Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Hot Hitters Staying Hot

Just two wins and three loses for the affiliates. Even though the losses outnumbered the wins, there were several very good performances. Yohendrick Pinango, Joey Loperfido and Edward Duran stayed hot. Some of other players produced excellent performances to get back on track.

Worcester 1 Buffalo 12

New Hampshire 10 Reading 11

Everett 5 Vancouver 4

Bradenton 6 Dunedin 11

FCL Blue Jays 1 FCL Tigers 9

Three Stars

Third Star - Lazaro Estrada

Second Star - Edward Duran

First Star - Phil Clarke

Boxes

NOTES

Lazaro Estrada likes May more than April. In April his ERA was 10.93 in five starts. His WHIP was 2.50. Now in three May starts his ERA is 1.04 and his WHIP is 1.15. The six innings he threw on Thursday was by far his longest outing of the season. It is probably too soon to consider Estrada for a call up but he seems to be getting there.

The Bisons had 13 hits, Riley Tirotta and Rainer Nunez homered. Phil Clarke reached base five times, three hits and two walks. Davis Schneider also reached five times, four walks and a triple. Joey Loperfido has raised his batting average by over 30 points in the last ten days. He has had five multi hit games in the last nine games.

Rafael Sanchez was unable to get out of the first inning and New Hampshire were down 5-0. But NH fought back to take an 8-7 lead in the seventh, went down 10-8, tied it at 10-10 but lost to a walk off in the ninth.

Yohendrick Pinango homered again, his third in as many games. Pinango has been on a tear since the middle of April. We always talk about promotions too soon, but Pinango is ready when the call comes. He also singled twice and is hitting .355.

Jay Harry hit his first home run at AA and doubled. RJ Schreck had two hits.

Arjun Nimmala went 1-4 for Vancouver. After hitting .294 in April he is hitting .244 in May. Half of his hits go for extra bases so his OPS is over .800. In May he has nine K's in 45 at bats, a 20% K rate which is good.

Edward Duran is another hitter who has caught fire. He was 3-3 on Thursday and walked. In May Duran is hitting .391 with an OPS over 1,000. Sam Shaw homered and tripled. Yhoangel Aponte and Kendry Chirinos also homered.

Spencer Turnbull made the start and went four innings. Khal Stephen also went four innings. He struck out seven but gave up three runs with back to back to back doubles.

The FCL Jays were two hit by the Tigers. Meanwhile the Tigers scored nine runs with five hits. That's the FCL.

Posted by Gerry on Friday, May 16 2025 @ 06:48 AM EDT.

Hot Hitters Staying Hot | 21 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Marc Hulet - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 08:59 AM EDT (#460021) #

I honestly don't know what to think of the Jays player development staff. I've been vocal that they handled Bloss poorly... and now Sanchez.

I saw his last outing on May 7 and he looked hurt. His stuff lacked life, his composure was poor and his body language was terrible... he looked hurt... he came off the mound slowly, etc. Huge warning bells for me so I was shocked when he made yesterday's start... and he couldn't get out of the first.

I saw him multiple times last year and early this year and he looked very good. Something's up and I have no doubt he's headed to the IL.

Glevin - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 09:02 AM EDT (#460022) #

Feels like this week a lot of prospexts distanced themselves from the pack. Like in NH, it's Pinango and Schreck. In Dunedin, Shaw and Duran keep distancing themselves. Pinango has been insane and there might be a pattern where he goes to a level and struggles and then gets it and goes insane. I mean, he has a 205 WRC+! Loperfido, Schneider, and Roden all hot. Can't imagine Clase stays up for much longer. Jays again have huge surplus of these Ofers which means Pinango and Schreck are stuck in AA. Pinto hasn't played in a while. Likely hurt again.

Gerry - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 09:38 AM EDT (#460023) #

Geogg Pontes has some Pinango metrics...

So far, Pinango has been among the best hitters in the minors, hitting . 340/.440/.566 for a 192 wRC+ with Double-A New Hampshire. A below-average defender in a corner outfield spot, Pinango’s hitting ability is his carrying tool. While the production has been good, his underlying data is very good. He boasts a 14.2% in-zone whiff rate with a 16.8% chase rate and 37.9% swing rate, showing a discerning eye with good contact ability.

When you factor in Pinango’s power metrics, things get more interesting. His 108.5 mph 90th percentile exit velocity is plus, and he’s hit a ball 112+ mph this season. He shows a knack for consistent hard contact and has positive launch angles on hard contact and balls hit to the pull side. It’s more of a line-drive swing than a steep home run stroke, but Pinango shows the ability to crush mistakes and pepper hard-struck drives all over the field.

Gerry - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 09:40 AM EDT (#460024) #

Pontes also has thoughts on Victor Arias...

On the year, Arias is hitting .288/.378/.394 with an 11.8% walk rate and, despite underwhelming power production, is flexing some of the best exit velocities in the Northwest League. His average exit velocity of 93 mph is well above major league average, and his 110.1 mph 90th percentile EV equates to plus-plus raw power. This begs the question: If he hits the ball this hard, why are his power numbers underwhelming? It’s simply a matter of bad launch angles on his pullside contact. Arias’ -10.9 degree launch angle leads to a lot of hard-struck ground balls. It’s unusual because his hard-hit launch angle is solid at 11.5 degrees, meaning he could improve his pull launch angle in time. Despite this number, Arias does have a 19.2% air-pull rate, which is about average.

Other areas of Arias’ game are strong, as he shows slightly better than average bat-to-ball ability (18.1% zone-miss rate) and above-average swing decisions. Lurking beneath Arias’ surface level stats is a potential power-hitter. It’s simply a matter of optimizing his angles more consistently, because Arias is showing outlier power with good plate skills at an age-appropriate level.

uglyone - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 10:26 AM EDT (#460025) #

Nunez might be adjusting to AAA. That's a 167wrc+ for him in may now so far (9gms), though with lots of babip help.

But he's recovered from a horrible start (32wrc+ after his first 9gms) to get himself up to league average 25gms into the season:

25gms, 94pa, 11.7b%, 28.7k%, .314bip, .238avg, .138iso, 100wrc+

Still nowhere near good enough a line for a 24yr old 1B in AAA to be interesting, but hopefully he keeps improving - and especially that his supposed impressive raw power continues to break through into game power.

uglyone - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 10:29 AM EDT (#460026) #

those are both great to hear Gerry.

Hopefully that means a quick promotion for Pinango, who is 23 and is now over 600pa in AA, since his line doesn't sound fluky based on that underlying data.

And I was a tad concerned about Arias' lack of power so nice to see those exit velos.

uglyone - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 10:50 AM EDT (#460028) #

Schneider really getting his groove back now.

* first 5gms: 22pa, 13.6b%, 45.5k%, .111bip, .053avg, .000iso, -22wrc+
* Last 19gms: 80pa, 18.8b%, 30.0k%, .378bip, .266avg, .281iso, 159wrc+

And those last 19gms include a truly torrid last week:

* Last 7gms: 33pa, 18.2b%, 18.2k%, .353bip, .346avg, .423iso, 227wrc+

Which is also the 7gms that Roden has been down there and Schneider's line is better in those 7gms than Roden's great line.

I'm not giving up on Schneider just yet.

Marc Hulet - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 10:53 AM EDT (#460029) #

Arias has shown excellent exit velos over the past two years... which is why I've been hyping him for two years now. When people were on the Yhoangel Aponte wagon, I was on the Arias wagon.

The Jays org has gone from seemingly viewing DSL players are simply roster fillers to seeing value in their (risky) high upsides and it's finally starting to pay dividends.

Still a big fan of Edward Duran. Andres Arias should be next in line.

John Northey - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 12:16 PM EDT (#460030) #

The challenge with prospects in AAA is they need to make it now or in 2026 or they need to be traded. Others are coming.

C: Ali Sánchez: 276/341/487 age 28, 85 PA, 692 OPS lifetime in minors, 21 OPS+ in majors over 110 PA. Looks like a decent #3 but his 828 OPS in Buffalo makes me question everyone else.
1B: Nunez 715 OPS; Palmegiani 526 OPS - ugh.
2B: Orelevis Martinez (23): 196/286/375, but past 21 games 263/349/487 after a horrid 2/36 start.
SS: Michael Stefanic (29): now in majors, 319/454/372 but 68 OPS+ in majors (265 PA) - see Sanchez, more a warning about AAA stats than a 'woohoo'
3B: Barger was the regular (732), now Riley Tirotta (850 OPS) and Wagner (733) - both age 26.
LF: Schneider (26): 217/363/434 796 OPS despite that horrid Avg thanks to 10 of 18 hits being extra bases plus as many walks as hits.
CF: Loperfido (26): 259/340/422, 7-0 SB-CS. Not bad, but not enough to get called up. Clase was mostly CF when down (23 - 790 OPS)
RF: Will Robinson (27) was the placeholder 275/394/440, Roden now there (25) 412/444/676.

Clearly DH would be a mix-match of everyone. Overall Buffalo is hitting 243/341/389, average age of 25.9 (AAA average is 26.6)

Martinez and Clase are the only guys young enough to not be in a 'oh crap gotta do it now' situation. Wonder if the Jays can package 2 or 3 to get something from a desperate team (Rockies, White Sox, Pirates, Angels, Miami all suck and will want to cut payroll at some point this summer).

GabrielSyme - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 12:59 PM EDT (#460031) #

Everyone remember Carlos Perez? Longtime catcher-of-the-future, he's now 34 and in the Cubs organization.

He's raking in AAA (.310/.406/.707, 178 wRC+) with great peripherals. Unfortunately for Perez, the Cubs have three catchers on the MLB roster: Carson Kelly (191 wRC+), backup Miguel Amaya (117 wRC+) and just-called up top-100 propsect Moises Ballesteros (148 wRC+ in AAA). And to top it off, the Cubs also have Reese McGuire sitting in AAA, with a 119 wRC+.

That has to be the worst possible situation you can imagine to get called up to the majors. He'd be likely to see playing time for most clubs with that production, but not the Cubs this year.

John Northey - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 01:02 PM EDT (#460033) #

I'd say that was a solid first start for Turnbull - 4 IP 3 H 1 R/ER 2 BB 4 SO. If he can get up to 5/6 innings next time then I suspect he'll be called up. Heck, given the situation he might be up quickly for the next time #5 is needed. I wouldn't expect that to work well, but if his movement/control/velocity were there then why not?

GabrielSyme - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 01:25 PM EDT (#460035) #

Johnny King with another encouraging performance in his second start: 3 innings, 4 K, 1 BB, 1 H, 1 HBP, just one unearned run.

bpoz - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 02:11 PM EDT (#460037) #

Samuel Colmenares also having a good start. 7IP in 2 games 0 earned runs.

King 5IP in 2 games 0 earned runs.

Glevin - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 02:37 PM EDT (#460038) #

More interested in what King's stuff is like. Is he at 92-93 or 94-95? How is secondary stuff? Turnbull pitched well but was only at 92 which is down a couple of miles from his usual I think. It's fine for first start back but needs to get back up there.

mendocino - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 03:52 PM EDT (#460039) #

all games on mlb.com free today
youtube always has ncaa (sec/acc) baseball on.

Jonathan Mayo's Mock Draft (mlb.com)

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-pipeline-2025-mock-draft-may-15?t=mlb-draft-coverage

1. Nationals: Ethan Holliday, SS/3B, Stillwater (Okla.) HS (No. 1)
2. Angels: Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State (No. 3)
3. Mariners: Liam Doyle, LHP, Tennessee (No. 10)
4. Rockies: Aiva Arquette, SS, Oregon State (No. 5)
5. Cardinals: Kade Anderson, LHP, Louisiana State (No. 9)
6. Pirates: Seth Hernandez, RHP, Corona (Calif.) HS (No. 2)
7. Marlins: Billy Carlson, SS, Corona (Calif.) HS (No. 6)

8. Blue Jays: Eli Willits, SS, Fort Cobb-Broxton (Okla.) HS (No. 4)
Reggie’s kid reclassified and he’s one of the youngest players in the class, which will look good in a lot of team models. He also has really good tools across the board and it’s extremely reasonable to think he’ll go higher than this.

9. Reds: JoJo Parker, SS, Purvis (Miss.) HS (No. 14)
10. White Sox: Jace LaViolette, OF, Texas A&M (No. 7)
He’s athletic, the power is legit (67 career homers in college and counting), but he’s hitting .274 at this point (.258 in SEC play) with concerns about his hit tool making it a little harder to pinpoint where he might go. He does still have the exciting tools that made him a potential No. 1 pick coming into the season.

mendocino - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 04:10 PM EDT (#460040) #

Mayo -may 15
20. Brewers: Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina (No. 19)
There aren’t a ton of catchers to consider in the first round this year. Stevenson is on a short list with power at the plate (30 homers in two years for the Tar Heels) and excellent defensive skills.

Callis -may 6
16. Twins: Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina (No. 19)
While Stevenson has batted just .282 in two seasons with the Tar Heels, his combination of power, receiving skills and arm strength make him unquestionably the best of a shallow pool of catchers in this Draft.

BA Chat
Anonymous
As a Red Sox fan, why shouldn't I be disappointed in Luke Stevenson at 15? The track record of career below 300 hitters in NCAA is pretty terrible.

Carlos Collazo
I guess how excited about Shea Langeliers would you be? That feels like a decent modern comp. I'm not sure that Stevenson has quite the defensive reputation or arm strength that Langeliers did at the time, but he's also a lefthanded hitter with better on-base skills who gets pretty good defensive reviews as a receiver and thrower. Langeliers hit over .300 in two different seasons so maybe that's enough for him not to be in the conversation here for you, but he was a career. 289 hitter with Baylor. I too would prefer a first rounder to have hit comfortably above .300 in college. Being able to catch buys you a lot of grace. I have no worry that Stevenson won't catch. If you're a good defensive catcher and you have solid on-base skills and some pop that's a really valuable player. That's what you're hoping to get with Stevenson.

GabrielSyme - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 04:50 PM EDT (#460041) #

I'd be very happy if Eli Willits was available at 8.. I'm a little underwhelmed by the college pitchers although BA says they're rising up the boards.

Unfortunately it does seem like a thin draft at the top end, and there's lots of flaws in the players projected to be available where the Jays pick. Steele Hall isn't ranked to go in the top 10, but like Willits and Nimmala, he's a 17-year-old HS SS.

Gerry - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 05:01 PM EDT (#460042) #

Ryan Jennings has been moved up to Buffalo.

Glevin - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 06:41 PM EDT (#460048) #

Yesavage, Stephen, and Stanifer all moved up to Vancouver.

uglyone - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 06:49 PM EDT (#460049) #

Good. Start the train running.

Glevin - Friday, May 16 2025 @ 06:55 PM EDT (#460050) #

Good for Vancouver fans too. Going to be a lot of fun to watch the that team. I wonder if other guys are moving too and we'll hear about it a bit later.

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The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.