A Final Statistical Report for Every 2014 First-Rounder
In early July, just a month after baseball’s amateur draft in early June, the author published a statistical report for all of those first-rounders both to have (a) signed with the relevant selecting club and (b) recorded either a plate appearance or inning as an actual professional.
What the author has done in what follows is repeat that same exercise — but, in this case, with the end-of-season stats featuring all of those same players. Below, the reader will find a pair of leaderboards (one for batters; one, pitchers) of the aforementioned first-round selections. That same reader will also find some moderately helpful notes, featuring assorted shallow observations regarding the numbers and players featured here. Links to the relevant FanGraphs leaderboards are available here: Batters / Pitchers.
Leaderboard: First-Round Batters
Here are all the first-round batters to have recorded at least a single plate appearance, sorted by Weighted Runs Above Average (wRAA):
| # | Player | Team | Pick | Age | Pos | PA | BB% | K% | HR | BABIP | wRC+ | wRAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Schwarber | Cubs (A-/A/A+) | 4 | 21 | C | 311 | 12.5% | 18.3% | 18 | .373 | 193 | 34.1 |
| 2 | Trea Turner | Padres (A-/A) | 13 | 21 | SS | 321 | 10.9% | 20.9% | 5 | .409 | 147 | 17.4 |
| 3 | Bradley Zimmer | Indians (A-/A) | 21 | 21 | OF | 210 | 10.0% | 15.7% | 6 | .340 | 163 | 14.7 |
| 4 | Alex Blandino | Reds (R/A) | 29 | 21 | SS | 283 | 10.2% | 21.2% | 8 | .339 | 129 | 11.1 |
| 5 | Michael Conforto | Mets (A-) | 10 | 21 | OF | 186 | 8.6% | 15.6% | 3 | .383 | 153 | 10.9 |
| 6 | Casey Gillaspie | Rays (A-) | 20 | 21 | 1B | 308 | 13.6% | 21.1% | 7 | .321 | 129 | 9.8 |
| 7 | Cole Tucker | Pirates (R) | 24 | 17 | SS | 217 | 12.0% | 17.5% | 2 | .329 | 117 | 4.4 |
| 8 | Michael Chavis | Red Sox (R) | 26 | 18 | SS | 150 | 10.0% | 25.3% | 1 | .368 | 124 | 4.2 |
| 9 | Braxton Davidson | Braves (R) | 32 | 18 | OF | 186 | 16.7% | 22.6% | 0 | .314 | 115 | 3.3 |
| 10 | Alex Jackson | Mariners (R) | 6 | 18 | OF | 96 | 9.4% | 27.1% | 2 | .362 | 124 | 3.0 |
| 11 | Max Pentecost | Blue Jays (R/A-) | 11 | 21 | C | 109 | 1.8% | 19.3% | 0 | .395 | 107 | 1.0 |
| 12 | Nick Gordon | Twins (R) | 5 | 18 | SS | 255 | 4.3% | 17.6% | 1 | .352 | 101 | 0.4 |
| 13 | Matt Chapman | Athletics (R/A/AA) | 25 | 21 | 3B | 220 | 3.6% | 21.4% | 5 | .297 | 97 | -0.7 |
| 14 | Derek Hill | Tigers (R/A-) | 23 | 18 | OF | 197 | 9.1% | 22.8% | 2 | .268 | 78 | -4.9 |
Leaderboard: First-Round Pitchers
Here are all the first-round pitchers to have recorded an appearance of some sort — sorted, in this case, by kwERA, an ERA estimator that accounts for strikeout and walk rate:
| # | Player | Team | Pick | Age | Hand | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | FIP | kwERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Flaherty | Cardinals (R) | 34 | 18 | RHP | 22.2 | 11.1 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 2.54 | 2.34 |
| 2 | Grant Holmes | Dodgers (R) | 22 | 18 | RHP | 48.1 | 10.8 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 3.43 | 2.64 |
| 3 | Justus Sheffield | Indians (R) | 31 | 18 | LHP | 20.2 | 12.6 | 3.9 | 0.0 | 2.67 | 2.84 |
| 4 | Carlos Rodon | White Sox (A+/AAA) | 3 | 21 | LHP | 21.2 | 13.7 | 5.4 | 0.0 | 2.32 | 2.87 |
| 5 | Brandon Finnegan | Royals (A+/AA) | 17 | 21 | LHP | 27.0 | 8.7 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 3.41 | 2.88 |
| 6 | Sean Newcomb | Angels (R/A) | 15 | 21 | LHP | 14.2 | 11.1 | 3.7 | 1.2 | 4.14 | 3.14 |
| 7 | Kyle Freeland | Rockies (R/A) | 8 | 21 | LHP | 39.0 | 7.6 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 2.96 | 3.22 |
| 8 | Luke Weaver | Cardinals (R/A+) | 27 | 20 | RHP | 9.1 | 11.6 | 3.9 | 1.0 | 3.89 | 3.31 |
| 9 | Tyler Beede | Giants (R/A-) | 14 | 21 | RHP | 15.1 | 10.6 | 4.1 | 0.0 | 2.96 | 3.46 |
| 10 | Aaron Nola | Phillies (A+/AA) | 7 | 21 | RHP | 55.1 | 7.3 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 4.17 | 3.48 |
| 11 | Luis Ortiz | Rangers (R/A) | 30 | 18 | RHP | 20.1 | 8.4 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 3.68 | 3.52 |
| 12 | Kodi Medeiros | Brewers (R) | 12 | 18 | LHP | 17.2 | 13.3 | 6.6 | 1.0 | 4.93 | 3.72 |
| 13 | Michael Kopech | Red Sox (R) | 33 | 18 | RHP | 13.2 | 10.5 | 5.9 | 0.0 | 3.14 | 4.00 |
| 14 | Touki Toussaint | D-backs (R) | 16 | 18 | RHP | 28.2 | 10.1 | 5.7 | 1.6 | 6.37 | 4.26 |
| 15 | Nick Howard | Reds (A) | 19 | 21 | RHP | 33.2 | 6.2 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 4.73 | 4.34 |
| 16 | Foster Griffin | Royals (R) | 28 | 18 | LHP | 28.0 | 6.1 | 3.9 | 0.6 | 4.53 | 4.67 |
| 17 | Tyler Kolek | Marlins (R) | 2 | 18 | RHP | 22.0 | 7.4 | 5.3 | 0.0 | 3.92 | 4.79 |
Moderately Helpful Notes
Here are five notes, offering varying degrees of insight:
- Omitted from the above are the three (out of 34) draftees not to have recorded any sort of professional experience this summer — including unsigned Houston selection, left-hander Brady Aiken, plus also Erick Fedde (RHP, Washington) and Jeff Hoffman (RHP, Toronto)
- Also omitted are Kansas City left-hander Brandon Finnegan’s major-league stats. In 5.1 relief innings with the Royals, he’s recorded strikeout and walk rates of 42.1% and 0.0%, respectively, and a 22 xFIP- (i.e. one of the best kinds of xFIPs).
- Unsurprisingly, given his position atop this same leaderboard in July, Cubs prospect Kyle Schwarber led all first-rounders by weighted offense. Much more surprisingly, given his position at the very bottom of it, is Trea Turner at second overall. Over 253 plate appearances during that interval, Turner slashed .350/.429/.514 (170 wRC+) — much of that with Padres Class-A affiliate Fort Wayne.
- Baseball America’s draft database has been of some assistance to the composition of this post.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
No sandwich or compensation rounders?
Mmm… open-faced club sandwich.
Mmmm….club faced