AA is supposed to be the "prospect" level, the really good prospects who are almost ready for the major leagues. Unfortunately, the pickings were slim for the AA Richmond Flying Squirrels even at the beginning of the season. There was Chris Shaw, a promising power-hitting first baseman starting his second full pro season. There was CJ Hinojosa who from the same draft class trying to establish himself as a legitimate prospect. There was also an intriguing international hitting prospect named Miguel Gomez who was still in search of a position. Slade Heathcott was in interesting reclamation project out of the Yankees organization. That's it from the positional side of the roster. The rest were organizational guys trying to hang onto their dream. On the pitching side, lefty Andrew Suarez, also from the 2015 draft class was the top pitching prospect along with suspects Cory Taylor, Sam Coonrod, Jordan Johnson, Dan Slania and Matt Gage.
Shaw, Gomez, Heathcott and Suarez all got midseason promotions with Gomez actually getting a cup of coffee(Slania got less than a cup of coffee, but did get a 1 or 2 day taste of a major league clubhouse). Hinojosa turned in a solid season and Tyler Cyr emerged as a legitimate RP prospect while getting the lion's share of the Save Opportunities. Minor league FA, Jose Flores, started out in the bullpen, worked his way into the rotation and got a promo to become a solid SP option in AAA Sacramento's rotation. Tyler Herb was acquired late in the season from the Mariners organization and showed some promise as a workhorse type SP. Caleb Gindl, a minor league veteran with some MLB experience, came in to play CF when Heathcott got his promotion. Aramis Garcia finally got a promo to AA late in the season and more than held his own.
Here are the team statistical leaders for 2017(again using the 100 AB/20 IP thresholds):
AB: Brandon Bednar- 411, CJ Hinojosa- 373, Slade Heathcott- 347, Myles Schroder- 332, Dylan Davis- 327.
Hits: Bednar- 115, Hinojosa- 99, Miguel Gomez- 94, Heathcott- 91, Schroder- 86.
Doubles: Bednar-24, Schroder- 22, Heathcott- 20, Gomez- 19, Davis- 17.
Triples: Caleb Gindl- 7, Hunter Cole- 5, Schroder- 4, Jerry Sands- 4, Heathcott/Gomez- 2.
HR: Heathcott- 12, KC Hobson- 11, Davis- 10, Gindl- 8, Gomez- 8.
Runs: Bednar- 54, Heathcott- 52, Schroder- 47, Hinojosa- 47, Gomez- 43.
RBI: Gomez-38, Davis- 38, Hinojosa- 35, Hobson- 35, Bednar/Cole- 34.
SB: Heathcott- 8, Carlos Garcia- 6, Hinojosa- 5, Daniel Carbonell- 5, Schroder-4.
BA: Gomez- .305, Chris Shaw- .301, Sands- .298, Ali Castillo- .287, Gindl- .284.
OBP: Sands- .402, Shaw- .390, Schroder- .353, Heathcott- .339, Castillo- .336.
SLG: Gindl- .533, Shaw- .511, Sands- .484, Gomez- .458, Hobson- .443.
IP: Cory Taylor- 127.2, Sam Coonrod- 103.2, Jordan Johnson- 97.1, Dan Slania- 80.1, Matt Gage- 78.0.
K: Taylor- 100, Coonrod- 94, Carlos Alvarado- 70, Johnson- 65, Tyler Cyr- 57.
ERA: DJ Snelton- 1.66, Jarrett Martin- 2.04, Jose Flores- 2.09, Cyr- 2.19, Tyler Herb- 2.76.
Saves: Cyr- 18, Reyes Maronta- 5, Alvarado- 2.
DrB's 2017 Richmond Flying Squirrels MVP- Slade Heathcott
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
There's a couple other guys who deserve mention in AA. I know you grouped them in as organizationalguys trying to hang onto their dream, but remember there are some other talented guys who are hitting the notorious double A wall but still have potential and tools. These guys:
ReplyDeleteOF Hunter Cole, who initially shot up the organization to stall in AA. He's been injured and inconsistent but has shown flashes and can run hot. His Slugging was quite good for AA and his numbers were just getting better as he just got healthy. He only got a half seasons worth of at bats this year.
OF Dylan Davis, who is even more streaky. This is his first year in AA and he notoriously starts off really slow and bad at every level. However, he has shown in the past that he's got monster power potential and is capable of mashing it up in hot streaks. I think he's still a prospect with potential and am interested to see if he bounces back.
Other than the 40-man roster problem, why isn't Heathcott up?
ReplyDeleteIs he paying his penance? Is this a "test"? Has he had "slips" this year?
Up through 2016, he had been on the DL 7 times in 7 years -- 2017? Zilch, zip, nada, nuttin'
If PabSan is a reclamation, then it's FAILED -- FREE SLADE!