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October 13, 2006
Minor League Review, Part 7: Oklahoma Redhawks Hitters
About the League: Though it reputedly favors hitters, the Pacific Coast League sat squarely between the American and National Leagues in terms of runs scored per game. (Actually, the league’s slugger-happiness is limited to five of its sixteen cities: Colorado Springs, Tucson, Las Vegas, Salt Lake and Albuquerque.) This season, the league most closely resembled the AL in 1997. The league averaged 4.8 runs per game with a batting line of .271/.342/.416.
Pacific Coast League vs American League |
|
| Runs Scored | 3% lower |
| Runs Allowed | 1% lower |
| ERA | 5% lower |
| Batting Average | .004 lower |
| On-Base Percentage | .003 higher |
| Slugging Percentage | .019 lower |
| Walk Rate | 8% higher |
| Strikeout Rate | 7% higher |
About the Park: Bricktown Ballpark remorselessly punishes hitters. Think Comerica before the fences moved in, or the early years of Pac Bell Park, or Yankee Stadium during the ‘30s. The official website claims that “sluggers will enjoy a 325-foot left field porch,” but they’re not enjoying it very often. Redhawks and their opponents hit only 76 homers at the Brick compared to 129 in road parks. For Redhawk players, playing in Oklahoma depresses homers by almost 20%. That and the other factors are vital to understanding the performances of the Rangers’ AAA squad. For hitters, the park-adjusted average line was only .259/.331/.387, and for pitchers, the league average ERA was a tiny 3.89.
Park Factors -- Bricktown Ballpark |
|
| Runs | 0.88 |
| Average | 0.96 |
| On-Base Percentage | 0.97 |
| Slugging Percentage | 0.93 |
| Home Runs | 0.82 |
| Walks | 1.02 |
| Strikeouts | 0.99 |
About the players: Revisit the preceding paragraph, then contemplate Jason Botts’s line of .309/.398/.582, good for a Herculean OPS+ of 170. I’m not saying he’ll definitely hit Major-League pitching, but clearly he needs a legitimate opportunity, not the illusory one he got over the summer.
Alas, even Corpus Christi with 400% humidity wouldn’t create park factors sufficient to prettify Joaquin Arias’s line of .268/.296/.361. With the huge caveat that he didn’t turn 22 until last month, I must note that Arias has never exceeded five homers or walked in more than 6% of his plate appearances in any of his five minor-league seasons. Let’s just say he’s not ready yet, despite his startling six-for-eleven MLB debut.
Among other prospects… well, who are they? Laynce Nix, Will Smith, Rashad Eldridge are gone, Texas chopped Aarom Baldiris off the 40-man roster, and Drew Meyer... oy. 23-year-old Anthony Webster didn’t set the PCL aflame. Freddy Guzman reached base at a sterling .375 pace and probably would have make a fine fourth outfielder in the Majors in 2006, but I think Texas would only grudgingly deposit him in Arlington’s center field next year if Gary Matthews departs.
| Player | POS |
G |
OPS |
OPS+ |
AVG |
AVG+ |
OBP |
OBP+ |
SLG |
SLG+ |
ISO |
ISO+ |
BB% |
BB%+ |
SO% |
SO%+ |
Net Steals |
| Jason Botts |
OF |
63 |
.980 |
170 |
.309 |
119 |
.398 |
120 |
.582 |
150 |
.273 |
213 |
12.4% |
133 |
21.7% |
77 |
6 |
| Adam Hyzdu |
OF |
128 |
.846 |
135 |
.271 |
105 |
.370 |
112 |
.476 |
123 |
.205 |
160 |
14.4% |
156 |
18.9% |
88 |
-1 |
| Jason Hart |
1B |
88 |
.775 |
114 |
.254 |
98 |
.315 |
95 |
.459 |
119 |
.205 |
160 |
7.0% |
75 |
16.6% |
101 |
-1 |
| Will Smith |
OF |
43 |
.753 |
110 |
.280 |
108 |
.351 |
106 |
.402 |
104 |
.122 |
95 |
10.2% |
110 |
16.5% |
101 |
0 |
| Adrian Brown |
OF |
36 |
.747 |
110 |
.295 |
114 |
.379 |
114 |
.369 |
95 |
.074 |
58 |
12.2% |
132 |
12.9% |
130 |
9 |
| Laynce Nix |
OF |
77 |
.753 |
109 |
.269 |
104 |
.323 |
98 |
.430 |
111 |
.161 |
126 |
5.9% |
64 |
21.2% |
79 |
2 |
| Jamie Burke |
C |
102 |
.745 |
107 |
.278 |
107 |
.323 |
98 |
.422 |
109 |
.144 |
112 |
5.6% |
61 |
10.0% |
167 |
0 |
| Freddy Guzman |
OF |
69 |
.720 |
102 |
.282 |
109 |
.375 |
113 |
.345 |
89 |
.063 |
49 |
12.5% |
135 |
12.5% |
133 |
13 |
| Anthony Webster |
OF |
69 |
.701 |
95 |
.269 |
104 |
.317 |
96 |
.384 |
99 |
.115 |
90 |
5.1% |
55 |
12.9% |
129 |
8 |
| Joaquin Arias |
SS |
124 |
.657 |
83 |
.268 |
103 |
.296 |
89 |
.361 |
93 |
.093 |
73 |
3.7% |
40 |
11.5% |
145 |
6 |
| Nick Trzesniak |
C |
50 |
.646 |
80 |
.255 |
98 |
.316 |
95 |
.329 |
85 |
.074 |
58 |
8.5% |
92 |
15.3% |
109 |
0 |
| Adam Morrissey |
2B |
42 |
.622 |
74 |
.236 |
91 |
.296 |
89 |
.326 |
84 |
.090 |
70 |
7.1% |
77 |
20.9% |
80 |
-4 |
| Jace Brewer |
SS |
65 |
.619 |
72 |
.242 |
93 |
.284 |
86 |
.335 |
87 |
.093 |
73 |
4.9% |
53 |
15.7% |
107 |
-7 |
| Rashad Eldridge |
OF |
36 |
.583 |
63 |
.220 |
85 |
.290 |
88 |
.293 |
76 |
.073 |
57 |
8.9% |
96 |
21.2% |
79 |
-3 |
| Drew Meyer |
SS |
95 |
.583 |
63 |
.228 |
88 |
.278 |
84 |
.305 |
79 |
.077 |
60 |
6.9% |
74 |
20.0% |
83 |
-13 |
| Tom Gregorio |
C |
37 |
.570 |
59 |
.218 |
84 |
.279 |
84 |
.291 |
75 |
.073 |
57 |
8.3% |
90 |
17.3% |
96 |
0 |
| Aarom Baldiris |
2B |
78 |
.533 |
49 |
.216 |
83 |
.253 |
76 |
.280 |
72 |
.064 |
50 |
4.0% |
43 |
14.8% |
112 |
-3 |
| TEAM | - |
140 |
.707 |
97 |
.261 |
101 |
.323 |
98 |
.384 |
99 |
.123 |
96 |
8.1% |
87 |
16.0% |
104 |
15 |
| Park-Adjusted League Average | - |
- |
.718 |
- |
.259 |
- |
.331 |
- |
.387 |
- |
.128 |
- |
9.3% |
- |
16.7% |
- |
8 |
About the stats: See the post on Clinton’s hitters for explanations and caveats.
Posted by Lucas at October 13, 2006 06:00 PM