Future Shock

April Awards for Hitters

by Kevin Goldstein

For too long, it’s been one of the hidden gems on our website. I’m guessing many readers had no idea that we have minor league stats, including Davenport Translations and the usual BP metrics. It’s a wonderful tool for looking at the numbers and getting some balance, and to celebrate their more prominent new position on our statistics home page, let’s hand out some hardware with some BP Hitter of the Month awards using our own metric, Equivalent Runs.

International League

Hitter of the Month: Mike Hessman, Toledo (Tigers), 24 EQR
In the running: DeWayne Wise, Charlotte (White Sox), 23 EQR; Jeff Larish, Toledo (Tigers): 23 EQR

A 30-year-old in his 13^th pro season with a trio of big league callups in his past, Hessman does two things well--hit home runs and strike out. Last year he led the International League in both categories with 31 and 153 respectively, and this year he’s hitting .276/.333/.643 while once again leading the league in round-trippers with eight, while his 28 whiffs are just six short of the league lead. In another time, another organization, with more hype than the 15^th-round pick that he was, he might have been a Dean Palmer type.

Wise is another 30-year-old career type, but at least Larish is definitely a prospect. The former Arizona State star is batting .268/.360/.577, but at 25 he doesn’t offer much more projection than as a second-division first baseman who tries to make up for a low batting average with excellent secondary numbers.

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