The Week in Bradenton: Marauders Break Even
FCL Bucs win four of six.
Bradenton managed a 3-3 split for the week. It wasn’t a bad week, considering they were playing Lakeland, one of the Florida State League’s two powerhouse teams, the other being Clearwater. Pythagoras probably wasn’t overwhelmed, as the Marauders got outscored 41-27. Even Carlson Reed, who’s been on a roll lately, had a so-so outing, giving up three earned runs over five and a third innings. The offense has cooled off, sinking back to next-to-last in the FSL in scoring and OPS.
One odd trend among Marauders’ hitters has been guys who showed very good plate discipline in short-season ball but are now airing it out and whiffing accordingly. I don’t know whether it’s a Pirate thing or how baseball is generally going, but there’s been a marked change with some of these guys.
One such is Keiner Delgado, the trade return for J.T. Brubaker. Delgado has been almost exactly the opposite of what was advertised, which was a hit-tool player with excellent strike zone judgment but, with his 5’7” stature, probably not much power. Instead, he’s shown surprising power, with four home runs (plus one in a brief FCL tuneup) and a .151 ISO. But he’s batting only .253 (then again, the league is hitting .228). More notably, he has a 7.4% walk rate and 22.7% K rate. Last year, in the FCL, those numbers were 15.1% and 13.0%. I don’t know what his swing was like then, but now he takes a very big cut.
Another example is Axiel Plaz. With him, the change has been more of a drop in his walk rate. Last year in the FCL, he had a walk rate of 16.0% and a K rate of 31.3%. This year, 7.9% and 30.3%. The comparison with him is tougher because he had a bad year in 2023 after putting up PlayStation numbers in the Dominican Summer League in 2022. Injuries may have factored into it, but I’ve never seen anything definitive. In 2022, he had nearly as many walks (13) as Ks (16).
Finally, there’s Esmerlyn Valdez. His walk rate is up a bit from last year in the FCL, going from 9.4% to 12.8%. His K rate has gone from 22.7% to 34.7%. I’ve seen a lot of him the last two years, and he’s definitely taking a much bigger rip. In fact, his manager talked about it as an issue. It’s showing some results: he has a .199 ISO in a league where the norm is .118, and he’s third in the league in home runs with nine despite hitting only one in the season’s first month. The danger is that he goes in the same direction as Lonnie White, Jr. when he moves up.
The FCL Pirates won four of six against a pretty bad Braves team. When the Bucs have had problems, it’s generally been for exactly one reason: walks. They have the league’s highest walk rate despite having the third-lowest K rate. Despite that, they’re fifth in ERA as they’ve allowed fewer hits than any other FCL team except the Marlins, who have the league’s best pitching by a huge margin.
I think defense may account for a lot of that. The infield defense seems pretty solid, and the catchers (mostly Richard Ramirez and Luke Scherrer) have the league’s best CS%. (Ramirez stands at 48%.) I’d also be willing to bet that the catchers and pitchers have a lot of pickoffs relative to the league, although that’s not an available number that I know of.
The outfield defense, though, really stands out. Jhonson Pena could be the fastest player in the FCL and has picked up center field very rapidly since starting to play it a year ago. Eduardo Oviedo, who was on the development list for a while due to contact issues, is playing a lot in center lately and is nearly as good, although he doesn’t have Pena’s speed. The team has added another speedster, Juan Machado, lately, and he also covers a lot of ground. Balls in the gaps can be quite an adventure at this level, especially in the spacious outfield at Pirate City, so this factor can’t be discounted.
One hitter on the FCL Bucs who shouldn’t be overlooked amidst guys like Ramirez and Yordany De Los Santos is Carlos Caro. Nearly 18 when he signed, Caro put up a .944 OPS in the DSL last year. This year, he’s hitting 283/413/453. He’s been good enough to pop up at #37 on FanGraphs’ list of the Pirates’ top 40 despite not being a prominent signing. At a listed 5’11”, 160 lbs., Caro isn’t a big guy, but he produces more power than you’d expect. He’s another guy who takes a big cut, but, as FG notes, he tones it down with two strikes.
As a result, he’s fanned only 14 times while walking 15 in 94 plate appearances. He’ll probably be limited to second base going forward, which won’t help him, especially in an organization that believes every player has to play everywhere. Still, he’s consistently produced at the plate so far.
The FCL Bucs had a pitcher who could be interesting as a reliever return this past week, Dioris Martinez. He had an indifferent season last year in the DSL, but the Pirates promoted him, which says more than the stats. He appeared twice early in the season, then went on the IL. He’s gotten into one game since returning and looked impressive, getting two strikeouts and a pop-up in his one inning. He throws in the mid-90s with a slider that looks good. According to FanGraphs’, his change will probably limit him to relief.
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Is it just coincidental that the dudes really gearing up for big daddy hacks also all seem to be the smaller types they've taken a liking to?
I don't hear similar stories about Lonnie White or Charlie Mac yoking it up there.
Like the numbers put up by Carlos Caro, Fangraphs #37, who also had excellent numbers in the DSL last year. Also becoming a big fan of Richard Ramirez, behind the plate and also at 1B. He has also caught the attention of Fangraphs as our #28 Prospect, and they highlight his Plus arm and "flashes of power". He seems to have cut back a lot on the number of Passed Balls and Errors this year - the quality of fellow players and pitchers has a whole lot to do with that also.