I’m an extremist…when it
comes to baseball, that is. Extremely
interested, since I first fell in love with all things Mets. Extreme highs, and even more extreme lows. Quite a roller coaster ride.
Other teams have had guys
with extreme minor league stats, like Billy Hamilton’s 155 steals in 132 games
in 2012 (how’d he manage to get caught 37 times too)?
But
I love tracking Met minor league guys who go to extremes. I get a kick
out of seeing guys pull off major achievements and milestones, or do
extraordinary things.
First tip of the cap goes to Jack Leathersich, who (at 298 thru Thursday)) is flirting with 300 career strikeouts this week in less innings than anyone in Met history.
A
couple of obscure guys whose names you might or might not be familiar with
tried to, but couldn't, keep up with the Leather Man’s K rate, namely pickle
brine, finger-soaking Nolan Ryan, and my favorite physician, Doc Gooden (well,
OK, also I'm pretty partisan about a doctor with a different specialization, one
Doctor J, but let's stick to baseball for now).
In fact, Blazing Jack through Thrusday's game had reached 298 career Ks in a mere 174 innings (a ho-hum 15.4 K’s per 9 innings). Nolan Ryan in his first full minor league season, had 307, but for Pete’s sake, it took him 202 innings (yeah, he was only 19, but he clearly couldn't keep up with Jack), and Doc had a pedestrian 300 in 191 innings at 18...maybe it’s just a “late teen” thing and if they were both, say, 20 years old instead, they coulda kept up with the Rocket?? Dunno.)
Jack also has an extreme that hinders him...he is a lefty who kinda struggles a lot against lefties. Oh, he still mows them down (as of a few days ago, 138 Ks out of 268 hitters faced), but lots of walks (40) and hits (58, for a .270 BAA). Also amazingly, other than K’s, BBs and hits, only 32 of the 268 lefties Jack has faced made out without striking out! How’s that for a batting average on balls in play, Mr. BABIP? Tom Jones may think “It’s Not Unusual”, but I dunno, I find it VERY unusual.
In fact, Blazing Jack through Thrusday's game had reached 298 career Ks in a mere 174 innings (a ho-hum 15.4 K’s per 9 innings). Nolan Ryan in his first full minor league season, had 307, but for Pete’s sake, it took him 202 innings (yeah, he was only 19, but he clearly couldn't keep up with Jack), and Doc had a pedestrian 300 in 191 innings at 18...maybe it’s just a “late teen” thing and if they were both, say, 20 years old instead, they coulda kept up with the Rocket?? Dunno.)
Jack also has an extreme that hinders him...he is a lefty who kinda struggles a lot against lefties. Oh, he still mows them down (as of a few days ago, 138 Ks out of 268 hitters faced), but lots of walks (40) and hits (58, for a .270 BAA). Also amazingly, other than K’s, BBs and hits, only 32 of the 268 lefties Jack has faced made out without striking out! How’s that for a batting average on balls in play, Mr. BABIP? Tom Jones may think “It’s Not Unusual”, but I dunno, I find it VERY unusual.
Hey, figure out how to get
lefties under your thumb and you will punch your ticket to Citi, Jackie
boy. It would be awesome to start a K Korner when a relief pitcher comes
in, don't you think? Why should starters be the only ones to get Ks hung up?
Another pitcher I dig is Akeel Morris. First, with a name like Akeel, what's
not to dig? Second, he is the patron saint of the extreme
turnaround. In 2012, a sliver away from an 8.00 ERA (7.98). Awful. So, after that grueling season, what did Akeel
have in mind for an encore?
How about a combined ERA of
0.67 in 80 innings in 2013 and 2014, with 114 Ks and 42 hits? Lethal. From
worst to first. Basement to pinnacle. Nadir to apex. Basically, an Akeel vs.
Boys scenario. Two years of dominance is no fluke, so I am looking
forward to Akeel hopping on board the Leather Rocket (it's a 2 seater) with
Jack to Citi too, within a year or two. Oh, by the way, Akeel has K’d 253 in 194
career innings. Even Jack is
impressed. Sweet.
One guy who I'd like to see fix his fairly extreme K problem so his other
extreme can shine in Citi is Travis Taijeron. 371 in 1,375 plate appearances,
or 1 K every 3.7 times up. Wow. When he isn't striking out, though, the 25
year old former 18th rounder is an extra base hit machine, with 160 extra base
hits in just 1,176 minor league official at bats. One every 10 at bats is a
great threshold for almost any hitter not named Barry to cross...Travis is at
one every 7.3 official at bats. Straw
Man’s best such year with the Mets in 1987 resulted in one every 7.0 official at
bats, by comparison. In fact, Travis has
had more extra base hits than singles!
Cool!
We've seen too many high K
guys just not make it, but I'd love to see Travis fix his strikeout thing and
bring that Taijeron Tree Trunk of a bat to Citi. Slick fielding may win games,
but I am enamored with power. Bring it on!
Some other notable members
of the “Extremes”:
- Matt Reynolds, up 140 points over last year’s average. Extremely attention-getting.
- Cory Vaughn, extremely bad this year in Binghamton (.190), so why not promote him, right? So they do, and he is hitting .284, with a .384 OB%, in Vegas. Etremely better.
- And Dario Alvarez, a household name in the Alvarez household, has quietly struck out 70 guys in 41 innings in Savannah this year. Pretty nuts, and very impressive.
So who are your favorite
extreme minor league Mets performers, whether for a season or for a
career? Or major leaguers too? Inquiring minds want to know.
Hey, by the way, the Mets
are into extremes…prior to the two 10 run games early this week, they were 2nd
as a team in the majors in walks.
Exciting! My favorite category is
the base on balls. Less wear and tear on
the bats.
6th in
strikeouts (that’s the hitters, folks).
2nd in all of baseball in sacrifices, despite Bartolo Colon
promising to never sacrifice for the cause!
And most exciting, they had left 3.97 runners in scoring position per
game this year, leading the entire major leagues.
OK, the Magic isn’t all the
way Back…but hope springs eternal. Even now that spring has turned to summer.
Enjoy your day. Extremely.
4 comments:
Great article, Tom. I can't come up with other examples right now, but yours are right on. I look at the MnL boxes daily and love to watch the kids' progress. LJ Mazilli is doing very well since his promotion,and he may qualify for a spot on "the list" soon. Ditto for Herrera, but it's too soon to make a decision on him.
There's too much gloom and doom being written about our team lately, and you're balancing it out nicely.
Hey Bill, thanks.
Ignoring the DSL, which is almost like a pre-professional panning-for-gold-nuggets level (such as finding Montero), the Mets' minors collectively are (guessing) 60-70 games over .500. So it is real fun to watch, and see who is excelling, who is turning it up several notches, etc. Like Eric Campbeill did about this time last year..and hasn't stopped since.
Maybe no Trouts floating around down there, but lots of guys you could look at, at all levels, and think, hmm, that guy could make it someday. I really enjoy tracking them too.
Tom -
Leathersich is an interesting study.
I try and project in my mind the 2015 pen... Mejia, Familia, Parnell, Edgin, Black...
My hopes are tha the next two slots are filled with Montero and Hefner, which already leaves Torres (great trade bait) out.
'Leather' has to pass some kind of Las Vegas test before he can make it to Queens... unless he gets invited to Big Boy camp next year and blows them away in ST
Great perspective on futue pen, Mack. It's looking real good...making it tougher for jack to work his way in. I did read he has no fear and loves to attack, which if tempered a bit could help him make the Mets this year or next. I'd like to see him get another crack at Vegas real soon.
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