Wondering how the minor league hitters are doing? For the most part, the answer is eh
Last week, writing escaped my mind until the absolute last minute, forcing me to come up with random topics. I said in that post that I actually had an idea what I was going to write, but obviously I didn’t have time by the time I remembered I had to write. The idea is today’s post, which is to give an update on the performances on the minor leaguers. Today, we will be solely focused on the hitters.
Memphis
Victor Scott II – #3 prospect by VEB
Stats: 56 PAs, .170/.218/.269, 5.4 BB%, 19.6 K%, .099 ISO, .200 BABIP, 24 wRC+ (6 stolen bases)
Programming note: the wRC+ will not updated for yesterday’s game, everything else will be. That said, Scott went 1-5 with a single yesterday, so it’s not really going to affect the wRC+ that much. His OPS is just 10 points lower. I’m sure not factoring in Wednesday’s game will matter in some cases though.
I wouldn’t read much into his stats yet. I also don’t think the Cardinals “ruined” him. I was heavily against Scott making the majors, but him struggling in his first taste of AAA was not unexpected either. (Which is why him making the majors was so insane). Anybody hoping he would be quickly promoted back to the big leagues will probably not get their wish, however.
Thomas Saggesse – #5 prospect by VEB
Stats: 132 PAs, .246./.341/.404, 7.6 BB%, 22.7 K%, .293 BABIP, .158 ISO, 99 wRC+
Saggesse went 0-3 with a HBP, which by the way, something you probably did not know about Saggy T. He has already been hit by 7 pitches this season. That’s a lot. He has been hit by 11 pitches per 600 PAs in his short minor league career, but the 7 in 132 PAs is surely affecting that. So not sure if that’s something to expect.
Pedro Pages, the #17 prospect, is going to be in the majors for the next 6-8 weeks. He also only played in 7 games, but already has a homer and two doubles in Memphis. He also has five walks. On top of that, because of his near homer, he also has a .702 xwOBA in 4 PAs in the majors. For a guy not known for his offense, pretty encouraging start.
Jordan Walker
Stats: 37 PAs, .281/.378/.344, 13.5 BB%, 10.8 K%, .321 BABIP, .063 ISO, 107 wRC+
Good news: his approach seems great. Walking a lot, not striking out. Bad news: still no power. But it’s been just 8 games.
Luken Baker
Stats: 121 PAs, .218/.314/.446, 11.6 BB%, 15.7 K%, .200 BABIP, .228 ISO, 91 wRC+
Baker didn’t actually play yesterday so I didn’t need to update anything. Not exactly the greatest start if you want him getting starts over Paul Goldschmidt.
Alfonso Rivas
Stats: 112 PAs, .245/.377/.340, 16.4 BB%, 22.4 K%, .338 BABIP, .095 ISO, 102 wRC+
I would not list his stats, except he for some reason is on the 40 man. A 1B who has zero homers.
Cesar Prieto
Stats: 124 PAs, .319/.366/.526, 4 BB%, 12.1 K%, .337 BABIP, .207 ISO, 116 wRC+
We come to our first player where not inputting yesterday’s stats into the wRC+ seriously affects what it will be. Because he went 2-2 with a HBP, BB and a HR. Prieto still presumably chases everything and doesn’t walk (yesterday notwithstanding), but the other knock on him has been his lack of power. That has not been the case so far.
Moises Gomez
Stats: 94 PAs, .190/.255/.289, 8.5 BB%, 35.1 K%, .275 BABIP, .107 ISO, 41 wRC+
VEB’s 10th prospect for the 2023 season, he simply can’t make enough contact. Well, he was fun for a minute.
Springfield
Jimmy Crooks III – #16th prospect
Stats: 52 PAs, .317/.442/.439, 17.3 BB%, 13.5 K%, .353 BABIP, .122 ISO, 150 wRC+
Two things: hitting at AA is clearly not this system’s strong spot with Crooks being the only hitting prospect ranked in the top 20 by VEB readers. And yesterday’s game was postponed so I have no such disclaimers about misleading wRCs+. Every stat is updated.
What an unbelievable start for Crooks, which I did not expect given how much he struggled in the AFL. Only real blemish is pretty much no power, but I mean this is about as good of a 12 games as you can hope for otherwise.
Jeremy Rivas
Stats: 94 PAs, .308/.404/.372, 12.8 BB%, 17 K%, .375 BABIP, .064 ISO, 122 wRC+
Speaking of no power, this is slightly different since Rivas has never shown any power. He’s never shown basic competency with the bat either so however he gets there, an above average hitting line is great news. He’s actually had reasonable K/BB in his professional career, his complete lack of power is responsible for his poor hitting lines.
Nathan Church
Stats: 119 PAs, .330/.387/.491, 9.2 BB%, 6.7 K%, .160 ISO, .323 BABIP, 138 wRC+
Well that’s downright Pujolsian. I’m talking about the lower BABIP than batting average. Instead of homers though, it’s because of never striking out. (Although Pujols didn’t exactly rack up high K rates either; Church also has four homers) And this isn’t coming from nowhere: he had K rates of 12.6% and 11.6% at his previous two levels. If he can come close to sustaining this for a full season, the 23-year-old has to be considered an actual prospect I imagine.
Noah Mendlinger
Stats: 93 PAs, .277/.344/.337, 6.5 BB%, 18.3 K%, .343 BABIP, .060 ISO, 94 wRC+
Mendlinger is off to a slow start. In over 400 PAs last season, he actually walked more than he struck out. By a good margin too. So those K/BB numbers are pretty disappointing. The power, well, he didn’t have power last year either.
Peoria
Won-Bin Cho, #11 prospect
Stats: 96 PAs, .205/.295/.265, 9.4 BB%, 35.4 K%, .340 BABIP, .060 ISO, 62 wRC+
Small sample of course, though for a guy who didn’t really struck out much last season, that K% certainly pops out.
Leonardo Bernal, #13 prospect
Stats: 93 PAs, .221/.287/.337, 7.4 BB%, 22.3 K%, .270 BABIP, .116 ISO, 79 wRC+
Not the most encouraging start for Bernal either, but nothing really stands out as anything alarming in his case. You maybe hope for more walks. Higher BABIP too of course, though it’s way too early to be concerned about BABIP.
Zach Levenson
Stats: 105 PAs, .275/.362/.451, 10.5 BB%, 21 K%, .324 BABIP, .176 ISO, 124 wRC+
Last year’s 5th rounder is building on what he did last year. It’s always nice when a guy doesn’t seem to have a learning curve when getting promoted to a new level. Good walk rate, good K rate, decent pop.
Alex Iadisernia
Stats: 67 PAs, .276/.358/.466, 11.9 BB%, 22.4 K%, .357 BABIP, .190 ISO, 126 wRC+
I don’t know if weird is the right word, but it is something that two later round picks are not only outplaying the Cardinals 1st round pick from that same draft, but doing so at a higher level. Yeah I actually think that’s kind of weird. Spoiler alert.
William Sullivan
Stats: 71 PAs, .143/.239/.268, 8.5 BB%, 42.3 K%, .226 BABIP, .125 ISO, 52 wRC+
As someone who has been confused at the genuine prospect love in some places for Sullivan, even I am shocked at how bad those numbers are. Again it’s only been a month though.
Joshua Baez
Stats: 79 PAs, .254/.316/.367, 8.9 BB%, 39.2 K%, .410 BABIP, .113 ISO, 99 wRC+
That is not quite enough power for me to be able to ignore that sky high strikeout rate unfortunately.
Palm Beach
Chase Davis – VEB #8 prospect
Stats: 98 PAs, .195/.327/.354, 14.3 BB%, 30.6 K%, .280 BABIP, .159 ISO, 105 wRC+
We’re still in the small sample range, but I am starting to get a little concerned on this one. It feels like a 1st round college pick should not have this much trouble in Low A. On his second attempt at it, no less. And yeah I know above average hitting line, but 30% K rate is more my concern. Also he should have higher than a 105 wRC+.
3rd round pick Travis Honeyman still hasn’t played in a game. Is he hurt or something? Anybody have any insight into why he has yet to play a professional game?
Sammy Hernandez
Stats: 93 PAs, .354/.452/.468, 10.8 BB%, 10.8 K%, .406 BABIP, 176 wRC+
Hernandez, acquired for Genesis Cabrera, has been off to a blazing start. He went 2-5 yesterday and I actually think his wRC+ will be lower because of it. Which is crazy. It’s starting to get weird to me that the only player who has had power in this system is Cesar Prieto of all people.
Kade Kretzschmar
Stats: 102 PAs, .277/.392/.386, 14.7 BB%, 21.6 K%, .355 BABIP, .108 ISO, 135 wRC+
Just doing my due diligence on this one because has has good numbers, but Kretzchmar is a 24-year-old undrafted free agent. The only reason I find him interesting is that the Cardinals are actually giving him a lot of PAs.
For the most part, kind of an underwhelming set of results with a few bright sides. Prieto wins the Cardinals minor league hitter of the “month” from me, if I had a say. Next week, I’ll cover the pitchers