Crooked Pitch

Back for my weekly update in the Arizona Fall League, here’s three hitters who are doing well.

1. Kila Kaaihue | Surprise Rafters (Kansas City Royals A/AA) - [tag]Kila Kaaihue[/tag] hit 21 home runs between single A Wilmington and double A Wichita in 2007. However, his slash stats of .248/.359/.447 left some unimpressed. He’s off to a fast start in Arizona hitting .412/.583/.882 and shows 20+ home run power. He needs to keep up the hot hitting this fall and find ways in the spring to bring his weak ‘07 slash stats up.
2. Eugenio Velez | Scottsdale Scorpions (San Francisco Giants AA/AAA) - [tag]Eugenio Velez[/tag] is a speedy outfielder who already has 9 stolen bases in 10 games this fall in Arizona. Unfortunately, he’s also struck out 10 times and is hitting .238. Last year, Velez stole 54 bases while hitting .297 in the minor leagues. If he can bring his batting average up, the Giants may find a way to keep him in the majors in 2008.
3. Brett Gardner | Peoria Javelinas (New York Yankees AA/AAA) - [tag]Brett Gardner[/tag] is hitting .385 with 4 stolen bases in 9 games in the [tag]Arizona Fall League[/tag]. After hitting .281 with 39 stolen bases in the minors last year, Gardner is using a more aggressive approach at the plate this fall to succeed. It also doesn’t hurt to have Jacoby Ellsbury as insiration. Gardner and Ellsbury were both drafted in 2005, have played against each other in the minors and have been compared to each other for years.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 22nd, 2007 at 1:28 pm and is filed under Fall & Winter Leagues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.