-9 with a 3.41 ERA in 24 games, 23 of them starts at New Hampshire this year before graduating to the majors.

And in a short stint, he’s opened some eyes.

"He’s been very good," says Farrell. "Right now he’s a reliever but I don’t want to close the book on him as a potential starter. The other night against some left-handers he threw some changeups that got some swings and misses, but where the current need existed was in the bullpen, and he’s done a very good job."

Shi Davidi is the MLB Insider for sportsnet.ca. Come back to read his insight and opinion regularly.