Daily Notes: Top Performances of the Mexican Pacific League

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:

“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