Spring Superstars

Spring Training results don’t matter.  I’ve talked about this before.  I’m not even sure how much Spring stats correlate with April success but you can forget about the effect on the other 5 months of the Major League season.  Things change, people get hurt, bodies ache, and prescriptions are popped just to get the players out on the field.  Too much goes into being a successful Major League ballplayer than can be outlined in a few short sentences.  But, lets take a look at some of the guys who may find some success this season based on their Spring stats.

1) Erick Almonte: No not famed Little League star Danny Almonte, Erick has made the Brewers team.  He plays first base and so does Prince Fielder but, Almonte has hit .451 this spring in 77 at bats, 3 HR, 13 RBI, and a 1.163 OPS.  Should he keep this up, the Brewers may need to find him a new position as he will need to be in the lineup everyday

2)  Michael Morse:  The power hitting outfielder has solidified his position in the Nats everyday lineup this spring (so much so that the team traded away Nyjer Morgan).  Morse has hit .365 with 9 HR and 18 RBI in 63 ABs.  That is a HR every 7 Abs, or every other day.

3) Kila Ka’aihue:  Kila can hit.  He’s one of my favorites in my fantasy league this year and I expect big things from him on a bad royals team despite the fact that I can not pronounce his name.  He’s further solidified my feelings by winning this spring: .415 Avg, 7 HR, 17 RBIs in 53 ABs.

4) Starlin Castro and Rajai Davis have shown some pop.  Each clubbing 4 HR in about 60 ABs. I do not expect those rates to continue but the potential for a 20 HR year seems to be there for both of them.

5) Some guys you’ve heard of are hitting well: Alex Rodriguez (.404/.451/.936, 6 HR in 47 AB is impressive),  Miguel Cabrera (.338/.378/.647 with 4 HR in 68 ABs) looks ready for the regular season despite all his spring drama, Chipper Jones (.407/.453/.746 with 4 HR in 59 ABs) appears just fine after ACL replacement surgery.

6) Kyle McClellan looks like the fifth starter in St. Louis after the Adam Wainwright injury.  McClellan has been a reliever the past three years with above average results (3.23 ERA) but appears to have found his calling as a starter.  Dude has dominated this spring: 23 IP, 0.78 ERA, and 16 K’s.

7) Tyson Ross did not make the Oakland A’s despite his .59 ERA and 10 K’s in 15.1 IP.

8 ) Erik Bedard and Brandon Beachy have identical 1.13 ERA’s through 16 IP.  Beachy won the fifth starter battle in Atlanta while Bedard may be ready for a comeback year. Also of note:  they have 16 and 14 K’s respectively.

9) Justin Verlander (.96 ERA in 28 IP, 23 K’s) and Roy Halladay (.42 ERA in 22.1 IP) are really good… but, we knew that.

These Spring Superstars may turn these numbers into success early this season, or they may not.  Either way, numbers– especially impressive ones– are fun to look at.  Hope you enjoyed.

-Sean Morash