Friday, January 29, 2016

AROUND THE LEAGUE 1-29-16

We are a little over a week into the season now and I want to take a look at some things around the league that may be of interest. Usually this is the time of the season that teams will promote their future stars to the big leagues. After game 20 teams save a year of arbitration so this is the perfect time to do it. I'll list some key promotions that have taken place, some key injuries and also some notes about stats.


PROMOTIONS
Pedro Contreras- Jacksonville Juice
Contreras is a left fielder/1b type player that has solid power and a great batting eye. He will hit good against left handed pitchers, but is likely to struggle against righties. He was drafted by Jacksonville with the 17th pick overall in the season 31 draft. He still has some room to grow, but he's close to reaching his potential at this point.

Karim Ontiveros- Jacksonville Juice
Ontiveros is a centerfielder with decent range and glove. At the plate he make good contact and has good power. His batting eye and ability to hit are not very good. He won't have a high batting average or OBP, put he should be able to put the ball in play and provide some pop. Ontiveros was signed as an IFA by Jacksonville in season 29. He has likely reached his potential.

Santo Baez-Louisville ARF ARF ARF ARF's
Santo is a left fielder with a good bat. He won't put up great numbers, but Baez should be a nice addition to the lineup. With decent contact, power and batting eye, he should provide some good numbers. He was signed as an IFA by Louisville in season 29 and probably will not grow much more.

Jarrod Henley-Seattle Strikers
Henley is a shortstop/2b/centerfielder. He has great range and great arm strength for any position. He has a solid glove for shortstop, but he'd be a great 2B. Offensively he has great contact and average power. His batting eye is bad and he won't hit for even a decent average. Henley was a 2nd round 63rd overall selection by Wichita in the season 28 draft. He has pretty much reached his potential.


Other notable callups-
Dustan Fletcher-El Paso Walkers
Tyrone Milligan-Colorado Wildcats
Paulie Sparks-Seattle Strikers
Vin Gray-Oklahoma City Prairie Dogs
Slick Maurer-Durham Doormats


KEY INJURIES
Pedro Sanchez-Colorado Wildcats
Dave Coleman-San Juan Marichals


CONTRACT EXTENSIONS
Aurelio Ozuna-Salem Volcanoes
Hades Phillips-El Paso Walkers
Willie Fisher-El Paso Walkers



INTERNATIONAL SIGNINGS
Naoki Martin-Tampa Bay Thunder
Martin has been the highest paid IFA so far. He projects to be a centerfielder with great range and really good glove and a solid bat with speed. I think he's a bit overpaid, but the market decides that and so far he's one of the best to come through.

Pedro Mota-St Louis Miracles
Mota projects as a good starting pitcher. I think he was a steal in the IFA market for the Miracles. His potential to me looks like a 3 starter and possibly a 2. He has good split projections, decent control and 3 average pitches.

Vic Torcato-Colorado Springs Iron Horseman
This was a nice signing, but not great. The value was good, but he's not a future star. He should have average power, decent splits, but his batting eye worries me a bit. He has a great glove, but his range doesn't project very high. With a solid arm I think he will end up as a third baseman or right fielder.


OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE
Dante Pong-Durham Doormats
Through 25 games, Pong has hit 13 homers to lead the league and is hitting for a .302 average, .343 obp and .750 slugging.

Michael Pena-Salem Volcanoes
Pena is on fire, hitting a .389 to lead Pine Tar, and has a .436 obp and .741 slugging. He's also added 12 doubles, 8 homers, and 13 steals.

Benny Villano-El Paso Walkers
Villano leads the league in opponent average with a .124, is second in ERA with a 1.36 and leads in WHIP with a .73 while adding 3 wins in 6 starts.

Apollo Fletcher-Seattle Strikers
Fletcher leads the league in saves with 10 in 10 tries and has a .90 WHIP, and 1.80 ERA in 10 games.

Chan Won-Houston Roughnecks
Won leads the league in pinch hits with 13 already and has done that in 21 at bats while also hitting 3 pinch hit homeruns.



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