On July 30, I presented an article which identified who was h..o..t in the 4 upper season leagues. Answer: PLENTY OF GUYS.
Today, the short season league hit players, team by team:
BROOKLYN: The Cyclones have had little offense, decent starting pitching, and an above average pen so far.
Vince Siena: .323 BA paces the squad, and the 2B has stolen 6 of 7.
Jeff Diehl: the 21 year old is now in year 4 after being drafted in the 23rd round in 2011 out of high school. In 26 games, the 1B is at .270/.382/.486. For Brooklyn, that's hot.
Alex Palsha: the main man out of the Cyclones pen - 11 games with a 0.00 ERA, 16 K, and 0.64 WHIP. He is 23, a 27th rounder in 2014, and outperforming, considering that. Heck, he saved 11 of 12 last year in rookie ball with a 1.04 ERA. He needs to be promoted soon to see how he fares.
Corey Taylor: a 7th round righty this year, unscored on in 11 innings so far in relief. 0.73 WHIP.
P. J. Conlon: a 13th round lefty, 8 relief outings, 0.00, 0.38 WHIP.
KINGSPORT: on a team that has had some bad pitching performances, 4 hitters and a few pitchers stand out so far:
Kevin Kaczmarski - a 2015 ninth rounder, he is hitting .309/.380/.415. He is already 23 so he needs to continue to excel.
Dash Winningham - Dash is crushing it. 10 doubles, 8 homers, 29 RBIs, and nearly .300 in 34 games from a 19 year old? Love it!
Luis Carpio - question for you readers. What is just turned 18 years old, plays SS, and hits .300/.398/.363? A Luis Carpio, that's what.
LC Hammer has been on base via hit or walk 21 X in past 10 games. WOW.
Pat Mazelka - the 21 year old 8th round lefty hitting catcher is killing it at .317/..427/.525. 0 errors so far! Low caught stealing rate so far.
Seth Davis - it is early, but in 7.2 relief innings, no runs, 7 Ks.
Thomas Mcilraith - the 20th rounder is 2-0, 1.93 so far in 18.2 IP, but a little high on the walks so far.
Nabil Crismatt - a 20 year old who started out in the DSL in 2012, he's struck out 30 in 24 innings so far. Career, he is 11-4, 2.43, 132 Ks, 0.98 WHIP in 118 innings. Worth watching.
GULF COAST LEAGUE METS are holding their own so far, thanks to:
Ali Sanchez - stunning performance to date for the 18 year old catcher. .344/.392/.378 in 30 games. I'd like to see catcher Mazelka promoted to Brooklyn soon, and Ali to Kingsport at the same time. For now, Brandon Brosher is catching in Brooklyn, with promise and power but struggling a bit at the bat; he deserves to play a lot, so only promote Mazelka and Sanchez when it won't affect Brosher.
Desmond Lindsay, the Mets' top draft pick, who is hitting .400...OK, only 4 for 10 so far, but he IS the top draft pick.
Max Wotell has K'd 8 in 4.1 IP. Exciting debut for 18 yr old 3rd rounder. GO, MAX, GO!
Merandy Gonzalez - the no hit 19 year old man has thrown 22 innings, K'd 25, and allowed just 9 hits so far. A 7 inning no hitter and another 5 inning outing with zero hits and 7 Ks. Intriguing.
I highlighted 16 guys on those three short season teams, and (see my prior article) about 30 on the 4 full season squads. Lots of fine performances on these 3 short season teams, and all seven teams for that matter, folks.
Tom -
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see Siena get off to a good start.
Mack, if I had to pick a top 5 right now for lower minors, I'd go with
ReplyDelete1) Winningham
2) Sanchez
3) Mazelka
4) Wotell
5) Siena
List obviously subject to change. But that group impresses me.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteI'd add LC hammer to your list. To compete like he is at 18 is impressive. Good lost you put together and I like to see two catchers in there really producing with the bat. Those are hard to find.
Carpio was #6, Bob. If that is his real age, his performance is beyond his years and impressive indeed.
ReplyDeleteI have to get to MCU park to see Brooklyn play. Have you ever been there Tom?
ReplyDelete