Minor League Review: Buffalo Bisons
We are still early in the minor league season so there isn't a lot of information to take from the data we currently have. However, there are a few interesting tidbits worth noting.
Danny Jansen is off to a scorching start with a .389/.522/.667 slash line through 23 plate appearances. The results are encouraging because they are backed by solid peripherals. His walk rate is an excellent 17.4% and he has struck out only 13.0% of the time. Jansen ran an elite swinging strike rate last season and is at just 4.5% this year. Along with making lots of contact, he is hitting for power as well. 3 of his 7 hits have gone for extra bases. It's just 23 plate appearances, but there is reason to believe Jansen is the real deal. His .429 BABIP will come down, but he should still put up strong numbers with a normal BABIP.
Jason Leblebijian had a strong spring that had people talking about a potential call-up sometime in 2018. He has continued to hit well in the early going of the AAA season with a .389/.450/.722 slash line. He has hit 2 home runs in the early going and has an ISO of .333. The slash line and power look good, but under closer inspection there is a lot of luck involved. His .625 BABIP is obviously unsustainable as is his 100% HR/FB. His strikeout rate is 40% and his swinging strike rate of 15.4% will need to come down if he's going to keep hitting well. He has had strikeout issues throughout his entire minor league career. He has people excited with his spring performance and early results in AAA, but his bat looks better suited to a bench role if he were to make the majors.
Rowdy Tellez's .105/.261/.105 slash line is a discouraging start after his disappointing 2017 season. The positive's are his 17.4% walk rate and 13.0% strikeout rate. Tellez has always had strong k/bb numbers and that was also the case last year. He has also shown an all-field approach which is encouraging. The issue is his power disappeared last season and has yet to show itself this year. Keep an eye on whether he starts hitting for more power. If he can hit with more pop, he has the plate discipline that there's reason to believe he has a major league bat.
Joe Biagini has an excellent debut. He threw 5 innings, giving up an unearned run. He struck out 4 and walked 1. It was a promising start for Biagini. One downside was that he generated only a 6.3% swinging strike rate. Carlos Ramirez has yet to give up a hit in 3.1 innings. Matt Dermody has struck out 4 batters in 2 innings and hasn't given up a walk. I was happy when he passed through waivers, he is a good piece of depth as a potential LOOGY. Sam Moll has also got off to a strong start with 4 strikeouts in 3.2 innings.
The pitchers obviously have extremely small sample sizes and there isn't much to be taken from their stats. With the hitters, the small sample size needs to be taken into consideration as well, however, the strikeout and walk rates normalize quickly so there is a little bit that can be taken from those numbers. I look forward to having more data to look at to see if any players have made meaningful changes to their skillset.
