Marcell Ozuna (OF-Miami)
Marcell Ozuna broke out of a 0-13 slump with a hit in 2 official AB's and two walks. In his 2nd year with the big club, Ozuna has displayed the power and the inconsistency that made him a bat to watch in the Miami system. He continues to strike out at a 27% rate but his walk rate is up to 7.4% which is a marked improvement over last year. He has shown his power with 12 HR's on the season. Ozuna possesses superior batted ball speed of 104.9 mph with almost 400 feet as his average distance on HR's which puts him in Evan Gattis territory. He is a good power bookend to the incomparable Giancarlo Stanton. His Achilles heel is his poor contact rate of 67% which he will have to improve on at some point in 2014 if he is to have any chance of batting above the .261 number that he has produced so far this year. There is hope in this regard since he was at 75% last season. But with a player with his athletic ability, and still only 23 years old, I would bet that his contact rate will improve again as he gets more seasoning. He is a player worth investing in and could ultimately be one of the better young sluggers in the game.
Adam Wainwright (SP St Louis)
Another brilliant performance by Adam Wainwright today as he picked up his 10th win on 8 innings of 1 run baseball giving up 6 hits and striking out 7. Wainwright sports a great 2.08 ERA on the season. His velocity has dropped almost one mph and sits at just over 90 mph and his swinging strike rate of 8.8 is nearer his career average down from his career high of 9.6% last year. This drop would be troublesome for a lesser pitcher but Wainwright seems to be plugging along at his usual consistent pace. With a pitcher this good, like Clayton Kershaw, his total command of his environment seems to defy any change in underlying peripherals. His xFIP, lower Swinging Strike rate, diminished GB%, loss of velocity, and very lucky BABIP would all point to a marked change in his expected performance this year. So, my guess is that he will produce just around the stats that he did last year despite everything pointing to the contrary.
Billy Hamilton (OF-Cinn)
Billy Hamilton is slowly inching his way closer to SB leader Dee Gordon as he stole his 31st base in today's game. After a very poor start to the year, Hamilton is starting to bring all his numbers up. Of particular importance to his owners he has a .309 OBP that is a vast improvement over where he was only some weeks ago. If Hamilton can get on base, he is a force to be reckoned with on the base paths. The very good news is that Hamilton is now making contact at an 85% rate that is above the league average. It should be no surprise that with his speed he has a 13% IFH rate. His current .273 BA is well supported by a very good 23.1% LD rate. We would like to see him get on base more via the walk, but as a young player I suspect that will improve over time as his K% is a reasonable 17%. Hamilton should overtake Gordon as the year moves on, and I think he will fulfill the promise that we felt when he burst onto the scene last year with 13 SB's in just 13 games.
Wily Peralta (SP- MIL)
Wily Peralta completed a very tough assignment beating a great hitting Colorado team in their ballpark. He pitched 7.2 innings of 4 run ball, 3 earned, and gave up 8 hits to pick up his 8th win. Peralta is one of those tantalizing talents that seem to surge and then regress which is of course frustrating to his owners. Nothing wrong with his 3.02 ERA and an 8-5 record, but his xFIP is a half a run higher so some regression will likely occur. I guess this is to be expected of a pitcher who is barely 25 years old. Considering that he has one of the truly outstanding fastballs in the game, his 6.51 K/9 rate is not where you would expect it to be even with a swinging strike rate above league average. The reason for this is that his slider and change have not improved at all over last year although he has been more effective in spotting his considerable fastball. Until there is some more improvement in his secondary pitches we will not see the breakout that some, including myself, had predicted. But as we know with young pitchers once the light does come on, and it can happen at any time, Peralta will be terrific.
Devin Mesoraco (C-Cinn)
Devin Mesoraco continued his assault on Toronto pitching and pitchers in general hitting his 3nd HR in as many games and driving in 3. I had pointed to Mesoraco early in the year as having the potential for a Jason Castro like breakout this season and he has not disappointed. He is batting .310 with 12 HR and 34 RBI's in only 159 PA's. We have established that Mesoraco is definitely a streaky hitter subject to great surges of production and significant droughts. But who can argue with a .317 ISO and a .628 Slugging percentage. Mesoraco is also a career 79% contact hitter although he is sitting at a lower % so far this year. Sure he strikes out too much, but when the kid makes contact the ball goes a long way. He is a dead pull hitter and he plays in a very good park. His 26.8% HR/FB rate will not be sustained, but if you are looking for a catcher that will be a strong power producer for years to come you need to look no further than Mesoraco.
@stevietheshu
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