This weeks installment of Hot and Cold features a scuffling catcher who’s just been promoted to High-A, plus everyone’s new favorite screwball pitcher.
Hot Hitter: Andy Wilkins, 1B, A+
Andy Wilkins was one of my favorite picks from the 2010 draft, and
after a slow start to the season, he’s picked up his form of late. For the week
Wilkins hit .360/.449/.640, with four walks, two home runs and a double. His
overall line on the season isn’t great, at .262/.330/.444, and it’s still to be
seen if he has enough power to become more than a bench player, but he’s got a
chance.
Honorable mentions: Josh Phegley- .354/.371/.559, Christian Marrero-
.333/.444/.500 and Eduardo Escobar- .323/.364/.484.
Cold Hitter: Mike Blanke- .047/.091/.047, C, A-
Mike Blanke’s hot start to life in pro ball with Great Falls last
year got our attention, but it wasn’t until Baseball America started hyping his
defense ability in the offseason that we took his prospect status seriously.
Unfortunately, full-season ball hasn’t been kind to Blanke, and he’s hitting
just .259/.311/.382, including a miserable .047/.091/.047 week, but that hasn’t
stopped the White Sox from promoting him to High-A, which you can read more
about here. Hopefully he will fare better with the Dash.
“Honorable” mentions: Ross Wilson- .037/.103/.037, Drew Lee-
.107/.107/.107 and Tyler Saladino- .172/.273/.345.
Hot Pitcher: Hector Santiago- 8 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 BB/9 SO
Santiago has always intrigued as a lefty with good velocity and
gaudy strikeout numbers, but this season he has really taken off. In 58.1 IP
between Winston-Salem and Birmingham, Santiago has a 3.24 ERA, 19 BB/58 SO, and
this week he threw an eight-inning shutout, walking two, striking out nine and
allowing just one hit. A 30th round draft pick in 2006, Santiago is
now one of the top, if not the top, lefty arm in the system.
Honorable mentions: Terry Doyle- 16 IP, 0.563 ERA, 3 BB/15 SO, Addison
Reed- 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 BB/8 SO and Ryan Buch- 6.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 5 BB/3 SO.
Cold Pitcher: Charlie Leesman- 2.2 IP, 23.62, 6 BB/ 1 SO
After a polarizing 2010 campaign, I had no idea what to expect from
Leesman in 2011, but he’s been pretty good. While the walks are up (4.86 BB/9),
the strikeouts are up (8.46 K/9) and the ground ball rate is very good too
(2.39 GO/AO). Despite the positives, this week was not kind to Leesman as he
gave up seven earned runs in 2.2 innings, striking out one and walking six. If
he maintains this strikeout rate, Leesman takes a big step forward in my book.
“Honorable” mentions: Jeff Marquez- 3 IP, 21 ERA, 3 BB/2 SO, Joe
Serafin- 6 IP, 13.50 ERA, 8 BB/6 SO and Cameron Bayne- 4 IP, 13.50 ERA, 1 BB/2
SO.