SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/8 - 5/14)

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/8 - 5/14)

Emeralds Hitting Prospects

Casey Schmitt: 4 G, 15 PA, .455 AVG, 1.327 OPS, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 1 K
Carter Aldrete: 4 G, 14 PA, .462 AVG, 1.346 OPS, 2 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Hunter Bishop: 4 G, 17 PA, .400 AVG, 1.004 OPS, 2* 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K, 2 SB

With the constantly changing weather resulting in postponements or outright cancellations of games, those who keep finding the hits and putting on good at-bats amidst the weather are the ones who get my attention.

Casey Schmitt has not let up in terms of production with another standout week. It was interesting to note that Schmitt is currently tinkering with his swing with him having a straighter top hand in his follow-through in what could be an effort for his bat to travel better through the zone. He implemented that swing tweak cleanly by continuing to produce at a very high level. How high you might ask? He leads the Northwest League in both OPS (.994) and batting average (.325) and tied for first in homers (six) while having 30% fewer plate appearances. As I have mentioned last week, the whiffs have crept up on Schmitt in the recent weeks but he's shed down his strikeout rate this week. Oh, he's also played at shortstop once again this week too. And he's got the best slide to home plate this season as well. Is there anything that this guy can't do?

Like Schmitt, Carter Aldrete has kept on swinging a hot bat this month with a .308 batting average, 1.034 OPS, a couple of doubles and a couple of bombs this month. What's been amazing though is that he's dramatically improved his peripherals with double the walks compared to his strikeouts this month (four walks versus two strikeouts). His performance increased his OPS by 300 points to .745 and his batting average by 77 points to .231. He's been doing well in his second taste of the High-A and he's been doing well on defense to boot. He should be in line for a mid-season promotion if he keeps this up.

You might have noticed that I have an asterisk on Hunter Bishop's double because one of it was ruled a double but it was clearly a home run as it clearly hit the scaffolding above the yellow line in center field. Don't believe me? You be the judge!

Bishop finally has put on a strong week after scuffling hard over the first four weeks of the season. My biggest issue for him is his 37.8% strikeout rate. If I could compare his game at the moment, it would be like a team in football who had a couple of splash plays on offense sandwiched between plays for negative yards. I am not a fan of Bishop's all-or-nothing approach but if that's his way towards the big leagues then he will live and die by the three-true-outcomes.