SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/1 - 5/7)

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/1 - 5/7)

Emeralds Hitting Prospects

Casey Schmitt: 5 G, 16 PA, .286 AVG, 1.099 OPS, 1 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K
Jairo Pomares: 6 G, 21 PA, .250 AVG, .886 OPS, 1 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 7 K
Carter Aldrete: 6 G, 17 PA, .154 AVG, .738 OPS, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K

The entire Emeralds hitting corps has not swung the bat well this week so this portion might be a little short. It's just hard to generate or sustain any momentum when the weather changes constantly resulting to delays and at worst, rainouts. Casey Schmitt's strikeout rate has increased considerably from late-April onwards with a 30.4% rate resulting to a 24.7% strikeout rate this season. Nonetheless, Schmitt is the undisputed best hitter for the Emeralds this season with a .931 OPS and five homers alongside his clean defense at third base even though it's been treacherous at times with the rain making bounces off the turf field more difficult than usual.

It has not exactly been unicorns and rainbows for Jairo Pomares this season after destroying much of Low-A last season. The bad habits that Pomares was known for (free swinging tendencies, lack of penchant for drawing walks) has caught up to him early this season with his OPS looking to go below .700. The power that he was very well known for was not there for Eugene with just three homers but his slugging is in respectable .441 rate. The thing that kept dragging down his OBP is his 4.61% walk rate which is well below-average. There's an argument that Pomares could still be effective if he stuck with his free-swinging ways but we are seeing the downsides of having that kind of approach which will not sit well with the Giants hitting philosophy of working the count and drawing walks. It's safe early on to say that Pomares is in the trading block but his stock is not as high as it is due to his performance.

Even though Carter Aldrete has only hit .154, he's kept his OPS to a low but still decent .549 because half of his hits went for extra bases (two homers, two doubles). He's had a more consistent playing time since the end of April and his OPS over the past nine games since getting that playing time is a decent .796 even though his batting average is a paltry .211 over that stretch. He might be the second Sun Devil to be drafted by the Giants in the 2019 draft but he's performed better than Hunter Bishop so far this season.