Daily Notes, With Atlantic League Final Leaderboards
Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.
1. Final SCOUT Leaderboards: Indepedent Atlantic League
2. Video: Atlantic League Excellent Pitcher Matthew Way
3. Today’s Playoff Games
Final SCOUT Leaderboards: Indepedent Atlantic League
Regarding What Happened Recently
What happened recently is the independent Atlantic League’s 2012 season ended, with Long Island defeating Lancaster on Sunday in the fifth game of a five-game championship series (box).
Regarding What Else Happened Recently
What happened even more recently is, is the author prepared hitting and pitching SCOUT leaderboards for the now completed and very independent Atlantic League.
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.
Atlantic League Leaderboard: Hitters
Here are the top-10 batters of the indepedent Atlantic League, as determined by the methodology explained above:
| Player | Team | Pos | Age | PA | xHR% | xBB% | xK% | SCOUT+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Nowak | YRK | CIF | 29 | 548 | 6.2% | 13.0% | 15.9% | 164 |
| Brock Peterson | BPT | 1B | 28 | 395 | 5.3% | 11.4% | 16.5% | 147 |
| Blake Gailen | LAN | OF | 27 | 579 | 3.8% | 11.7% | 13.0% | 137 |
| Casey Benjamin | SMD | 2B | 31 | 518 | 4.1% | 13.5% | 17.6% | 136 |
| Brian Burgamy | CMD | 1B | 31 | 548 | 3.6% | 14.6% | 16.8% | 136 |
| Jesse Gutierrez | SMD | 1B | 34 | 310 | 4.5% | 7.1% | 11.0% | 136 |
| Andres Perez | YRK | 2B | 28 | 566 | 4.1% | 8.0% | 9.7% | 135 |
| Brandon Sing | LI | 1B | 31 | 526 | 4.9% | 11.0% | 21.9% | 131 |
| Travis Denker | LAN | 1B/3B | 26 | 198 | 4.4% | 10.1% | 18.2% | 129 |
| Jesse Hoorelbeke | SOM | 1B | 34 | 409 | 4.9% | 11.0% | 22.5% | 129 |
Atlantic League Leaderboard: Pitchers (Overall)
Here are the top-10 pitchers of the independent Atlantic League, as determined by the methodology explained above:
| Player | Team | Age | IP | TBF | xK% | xBB% | SCOUT- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roberto Giron | SL | 36 | 37.1 | 142 | 33.5% | 8.6% | 54 |
| Andy Sisco | SOM | 29 | 34.2 | 136 | 30.9% | 8.5% | 62 |
| Ricardo Gomez | YRK | 34 | 47.1 | 189 | 31.7% | 9.7% | 63 |
| Joe Bateman | LAN | 32 | 28.2 | 121 | 29.9% | 8.2% | 64 |
| Jason Bergmann | CMD | 30 | 22.1 | 87 | 29.0% | 8.9% | 68 |
| Jon Meloan | LI | 27 | 27.1 | 112 | 28.2% | 8.1% | 68 |
| Tim Hamulack | LAN | 35 | 46.0 | 190 | 27.9% | 8.0% | 69 |
| Daryl Thompson | SMD | 26 | 49.0 | 205 | 26.8% | 8.2% | 72 |
| Paul Oseguera | BPT | 28 | 146.2 | 604 | 24.2% | 6.0% | 74 |
| Gaby Hernandez | SMD | 26 | 39.0 | 168 | 26.8% | 9.5% | 76 |
Atlantic League Leaderboard: Pitchers (Starters)
Here are the top-10 pitchers in the independent Atlantic 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- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daryl Thompson | SMD | 26 | 49.0 | 205 | 26.8% | 8.2% | 72 |
| Paul Oseguera | BPT | 28 | 146.2 | 604 | 24.2% | 6.0% | 74 |
| Gaby Hernandez | SMD | 26 | 39.0 | 168 | 26.8% | 9.5% | 76 |
| Matt Wright | SL | 30 | 49.0 | 194 | 24.2% | 7.1% | 77 |
| Nick Singleton | LI | 29 | 48.1 | 211 | 25.1% | 8.4% | 78 |
| Matthew Way | LI | 25 | 13.1 | 47 | 24.1% | 8.4% | 81 |
| Ben Moore | SMD | 31 | 53.0 | 212 | 22.6% | 7.2% | 81 |
| Dwayne Pollok | LAN | 31 | 145.0 | 591 | 19.1% | 4.9% | 85 |
| Mike Loree | LI | 28 | 104.1 | 455 | 19.5% | 6.2% | 87 |
| Rich Rundles | LAN | 31 | 47.2 | 193 | 20.8% | 7.5% | 87 |
Three Notable Performances
• Chris Nowak was drafted by Tampa Bay out of the University of South Carolina in the 19th round of the 2004 draft and played affiliated ball through 2011, first with the Rays and then (in 2010-11) within the Milwaukee organization. After showing only marginal power as a minor leaguer, he’s now hit 59 home runs in 889 Atlantic League plate appearances. At 6-5, 230, he’s likely defensively limited.
• Blake Gailen was undrafted out of UNLV in 2007 and played in multiple independent leagues until 2011, when he signed with the Angels at midseason and received an assignment to Double-A Arkansas. Though the plate-discipline numbers (14.3%, 12.6%) were fantastic there in 119 plate appearances, Gailen posted just a .226 BABIP, which led to an underwhelming overall line from a 26-year-old corner outfielder.
• Left-hander Matthew Way was in the Philadelphia organization until just this past March, actually, but after back injuries prevented him from pitching at all in 2011, he was released by the Phillies. A fifth-round draft pick out of Washington State in 2009, Way’s minor-league numbers were quite impressive while he was healthy. For example, from his last full season, at Class A Lakewood: 15 G, 14 GS, 86.1 IP, 8.44 K/9, 2.71 BB/9, 0.52 HR/9. Way pitched most of 2012 with Laredo of the independent American Association.
Video: Atlantic League Excellent Pitcher Matthew Way
Here’s video of Matthew Way from Mike Newman, who described (at the 8:43 mark of this chat) Way as his favorite pitcher to watch from 2009, when he (i.e. Newman) saw Way dominate with a fastball at 83-86 mph.
Today’s Playoff Games
NLDS, Game 3 (1-1 Tie) | St. Louis at Washington | 13:00 ET on MLBN
STL: Chris Carpenter (17.0 IP, 114 xFIP-, 0.2 WAR)
WAS: Edwin Jackson (189.2 IP, 97 xFIP-, 2.7 WAR)
NLDS, Game 4 (2-1 CIN) | San Francisco at Cincinnati | 16:00 ET on TBS
SF: Barry Zito (184.1 IP, 126 xFIP-, 0.8 WAR)
CIN: Mat Latos or Mike Leake
ALDS, Game 3 (1-1 Tie) | Baltimore at New York | 19:30 ET on TBS
BAL: Miguel Gonzalez (105.1 IP, 112 xFIP-, 1.1 WAR)
NYA: Hiroki Kuroda (219. 2 IP, 89 xFIP-, 3.9 WAR)
ALDS, Game 4 (2-1 DET) | Detroit at Oakland | 21:30 ET on TNT
DET: Max Scherzer (187.2 IP, 78 xFIP-, 4.6 WAR)
OAK: A.J. Griffin (82.1 IP, 97 xFIP-, 1.3 WAR)
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.