Xavier Avery

[Jenius]

Avery is quickly becoming one of our better hitting prospects. A real concern of our minor leagues has been after Snyder, who will be our next wave of minor league hitters? Now that Avery has shown those flashes of brilliance, I am confident he could be the start of the next wave of young oriole hitters (followed up by Townsend and Givens and hopefully Hoes). The best part is he is doing all of this at 19 years old, by next year he will be up at High A at only 20 years old. He is on the right track to the majors.

It's a valid concern, but keep in mind that Pedro Florimon is having a monster year at Frederick, Brandon Waring and Caleb Joseph and Bobby Stevens have looked very good there as well, and Ryan Adams was doing very well before his injury. Also, Ronnie Welty has been a very solid and consistent hitter at Delmarva, and has showed dramatically improved plate discipline (the big red flag from 2008). Even Tyler Kolodny has been coming on lately, though he was doing so poorly early on that his numbers still look a little crooked.

My point is that there isn't a huge chasm after Snyder...just no sure things. But I'd bet that at least one or two of the guys I mentioned turns into an interesting prospect at the higher levels, and that's not counting the talented-but-enigmatic Rowell and Henson.

[bOhs01]

Xavier's had a monster game today with 5 hits bumping his batting average up to .310, I can't wait to see this kid play

[olehippi]

Something definitely seems to be clicking with Avery so far this month. It will be interesting to see if he can sustain it.

I would love to see Hoes have a similar awakening, especially since he was supposedly the better player when drafted.

[Arthur_Bryant]

Xavier's had a monster game today with 5 hits bumping his batting average up to .310, I can't wait to see this kid play

Hey, that's not just five hits; Avery had two doubles and a HR among those five hits, with four runs scored. BA up to .310.

He was almost matched by Ronnie Welty, 4-for-5 with a two doubles and a HR, 4 RBI. Now hitting .317

[hoosiers]

Only one BB in last 30 at-bats, but also only 2 Ks. Nice to see the xbhs as well.

[BaltimoreFan]

He's not seeing righties well enough, but otherwise his progression is great.

[Gurgi]

This quote below on us drafting Avery sounds almost identical to one SG posted yesterday, so maybe the reverse jinx will work again in our favor.

On Avery:

On Hobgood:

Its cruel to bring up what someone said before.

[BaltimoreFan]

This quote below on us drafting Avery sounds almost identical to one SG posted yesterday, so maybe the reverse jinx will work again in our favor.

On Avery:

On Hobgood:

They're high school kids, and no one on this message board has ever seen them play, so to be unhappy or disappointed is pretty comical considering that professional scouts brought them in.

[Fairfax Bird]

They're high school kids, and no one on this message board has ever seen them play, so to be unhappy or disappointed is pretty comical considering that professional scouts brought them in.

Dude, you only have 298 posts here. Let me clue you in on something. Some posters don't need professional scouts to tell them what they know. They read a bunch of mock drafts on-line and a scouting blurb from Baseball America. They know what they are talking about.

[BaltimoreFan]

Dude, you only have 298 posts here. Let me clue you in on something. Some posters don't need professional scouts to tell them what they know. They read a bunch of mock drafts on-line and a scouting blurb from Baseball America. They know what they are talking about.

How can I argue with a poster citing yankydood2009's mock draft?

[Hank Scorpio]

How can I argue with a poster citing yankydood2009's mock draft?

Who would dare question yankydood2009?!?!?!?!!

[DocJJ]

you subtract his completely abyssmal first 6 weeks? I bet that would look impressive!

[Skywalker76]

I have to admit that Avery is really surprising me and it feels good that after Snyder there seems someone else to closely follow.

[Frobby]

you subtract his completely abyssmal first 6 weeks? I bet that would look impressive!

Actually, it was more like 2 weeks, not 6 weeks.

4/26 - .140/.140/.160 (50 AB, 14 games)

5/3 -- .222/.233/.292 (72 AB, 21 games)

5/8 -- .259/.269/.383 (81 AB, 24 games)

The progression continued from there.

Take out those first 14 games and his current numbers are .367/.411/.510 in 147 AB. Not too shabby for a 19 year old kid at Delmarva.

[McLovin]

The exciting thing for me is the progress he's making. He's obviously learning. He hasn't really had great coaching or competition, and baseball has always been his #2 sport.

To see such rapid progress with coaching, competition, and focus gives me hope that he's only scratching the surface of what he can do.