Editor's note: I'm excited to announce that Conner Penfold of Giant Potential is now contributing to McCovey Chronicles. He'll bring the same high-quality video, analysis, and interviews to this site that he continues to do over there, so please give him a warm welcome. Baseball!
The 2014 Minor League Roster Predictions are done. So, the next logical thing to do was scour Baseball Reference for anything amusing. In the process, I discovered that since May 29, 2011, the Giants minor league pitcher with the lowest WHIP (in a minimum of 75 innings pitched) is Brett Bochy. Yes, that's Bruce's son. Not only is he Bruce's son, but he seems to have been grossly under-appreciated. So who else deserves a little kudos for being good at baseball stuff?
BEST |
WORST |
WINS: Jack Snodgrass — 26 |
LOSSES: Mike Kickham — 26 |
ERA: Cody Hall — 2.00 |
ERA: Jeff Soptic — 5.46 |
WHIP: Brett Bochy — 0.97 |
WHIP: Dan Runzler — 1.66 |
SO/BB: Chris Johnson — 6.58 |
SO/BB: Luis Rojas — 1.05 |
SO/9: Bryce Bandilla — 12.2 |
SO/9: Shane Loux — 4.0 |
StS: Carlos Alvarado — 39.0% |
StS: Shane Loux — 6.0% |
HBP: Josh Osich — 0 |
HBP: Justin Schumer — 32 |
BABip: Mitch Lively — .267 |
BABip: Steven Neff — .408 |
Highest ground ball/fly ball ratio: Tyler Mizenko — 2.09 |
Highest pop-up percentage: Brett Bochy — 15.0% |
Most appearances made: Phil McCormick — 142 |
Most innings pitched: Justin Fitzgerald — 418.0 |
Most saves: Heath Hembree — 68 |
Note: While the pitchers report dates back 999 days, the following batters report dates back only 600 days (July 1, 2012) due to constrictions made by Baseball Reference.
BEST |
WORST |
BA: Christian Arroyo — .326 |
BA: Royel Astacio — .184 |
OBP: Nicol Parra — .435 |
OBP: Rafael Rodriguez — .268 |
SLG: Mac Williamson — .521 |
SLG: Hengerber Medina — .250 |
OPS: Jeremy Sy — .909 |
OPS: Eric Sim — .566 |
Most RBIs: Devin Harris — 123 |
Most home runs: Mac Williamson/Adam Duvall — 34 |
Most triples: Chris Lofton — 12 |
Most strikeouts: Jarrett Parker — 243 |
Most walks: Jarrett Parker — 91 |
Most HBP: Mac Williamson — 25 |
Quick recap: Josh Osich has pitched in 83 professional games, totaling 103 innings, and has never hit a batter. Jarrett Parker somehow leads all Giants minor leaguers in strikeouts and walks since July 1, 2012. Shortstop Jeremy Sy was sneaky productive in just one season. Tyler Mizenko's "heavy mid-90s sinker" clearly works.
And it's okay if you've never heard the name Nicol Parra, mostly because he's 19, not named Gustavo Cabrera, and has been hiding in Santo Domingo playing for San Francisco's Dominican Summer League team since 2011. But worth noting is that his .416 on-base percentage in 471 career plate appearances is a ridiculous 203 points higher than his career batting average. That puts his BB% at 22.2 percent, two percentage points higher than the Giants' new hitting instructor named Barry.
So what does all of this mean? It means you are free to kindly ask opposing pitchers to stop plunking Mac Williamson, who has been hit by a pitch once every six games since being drafted in 2011. For comparison, Craig Biggio was hit an average of once every 10 games in his 20-year major-league career, and now stands second all-time in HBPs.
And it means that Brett Bochy may be a victim of the Pacific Coast League's wrath. In three pro seasons, including a disappointing 2013 in Fresno, Bochy has still managed to hold his career WHIP below one.
Here's to Bruce and Brett sharing a major-league dugout one day.