April/May Round Up: Jupiter Hammerheads

Time to move to Jupiter, where we have a few interesting SP prospects and a lot, lot, lot of under-performing hitters.

A reminder that all numbers for hitters are park adjusted (but not pitchers).  What this also means is that, on a monthly basis, applying park factors won’t change much of the stats because of how small they are.  But it will change the yearly stats because they are a larger sample.  This is why you’ll see things like Logan Morrison’s season BABIP being higher than both his April and May BABIP.

And some misc JUP news: The Jupiter Hammerheads have a team OPS of .596.  I think that says enough about how putrid the offense is.  Paul Gran leads the team with a .709 OPS .  Only 3 others with at least 100 PA are over .600 OPS.  Wow.

Jake Smolinski

I spent a good deal of the offseason hyping up Smolinski, and he’s promptly laid an egg.  The drop in power is really bad, but the main concern is the massive drop in walks and raise in strike outs.  And things aren’t getting better, as he walked just 2% (!) of the time in May.  Hopefully whatever is wrong with him fixes itself soon, because he was looking like a very valuable bat after last season.

Isaac Galloway

On the plus side, Galloway’s strike out rates have gone from being bad last year to being about average this year.  On the negative side, there’s everything else.  He’s still not walking, he’s still not hitter for power, and now his BABIP has completely bottomed out.  He’s still young and still has all the “tools” but production has to come very soon from him.

Thomas Hickman

Hickman has only recent come back from injury, and things have more or less been the same: Still a ton of strike outs, and still a ton of power.  His power still makes him intriguing, but his strike out rates still make him a huge risk.

Jhan Marinez

Say “Hello” to the Carlos Marmol of the Florida State League.  You hate to see that high amount of fly balls, and the poor control is concerning.  But a 43.4% strike out rate is just absolutely obscene, and leads to a 2.43 xFIP even with the fly balls and walks.  There’s a lot to like about this kid as a future piece in our bullpen.

Brad Hand

There’s also a ton to like about Brad Hand.  His ERA isn’t impressive, which might lower his stock in some eyes, but that’s powered by a massive .396 BABIP against.  Meanwhile, he’s striking out a lot of batters, he’s not walking a lot of batters, and he’s getting a lot of ground balls.  Having a left hander who gets strike outs and ground balls is big.  He’s still certainly a couple years away from the majors, but he should become a fixture in our rotation down the road.

Kyle Kaminska

Can’t say the same for Kaminska as you can the other two pitchers though.  The main concern is the massive fly balls, but then you also have to tack on the fact that his strike out rates took a big drop for the second strait season.