Jiovanni Mier is hitting .209 in Low A ball. Talk about bad news... but anyway. Four Legends named SAL Southern All-Stars http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/...id=10913562&vkey=news_t495&fext=.jsp&sid=t495 (APPLEBEE'S PARK, Lexington, Ky.) Four Lexington Legends have been selected for the South Atlantic League Southern Division All-Star team. Rosters were announced today (Monday) by SAL President Eric Krupa. Outfielder J.D. Martinez, first baseman-designated hitter Kody Hinze, second baseman Jose Altuve and relief pitcher Kirk Clark were chosen in voting by managers, coaches, front office executives and local media. Including the Legends day game Monday, Martinez leads the league in batting average at .369, hits with 86, doubles with 23, extra-base hits with 33, runs scored with 56, total bases with 136, on-base percentage at .433 and slugging percentage at .584. Hinze leads the league in RBI with 56, is tied for the league lead in home runs with 12, and is sixth in batting average at .307 through Monday's Legends game. Altuve, the Legends' leadoff man, is batting .278 with five homers and 22 RBI. He has 17 stolen bases. Clark is tied for the league lead in saves with 12, and has saved the 12 games in 13 save opportunities. "It's well-deserved," said Legends Manager Rodney Linares of the players' selection. "All those kids have done a great job. I'm really happy for them." "We see these four guys play every home game, so for us their all-star nomination is a no-brainer," added Legends General Manager Andy Shea. "I'm happy the rest of the league also noticed and appreciated what they've done for us this year. " The All-Star game, matching the Southern Division All-Stars against those from the Northern Division, will be played Tuesday, June 22 at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C., home of the SAL's Greenville Drive.
He is actually in normal straight up "A" ball. As young as he is, it isn't something to really get too worried about at this point.
Like I posted in another thread - go look at the error numbers for high school shortstops before the age of 20. Derek Jeter had 56 when he was at the same place in his career as Mier. Jimmy Rollins' error figures for his first three years were 20 errors in short season, followed by 26 and 29. College shortstops from major colleges don't have the problem, but every great SS that was taken out of High School or signed internationally absolutely does. Guys like Omar Vizquel, Handly Ramerez, Jose Reyes... they were all making as many if not more errors as Mier is. Don't worry at all about on field performance until after next year. The things that make a difference about his future are things that you can't see in a stat line.
The hitting is a concern, but the errors aren't. Hopefully he can develop more offensively. Of course he probably will look better if he starts next season at Lancaster. I'd rather see him back in Lexington.
Wow 56 for Jeter is crazy even though defense really isn't his strong suit. That's very insightly and I agree that we shouldn't get too worked up about Mier until he craps the bed next year and in 2012.
Uh, no, he's in low A ball at Lexington. Lancaster is high A ball. They're both considered A leagues but one is decidedly more advanced than the other. And yes, you should worry about a 1st round pick hitting .209 in low A ball. That's a $1.4 million investment there. He turns 20 in two months and will surely repeat Lexington next year.
He has been battling injuries and simply hasn't been good but did have a nice start to his pro-career last year. Give him time, guy isn't even 20 yet so let him figure it out and repeat A ball if need be...certainly no rush at this point.
The low a league for the Astros is the NYP. The Sally League is just "A ball" no high or low. If you want some comparables: Omar Vizquel - .225 at age 18, and .213 at age 19. Edgar Rentaria's first full season of A ball - .203 in 428 plate appearances. Cesar Izturis - .190 in Low A Miguel Tejada - .245 in A ball at 19 (actually 21) Jhonny Peralta - .240 with 148 strikeouts in 500 PA's in A ball at 18. I guess each of those guys should have been declared a bust and run out of town on a rail for sucking so much after such horrible performances at those advanced ages, right?
That's Jacoby Jones's spot in Lexington next year. Book it. Mier probably goes to Lancaster to get his confidence up. Who knows, maybe he blasts 25 HRs in the PCL.
Following up on ... Looking here http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/ ... The minor league classifications with the Astros affiliates are 1. AAA - Round Rock Express (PCL) 2. AA - Corpus Christi Hooks (TEX) 3. A Advanced - Lancaster JetHawks (CAL) 4. A - Lexington Legends (SAL) 5. A Short Season - Tri-City ValleyCats (NYP) 6. Rookie - Greeneville Astros (APP) and GCL Astros (GCL) and DSL Astros (DSL) For those interested, Astros County has an almost daily farm report called Eddie's Farm. Here is the latest Eddie's Farm.
It's not a big deal but I do think that Class A and Low A are synonymous. A-level ball is broked down into 3 parts: High-A or Class A Advanced Low-A or just Class A (Lexington is in this category as part of the Sally) Short-season A Basically, you have High-A and Low-A then separately and below the two, Short-A.
