Having tracked the batting stats being compiled by the Cleveland Indians' AAA lineup in Buffalo, it seems time to share a few. After all, what the big-league club has been doing offensively has been somewhat distressing and often the most immediate remedies are in-house at the upper levels of an organization.
That being the case, below are the primary contributors representing in the American Association, those presumably most ready to provide assistance at the MLB level, should they be needed. To bring perspective to interpretations, bear in mind .330 is a respectable OBP, with .370 or above elite. Anything below .310 is not good. As for strikeouts/walk ratio, these should be nearly one-to-one. These categories being specifically defined say a lot about plate discipline---or lack thereof, though biasing your assessments is not the desire.
Herr 133 AB 5 doubles 5 homers 22 rbi 39 K 8 BB .271 BA .315 OBP (11 errors)
Sandoval 120 6 0 8 16 12 .267 .333
Gonzalez 106 8 4 18 31 21 .255 .383
Barfield 161 8 4 14 35 9 .255 .297
Cooper 88 8 3 16 25 11 .250 .352
Mulhern 112 6 3 13 32 15 .250 .339
Snyder 111 8 4 17 33 9 .216 .279
Toregas 96 5 1 13 19 10 .198 .280
Brown 96 11 0 10 12 8 .271 .333
Aubrey 41 4 0 5 4 3 .341 .386
(at AA) 103 10 2 16 12 8 .282 .330
As for prominent Akron (AA) batsmen:
Hodges 130 5 7 31 27 10 .277 .333
Whitney 133 10 3 9 30 9 .233 .297
Goleski 111 2 3 8 28 14 .233 .320
Gimenez 80 6 3 9 18 22 .275 .427
It should be noted that both Ryan Goleski and Matt Whitney were recently Rule 5 losses returned to the system. Goleski was the top-overall selection prior to 2007 and dealt to the A's, where he was unable to stick. Whitney was with the Nationals this spring. Brian Barton, also lost this past off-season in Rule 5 (while the organization instead chose to humanely protect LHR Juan Lara, who unfortunately was badly injured in an auto accident), is still with the Cardinals, though his average has fallen precipitously with increasingly irregular use.
On the subject of former Tribesmen, which is appropriate given the damage done last night to Oakland's Alan Embree and Andrew Brown, it should be mentioned that Jody Gerut is again a big-leaguer, having been recalled by San Diego and installed into CF and the leadoff role. The Pads have struggled to defend their spacious home outfield and have also moved Brian Giles (.266) from leadoff to third in hopes of igniting run production. Kevin Kouzmanoff, nabbed in exchange for Josh Barfield, is still the SD 3b, hitting .273 out of the five hole.
Barton's .268 has been a surprisingly strong assistance to StL's amazing start, but not nearly as profoundly as has been Ryan Ludwick's .336, particularly given his 8 dingers and 24 rbi. No longer strictly a platooner, Ludwick is an everyday RF now, a development that has lessened Barton's participation.
Texas' OF/DH Milton Bradley is at .311 with 20 rbi, six homers and a sore shoulder. Ramon Vasquez is a .344 sub with the Rangers. The guy he survived as the Tribe's middle-infield reserve, Brandon Phillips, is hitting .282 with 7 homers and 18 rbi as Cinn's cleanup bat. Sean Casey went into Tuesday's play at .346 for Boston, with a .424 OBP in 52 ABs, while teammate Coco Crisp is at .315. Manny Ramirez, who should never have been allowed to escape his original organization, is at .309.
Baltimore is being aided significantly by Luke Scott's .281, featuring two dingers and 13 rbi out of RF. RHS Jeremy Guthrie is 2-3 with a 4.18 for the O's, who have turned to journeyman speedster Freddie Bynum at SS. Conversely, Julian Tavarez was designated by Boston. And Jim Thome is flailing at .214 for the Chisox. Jeff Kent is at .250 with 19 rbi for the Dodgers.
Having only a small sample size of AB's upon which to base their play, Omar is at .400 for SF and being rumored heading to Boston, where Alex Cora, job-sharing SS with the error-prone Julio Lugo, is hitting .600. Luis Rivas is at .224 for the Pirates, who have been using veteran 1b Doug Mienkiewicz some at 3b, by the way. Wily Tavares carries a .234 for Colo.
Ryan Church is tearing it up for the Mets, behind a .324 with 8 homers and 30 rbi, also out of RF. SS Maicer Izturis, who accompanied Church to Mont years ago for LHR Scott Stewart, is on Anaheim's DL.
What is truly remarkable, however, is that both Tampa and Florida are first-place ballclubs at this writing, with identical 23-16 marks, tied with the Cubs for second-best in all of baseball to Arizona's 24-15. For those attached to big-name athletes, an inspection of their respective lineups would be illuminating, spiced as they are by retreads, discards and no-names like Dan Uggla (a Rule 5 selection from Ariz), Jorge Cantu, Eric Hinske, Carlos Pena, Luis Gonzalez, Cody Ross, Cliff Floyd, Gabe Gross, Wes Helms, et al.
Could the Marlins really be heading toward their third title since the Tribe was but one out away from its first since 1948?
Also astonishing is the research cited by former Mets' GM Steve Phillips this morning on ESPN's Mike and Mike program. He says the sport is down nearly a thousand homers over the past two seasons, given the current pace. Phillips attributes the drop off to more closely monitoring performance enhancers. "Doubles and triples are also down significantly," he said, resulting in greater parity achieved by those clubs able to execute small-ball. Mentioned were the Rays, A's, Twins in contrast with the Tigers. The game was down about 500 homers last year, with a similar decline again developing this season. An ironic announcement in the wake of the new Barry Bonds indictments. But remarkable all by itself.
That same program credits Houston's Lance Berkman with 25 hits in his last 38 AB over a ten-game stretch. Yeow! That's hot.
Procrastination cost me the opportunity to opine with timeliness on this count, but I'd thought Miquel Cabrera's acquisition by Det might be negated by Gary Sheffield's possible decline. Sheff, also mentioned in the Balco investigation and coming off shoulder surgery at 38, is at .202, while Tigers' castoff Craig Monroe is helping Minn with his .274.
Bringing this entry to a merciful close, one must remark upon the incredible campaign being had by Boston's Kevin Youkilis, as if Cleveland-area fans need to be reminded what a pain he can be. Kevin, through Sunday, was at .322, with 27 runs, 30 rbi, 8 homers and 12 doubles---each ranking him among the AL's top four in a respective category. Who'da thunk he'd surpass both Manny and Popi as the Sox foremost slugger? With Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia also among league leaders in meaningful categories, it is apparent Boston has done more than just cherry-pick stars mid-market teams were unable to retain---though that business cannot be overstated whatsoever.
Meanwhile, that is a former Red Sox farmhand pacing the Marlins and recently rewarded with his mega-contract. SS Hanley Ramirez is receiving acknowledgement around the sport as possibly the NL's top talent, based upon his .336 average, 33 runs, 13 steals and inspriring all-around excellence, both in play and in spirit.
Conversely, Pitts is at 19-20 despite outstanding numbers being put up by OFs Xavier Nady (.338, 34 rbi, 14 doubles) and Nate McLouth (.305, 31 runs, 10 home runs, 31 rbi, 13 steals). LHR Damaso Marte, who I still suspect may be the number-one in-season AL Central acquisition, has 7 holds.
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