Daily Notes, With SCOUT Leaders of the Intl. League
Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.
1. SCOUT Leaderboards: Triple-A International League
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule
SCOUT Leaderboards: Triple-A International 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 Detroit minor leaguer Adam Wilk (who posted a 21.5% K and 4.7% BB in 149.2 IP) to Pittsburgh’s Phil Irwin (31.5% K and 7.9% BB in 21.0 IP).
Regarding the International League, Its Regular Season
The International League’s regular season ended on September 3rd, it appears. As such, all following numbers are final for 2012.
Top Batters of the International League
Here are the top-10 batters of the Triple-A International League, as determined by the methodology explained above.
Player | Team | Age | PA | xHR% | xBB% | xK% | SCOUT+ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chris Parmelee | Twins (AAA) | 24 | 282 | 5.8% | 18.1% | 18.4% | 174 |
Dan Johnson | White Sox (AAA) | 32 | 587 | 4.8% | 16.0% | 16.0% | 161 |
Brad Eldred | Tigers (AAA) | 31 | 265 | 8.2% | 9.1% | 27.5% | 158 |
Russell Branyan | Yankees (AAA) | 36 | 137 | 4.8% | 15.8% | 22.3% | 148 |
Steve Pearce | Yankees (AAA) | 29 | 227 | 4.2% | 12.8% | 14.5% | 147 |
Jack Cust | Yankees (AAA) | 33 | 425 | 4.7% | 19.1% | 29.9% | 141 |
Corky Miller | Reds (AAA) | 36 | 313 | 2.2% | 18.2% | 14.7% | 140 |
Corban Joseph | Yankees (AAA) | 23 | 386 | 3.4% | 13.7% | 14.8% | 140 |
John Lindsey | Tigers (AAA) | 35 | 271 | 5.2% | 10.7% | 21.8% | 138 |
Mauro Gomez | Red Sox (AAA) | 27 | 426 | 5.6% | 8.2% | 20.7% | 138 |
Top Pitchers of the International League (Overall)
Here are the top-10 pitchers of the Triple-A International League, as determined by the methodology explained above.
Player | Team | Age | IP | TBF | xK% | xBB% | SCOUT- |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
J.J. Hoover | Reds (AAA) | 24 | 37.0 | 138 | 38.2% | 8.9% | 43 |
Anthony Slama | Twins (AAA) | 28 | 36.1 | 152 | 36.8% | 9.7% | 50 |
Brandon Gomes | Rays (AAA) | 27 | 55.1 | 222 | 32.9% | 7.9% | 56 |
Ryota Igarashi | Yankees (AAA) | 33 | 36.2 | 160 | 34.4% | 9.6% | 57 |
Raul Valdes | Phillies (AAA) | 34 | 30.0 | 114 | 32.0% | 7.4% | 58 |
Miguel Gonzalez | Orioles (AAA) | 28 | 44.2 | 165 | 32.1% | 8.1% | 59 |
Brian Omogrosso | White Sox (AAA) | 28 | 47.1 | 196 | 30.1% | 7.9% | 65 |
Junichi Tazawa | Red Sox (AAA) | 26 | 42.1 | 179 | 31.3% | 9.1% | 65 |
Scott Barnes | Indians (AAA) | 24 | 52.0 | 220 | 30.5% | 9.5% | 69 |
B.J. Rosenberg | Phillies (AAA) | 26 | 54.0 | 221 | 28.5% | 8.2% | 71 |
Top Pitchers of the International League (Starters Only)
Here are the top-10 pitchers in the Triple-A International 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- |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phil Irwin | Pirates (AAA) | 25 | 21.0 | 89 | 26.5% | 8.7% | 79 |
Adam Wilk | Tigers (AAA) | 24 | 149.2 | 595 | 21.5% | 4.7% | 81 |
Terry Doyle | White Sox (AAA) | 26 | 76.1 | 293 | 24.2% | 7.4% | 82 |
Randall Delgado | Braves (AAA) | 22 | 44.1 | 195 | 26.2% | 9.6% | 82 |
Samuel Deduno | Twins (AAA) | 28 | 42.0 | 174 | 26.4% | 10.1% | 83 |
Drew Smyly | Tigers (AAA) | 23 | 17.2 | 83 | 25.3% | 9.0% | 83 |
Chris Tillman | Orioles (AAA) | 24 | 89.1 | 378 | 24.3% | 8.2% | 84 |
Chris Seddon | Indians (AAA) | 28 | 123.0 | 494 | 21.9% | 5.8% | 84 |
Todd Redmond | – – – | 27 | 148.2 | 624 | 21.8% | 6.3% | 85 |
Dylan Axelrod | White Sox (AAA) | 26 | 97.0 | 391 | 23.5% | 8.2% | 86 |
Three Notable Performances
• Yankees prospect Corban Joseph is maybe not an actual second baseman — and maybe not any other kind of baseman, either — but his offensive approach is rather mature. Joseph posted a 13.7% walk rate and 14.8% strikeout rate in 386 plate appearances at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after posting even better marks (14.7% BB, 12.7% K) at Double-A. At 23, he’s the youngest player on the offensive leaderboard.
• After striking out about 40% of the 138 batters he faced at Triple-A Louisville, Cincinnati’s J.J. Hoover has had some success in his first season as a major leaguer, posting a 102 xFIP- in 23.0 relief innings. What success he’s had appears to’ve come from his fastball, which features a swinging-strike rate (13.7%) roughly twice the league average for that pitch.
• Pittsburgh right-hander Phil Irwin, 25, was absent (so far as the author can tell) from every notable preseason prospect list; however, that he appears atop the SCOUT pitching leaderboard with just four starts’ worth of data is a distinction. “Irwin’s fastball,” writes John Sickels at Minor League Ball, “isn’t especially fast, in the upper-80s, sometimes low-90. He mixes in a slider, slow curve, and changeup. Although none of his pitches are spectacular, he keeps the ball down, changes speeds, and hates walks with a passion.” Irwin has walked only 4.3% of batters faced in 413.2 minor-league innings.
Other SCOUT Leaderboards
Pacific Coast League (Triple-A)
Eastern League (Double-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
Washington at New York NL | 19:10 ET
Mets right-hander Collin McHugh makes his third major-league start. His first two show considerable promise. To wit: 11.0 IP, 26.2% K, 2.4% BB, 39.3% GB, 2.81 SIERA, 76 xFIP-, 0.3 WAR.
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: New York NL Television.
Detroit at Chicago AL | 20:10 ET ***MLB.TV Free Game***
After they both lost on Sunday (scoreboard), the Tigers and White Sox are separated by just two games in the AL Central. This, however, is likely not the most promising pitching matchup of the series.
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 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wade LeBlanc | MIA | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | PHI | Kyle Kendrick | 19:05 |
Wandy Rodriguez | PIT | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 8 | CIN | Mat Latos | 19:10 |
Gio Gonzalez | WAS | 9 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 9 | NYN | Collin McHugh* | 19:10 |
Chris Volstad | CHN | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | HOU | Dallas Keuchel | 20:05 |
Mike Minor | ATL | 4 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 9 | MIL | Wily Peralta* | 20:10 |
Justin Masterson | CLE | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | MIN | Samuel Deduno | 20:10 |
Rick Porcello | DET | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | CHA | Jose Quintana | 20:10 |
Ryan Vogelsong | SF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 3 | COL | Alex White | 20:40 |
Jarrod Parker | OAK | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | LAA | Dan Haren | 22:05 |
Jaime Garcia | STL | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 3 | SD | Eric Stults | 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.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
I imagine that guys like Dan Johnson, Russell Branyan, etc. feel much like I felt while mashing JV High School pitching as a junior in HS. And that is entirely unfulfilled and embarrassed about my age.
Forget about Branyan’s lights out#’s trying to get back to the show at 36,12dingers,40 rib-eyes.310,slugging over.600 slugging in 33 games before his back went out on him again.WHAT’S to be embarrassed when he is ranked 14th all time in h.r.frequency as a big leaguer with a tater every 14.8 at bats.194 homers in under 3,000 major league at bats.Behind him, Ster-Rod homer every 14.9 at bats,Kingman,Mantel and Teddy ballgame[Williams] 1 every 15 ab’s.Muscle averages 30 h.r’s,71 ribs every 449 ab’s as a part timer.Nothing to be embarrassed about.