When a minor leaguer hits a lot of home runs, people get excited. Though not always the case, the player will go on to become a power hitter in the Major Leagues. He may strike out a lot and he may not hit for average but very often, you can count on the power threat. But what about college hitters? Can you project college power? I don't know. I haven't done an exhaustive study. All I did was take the top ten power hitters of 2011 and the top ten power hitters from 2006. The top tens are ranked by homers. Here they are:
2011 Top Ten College Home Run Hitters
# Player Name HR School Drafted 2011
============================================================
1. Victor Roache 30 Georgia Southern Sophomore
2. Jake Lowery 24 James Madison Cle 4th Round
3. Daniel Aldrich 22 C of Charleston Sophomore
3. Paul Hoilman 22 East Tennessee Chc 19th Round
3. Xavier Macklin 22 NC A&T Oak 12th Round
6. Casey Kalenkosky 21 Texas State Was 13th Round
7. Jonathan Griffin 19 Central Florida Ari 21st Round
7. Dan Paolini 19 Siena Sea 10th Round
7. Mike Zunino 19 Florida Sophomore
10. Matt Leeds 18 C of Charleston Tex 31st Round
10. Andrew Rash 18 Virginia Tech Sd 36th Round
10. Aaron Westlake 18 Vanderbilt Det 3rd Round
But what does college power mean? Does it necessarily translate into a pro career?
2006 Top Ten College Home Run Hitters
# Player Name HR School Lvl Most HR
=========================================================
1. Kellen Kulbacki 24 James Madison AA 22 in 2008
2. Michael Cowgill 23 James Madison A+ 2 in 2006
2. Andy D'Alessio 23 Clemson AA 16 in 2008
2. Josh Morris 23 Georgia A 5 in 2007
2. Quinn Stewart 23 LSU A+ 21 in 2007
6. Pedro Alvarez 22 Vanderbilt MLB 29 in 2010
6. Shawn Scobee 22 Nevada A- 6 in 2007
8. Chris Carlson 21 Nebraska A+ 13 in 2009
8. Brad Miller 21 Ball State A+ 22 in 2007
8. Ben Saylor 21 BYU Rk 2 in 2006
Is there something in the water at James Madison? Next to each player is their highest level reached and the most homers they have hit in a pro season.
With the exception of Pedro Alvarez, none of the players above made it past AA. I know that its hard to equate the lower level Division I schools like James Madison with Vanderbilt and Clemson but power is power and all of these players were drafted which meant the scouts didn't turn the other way. Bottom line, you can't necessarily count on college power numbers when projecting major leaguers. Sorry Victor Roache. Better get your CV ready, just in case.
No comments:
Post a Comment