A few weeks ago In our preseason extravaganza, the four of us sat down and made predictions about who would be the statistical leaders in the system this year. Granted, there are still over 134 games left in the season, it’s really never too early to take a look to see who is leading what statistical category, even if it is just after a week of games.
Hitting
Average – Nelson Maldonado is raking it at .467 while Darius Hill of Tennessee is hitting .375.
HRs – Nelson Maldonado and Jared Young both have two dingers along with Fabian Pertuz.
RBI – Chase Strumpf and Matt Mervis both 5. Several players are close behind at 4 including Nelson Maldonado and Trent Giambrone.
SBs – Dixon Machado is way out front with 7 so far.
OPS – Trent Giambrone was over 1.000 at 1.047 heading into last night.
wRC+ – Heading into last night, Nelson Maldonado was at an ungodly 394. Fabian Pertuz was next with a 159 followed by Bryce Ball with a 155. Pertuz had a good night with a HR and he has probably ticked up a bit but not into Maldonado territory.
After getting a brief glimpse of him last year with South Bend, seeing Bryce Ball get off to a good start is not a total surprise, but rather a pleasant one. It was evident last year that he had pretty good control of the strike zone but he struggled against curve balls in strike two counts. Seeing Jacob Wetzel grinding out every pitch is joy to watch each and every at-bat. He is setting a good example for those young kids in Myrtle Beach.
I also like the fact that Matt Mervis is out there producing and off to a much better start than last year.
Pitching
These categories are going to take a little time to separate over the next few weeks as starting pitchers are getting stretched out by either starting or piggybacking. Relievers are pitching twice a week and are getting in just as much work in as the starters, if not more.
IP – Matt Swarmer currently leads with 7.2 innings after 2 relief appearances
Ks – Riley Martin, Blake Whitney, and Erich Uelmen are set at 10 after two outings each
ERA – Several are 0.00. This will slowly change the next two weeks.
WHIP – Only two pitchers have not allowed a baserunner – Robert Gsellman and Luis Rodriguez.
BAA – This is the most contested category with lots of pitchers at 0.00
K/9 – Jeremiah Estrada is at 27.00 after just an outing.
With lots of pitch counts and innings limits in effect, the stats are going to reflect those limitations. However, those caps may also give another pitcher an opportunity to get their foot in the door. We have seen more of Riley Martin and Walker Powell than we thought we would have at this point and that is good thing. The same is true for Bryan Hudson and Blake Whitney.
If you click on our links below, our predictions are not looking so good. It’s early though.
