The Delmarva Shorebird Report (Hitters)

[RZNJ]

As of today, Darell Hernaiz is on a 30/30 pace in doubles, homeruns and stolen bases.   The 20, soon to be 21 year old, will probably have to most of the rest of those numbers in Aberdeen.   After having decent fielding stats last year, .927 at SS and .963 at 2B, he's under .900 in both spots this year.   Tony says most of that is due to an erratic arm.    It certainly would be great if Hernaiz can stay somewhere in the infield.   He definitely looks stronger this year and has got a power stroke going.

Noelberth Romero has only played in about half the games but he's got an .800+ OPS and not striking out too much 8 K's in 46 PA's and getting most of his time at 2B and 3B.  The Venzuelan is 20 all season long and has shown some pop with 2 doubles and 2 homers among his 11 hits.

Isaac Bellony is a corner outfielder, 20 years old, from the Virgin Islands.   He's got power, some patience, but a fair amount of swing and miss with 26 K's in 79 PA's but with 4 doubles in 3 homers of 17 hits that is a power hitter's ratio.

Luis Valdez, 22 years old, was signed as a 20 year old out of the Dominican Republic, he's played some infield and CF and has stolen 9 bases in 10 attempts.   He's got a couple of doubles and one homer but he seems interesting despite his late start in pro ball for a Latin American.

Mishael Deson doesn't turn 20 until July 7.   He put up an .823 OPS in the FCL last year and finished really, really strong so his slow start is very disappointing.   However, we've got a 6'4 200 lb, outfielder who has 6 stolen bases in 7 attempts  and, hopefully, just needs a lot of reps to get his bat going.   He's done enough to keep himself in the lineup so I hope he can surge with more reps as he did last year in the FCL.

Isaac Deleon is a 20 year old SS-3B who started off horribly but seems to slowly be coming out of it.  He popped his first home run in May and has 19 walks agains 22 strikeouts in 81 PA's so he's done a good job of taking walks.   He's listed at 6'3 and 209 so he's a big kid although the one time I saw him he definitely looked lean but solid with room for some muscle.

 

I think all of the above are interesting.   A few quick mentions.  Moises Ramirez had a huge year in FCL last year as a 19 yo but even then his plate discipline numbers were not good.   This year, he's had all sorts of problems but it looks like he's going to keep getting some chances to breakout.    Davis Tavarez is 22 and I think he's in danger of release fairly soon as he's been around forever and finally got a chance in full season ball but his numbers are mediocre at best and the plate discipline numbers are very poor.  Josue Cruz is a 21 year old LH slugger who is big at 6'5 231 but has really struggled both defensively at 1B and offensively with only 1 homer and 39 K's in 75 PA's.   He's another release candidate, IMO.    Creed Williams is 18 for another month.   He's off to a rough start with just 2 singles and 12 K's in 24 AB's.    Defensivley it's a mixed bag with good numbers in the running game with 3 CS in 6 SB attempts.  In 5 games at catcher he has 3 passed balls so that's something to keep an eye on.   Creed certainly doesn't look like an athlete and the $1,000,000 bonus is going to follow him around for awhile especially if he struggles.    Still at 18, no reason not to try and get him 250 AB's or so in full season ball.   My guess is that he'll have to repeat next year but lets see if he can get untracked first.

 

 

[Just Regular]

Mid-month update, oldest to youngest, and OPS

Valdez 1.22.2000 - 622

Hernaiz 8.3.2001 - 865

Deleon 11.7.2001 - 574

Romero 12.5.2001 - 738

Bellony 12.15.2001 - 804

Deson 7.7.2002 - 544

Willems 6.4.2003 - 394

<Druw Jones 11.18.2003>

Basallo 8.13.2004 just over a year younger than Willems, so with a good complex summer may be in about same position next spring Willems was this year.

 

[maybenxtyr]

On 5/6/2022 at 6:14 PM, RZNJ said:

As of today, Darell Hernaiz is on a 30/30 pace in doubles, homeruns and stolen bases.   The 20, soon to be 21 year old, will probably have to most of the rest of those numbers in Aberdeen.   After having decent fielding stats last year, .927 at SS and .963 at 2B, he's under .900 in both spots this year.   Tony says most of that is due to an erratic arm.    It certainly would be great if Hernaiz can stay somewhere in the infield.   He definitely looks stronger this year and has got a power stroke going.

Noelberth Romero has only played in about half the games but he's got an .800+ OPS and not striking out too much 8 K's in 46 PA's and getting most of his time at 2B and 3B.  The Venzuelan is 20 all season long and has shown some pop with 2 doubles and 2 homers among his 11 hits.

Isaac Bellony is a corner outfielder, 20 years old, from the Virgin Islands.   He's got power, some patience, but a fair amount of swing and miss with 26 K's in 79 PA's but with 4 doubles in 3 homers of 17 hits that is a power hitter's ratio.

Luis Valdez, 22 years old, was signed as a 20 year old out of the Dominican Republic, he's played some infield and CF and has stolen 9 bases in 10 attempts.   He's got a couple of doubles and one homer but he seems interesting despite his late start in pro ball for a Latin American.

Mishael Deson doesn't turn 20 until July 7.   He put up an .823 OPS in the FCL last year and finished really, really strong so his slow start is very disappointing.   However, we've got a 6'4 200 lb, outfielder who has 6 stolen bases in 7 attempts  and, hopefully, just needs a lot of reps to get his bat going.   He's done enough to keep himself in the lineup so I hope he can surge with more reps as he did last year in the FCL.

Isaac Deleon is a 20 year old SS-3B who started off horribly but seems to slowly be coming out of it.  He popped his first home run in May and has 19 walks agains 22 strikeouts in 81 PA's so he's done a good job of taking walks.   He's listed at 6'3 and 209 so he's a big kid although the one time I saw him he definitely looked lean but solid with room for some muscle.

 

I think all of the above are interesting.   A few quick mentions.  Moises Ramirez had a huge year in FCL last year as a 19 yo but even then his plate discipline numbers were not good.   This year, he's had all sorts of problems but it looks like he's going to keep getting some chances to breakout.    Davis Tavarez is 22 and I think he's in danger of release fairly soon as he's been around forever and finally got a chance in full season ball but his numbers are mediocre at best and the plate discipline numbers are very poor.  Josue Cruz is a 21 year old LH slugger who is big at 6'5 231 but has really struggled both defensively at 1B and offensively with only 1 homer and 39 K's in 75 PA's.   He's another release candidate, IMO.    Creed Williams is 18 for another month.   He's off to a rough start with just 2 singles and 12 K's in 24 AB's.    Defensivley it's a mixed bag with good numbers in the running game with 3 CS in 6 SB attempts.  In 5 games at catcher he has 3 passed balls so that's something to keep an eye on.   Creed certainly doesn't look like an athlete and the $1,000,000 bonus is going to follow him around for awhile especially if he struggles.    Still at 18, no reason not to try and get him 250 AB's or so in full season ball.   My guess is that he'll have to repeat next year but lets see if he can get untracked first.

 

 

I was just going to ask about Bellony. I had a chance to watch him this weekend and he seems hitterish for sure. I don't know how age (20) and level factors in, but considering he signed at 16 I wonder how he'll develop?

[RZNJ]

17 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

I was just going to ask about Bellony. I had a chance to watch him this weekend and he seems hitterish for sure. I don't know how age (20) and level factors in, but considering he signed at 16 I wonder how he'll develop?

He's like Stowers.  The damage per contract is excellent and he'll take a walk.  The question is how much contact he'll make.  He's also a switch hitter but I believe he's much stronger from one side.

[Tony-OH]

25 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

I was just going to ask about Bellony. I had a chance to watch him this weekend and he seems hitterish for sure. I don't know how age (20) and level factors in, but considering he signed at 16 I wonder how he'll develop?

Bellony is a switch-hitting stocky guy with a little pop and understanding of the strike zone. He hits well from the left-side and probably needs to consider pulling a Mullins and giving up hitting right-handed. He's slashing .286/.378/.533/.910 batting left-handed and .063/.211/.063/.273 batting right-handed. He had similar splits last year in the FCL. I've noticed he has 3 PAs as a left-handed batter against left-handed pitching so maybe they are beginning to move him to left-handed only. He walked in two of those PAS and K'd in the other.

Outside of Hernaiz, he's probably the best hitting prospect on the team though that bar is not very high. He's worth keeping an eye on a bit.

[mlrhode]

58 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Bellony is a switch-hitting stocky guy with a little pop and understanding of the strike zone. He hits well from the left-side and probably needs to consider pulling a Mullins and giving up hitting right-handed. He's slashing .286/.378/.533/.910 batting left-handed and .063/.211/.063/.273 batting right-handed. He had similar splits last year in the FCL. I've noticed he has 3 PAs as a left-handed batter against left-handed pitching so maybe they are beginning to move him to left-handed only. He walked in two of those PAS and K'd in the other.

Outside of Hernaiz, he's probably the best hitting prospect on the team though that bar is not very high. He's worth keeping an eye on a bit.

I think you are right Tony. I saw a couple times last week that he stayed hitting left handed when he faced a lefty.

[mlrhode]

3 minutes ago, mlrhode said:

I think you are right Tony. I saw a couple times last week that he stayed hitting left handed when he faced a lefty.

Just as I finished typing this he hit a 2-run homer off a lefty hitting left handed. He has definitely given up switch hitting!

[Three Run Homer]

The Shorebirds this year are exhibit A for the negative effects of the minor league contraction that occurred after 2020.   I look at their roster and I see lots of guys who played well in the FCL last year and who are overmatched at low A this year.  It seems that there needs to be a level in between, but that's what MLB got rid of in the contraction.  

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, mlrhode said:

Just as I finished typing this he hit a 2-run homer off a lefty hitting left handed. He has definitely given up switch hitting!

Nice to hear and nice to see he got a dinger off a lefty as a lefty. 

[Tony-OH]

27 minutes ago, Three Run Homer said:

The Shorebirds this year are exhibit A for the negative effects of the minor league contraction that occurred after 2020.   I look at their roster and I see lots of guys who played well in the FCL last year and who are overmatched at low A this year.  It seems that there needs to be a level in between, but that's what MLB got rid of in the contraction.  

But why are the other teams so much better if they are under the same system.

Honestly, if you look, most of these guys did not have that great of a season in the FCL. Some held their own, but when you look at the K-BB rations you see guys that probably were going to struggle at the next level. 

The Shorebirds average age of hitters was 6th out of 12 teams and pitchers were tied for 5th oldest out of 12. 

Delmarva is bad because Elias does not draft many high schoolers, most of his college guys were pushed to Aberdeen, and because his international guys have not produced anyone of significance yet that has made it to Delmarva. Oh, and the fact that he doesn't drat or sign high school or high priced Latin American pitching so far doesn't help.

We'll find out how some of the bigger named prospects perform this year in the FCL. That should give us a better indicator for next year.

[MurphDogg]

15 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Delmarva is bad because Elias does not draft many high schoolers, most of his college guys were pushed to Aberdeen, and because his international guys have not produced anyone of significance yet that has made it to Delmarva. Oh, and the fact that he doesn't drat or sign high school or high priced Latin American pitching so far doesn't help.

The biggest issue is that the 20 year-old international players who would be prospect age appropriate for Delmarva were all signed under the previous regime at bargain prices, and only Bellony is producing. Next year's class of 20 year-olds will be Elias's guys, although with an asterisk for a couple years because so many players commit years in advance.

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, MurphDogg said:

The biggest issue is that the 20 year-old international players who would be prospect age appropriate for Delmarva were all signed under the previous regime at bargain prices, and only Bellony is producing. Next year's class of 20 year-olds will be Elias's guys, although with an asterisk for a couple years because so many players commit years in advance.

True. The current international guys on this team outside of Deson and De Leon are not Elias/Sig guys, but he does have four draftees on the team in Hernaiz, Higgens, Craig and Willems.

Elias/Sig guys:
Craig (21):       .063/.286/.063/.348
De Leon (20):  .149/.333/.241/.575
Deson (19):      .222/.294/.250/.544
Hernaiz (20):   .278/.328/.537/.865
Higgens (22):  .165/.283/.282/.565
Willem (19):      .102/.170/.225/.394

So I'd say he has some of the blame here. Other than Hernaiz his guys aren't doing much. 

    

[seak05]

DeLeon is one I’m interested in (ish) he has a 373 obp and 400 slg in May. Still not great, but might be improving/adjusting

[RZNJ]

38 minutes ago, seak05 said:

DeLeon is one I’m interested in (ish) he has a 373 obp and 400 slg in May. Still not great, but might be improving/adjusting

Agreed.   It's a big jump and a long season.   I'm looking for progress.  Deson really hasn't show much.   Deleon has been making better contact and hit his 2nd homer today, I believe both are this month.    It's not knock your socks off progress but it's there.   Willems has also been making consistent contact the last 7-10 days and got another hit today.      Romero is holding is own for sure.   Deson just seems that he's not driving the ball at all.  Deleon is starting to show some good signs.   Bellony is very interesting because of the power he's shown.    The growing pains have been painful but let's see what we've got down there when the season is over.   There could be some good stories down there.

[RZNJ]

Isaac Deleon holding a .779 OPS in May with 3 Homers, 19 walks and 25 K's in 22 games.

Isaac Bellony holding an .885 OPS in May with 4 homers, 14 walks and 32 strikeouts in 22 games.

Elio Prado, 20, the same as the two above looks interesting so far.

Roberto Martinez, a 19 yo 2B-SS played his first game today. 2-5 including a Homer. 

Noelberth Romero, 20, still holding his own.

Creed Willems, 18, seems to have survived a terrible start and has settled in.

Mishael Deson, 19, has been the biggest disappointment but seems to be buying into a more patient approach with 13 walks and 18 strikeouts in 19 games in May after only 3 walks and 23 strikeouts in April.

Luis Valdez, 22, OPS is down to .623 but the 2B/OF has 23 stolen bases in 38 games. He's only been caught 3 times.

Trendon Craig, like Willems before him, is off to a brutal start even with his first homer, a 3-run, on Saturday.  23 strikeouts in 65 PA but he does have 12 walks.

Moises Ramirez rivals Deson for biggest disappointment.  After an .878 OPS last year in FCL, he's hitting .147 with a .423 OPS and just can't get untracked.