Notes and Team Leaders: Cedar Rapids Kernels

We're using an arbitrary standard of 150 at-bats and 50 IP to determine rate leaders.

OPS

Luis Arraez, .830
Jaylin Davis, .808
LaMonte Wade, .806

AVG

Arraez, .347
Nelson Molina, .300
Wade, .280

OBP

Wade, .410
Arraez, .386
Molina, .374

SLG

Davis, .469
Zander Weil, .459
Arraez, .444

HR

Weil, 19
J. J. Fernandez, 10
Davis, 9

DOUBLES

Arraez, 31
Weil, 27
Fernandez, 26

RBI

Weil, 86
Arraez, 66
Fernandez, 52

SB

Weil, 7
Sean Miller, 7
3 tied at 5

ERA

Randy LeBlanc, 0.74
Lachlan Wells, 1.77
Anthony McIver, 2.58

WHIP

LeBlanc, 0.82
Wells, 1.02
Williams Ramirez, 1.05

WINS

Cody Stashak, 8
Sam Gibbons, 7
3 tied at 6

STRIKEOUTS

Dereck Rodriguez, 93
Sam Clay, 83
Eduardo Del Rosario, 81

SAVES

McIver, 10
Tom Hackimer, 5
Ramirez, 4

STARTS

Rodriguez, 18
Stashak, 17
Del Rosario, 16

GAMES

McIver, 31
Gibbons, 30
Michael Cederoth, 30

INNINGS

Gibbons, 107
Stashak, 105.1
Rodriguez, 101

The only reason I can think of that Luis Arraez was left in low A all year is that he's nineteen.  I don't consider that much of a reason.  Yes, he probably needs to learn to walk more, but I don't see how he's more likely to learn that in Cedar Rapids than he is in Fort Myers.  In fact, he may be less likely to learn it--when you've had as much success as he's had doing what he's doing, it can be hard to believe you need to change.  He should've been given a chance to see what he could do at a higher level.

As far as I know, Nelson Molina is not related to the famous Molinas.  He really came on this year.  After three poor seasons in the low minors, he hit .300/.374/.381 this year.  We'll see if he can continue the progress next season.  He'll turn twenty-two next April.

LaMonte Wade was having a fine season in Cedar Rapids, then was promoted to Fort Myers and did even better.  He was on the disabled list twice, however, ending the year there.

Zander Weil pretty quietly had a pretty good season.  .259/.333/.459 with nineteen home runs.  He'll be twenty-four in January.  A twelfth-round pick, this was his first season other than thirteen games at Elizabethton last year.

Jaylin Davis acquitted himself well in his first season.  He played twelve games in Elizabethton, then came up to hit .250/.339/.469 with nine homers in 192 at-bats.  He turned twenty-two in July and is a twenty-fourth round draft choice from Appalachian State.

Cody Stashak pitched very well in Cedar Rapids, going 8-5, 3.16, 1.14 WHIP, then made three awesome starts in Fort Myers, allowing one run in 16.2 innings.  He'll be twenty-three in June, a thirteenth round draft pick from St. John's.

Australian Lachlan Wells did really well in twelve starts, going 6-4, 1.77, 1.02 WHIP with 63 strikeouts in 71.1 innings.  He'll be twenty in February.  He's small (5'8", 165), but I'm not going to hold that against him as long as he can get batters out.  He also has an awesome mugshot on milb.com

Randy LeBlanc was awesome in Cedar Rapids, struggled in Fort Myers, and then did really well in two starts at Chattanooga.  Maybe he doesn't like Florida.  In nine Cedar Rapids starts he was 6-2, 0.74, 0.82 WHIP.  In two Chattanooga starts, he was 1-0, 0.00, 0.90 WHIP.  But in thirteen starts in Fort Myers, he was 5-7, 4.70, 1.46 WHIP.  He doesn't strike a lot of guys out--a total of 87 Ks in 140 innings.  He'll be twenty-five in March.

Did you ever have a guy you really don't know much about but you just take a liking to him anyway?  That's me with Williams Ramirez.  I don't know why I like him, I just do.  The Twins made him spend three years in rookie ball, where he went a combined 11-4, 1,74, 1.03 WHIP with 170 strikeouts in 140 innings.  He walked 77, which is too many, but I don't see how keeping him in rookie ball was going to help with that.  Anyway, he finally went to Cedar Rapids this season and went 3-1, 2.62, 1.05 WHIP with 66 strikeouts in 55 innings.  He still walked too many--34--and he's going to have to solve that to have much of a career, but other than that he's done well everywhere he's been so far.  He turned twenty-four in August.