The Dominican Summer League has typically started up around June 1 every year and I would expect the same this year and in the future. Unlike my arguments for lengthening the GCL season, it’s harder to make that case in regards to the DSL. The players there are really, really raw and you already see many games with lots of walks and lots of errors and adding more games might create more problems (wear and tear on young pitchers’ arms being perhaps the biggest).
As mentioned in the GCL thread, Juan Santander, Elvis Garcia, Richi Gonzalez and Dauri Lorenzo are some of the higher profiles names that could be assigned here if they don’t make the move stateside.
The article I linked to in the GCL thread noted that the DSL season is still very much up in the air but if the season is played it will start on July 12 and end Oct 2.
Yes – Over the years, I have discovered that while the stats are interesting, playing time is the best way to evaluate prospects at a distance anywhere below AAA. That is determined by the experts who actually see the guys play, and they are going to focus on giving PT to guys who are improving and have high ceilings.