Today seems like a good day to revisit Delino DeShields Jr., since he did steal four bases last night. He originally was tagged with five steals but they changed his double and stolen base to a triple after the game. Fair trade off. You can read about his night and a little about his goals here. It's nice to see that he has really put in the work to be what he's expected to be. If there's one thing I've hear about his character, it's that he puts in the work to achieve his goals. This time last year, people were starting to doubt his base stealing capabilities because he had been caught stealing about the same amount as times he had stolen bases. This time around, he's been caught once. Big improvement.
So, we know he's improved on the base paths. And, we've heard that there is a night and day difference in his defense from last year. But, what about his improvements in the plate so far? It's not as big of a difference as you'd hope.
DDJ's average is up a about twenty points over last year, but the sample size is still small and over the last ten games, its about ten points worse that last year. The power is slightly elevated, but could be a result of just hitting more. The good news is that he's still drawing walks (23) at a higher rate (13.6% vs. 9.7%) and the strikeouts are about the same at at 21%. The great news is that his BABIP is under .300 which is not what you would expect for a guy with his speed, so maybe he's been unlucky and numbers rise in the future.
As for his batted balls, there hasn't been much change. His LD% is slightly elevated but .6% isn't really a change in this sample size. His GB% is higher by almost 2% which is good and bad. You want your leadoff guy to put the ball in play and just beat it out. DDJ can do that. But, for a guy with his strength and frame, I think it limits his power potential too much.
Oklahoma City RedHawks: Off
Corpus Christi Hooks 11-9
- Brett Oberholtzer-5 1/3 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 7/1 GO/AO, 86 pitches
- Josh Zeid-1/3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 1 HR
- Kevin Chapman-1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 SO
- Erick Abreu-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO
- Jason Stoffel-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 2/0 GO/AO
- Austin Wates CF, LF-2-5, 3B, BB, SO, SB
- Jonathan Villar SS-2-5, SO, SB
- Jose Martinez 2B-4-5, 2B
- Jake Goebbert RF-1-3, HR, 2 BB, SO
- Ryan McCurdy C-3-5
- Brett Oberholtzer-2-3
Lancaster JetHawks won 6-4
- Bobby Doran-6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 7/5 GO/AO
- Jose Trinidad-2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 3/0 GO/AO
- Kirk Clark-1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
- Adam Bailey CF-2-4, 2 2B, BB
- Rafael Valenzuela 1B-2-5, SB
- Alex Todd 3B-2-4, 2 2B, BB
- Rene Garcia C-1-4, 2B, BB, SO
Lexington Legends won 13-7
- Jonas Dufek-6 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 7/4 GO/AO
- Euris Quezada-2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 3/0 GO/AO
- Delino DeShields Jr. 2B-2-4, 3B, BB, 4 SB
- Jordan Scott CF-2-5, 2B, BB, CS
- Zachary Johnson 1B-3-5, 2B, HR, BB
- Matt Duffy 3B-4-6, 2B, HR
- Drew Muren RF-1-5, 2B, BB
- Justin Gominsky LF-2-5, 2B, SO
- Chan Moon SS-1-4, 2B, BB, CS