Eric Sogard, last year’s 81st pick in the MLB amateur draft, is off to one hell of a start with Hi-A Lake Elsinore. Granted, at 21 going on 22 Sogard is a little old for the level, but it’s only his second year of pro ball. And he appears to be making serious strides. His pro debut was nothing to write home about, but he made the adjustment to wooden bats by hitting around if a little below league average.
Through roughly 130 PA this season having been bumped up a level from Low to High Single A, Sogard is doing basically everything better than he did last year. He has seen an increase in his isolated power, walk rate and line drive rate while simultaneously cutting his strikeout rate significantly. And while there may be no such thing as a doubles hitter, Sogard is at least doing a fine impression of one by hitting a double in 15% of his at-bats.
His overall line of .388/.496/.553 is well above impressive, but it is also not sustainable primarily thanks to a ridiculous .430 BABIP. A .430 BABIP is what you’d expect from a line drive rate over 30%, not Sogard’s 17% which suggests something closer to a .300 BABIP perhaps higher given the lower quality of fielding faced in Single A. And of course, 130 PA isn’t much to go on, but Sogard was a high draft pick and has a mature plate approach, so he’s definitely someone to keep an eye on.
May 7, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Let me know what you think:
http://www.padresnation.com/kevinbrewer/game34.html
May 15, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Right On, Kevin!
I’m no guru … but it sure seems more often than not that Bud doesn’t do well with in-game pitching moves … in general, I have a sense that he leaves guys in too long … I especially hate when he passes up an opportunity to PH or a starter in the 6th or 7th only to have that starter get cuf’d in the next half-inning …