Article: Twins Minor League Leader Board (Hitters)

[Seth Stohs]

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php/3151-Twins-Minor-League-Leader-Board-(Hitters)

[jokin]

Bases on Balls ***

 

1.) Deibinson Romero - Rochester - 34

2.) Jorge Polanco - Ft. Myers - 33

2.) Mitch Garver - Cedar Rapids - 33

4.) Kennys Vargas - New Britain - 32

5.) Dalton Hicks- Ft. Myers - 31

 

*** Hereby noted as the "Aaron Hicks Somewhat Meritorious Performance Below the Call of Duty Award"...as the actual winner for the Twins minor leaguer Base on Balls award can now be revealed.....it was in fact, Ivory Thomas, who had 37 walks for Cedar Rapids. He took the separation between BA and OBP to the greatest extreme I've ever seen- BA of .163....and....OBP at an incredible .433. But perhaps foreshadowing Aaron Hicks, Thomas had a 32.2% K-rate and alas, was asked to move on on June 12. Best of luck, Ivory!

[lightfoot789]

Bases on Balls ***

 

1.) Deibinson Romero - Rocehster - 34

2.) Jorge Polanco - Ft. Myers - 33

2.) Mitch Garver - Cedar Rapids - 33

4.) Kennys Vargas - New Britain - 32

5.) Dalton Hicks- Ft. Myers - 31

 

*** Hereby noted as the "Aaron Hicks Somewhat Meritorious Performance Below the Call of Duty Award"...as the actual winner for the Twins minor leaguer Base on Balls award can now be revealed.....it was in fact, Ivory Thomas, who had 37 walks for Cedar Rapids. He took the separation between BA and OBP to the greatest extreme I've ever seen- BA of .163....and....OBP at an incredible .433. But perhaps foreshadowing Aaron Hicks, Thomas had a 32.2% K-rate and alas, was asked to move on on June 12. Best of luck, Ivory!

 

Love this one. How many bloggers would want him in the Twins line-up if his OBP was actually .433 with the MLB Twins? Would you be satisfied with the fact that he got on base more than any other Twin or would the .163 BA just kill you mentally? Since he was released - It tells me what the Twins are more concerned with.................................. Ask Hicks what he thinks the Twins care about most?

[big dog]

Thanks, Seth, for the comprehensive look at the hitters. Here's hoping Vargas hits the fast track to the majors.

 

Jokin, inquiring minds want to know if Thomas was good at fouling off strikes and waiting for Ball Four, or if he was 3 feet tall. That's an incredible split. Very funny stat, thanks.

[Cody Christie]

So it looks like Vargas would be the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Year for the first half...

 

I hope Polanco is able to put together a strong second half at the plate.

[puckstopper1]

WOW - Only 3 hitters with 200 PA hitting over .300? To me this shows little depth beyong the big name prospects...

[Beezer07]

WOW - Only 3 hitters with 200 PA hitting over .300? To me this shows little depth beyong the big name prospects...

 

Well sure, it looks bad, until you see the two guys hitting .299. And the presence of two guys on the top 5 OBP who aren't on the top 5 avg.

 

I'm gonna go with what my main man Dozier said...Avg is an overrated stat.

[jokin]

Thanks, Seth, for the comprehensive look at the hitters. Here's hoping Vargas hits the fast track to the majors.

 

Jokin, inquiring minds want to know if Thomas was good at fouling off strikes and waiting for Ball Four, or if he was 3 feet tall. That's an incredible split. Very funny stat, thanks.

 

Ivory Thomas is a very, very curious case. I never saw him play, but he is listed at only 5'9", and until this year, he had had good BB% rates in the GCL and his last 3 years in college, but nothing like his 30.6% rate this season. (That rate of 30.6% BTW, is easily the best in all of MiLB for those with at least 120 PAs....the next closest number was "just" 20% for someone in AA in the Astros organization http://www.fangraphs.com/minorleaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=120&type=1&season=2014&team=0&players=0&sort=4,d).

 

And even more curious, Thomas's HBP% in his last 3 years in college was 7.2%- as he was plunked 40 times in 137 games. Had Thomas continued to pursue that aspect to his colorful "hitting" repertoire in Cedar Rapids, his OBP would have been closer to .450. In Thomas' senior year playing at the NCAA D-II level, he was first in his athletic conference, winning both the Batting Title (.383) and OBP Title (.523), so at one point anyway, he was more than just a modern-day Eddie Gaedel.

[Mike Sixel]

Might be time for a couple of those guys to advance, and to clear out players ahead of them that are "just" organization depth. IMO, of course.

[Dantes929]

Love this one. How many bloggers would want him in the Twins line-up if his OBP was actually .433 with the MLB Twins? Would you be satisfied with the fact that he got on base more than any other Twin or would the .163 BA just kill you mentally? Since he was released - It tells me what the Twins are more concerned with.................................. Ask Hicks what he thinks the Twins care about most?

Hicks at the time of demotion had a better OBP than Revere or Span. These two were leadoff hitters whose sole responsibility was getting on base. Hicks did a better job of that from the 9 hole than they did from the #1 spot and yet posters were pining about trading these two guys away and calling for Hicks' head. If it was sustainable I would have been fine with Hicks walking .370 of the time and striking out .630 of the time for a .000 batting average. He could have gone up there with a wiffle bat and turned the wrong way for all I care. Would probably kill me mentally to have a whole team made up of that but from the 9 or 1 spot it would make me happy.

[tobi0040]

Might be time for a couple of those guys to advance, and to clear out players ahead of them that are "just" organization depth. IMO, of course.

 

How is Garver behind the plate? Any chance he sticks as a catcher?

[jokin]

How is Garver behind the plate? Any chance he sticks as a catcher?

 

I encourage you to do a search for "Mitch Garver" on this site. SD Buhr gave a very strong first-hand account for Garver's defense this year at Cedar Rapids. Sounds like a take-charge guy. And a guy who was ranked in college just behind Turner and one other top Catcher over his last 2 years at New Mexico.

[Seth Stohs]

Looking forward to seeing Mitch Garver, Chad Christensen and the rest of the Kernels play this weekend!! Including Nick Burdi!

[Mike Sixel]

Was Burdi sent to low A?

[JB_Iowa]

Was Burdi sent to low A?

 

No. Cedar Rapids

[Mike Sixel]

No. Cedar Rapids

 

Isn't that low A? I'm confused.

[JB_Iowa]

Isn't that low A? I'm confused.

 

 

CR is A

 

Fort Myers Miracle are "A Advanced" (I'd call it High A, I guess).

 

 

I thought Elizabethtown was low A but it is actually called "Rookie Affiliate".

 

I know Berardino thought Burdi might end up at E'town but they put him in CR. I think that was pretty much as high as anyone thought he'd start.

[Mike Sixel]

Either way, I'm glad he's at least in CR, and not below that. I'd have preferred FtM myself......I just want him to move quickly before his arm decreases in ability, which is inevitable.

[jokin]

CR is A

 

Fort Myers Miracle are "A Advanced" (I'd call it High A, I guess).

 

 

I thought Elizabethtown was low A but it is actually called "Rookie Affiliate".

 

I know Berardino thought Burdi might end up at E'town but they put him in CR. I think that was pretty much as high as anyone thought he'd start.

 

The New York-Penn League is classified as "A-". The Midwest League is "A".

[JB_Iowa]

Isn't that low A? I'm confused.

 

I think the confusion comes from calling "A" low A.

 

There are only A and high A so that's probably where you and I differ.

 

I guess A can be thought of as "low A" since it's not "high A" but technically it is "A".

[jokin]

I think the confusion comes from calling "A" low A.

 

There are only A and high A so that's probably where you and I differ.

 

I guess A can be thought of as "low A" since it's not "high A" but technically it is "A".

 

Except for the fact that there's also "A-". NY-Penn League and Northwest League.

[Mike Sixel]

I think the confusion comes from calling "A" low A.

 

There are only A and high A so that's probably where you and I differ.

 

I guess A can be thought of as "low A" since it's not "high A" but technically it is "A".

 

That made me laugh, because it reminded me of the silly argument on the D&D board I visit about rules that BREAK THE GAME AND MAKE PEOPLE PLAY IT WRONG.

 

*to be clear, your post was not silly at all......it just reminded me other stuff

[JB_Iowa]

Except for the fact that there's also "A-". NY-Penn League and Northwest League.

 

Okay so is it

 

A-, A and high A

 

Does that make A- "low A"???

 

Sematics are always fun.

[JB_Iowa]

Actually this wikipedia article does a pretty good job of explaining it.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_League_Baseball

 

And what jokin is call A- can also be called A-short season -- and there are only 22 MLB teams with A-short season affiliates and the Twins don't appear to be one of them.

 

What trivia we learn here!

[Hawkeye12]

Teams with a short season A (A- for sake of discussion) don't have a second Rookie League team. Teams with a second Rookie team (Twins have Elizabethton), won't have the A- team. But they are pretty much the same level.