Hitter Roundup: June Edition

c/o my boy lou over at http://tealandblack.net/

NEW ORLEANS (AAA)

Cameron Maybin
June - 76 AB, .382/.489/.500 (.949), 0HR, 14/13 BB/K, 4/2 SB
Season - 139 AB, .331/.422/.460 (.883), 1 HR, 19/23 BB/K, 5/2 SB

Doing what he should be doing. His line drive rates went up in June, even if he had a ridiculous BABIP (.433). I think we'd all like to see more HR, but the walks are there, the average is there, and the general contact is there. Power is always the last tool that develops and he's young. Looking good.

Gaby Sanchez
June - 84 AB, .250/.315/.405 (.720), 3 HR, 6/17 BB/K, 2 SB
Season - 171 AB, .298/.366/.462 (.828), 7 HR, 17/31 BB/K, 3 SB

Slumped a bit in June, but it's a small sample size and his season line is OK. What's notable is his seemingly fulltime transition to 3B. Maybe that is messing with his offense a little bit. Either way, he's probably not a call up coming off this kind of month but longterm he is still looking like a solid bat to have around.

John Raynor
June - 91 AB, .209/.263/.319 (.581), 1 HR, 4/27 BB/K, 4/1 SB
Season - 261 AB, .253/.304/.352 (.656), 3 HR, 16/64 BB/K, 8/5 SB

I didn't even think he was going to be this bad. Only positive here is he has a few option years so we can stash him in AAA for a few years and see if he regains some of his prospect clout from his A/AA days. Horrible. Simply horrible.

Brett Hayes
June - 66 AB, .242/.282/.364 (.645), 0 HR, 4/16 BB/K
Season - 178 AB, .264/.302/.343 (.645), 1 HR, 11/33 BB/K, 2 SB

Not very encouraging coming off the .851 OPS May, but I think we realize at this point Hayes isn't going to be a huge bat. Ideally, he can sit in AAA for the next year or two and develop his bat into a .250/.300/.350+ kind of guy that hits lefties harder than righties (.793 OPS vs LHP this year). With his defense, that would make him a solid backup. But like to see some more hits.

Jai Miller
June - 93 AB, .323/.369/.570 (.939), 3 HR, 7/20 BB/K, 2/1 SB
Season - 161 AB, .292/.361/.484 (.845), 4 HR, 18/42 BB/K, 5/3 SB

So Jai had a pretty good month, and his season looks alright. However, he has a sub .700 OPS versus RHP and a 1.300+ OPS versus LHP this year. Can't feel very confident about him turning into a bench outfielder if this is how he's going to play.

JACKSONVILLE (AA)

Mike Stanton
June - 84 AB, .214/.302/.369 (.671), 3 HR, 9/27 BB/K, 0/1 SB
Jupiter A+ - 180 AB, .294/.390/.578 (.968), 12 HR, 28/45 BB/K, 2/2 SB

The fact he is in AA at his age is ridiculous so an initial learning curve is expected. It's nice to see the BB rate, and a little bit of power. Just have to wait and see how long it takes him to figure it out. It may take awhile, but even if he's in AA the rest of this year and next, he's still way ahead of schedule.

Logan Morrison
June - 68 AB, .217/.325/.319 (.644), 1 HR, 11/9 BB/K, 1 SB
Season - 75 AB, .227/.348/.387 (.735), 2 HR, 14/10 BB/K, 1/1 SB

Back from injury, getting his timing back. It's nice to see the BB/K so he's still seeing the ball well. As with Stanton, just a matter of time. I'm expecting a big rest of the year.

Scott Cousins
June - 96 AB, .313/.383/.521 (.904), 3 HR, 10/13 BB/K, 6/3 SB
Season - 270 AB, .256/.325/.419 (.743), 7 HR, 26/57 BB/K, 16/5 SB

Welcome back Cousins. That was a very nice 300 OPS jump from your May total. Love the BB/K and huge huge decrease in strikeouts, and the average is fantastic. Your season line is still subpar, but we'll overlook it if perform well in July. It's also important to remember Cousins is left handed, and a plus defender. So he can become a pretty significant prospect if he starts to figure it out.

Bryan Petersen
June - 96 AB, .313/.367/.406 (.773), 1 HR, 9/17 BB/K, 0/3 SB
Season - 258 AB, .287/.362/.372 (.734), 2 HR, 32/51 BB/K, 10/5

Slightly better than what he's been doing all year. I ask again, where is the slugging! Last year, Petersen had a .477 slugging between three levels, and a .486 in AA Carolina. Where is the slugging! The average is good. The walks are nice. The strikeouts are borderline acceptable, but can we get some HR? You hit 23 last year in 488 AB. You have 2 to 258. What gives? Here's to hitting some XBH in the second half.

JUPITER (A+)

Matt Dominguez (who is very lonely)
June - 95 AB, .295/.352/.474 (.826), 3 HR, 9/14 BB/K, 1 SB
Season - 271 AB, .247/.305/.365 (.671), 5 HR, 21/51 BB/K, 1 SB

As with Cousins, Dominguez finally decided to show up. You can see the dramatic BB/K improvement, average, power, everything. This is the guy we drafted in the first round. Let's see him keep it up as he's the only hope for 3B in the organization (not including Gaby, but I don't think anyone sees him there longterm).

GREENSBORO (A)

Isaac Galloway
June - 41 AB, .293/.340/.463 (.804), 1 HR, 3/12 BB/K, 2/2 SB
Season - 118 AB, .288/.331/.449 (.780), 2 HR, 8/32 BB/K, 8/4 SB

He's back from injury and seemingly picking up where he left off. It's a smaller sample size than everybody else so far, but I'd like to see improvements with the BB/K here on out. Love the average, as he's really raw, but just have to work with the plate discipline with the younger hitters. At this point, you can chalk this up to a big win for the Marlins to be able to sign him, and that he is doing pretty good in his first professional season.

Jake Smolinski
June - 77 AB, .299/.449/.468 (.917), 3 HR, 20/16 BB/K, 2/3 SB
Season - 142 AB, .261/.375/.444 (.819), 24/25 BB/K, 2/3 SB

Jake is playing 2B/3B, and you can consider him a younger Coghlan. He's everything as advertised. Advanced plate recognition for his age, excellent average, a little bit of pop which Greensboro is surely helping. I like him a lot and am excited to track him the next few years.

Kyle Skipworth
June - 67 AB, .254/.315/.328 (.643), 0 HR, 5/21 BB/K, 0/1 SB
Season - 189 AB, .201/.259/.328 (.587), 4 HR, 14/71 BB/K, 1/1 SB

I'm so glad we drafted him. It's sad to even say this, but his June line is up 200 OPS points from May. Look at the strikeouts. I want to punch something. Also looking for a positives, he simply cannot hit left handers at this stage of his career, and his season line moves up a bit against right handers. There is a lot of hope longterm. We're just not seeing any of it right now.

JAMESTOWN (A-)

These guys just started so there isn't much. We have two big international signings here.

Jose Ceballos
Season - 23 AB, .217/.250/.261 (.511), 0 HR, 0/5 BB/K

He is a catcher, and ideally Skipworth and him each level and in 2013 we have two excellent young MLB ready catchers. Still a long long way to go.

Jose Torres
Season - 20 AB, .100/.095/.100 (.195), 0 HR, 0/5 BB/K, 0/1 SB

I feel silly even typing that line, but he is a SS from Venezuela. He wanted to play next to Miguel Cabrera in 5 years. Whoops. But he is definitely one to watch.

GCL MARLINS (R)

It's hard to judge if anyone is interesting here, especially since our top two picks in the draft are pitchers, but

Marquise Cooper
Season 22 AB, .136/.174/.136 (.310), 0 HR, 1/7 BB/K,1/7 BB/k, 1/1 SB

Our third round pick, and is a speedy low-power OF prospect. Welcome to baseball. Now get some hits.

A look at the top 50 thus far: Hitters Edition

1. Cameron Maybin - Majors
Struggling a bit in the majors while batting 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, and 8th in the lineup. Cam is striking out alot and not hitting for much power, but he does have 4 walks his last 13 plate appearances (only 4 walks on the year).

2. Logan Morrison - Jacksonville
Fractured his thumb, out up to 2 months

3. Michael Stanton - Jupiter
Hitting .417/.488/.750 in 36 at bats in High-A. Has now homered in 3 straight games. 5BB 11k

4. Matt Dominguez - Jupiter
The other half of the Bash Bros, started off slowly with the Hammerheads, but is now hitting .270/.317/.351 in 37 at bats. No homeruns yet, but they'll come

5. Gaby Sanchez - New Orleans
Lost out on the 1B job with the Marlins after a horrid spring training effort, now settling in nicely in NOLA, hitting .348/.367/.435 in 46 at bats. Not showing much power, something that has always been a bit of a concern for him. Also, just 2 walks at this point is a bit shocking.

6. Chris Coghlan - New Orleans
Off to a slow start in NOLA, hitting just .233/.298/.326. He's been playing both 2B and 3B with the Zephyrs.

7. Kyle Skipworth - Jupiter
In the SALLY, Skip is hitting just .226/.273/.419 in 31 at bats. He does have 4XBH but just 2 walks to 12 strikeouts

8. Scott Cousins - Jacksonville
Has not adjusted well to AA pitching yet, but he started out slowly in Jupiter last year too. In 34 at bats, Scotty is hitting .176/.275/.206 with 1XBH, 4 walks and 13 strikeouts.

9. Jake Smolinski - Jupiter
Had knee surgery last year, should return sometime in late June/early July (maybe sooner)

10. Isaac Galloway - Greensboro
The surprise signing from last year is off to a strong start in the hitting heaven that is Greensboro, hitting .333/.333/.485 with 3 doubles and a triple. No walks yet, but he has stolen 4 bases without being caught

11. Bryan Petersen - Jacksonville
The former UC Irvine star is tearing up the Southern League, hitting .333/.390/.500 in 36 at bats. He has a double, triple and a homerun, to go along with 3sb (0cs)

12. John Raynor - New Orleans
It's still way early but is this where the ride ends for JR? He's hitting just .250/.302/.300 in 40 at bats with the Zephyrs. He has shown 0 power, no discipline (3 walks, 10k) and has been caught stealing 3 times (0sb)

13. Thomas Hickman - Jupiter
Jeremy Hermida 2.0 (although with each passing day this comparison keeps getting sillier) is just 2 for his first 27 to start the year (.074) with 1hr 12 strikeouts and 0 walks.

14. Greg Burns - Jupiter
He's hitting just .222/.382/.222 in 27 at bats so far with the Hammerheads. No one has questioned his ability to walk, but his lack of hitting and 0 power could be his downfall.

15. Jai Miller - New Orleans
Repeating the PCL, Jai is off to a .229/.341/.371 start with the Zephyrs. He's gotta start showing some more power, but considering he's on the 40 man roster, he'll be one of the first up to the big club if an outfielder goes down with injury.

16. Paul Gran - Greensboro
The ultimate utility man is hitting .325/.341/.425 in his first 40 Greensboro at bats.

17. Torre Langley - Greensboro
Now backing up Kyle Skipworth, he hasn't shown much of anything over the past few years. Not much to get excited over right now

18. Brett Hayes - New Orleans
Had a nice 100+ at bats in the PCL last year, but is off to a .194/.265/.194 with 0XBH, 3bb and 5 strikeouts

19. Jose Ceballos - Extended Spring Training
No stats on him at this point. Prob open up at Jamestown

20. Ryan Anetsberger -
Released last week

Blast from the Past
Mike Ryan -OF - Former Minnesota Twins outfielder is OPSing .864 in 37 at bats in NOLA.

Did we overlook someone?
Manuel Mayorson - SS - He's hitting the crap out of the ball in NOLA (.364/.391/.44) and he did hit .319 in Carolina last year. Could be a nice utility guy