Mid Season Batting Report

Let's take a look at the Sea Dogs hitting stats at the midpoint of the season. I have sorted by total plate appearances (showing just the leaders, with a couple of exceptions), and the stats shown are BA, OBP, SLG, OPS, GPA, RC, and RC/27 outs, with the team leaders highlighted. (Apologies for the funky formatting - I don't know how to do tables)

Name PA BA OBP SLG OPS GPA RC RC/27
Total 2,763 .269 .354 .422 .776 .265 358 5.1
Ronenberg 308 .290 .371 .498 .869 .291 45.7 5.8
O'Keefe 264 .261 .371 .464 .835 .283 40.1 6.4
Bailey 238 .305 .437 .537 .974 .331 46.8 9.0
Perez 232 .302 .335 .433 .768 .259 30.1 5.0
Hattig 229 .282 .402 .543 .945 .317 42.0 7.9
McGowan 225 .267 .320 .325 .645 .225 20.2 3.4
Campo 202 .241 .363 .434 .797 .272 28.3 5.7
Medrano 193 .268 .304 .380 .684 .232 21.0 4.0
Nieves 180 .229 .304 .261 .565 .202 12.7 2.5
Kilburg 151 .283 .385 .362 .747 .264 19.7 5.5
Fulse 138 .265 .360 .444 .804 .273 18.5 5.2
Martinez 135 .163 .206 .211 .417 .145 5.3 1.3
Lombard 59 .385 .441 .596 1.037 .347 15.5 12.7
Alvarez 35 .233 .343 .300 .643 .229 2.7 2.8

This is a pretty decent offense, overall. There are a lot of guys who can take a walk, and the .354 OBP is very acceptable. Jeff Bailey has been mashing the ball, and leads the team in all of the major rate stats (as well as the sabermetric ones shown above) exceps slugging percentage, where he is second on the team. Bailey has split his defensive play behind the plate and in the outfield. He appears to struggle a bit catching, which is too bad, because if he can swing the bat like this (he's sporting a .255 Major League Equivalent Average, meaning he'd be an average major league hitter - above average for a catcher) he would have a career as at least a part-timer in the big leagues. The other catcher, Edgar Martinez, will never be confused with his namesake playing for the Seattle Mariners. Martinez is all glove, his hitting stats are by far the worst on the team.

Two guys who jump out at me are Mike O'Keefe and Kenny Perez. The last time I wrote about the Sea Dogs batting statistics, I singled out these two for making a lot of outs without bringing much production. I gave Perez a pass, because he plays middle infield, but I said at the time that O'Keefe's hitting was just not acceptable for a 1B/corner OF type. Well, I guess O'Keefe reads the SeaBlog, because he has really turned things around. His batting average is so-so, but he has taken over the team lead in walks and now sports a very good .371 OBP, and he's hitting for power. O'Keefe was way down on the list of runs created per 27 outs last time around, but now his 6.4 RC/27 is third behind only Bailey and John Hattig. For his part, Perez has also picked up the BA and the power (he still doesn't draw many walks, and his production stands head and shoulders above the remaining middle infielders (Medrano, Nieves, and Alvarez, who came down from Pawtucket a few weeks ago). It looks to me like the 23-year old is turning into a decent prospect for the Red Sox (or for trade bait).

Seeing how it worked so well the last time, I guess I'll call out Sean McGowan. McGowan is a big (6'6", 240 lbs) singles hitter playing first base and DH. His .320 OBP and .325 SLG wouldn't be good for a shortstop, yet there he is in the middle of the lineup. Now 27 and seeing action in AA for the fifth straight year, McGowan is really running out of time in his minor league career. And speaking of major league careers, newly acquired George Lombard is the only player on the Sea Dogs who has had one. Since his arrival a couple of weeks ago, Lombard has truly mashed EL pitching - which is to be expected. He did so the last time he saw significant time in AA, in 1998 with the Greenville Braves. At 29, Lombard is a man among boys, but it's hard to believe that his fast start is going to get him anywhere near the outfield in Fenway Park. He's played parts of five seasons with the Braves, Tigers and Devil Rays and has hit 225/279/343 in 124 big league games.

(I should be more fair to Lombard. He has actually been on the OF grass at Fenway. I saw a game in 2002 between the Tigers and Red Sox, and Lombard played CF and led off. But he'll never be there in a Red Sox uniform).

Finally, I should mention a couple of other solid bats for the Sea Dogs. Bret Ronenberg has been in the lineup more than any other Dogs batter, and he has hit very well in the process. For those who still need to know such things, Ronenberg leads Portland with 12 HR and 44 RBI on the season, and he's been perhaps the most consistent Sea Dogs batter. John Hattig has missed a couple of weeks with an injury, otherwise he would likely have the team HR lead (he currently has 10). Hattig is close behind Bailey in production for Portland, second in OBP but with a few points extra in SLG. Two players who have missed some time with injuries, Mike Campo and Sheldon Fulse, have both swung productive bats while in the lineup, and Joel Kilburg, who has filled the utility role, has shown a good eye and not much power thus far.

As with the pitching staff, I expect a good second half from Portland's batters. With O'Keefe swinging the bat well and Lombard in the lineup, I expect to see McGowan's playing time diminished for the rest of the season. There gets to be a time when a minor league team has to play the guys who are going to move forward, and I don't see McGowan doing that at this juncture. The same goes for Edgar Martinez, whose bat just can't get it done, however there are fewer options at the catcher position right now. When Hattig returns, he'll combine with Ronenberg, Bailey and Lombard (if he stays here, he really doesn't belong in AA) to form a formidable middle of the lineup. I think that the Sea Dogs are well poised for a run at the Eastern League playoffs this year.