Daily Notes, In Which Darin Ruf Figures Prominently

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.

1. SCOUT Leaderboards: Double-A Eastern League
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

SCOUT Leaderboards: Double-A Eastern League
Regarding What Is SCOUT, First of All
SCOUT is a (likely absurd, admittedly unnecessary) metric designed by the author to assess performance in those instances — like in a minor league, for example — where small samples are ubiquitous.

The Offensive Version of SCOUT, How It’s Calculated
The offensive version of SCOUT — represented as SCOUT+, where 100 is league average and above 100 is above average — is essentially a version of wRC+, except using the three main defense-independent metrics (home-run, walk, and strikeout rates), all regressed duly*, as the inputs.

*By the method outlined here.

The Pitching Version of SCOUT, How It’s Calculated
The pitching version of SCOUT — represented as SCOUT-, where 100 is league average and below 100 represents above-average run prevention — is calculated using a version of kwERA, with regressed strikeout and walk rates as the relevant inputs.

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 — to compare, for example, the performance of Pirates prospect Jameson Taillon (17.0 IP, 29.0% K, 1.6 % BB) to Yankees left-hander Vidal Nuno (114.0 IP, 21.5% K, 5.8% BB).

Regarding the Eastern League, Its Regular Season
The Eastern League’s regular season ended on September 3rd, it appears. As such, all following numbers are final for 2012.

Top Batters of the Eastern League (Overall)
Here are the top-10 batters of the Double-A Eastern League, as determined by the methodology explained above.

Player	Team	Age	PA	xHR%	xBB%	xK%	SCOUT+
Darin Ruf	Phillies (AA)	25	583	6.5%	11.1%	17.5%	166
Rhyne Hughes	Orioles (AA)	28	313	4.2%	13.1%	23.6%	132
Ryan Schimpf	Blue Jays (AA)	24	137	3.7%	14.2%	23.0%	131
Allan Dykstra	Mets (AA)	25	248	2.7%	20.6%	26.2%	131
Jared Goedert	Indians (AA)	27	145	2.7%	12.3%	14.0%	131
Juan Carlos Linares	Red Sox (AA)	27	238	3.1%	9.2%	12.6%	129
Deibinson Romero	Twins (AA)	25	548	3.5%	10.9%	17.7%	129
Zelous Wheeler	Orioles (AA)	25	389	3.3%	9.8%	16.2%	127
Reynaldo Rodriguez	Red Sox (AA)	26	367	4.4%	9.5%	22.1%	126
Luke Murton	Yankees (AA)	26	526	4.8%	8.4%	22.8%	126

Top Batters of the Eastern League (Aged 23 and Under)
Here are the top-10 batters of the Double-A Eastern League who might still, because of their age relative to the level, be considered prospects — again, as determined by the methodology explained above.

Player	Team	Age	PA	xHR%	xBB%	xK%	SCOUT+
Wilmer Flores	Mets (AA)	20	275	2.8%	7.3%	10.9%	124
Michael Mcdade	Blue Jays (AA)	23	429	3.5%	10.0%	19.8%	122
Cody Johnson	Yankees (AA)	23	253	5.6%	11.9%	35.6%	122
Manny Machado	Orioles (AA)	19	459	2.4%	10.5%	15.3%	119
Corban Joseph	Yankees (AA)	23	102	2.0%	11.7%	14.7%	119
Jackie Bradley	Red Sox (AA)	22	271	2.2%	12.9%	18.1%	119
Aaron Hicks	Twins (AA)	22	563	2.3%	13.9%	20.4%	118
John Tolisano	Blue Jays (AA)	23	497	2.4%	10.7%	16.5%	118
Andrew Lambo	Pirates (AA)	23	108	2.6%	10.9%	18.0%	118
Zoilo Almonte	Yankees (AA)	23	450	4.7%	5.6%	22.7%	117

Top Pitchers of the Eastern League (Overall)
Here are the top-10 pitchers of the Double-A Eastern League, as determined by the methodology explained above.

Player	Team	Age	IP	TBF	xK%	xBB%	SCOUT-
Pedro Viola	Orioles (AA)	29	32.1	128	36.1%	8.0%	47
Bryce Stowell	Indians (AA)	25	29.0	117	33.5%	8.3%	56
Brett Bochy	Giants (AA)	24	53.1	205	33.7%	8.6%	57
Mark Montgomery	Yankees (AA)	21	24.0	91	32.8%	8.2%	58
Kyler Newby	Orioles (AA)	27	55.1	223	33.2%	8.9%	59
Victor Black	Pirates (AA)	24	60.0	249	34.1%	9.9%	59
Lisalverto Bonilla	Phillies (AA)	22	34.1	137	33.6%	9.5%	59
Josh Fields	Red Sox (AA)	26	44.2	182	32.4%	8.6%	60
Aaron Kurcz	Red Sox (AA)	21	50.1	224	32.1%	9.9%	65
Michael Olmsted	Red Sox (AA)	25	20.0	80	29.5%	8.5%	69

Top Pitchers of the Eastern League (Starters Only)
Here are the top-10 pitchers in the Double-A Eastern League 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-
Kyle McPherson	Pirates (AA)	24	48.2	204	22.5%	6.3%	83
Chris Heston	Giants (AA)	24	148.2	595	22.7%	6.7%	84
Zack Wheeler	Mets (AA)	22	116.0	474	24.7%	9.0%	85
Jameson Taillon	Pirates (AA)	20	17.0	62	23.1%	7.7%	86
Vidal Nuno	Yankees (AA)	24	114.0	465	21.5%	6.2%	87
David Phelps	Yankees (AA)	25	6.2	22	23.4%	8.3%	87
Gerrit Cole	Pirates (AA)	21	59.0	252	23.8%	8.8%	87
Yohan Pino	Blue Jays (AA)	28	134.0	552	20.1%	5.3%	88
Paolo Espino	Indians (AA)	25	116.1	481	22.0%	7.2%	88
Sean Nolin	Blue Jays (AA)	22	15.0	60	23.3%	8.7%	88

Three Notable Performances
• Darin Ruf hit 38 home runs this season with Double-A Reading — or, 13 more than the next batter (in this case, Yankees minor leaguer Luke Murton) on the list. At 25, Ruf was old for the level this year. Also, as a Google Image search reveals, he does not have a particularly athletic frame, meaning he’s relegated to first base or, perhaps, a corner-outfield spot. Recently promoted, Ruf has yet to make his first major-league plate appearance — although, he seems certainly to have solved the riddle of Double-A pitching, at this point.
• By most every measure, Mets infielder Wilmer Flores was better following his promotion to Double-A Binghamton this season than before it, at St. Lucie of the High-A Florida State League. His walk rate was higher; his strikeout rate, lower; and he had higher on-base and slugging percentages — and all of them are improvements over his 2011 season at St. Lucie. With his size and relative lack of athleticism, Flores was forced to move off of shortstop this season, but the other indicators — including his age (20 for most of the season) relative to level — are quite positive.
• Yankees quasi-second-base prospect Corban Joseph, 23, was also among the SCOUT offensive leaders for the Triple-A International League. Insofar as (a) his defensive position isn’t entirely clear and (b) he plays for the Yankees, his major-league future is uncertain for the moment. Still, given his offensive approach, he could have value as just as Mark DeRosa-type infield-outfield utility player, which is a thing that helps teams.

Other SCOUT Leaderboards
International League (Triple-A)
Pacific Coast League (Triple-A)
Southern League (Double-A)
Texas League (Double-A)
California, Carolina, and Florida State Leagues Combined (High-A)
Midwest and Sally Leagues Combined (Class-A)
New York-Penn and Northwest Leagues Combined (Low-A)
Appalachian, Arizona, Gulf Coast, and Pioneer Leagues Combined (Rookie)

Today’s Notable Games
Seattle at Toronto | 19:07 ET ***MLB.TV Free Game***
Here’s a Status Update for highly rated and overwhelmingly athletic Toronto prospect Anthony Gose (through Monday): 104 PA, 5.8% BB, 36.5% K, .223/.284/.330 (.364 BABIP), 84 wRC+, 0.2 WAR.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Toronto Radio.

Detroit at Chicago AL | 20:10 ET
Right-hander and avant-garde sportsman Max Scherzer (170.2 IP, 76 xFIP-, 4.0 WAR) starts this game that has Postseason Implications.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Detroit Radio.

Today’s Complete Schedule
Here’s the complete schedule for all of today’s games, with our very proprietary watchability (NERD) scores for each one. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and RotoWire. The average NERD Game Score for today is 3.7.

Note: the following Game Scores include the poorly conceived playoff-odds adjustment discussed in a recent edition of Daily Notes. Also note: the following table is entirely sortable.

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Josh Johnson	MIA	7	4	5	4	10	PHI	Cliff Lee	16:05
Kyle Lohse	STL	4	9	4	7	4	SD	Clayton Richard	18:35
Alex Cobb	TB	7	6	6	2	3	BAL	Miguel Gonzalez	19:05
Kevin Millwood	SEA	2	4	1	5	2	TOR	Ricky Romero	19:07
David Phelps	NYA	5	6	3	5	2	BOS	Aaron Cook	19:10
A.J. Burnett	PIT	8	4	5	4	6	CIN	Homer Bailey	19:10
John Lannan*	WAS	3	7	4	2	10	NYN	Matt Harvey	19:10
Travis Wood	CHN	2	1	1	4	4	HOU	Fernando Abad*	20:05
Jeanmar Gomez	CLE	1	2	2	7	6	TEX	Ryan Dempster	20:05
Paul Maholm	ATL	4	7	4	9	6	MIL	Yovani Gallardo	20:10
Max Scherzer	DET	10	4	6	5	3	CHA	Gavin Floyd	20:10
Luke Hochevar	KC	5	7	2	5	2	MIN	P.J. Walters	20:10
Tim Lincecum	SF	7	3	4	7	5	COL	Jeff Francis	20:40
Aaron Harang	LAN	1	1	3	6	6	AZ	Trevor Cahill	21:40
A.J. Griffin	OAK	7	6	6	8	3	LAA	Ervin Santana	22:05

To learn more about Pitcher and Team NERD scores click here.
To learn how Game NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.