Daily Notes: Getting Intimate w/ the American Assoc.
Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.
1. Final SCOUT Leaderboards: Indepedent American Association
2. Mostly Relevant Video: Brian Myrow Doubling in 2008
3. Today’s Playoff Games
Final SCOUT Leaderboards: Indepedent American Association
Regarding What Happened Recently
What happened recently is the author, having noted a news story regarding the final game of the independent Atlantic League’s championship series, endeavored to publish SCOUT hitting and pitching leaderboards for that same league.
Regarding What Happened Even More Recently
A thing that happened even more recently is the author, in preparing the aforementioned SCOUT leaderboards for the Atlantic League, was reminded about how there are, like, six or whatever other indepedent leagues — information for all of which the FanGraphs readership would undoubtedly be clamoring.
Regarding What’s Happening Right Now
What’s happening right now is — for the benefit of the clamoring readership — is the author is presenting SCOUT hitting and pitching leaderboards for the independent American Association, which ended in mid-September (championship box score). Click here for a full list of teams and standings.
Regarding What Is SCOUT
SCOUT is a metric calculated using regressed defense-indepedent numbers (walks, strikeouts, and — for hitters — home runs). The offensive version is SCOUT+, where 100 is league average and above 100 is above average. Its pitching counterpart is SCOUT-, where 100 is league average and below 100 represents above-average run prevention. (Read more here, if you’re even interested.)
Regarding SCOUT, One of Its Benefits
A benefit of SCOUT is it allows one to compare the relative performances of players with markedly different sample sizes and/or batted-ball luck.
SCOUT Leaderboard: American Association Hitters
Here are the top-10 batters of the independent American Association, as determined by the methodology explained above:
| Player | Team | Pos | Age | PA | xHR% | xBB% | xK% | SCOUT+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C.J. Ziegler | WI | 1B | 26 | 260 | 6.2% | 13.1% | 14.2% | 171 |
| Chris McMurray | GP/LN | C | 25 | 324 | 5.6% | 9.9% | 13.3% | 155 |
| Eric Campbell | FM | 3B | 25 | 243 | 4.7% | 10.3% | 10.7% | 151 |
| Brian Myrow | GP | CIF | 35 | 398 | 3.0% | 18.8% | 18.1% | 142 |
| Ole Sheldon | SP | 1B | 29 | 425 | 4.7% | 7.3% | 12.0% | 140 |
| John Rodriguez | WI | DH | 34 | 425 | 3.8% | 9.2% | 10.4% | 138 |
| Trent Lockwood | GP | RF/1B | 26 | 403 | 3.7% | 14.1% | 18.1% | 137 |
| David Espinosa | LN | 2B | 30 | 313 | 2.2% | 16.6% | 14.1% | 134 |
| Ryan Delgado | FM | C | 24 | 399 | 5.0% | 6.5% | 16.8% | 132 |
| Devin Goodwin | KC | SS/3B/2B | 25 | 385 | 4.7% | 8.6% | 18.7% | 130 |
SCOUT Leaderboard: American Association Pitchers (Overall)
Here are the top-10 pitchers of the independent American Association, as determined by the methodology explained above:
| Player | Team | Age | IP | TBF | xK% | xBB% | SCOUT- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Benacka | LL | 29 | 52.2 | 225 | 41.0% | 11.2% | 43 |
| Matt Nevarez | WI | 25 | 26.1 | 106 | 34.6% | 8.6% | 53 |
| Chaz Roe | LL | 25 | 55.0 | 219 | 31.5% | 6.2% | 55 |
| Steve Kent | KC | 33 | 47.1 | 203 | 33.0% | 8.3% | 56 |
| Tom Boleska | FM | 25 | 46.0 | 186 | 31.2% | 7.5% | 59 |
| P.J. Zocchi | LN | 27 | 41.0 | 184 | 29.9% | 8.2% | 64 |
| Edwin Walker | LL | 28 | 45.2 | 194 | 29.4% | 9.2% | 68 |
| Brian Beuning | WP | 31 | 63.1 | 232 | 27.6% | 7.3% | 68 |
| Justin Dowdy | GP | 28 | 31.2 | 130 | 28.2% | 10.1% | 73 |
| Kyle Mertins | SF | 24 | 54.0 | 212 | 25.5% | 7.6% | 74 |
SCOUT Leaderboard: American Association Pitchers (Starters)
Here are the top-10 pitchers in the independent American Association who made at least half of their appearances as starts — again, as determined by the methodology explained above:
| Player | Team | Age | IP | TBF | xK% | xBB% | SCOUT- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fabian Williamson | WP | 23 | 39.2 | 170 | 24.2% | 8.8% | 80 |
| Matt Rusch | WP | 29 | 139.0 | 565 | 20.0% | 5.5% | 83 |
| Tyler Herron | FM | 25 | 123.0 | 512 | 20.5% | 6.0% | 83 |
| Lance Janke | GP | 25 | 19.1 | 89 | 22.4% | 8.7% | 85 |
| Brian Grening | KC | 27 | 146.1 | 617 | 18.3% | 4.9% | 85 |
| Ryan Sheldon | LN | 26 | 121.0 | 535 | 20.2% | 7.3% | 87 |
| Justin Garcia | AM | 25 | 135.1 | 581 | 17.4% | 4.8% | 88 |
| Nick Singleton | EP | 29 | 42.1 | 188 | 18.6% | 6.9% | 90 |
| Tommy Palica | LN | 24 | 70.1 | 341 | 19.9% | 8.6% | 91 |
| Reymond Cruz | EP/GP | 28 | 85.0 | 376 | 18.4% | 7.2% | 91 |
Three Notable Performances
• C.J. Ziegler is a giant (6-5, 245) first base-type drafted in the 16th round out of the University of Arizona by San Francisco in 2008. He was released before the 2010 season after showing only fair offensive numbers relative both to his age for the level and defensive position. As an indy leaguer, he’s exhibited a pretty excellent combination of power and control of the plate.
• I, personally, saw a 31-year-old Brian Myrow hit the pants off the ball at Triple-A Portland (Ore.) in 2008, en route to an offensive line of .314/.451/.500 (.367 BABIP), 19.4% BB, 17.3% K in 417 plate appearances. Why or how the ball was wearing comfortable men’s slacks remains a mystery.
• At 23, left-hander Fabian Williamson is actually the age of many real-live prospects. Also, in posting the league’s top line among starters in just 39.2 innings (where the pull of regression is stronger), Williamson has done something notable there, as well. Drafted in the 22nd round by Seattle in 2006 out of a California high school, Williamson has actually spent time in four major-league organizations, already — most recently with Atlanta’s Class A Sally League affiliate, Rome, where he wasn’t entirely impressive: 14 G, 8 GS, 50.1 IP, 6.44 K/9, 5.54 BB/9, 0.89 HR/9. Williamson was topping out at ca 94 mph as recently as 2011, according to Scout’s Jason Cole, with decided command issues, however.
Mostly Relevant Video: Brian Myrow Doubling in 2008
Here is Brian Myrow, among this year’s top American Association hitters, doubling for the Portland Beavers on what appears to have been a miserable night in 2008:
Today’s Playoff Games
ALDS, Game 5 (2-2 Tie) | Baltimore at New York | 17:00 ET on TBS
BAL: Jason Hammel (118.0 IP, 83 xFIP-, 2.9 WAR)
NYA: CC Sabathia (200.0 IP, 77 xFIP-, 4.8 WAR)
NLDS, Game 5 (2-2 Tie) | St. Louis at Washington | 20:30 ET on TBS
STL: Adam Wainwright (198.2 IP, 83 xFIP-, 4.4 WAR)
WAS: Gio Gonzalez (199.1 IP, 87 xFIP-, 5.4 WAR)
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
I work for a team in the AA. Would it be possible to get SCOUT leaderboards beyond the Top 10? or is that all you have? Thanks for the article.
Sir!
Feel free to email me here:
carson [dot] cistulli [at] fangraphs [dot] com