Checking in on RHP James Hoyt

RHP James Hoyt is having a nice spring for himself as he looks to impress A.J. Hinch and company. He currently has a 1.69 ERA and 1.125 WHIP and has held batters to a .105 batting average in his five appearances out of the bullpen. Here is what I wrote about him in the 2016 Houston Farm System Handbook:

RHP James Hoyt

• B/T: R/R
• H/W: 6’5” 220#
• Born: 9/30/86 in Boise, Idaho
• Age on 4/1/16: 29
• Acquisition: Obtained, along with C Evan Gattis, in a January 2015 trade that sent 3B Rio Ruiz, RHP Mike Foltynewicz and RHP Andrew Thurman to the Braves; originally signed by the Braves in November 2012
• 2014: 5th Season (3rd in affiliated ball); Fresno (AAA); missed approximately one month from mid-May to mid-June

BASIC PITCHING INFO
Year	Level	W-L	IP	G	GS	SV
2013	A+/AA	3-3	82.1	39	3	1
2014	AA/AAA	3-3	59.2	52	0	7
2015	AAA	0-1	49.0	47	0	9
All	-	6-7	191.0	138	3	17

BASIC STATS PLUS FIP AND BABIP
Year	Level	IP	ERA	FIP	WHIP	AVG	BABIP
2013	A+	49.2	4.89	2.81	1.289	.213	.321
2013	AA	32.2	2.48	2.58	0.918	.147	.195
2014	AA	31.2	1.14	1.83	0.916	.170	.261
2014	AAA	28.0	5.46	4.50	1.857	.314	.400
2015	AAA	49.0	3.49	2.02	1.204	.246	.362
All	-	191.0	3.58	-	1.225	-	-

BB, SO AND HR STATS
Year	BB/9	SO/9	HR	HRR	HR/9
2013	4.2	11.5	4	8	0.4
2014	3.6	11.6	5	5	0.8
2015	2.0	12.1	1	1	0.2
All	3.4	11.7	10	14	0.5

Additional 2015 Stats:

• SO%: 44.9 (58 SOS; 8 SOL)
• P/S%: 66.5
• BQS%: 45.5 (5 of 11)
• IRS%: 42.9 (3 of 7)
• SB%: 100 (7 of 7)
• PO: 0
• DP: 0
• E: 0
• High GS: N/A

Hoyt’s Baseball-Reference Page for complete stats

Awards/Honors/Rankings:

• Ranked #30 in the Braves system by Baseball America going in to the 2014 season
• 2014 Southern League Midseason All-Star
• Astros July 2015 Fresno Pitcher of the Month
• Ranked #27 in the Astros system going in to the 2016 season

Postseason Stats:

2015 Fresno (Pacific Coast League): 0-0 with 3 saves, a 1.08 ERA and a 0.600 WHIP in 7 games (8.1IP)

2015 Fall/Winter League Stats:

Venezuelan Winter League: 1.86 ERA and 1.035 WHIP in 19 games (19.1IP)

Narrative:

Hoyt has an interesting back story (see link below) and didn’t even start playing affiliated baseball until he was 26 years old. He spent his third affiliated season playing for the Astros AAA Fresno Grizzlies affiliate, a team that won both the Pacific Coast League Championship and the AAA National Championship, and had a very good season, compiling a 3.48 ERA and a 1.204 WHIP with 9 saves in 47 appearances. However, after spending almost a month on the disabled list from mid-May to mid-June, Hoyt really kicked it into gear. Following that DL stint, he had a 1.56 ERA and a 0.837 WHIP in his final 33 regular season games.

Hoyt works off of a mid-90’s fastball coupled with a hard slider, but toward the end of the season, he started working on adding a splitter to the mix. He refined that pitch in his excellent winter ball stint in Venezuela and credits it with much of his success. Hoyt had the highest strikeout per nine inning rate of all qualified pitchers in the Astros system in 2015 and the second lowest FIP.

With the addition of the splitter to his already impressive arsenal, Hoyt will likely get the opportunity to help out in the Minute Maid Park bullpen at some point in 2016.

Extras:

• A December 2015 interview with Hoyt
• More photos of Hoyt

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For information on 272 additional players in the Astros system, get your copy of the 2016 Farm System Handbook today! It is compatible with Android and IOS and can be downloaded to your desktop, laptop, tablet and smart phone, or you can just read it in the cloud! Click below for a super-sized preview.