Jon Kemmer - May 2015
Photo by Jayne Hansen
Photo by Jayne Hansen
Before I give you my Player of the Month, let's just look at what I had to chose from. This was a difficult prospect this month! In no particular order, these were some of the players under consideration:
1B A.J. Reed (Corpus Christi)
.369/.424/.577 in 28 games
8-2B 5HR 21RBI
1B/3B Tyler White (Fresno)
.375/.500/.594 in 27 games
7-2B 1-3B 4HR 32RBI
SS Alex Bregman (Lancaster)
.377/.426/.553 in 26 games
6-2B 4-3B 2HR 20RBI 8SB
2B Mott Hyde (Lancaster)
.395/.486/.581 in 25 games
11-2B 1-3B 1HR 17RBI 1SB
1B/3B Matt Duffy (Fresno)
.317/.412/.564 in 27 games
8-2B 1-3B 5HR 28RBI 3SB
1B Bryan Muniz (Quad Cities)
.310/.442/.512 in 24 games
8-2B 3HR 18RBI 1SB
OF Ronnie Mitchell (Lancaster)
.340/.369/.602 in 26 games
6-2B 6-3B 3HR 26RBI
IF Nicolas Miranda (DSL Orange)
.403/.461/.448 in 18 games
1-2B 1-3B 8RBI 2SB
OF James Ramsay (Lancaster)
.373/.441/.534 in 28 games
8-2B 1-3B 3HR 24RBI 8SB
OF/2B Juan Fuentes (DSL)
.377/.492/.566 in 16 games
5-2B 1-3B 1HR 8RBI 6SB
OF Johnny Sewald (Tri-City)
.340/.451/.404 in 26 games
6-2B 12RBI 11SB
OF Sean McMullen (Lancaster)
.333/.440/.571 in 17 games
6-2B 3-3B 1HR 11RBI 3SB
I was also wowed with 1B Chase McDonald's .680 slugging percentage for the month. He hit five doubles, one triple and 12 home runs in 25 games in August! And, although C Brian Holberton just came off the DL a few days ago and only played in six games in August, he was on fire, hitting .545/.538/1.000 in those games.
But when it came right down to it, the two players who rose to the top for me were Lancaster 3B J.D. Davis and Corpus Christi OF Jon Kemmer. J.D. Davis had a simply astounding run of it in August. He hit .382/.466/.842 with five doubles, 10 home runs, 27 RBI and one stolen base in 19 games. But he missed 10 days on the DL and, since he didn't have to sustain those numbers for as long a period, I instead went with Kemmer. Kemmer hit .373/.458/.676 with 13 doubles, three triples, four home runs 20 RBI and five stolen bases in 27 games in August. He also did a terrific job limiting the strikeouts and collected 13 walks to 13 strikeouts and ended the month on a 10-game hitting streak. Really very impressive job from Kemmer, my Player of the Month for August.
PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Dean Deetz (2nd from left) - August 2015
Photo by Jayne Hansen
RHP Dean Deetz (Quad Cities)
Dean Deetz simply took things to a different level in August. In five starts in August, Deetz was 4-1 with a 0.33 ERA and a 0.704 WHIP in his 27 innings of work. He walked nine batters and struck out 22. And he held those batters to a very, very stingy .106/.184/.128 batting line. On August 24th, he pitched seven no-hit innings before being removed from the game (the game was ultimately a one-hitter). As a result of that start, he was named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week earlier this week.
Runners-Up
RHP Michael Feliz (Corpus Christi)
Feliz went 1-1 with a 0.87 ERA and a 0.903 WHIP in five starts (31 innings), walked nine batters while striking out 33, and held batters to a .176/.239/.222 batting line.
RHP Justin Ferrell (Quad Cities)
Ferrell is currently on the DL, but before he got there, he went 2-1 with a 0.70 ERA and a 0.935 WHIP in his four starts (25.2 innings). He walked nine, struck out 23 and held batters to a .174/.260/.244 line.
RHP Edgardo Sandoval (GCL/Greeneville)
The (barely) 19-year old Sandoval also impressed in August. He was 1-0 with a 0.86 ERA and a 0.810 WHIP in five appearances (three starts). In 21 innings of work, he allowed six walks while striking out 21. Batters hit .155/.221/.211 against him.
Mike Freeman (from MiLB.com)
LHP Michael Freeman (Quad Cities/Lancaster)
Freeman was lights out in August, allowing only four hits and one earned run in 17.2 innings of work despite making five of his seven appearances at the hitter-friendly Lancaster home ballpark. He was 1-0 with two saves, a 0.51 ER and a 0.566 WHIP during the month, walking six batters while striking out 20. Hitters only managed .071/.161/.125 against him.
Runner-Up
RHP Jordan Jankowski (Fresno)
Equally deserving was Jankowski who was 3-0 with two saves in 10 appearances. Jankowski did not allow a run, earned or otherwise, in 12 innings of work and ended the month with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.833 WHIP. He walked four batters and struck out 19, holding them to a .150/.244/150 batting line.
Honorable mention goes to Samil de los Santos (Greeneville), Jacob Dorris (Tri-City/Quad Cities), Diosward Gonzalez (DSL), Tyson Perez (Fresno), Eric Peterson (Quad Cities), Joselo Pinales (Greeneville), Scott Weathersby (Tri-City) and James Hoyt (Fresno).
C Jamie Ritchie (Lancaster)
Ritchie is a repeat winner, having won this honor in July as well. In 21 games in August (19 behind the plate), he hit .338/.430/.486 with seven doubles, two triples, five RBI and two stolen bases. He walked 10 times while striking out 14 times and has boasted a 30% caught stealing rate since his mid-July promotion to Lancaster.
Photo by Jayne Hansen
April Players of the Month:
SS Carlos Correa
RHP Chris Devenski
RHP Ryan Thompson
C Tyler Heineman
May Players of the Month:
OF Derek Fisher
RHP Chris Devenski
RHP Travis Ballew
C Jacob Nottingham
1B A.J. Reed
RHP Francis Martes
RHP Angel Heredia
C Alfredo Gonzales
July Players of the Month
1B A.J. Reed
RHP David Paulino
RHP Jandel Gustave
C Jamie Ritchie
July Players of the Month
1B A.J. Reed
RHP David Paulino
RHP Jandel Gustave
C Jamie Ritchie
Seems like an oversight not to at least honorably mention Steve Naemark for relief pitcher of the month. 40th round pick already up to A+, opponents batting just .170 against him, and has only a 1.35 ERA. Most of that in the past month alone. I think he's done well.
ReplyDelete