Many of the guys thriving on the Halos' farm are the one's that you'd expect. Kyle Kubitza, Sean Newcomb, Alfonso Alcantara. But how are they doing it?
Kyle Kubitza: .415/.456/.642 with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 1 SB
He's sporting a .579 BABIP and a 26% strikeout rate, which makes him an even more extreme version of the outlier that we looked at before the season began. Pitch data for the minors is not yet the most reliable of info, but minorleaguecentral.com pegs his contact rate at a Ryan Howard-esque 67.4%, down 4 percentage points from last year. They also have him reaching for pitches out of the zone at nearly 2.5 times the rate he did in 2014. Yet he's blasting line drives at a 29% rate all over the outfield. The Baseballs Gods usually (always?) punish this kind of Icarus with an epic heap of statistical gravity, but I want to believe that he can fly. Fly Kubitza, fly!!!!
Sean Newcomb: 1 and 0 with a 1.69 ERA in 16 innings pitched. 32% k-rate / 8% bb-rate, 70.1% groundball rate
Newcomb was given the safest possible assignment and is responding just the way he's supposed to: by annihilating the competition. It's generally pretty hard to hit in the Midwest League in April, but still, a 70.1% groundball rate? Jeez.
Alfonso (Victor) Alcantara: 1 and 2 with a 2.50 ERA in 18 innings pitched. 23% k-rate/7% BB-rate /70% GB rate
Speaking of insane groundball rates, enter Alfonso. Most impressively, he's throwing strikes at a well-above-average 67% rate while limiting the opposition to just 3.35 pitches per plate appearance (basically, Erick Aybar in a good year). He's been extremely impressive, shining in areas of historical weakness.
Carlos Perez: .410/.439/.718 with 2 HR's and 1 SB. Just 4 k's and 2 BB's.
Through winter ball, spring training, and now April in Utah, Perez has mashed. He's currently pulling the ball more than just about anyone in the system while posting a 25% line drive rate. Even rolled over groundballs are finding their way into the outfield. Still just 24, he may yet evolve into an offensively gifted backstop, which oddly was what scouts projected upon him when he was in his early teens, before that catch-and-throw rep took over. He's also let seven guys swipe bags while catching only one, so there's that.