Daily Notes: Top Performances of the Mexican Pacific League

by
January 10, 2013

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

1. Top Performances of the Mexican Pacific League
2. Unhelpful Video: Barbaro Canizares Homering for Spain
3. Final (!) SCOUT Leaderboards: Mexican Pacific League

Top Performances of the Mexican Pacific League
The playoffs for the Mexican Pacific League (MPL) have begun — and, as such, the regular-season stats for the players in said League are final.

Here are the top performers of the MPL, per SCOUT (a metric explained below, but which, briefly stated, uses regressed inputs to help make sense of small samples).

Best Hitter (Overall): Barbaro Canizares
A native of Cuba, first baseman Barbaro Canizares defected in February of 2004 and was signed eventually by Atlanta in 2006. He left affiliated baseball after the 2010 season, having accrued 21 major-league plate appearances, and has played in Mexico and with the independent American Association since. While a number of top hitters in the MPL approximated Canizares’ home-run rate this season, his control of the plate (he posted a 42:35 BB:K) is what set him apart.

Best Pitcher (Overall): Michael Benacka
Allow the author to plagiarize himself with regard to Michael Benacka, about whom he (i.e. the author) wrote in December:

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“Who is Michael Benacka?” is the sort of question a reasonable American might ask. “An undrafted alumnus of Lindenwood University,” appears to be one answer. “A one-time farmhand in the Oakland system,” appears to be another.

As of 2008 — when Baseball America profiled Benacka twice (here and here) over the span of a couple months — Benacka threw an 86-88 mph fastball with a plus change. PITCHf/x data at Brooks Baseball from an unspecified date bears this out: according to said data, Benacka threw the change 18 times out of 44 total pitches thrown and got swinging strikes on five of those (i.e. five of those changeups).

The internet — and specifically Paul Braverman of Blog to Blog Champs — reveals that Toronto signed Benacka to a minor-league deal in December.

Best Pitcher (Starters): Marco Duarte
Originally a member of the Colorado organization, right-hander Marco Duarte was acquired by Boston in 2011 as part of a Rule 5 draft-and-trade situation — if that makes sense. Per Sox Prospects, the 26-year-old throws a fastball at 90-94 mph, a curve, and change. He posted a 35:17 strikeout to walk ratio in 42.0 relief innings between High- and Double-A in 2012. As noted here, however, he was deployed almost exclusively as a starter in the MPL.

Unhelpful Video: Barbaro Canizares Homering for Spain
Here’s largely unhelpful video of Barbaro Canizares hitting a home run for Spain in WBC qualifying this past September:

Final SCOUT Leaderboards: Mexican Pacific League
Below are the final SCOUT leaderboards for the Mexican Pacific League. (Ages as of July 1st, 2012. Players listed with last actual team played for. Click here for more on what is SCOUT.)

SCOUT Leaderboard: Mexican Pacific League Hitters
Below is the final SCOUT batting leaderboard for the Mexican Pacific League. SCOUT+ is calculated using regressed home-run, walk, and strikeout rates, where 100 is average and above 100 is above average.

Player Team Age Pos PA xHR% xBB% xK% SCOUT+
Barbaro Canizares MEX 32 1B 286 5.8% 14.7% 12.2% 163
Jesse Gutierrez IND 34 1B 284 6.8% 6.7% 12.3% 151
Japhet Amador MEX 25 1B 273 5.9% 12.8% 22.0% 139
Chris Colabello Twins 28 DH 228 6.4% 10.1% 20.6% 139
Jason Botts MEX 31 LF 258 6.1% 11.6% 22.1% 137
Sandy Madera N/A 31 1B 207 5.6% 10.1% 16.9% 137
Cory Aldridge MEX 33 DH 266 6.7% 15.8% 32.7% 136
Saul Soto MEX 33 C 252 4.5% 16.7% 22.6% 132
Marlon Byrd N/A 34 RF 246 5.9% 10.6% 23.2% 129
Jorge Cantu Angels 30 3B 217 5.1% 12.9% 22.6% 129

SCOUT Leaderboard: Mexican Pacific League Pitchers
Below is the current SCOUT pitching leaderboard for the Mexican Pacific League. SCOUT- is calculated using regressed strikeout and walk rates where 100 is average and below 100 is above average.

Player Team Age G GS IP TBF xK% xBB% SCOUT-
Michael Benacka IND 29 30   36.0 145 37.3% 10.3% 50
Esmailin Caridad Cubs 28 37 1 42.0 177 27.7% 8.5% 71
Adrian C. Ramirez MEX 24 40   39.2 168 27.4% 8.3% 71
Oscar Villarreal Orioles 30 31   37.1 152 27.6% 8.5% 71
Oscar Verdugo MEX 22 37   44.1 182 26.3% 8.9% 76
Rafael Diaz MEX 41 22 5 41.2 180 25.6% 8.8% 78
Edwin Salas MEX 20 13 6 43.1 172 23.2% 8.2% 82
Francisco Rodriguez Angels 29 29   27.2 112 23.9% 9.0% 83
Mario Mendoza MEX 33 39   34.1 141 23.7% 9.1% 84
Ryan Brasier Angels 24 24   25.2 103 23.6% 9.0% 84

SCOUT Leaderboard: Mexican Pacific League Pitchers (Starters)
Here is the SCOUT pitching leaderboard for the Mexican Pacific League, but only populated with pitchers who’ve made at least half of their appearances as starts.

Player Team Age G GS IP TBF xK% xBB% SCOUT-
Marco Duarte Red Sox 25 14 13 67.1 301 22.6% 9.3% 87
Nick Additon Cardinals 24 10 10 53.0 229 21.4% 9.2% 90
Javier Martinez MEX 29 14 14 78.0 343 20.4% 9.3% 93
Anthony Ferrara Cardinals 22 4 3 14.2 65 20.8% 9.8% 94
Amauri Sanit MEX 32 13 13 67.0 268 19.8% 8.9% 94
Dennys Reyes N/A 35 11 11 55.2 253 21.0% 10.8% 96
Rolando Valdez MEX 26 14 14 70.1 319 18.2% 8.1% 96
Edgar Gonzalez Astros 29 9 9 46.1 202 18.3% 8.2% 96
Juan Delgadillo MEX 29 13 13 80.1 339 17.7% 7.9% 97
James Avery Tigers 28 9 8 48.0 201 17.9% 8.4% 98





 

Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.

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