Mark Vientos is one of the High-Fanning 19
One clear cut factor in the major leagues is this:
MLB pitchers are very adept at striking hitters out.
Max Fried, for example, deftly worked the strike zone with an assortment of non-straight pitches, and on one at bat, busted Pete Alonso up and in with heat for a strikeout in a game in their most recent series, and on another AB, nailed him with a nasty screwball that broke off the outside corner. You don't see pitches like that in the minors.
So, I took a look thru the Mets minors for guys who fan significantly more than once per game, and I found 19 such players on the 4 squads - here are the guys who have to go on a K diet, including some prospects and pseudo-prospects (stats thru Monday, July 11):
|
Ks |
Games |
Avg |
Notes |
AAA: |
|
|
|
|
Khalil Lee |
73 |
50 |
.194 |
Regression
from 2021 |
Cody
Bohanek |
82 |
64 |
.164 |
AA and AAA |
Nick
Plummer |
41 |
34 |
.202 |
.262 OBP; regression |
Quinn
Brodey |
65 |
54 |
.193 |
AA and AAA |
Luke Ritter |
100 |
75 |
.221 |
AA and AAA |
Mark
Vientos |
83 |
63 |
.251 |
Huge power, too many Ks |
AA: |
|
|
|
|
Hayden
Senger |
67 |
55 |
.223 |
|
Manny
Rodriguez |
60 |
42 |
.179 |
AA, AAA and
FCL |
Brett Baty |
84 |
69 |
.273 |
Baseball’s
# 31 prospect |
HIGH A: |
|
|
|
|
Jaylen
Palmer |
106 |
70 |
.179 |
|
Sherveyn
Newton |
105 |
74 |
.217 |
Low A and
High A |
Joe Suozzi |
58 |
47 |
.207 |
|
LOW A: |
|
|
|
|
Carlos
Dominguez |
111 |
65 |
.240 |
But he has
power, Mack! |
Omar De Los
Santos |
95 |
69 |
.272 |
Leads off a
lot, so more PAs |
Justin
Guerrera |
85 |
63 |
.184 |
|
Greg
Guerrero |
16 |
11 |
.194 |
|
Stan Consuegra |
85 |
72 |
.237 |
|
William
Lugo |
75 |
66 |
.257 |
Bad first K
month (April) |
Brady Smith |
26 |
17 |
.194 |
Even catchers must hit |
Eight of the 19 listed dudes are hitting below .200, and 5 more are below .225.
The 4 who exceed .250 were hitting just .251 to .273.
Ks suppress batting averages, one might conclude. Sometimes "negative" is factual.
Other Mets minor leaguers (not listed above), perhaps a dozen, are at, or slightly above, 1 K per game.
Fellas, cut the Ks. It's good for your career health.
It is always good to see an infusion of talent through the draft.
May the new hitters make more contact, so this time next year, this "Mighty High K List" is much smaller than 19 players.
6 comments:
This speaks volumes that both Baty and Vientos need more time working on this.
Very sobering. And I should know. I've been sober since July 3r, 1984
C'mon Mets minor league hitting coaches - you're better than that.
I'm sure some of the kids on this list are just overmatched. It is hard to hit a baseball moving very fast on a non-linear trajectory. Not everyone gets to play in the majors so I hope they got a good education on the way up.
However, to see names like Baty, Vientos, Plummer, Lee on this list is worrisome. They have demonstrated the ability to hit at the AA/AAA level over time, so I would suspect that this has more to do with their approach at the plate. That can and should be fixed by the hitting coach.
Paul
Most minor league pitchers as marginal as the hitters.
Premier hitters should never be over-powered by marginal arms.
True, fellas
It’s all about power,HRs. Minor. Leaguers know this. They’re swinging for the fences. Posters reactions to the J, T Williams selection show fans agree.
Congrats Mack thats a big deal. I would think that this draft would at least start to address the more contact less K's issue because we're seeing the results at the big league level and it's impressive.
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