2012 S2S Midseason All-Stars: South Atlantic League
By Robbie Knopf
Wow. We’re halfway through the Sally League season already? Unfortunately, yes. The season is progressing quickly and before we know it, it will be over. One positive aspect of this is that for the first time we get to look back at how the 2012 South Atlantic League season has gone so far. The South Atlantic League has named its All-Star roster for the SAL All-Star game to be played on June 19th in Charleston, the home of the Yankees affiliate, the Riverdogs. But right now we’ll name our own S2S 2012 South Atlantic League Midseason All-Stars, looking back at the league’s best performances.
While we love to talk about the top prospects in baseball, this list is based upon statistical merit as opposed to prospect merit. We’ll see plenty of top prospects but we’ll also see several lesser known players who have impressed, some of whom have truly broken out and will become better-regarded prospects moving forward, and some of whom where that is not the case. Age was completely disregarded as well, and I didn’t try to get members of every Sally League team on this All-Star team (only 8 of 14 ended up being represented). Now that we got that out of the way, here are our S2S 2012 South Atlantic League Midseason All-Stars.
C- Gary Sanchez (age 19), Charleston Riverdogs (Yankees)
Acquired: signed out of the Dominican Republic
Prospect Ranking: #4 in Baseball America’s Yankees Top 30, #17 in our S2S Top 100 Prospects
2012 SAL Stats: 57 G, 248 PA, .310/.359/.546, 18 2B, 12 HR, 51 RBI, 21.0% LD%, 10 of 13 SB, 55 K, 16 BB, .973 Fld%, 5 PB, 29% CS%
1B- Harold Riggins (22), Asheville Tourists (Rockies)
Acquired: 7th Round of 2011 MLB Draft
Prospect Ranking: unranked
2012 SAL Stats: 58 G, 253 PA, .307/.395/.507, 17 2B, 11 HR, 53 RBI, 11.8% LD%, 3 of 6 SB, 67 K, 25 BB, .995 Fld%
2B- Delino DeShields Jr. (19), Lexington Legends (Astros)
Acquired: 1st Round of 2010 MLB Draft
Prospect Ranking: #8 in BA’s Astros Top 30
2012 SAL Stats: 65 G, 305 PA, .268/.373/.370, 11 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 29 RBI, 20.3% LD%, 45 of 52 SB, 64 K, 40 BB, .955 Fld%
3B- Matthew Skole (22), Hagerstown Suns (Astros)
Acquired: 5th Round of 2011 MLB Draft
Prospect Ranking: #21 in BA’s Nationals Top 30
2012 SAL Stats: 66 G, 296 PA, .296/.444/.540, 13 2B, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 24.4% LD%, 4 of 4 SB, 72 K, 62 BB, .910 Fld%
SS- Alen Hanson (19), State College Spikes (Pirates)
Acquired: signed out of the Dominican Republic
Prospect Ranking: #27 in BA’s Pirates Top 30
2012 SAL Stats: 65 G, 297 PA, .316/.375/.556, 20 2B, 7 3B, 10 HR, 36 RBI, 19.0% LD%, 17 of 29 SB, 61 K, 26 BB, .887 Fld%
OF- Tyler Austin (20), Charleston Riverdogs (Yankees)
Acquired: 13th Round of 2010 MLB Draft
Prospect Ranking: #20 in BA’s Yankees Top 30
2012 SAL Stats: 57 G, 255 PA, .329/.404/.653, 20 2B, 5 3B, 14 HR, 50 RBI, 17.4% LD%, 14 of 15 SB, 58 K, 27 BB, .989 Fld% (RF), 4 OF assists
OF- Brent Keys (21), Greensboro Grasshoppers (Marlins)
Acquired: 17th round of 2009 MLB Draft
Prospect Ranking: unranked
2012 SAL Stats: 63 G, 283 PA, .358/.429/.471, 13 2B, 4 HR, 31 RBI, 15.2% LD%, 15 of 18 SB, 22 K, 30 BB, .975 Fld% (CF), 4 OF assists
OF- Keury De La Cruz (20), Greenville Drive (Red Sox)
Acquired: signed out of the Dominican Republic
Prospect Ranking: unranked
2012 SAL Stats: 56 G, 251 PA, .325/.378/.571, 14 2B, 5 3B, 11 HR, 45 RBI, 7.4% LD%, 9 of 13 SB, 55 K, 15 BB, .897 Fld% (LF and RF), 3 OF assists
DH- Travis Taijeron (23), Savannah Sand Gnats (Mets)
Acquired: 18th round of 2011 MLB Draft
Prospect Ranking: unranked
2012 SAL Stats: 63 G, 272 PA, .288/.397/.535, 17 2B, 3 3B, 11 HR, 42 RBI, 24.8% LD%, 4 of 5 SB, 70 K, 36 BB, .984 Fld%, (CF, LF, and RF), 3 OF assists
SP1- Jose Fernandez (19), Greensboro Grasshoppers (Marlins)
Acquired: 1st round of 2011 MLB Draft
Prospect Ranking: #3 in BA’s Marlins Top 30
2012 SAL Stats: 7-0 record, 1.59 ERA, 14 GS, 79 IP, 99 K (11.3 K/9), 18 BB (2.1 BB/9), 2 HR (0.2 HR/9), 1.75 FIP, 44.9% GB%
SP2- Michael Foltynewicz (20), Lexington Legends (Astros)
Acquired: 1st round of 2010 MLB Draft
Prospect Rankings: #9 in BA’s Astros Top 30
2012 SAL Stats: 9-1 record, 2.13 ERA, 14 GS, 82.2 IP, 65 K (6.9 K/9), 32 BB (3.4 BB/9), 6 HR (0.6 HR/9), 3.76 FIP, 49.6% GB%
SP3- Rafael Montero (21), Savannah Sand Gnats (Mets)
Acquired: signed out of the Dominican Republic
Prospect Rankings: unranked
2012 SAL Stats: 6-3 record, 2.52 ERA, 12 GS, 71.1 IP, 54 K (6.8 K/9), 8 BB (1.0 BB/9), 4 HR (0.5 HR/9), 3.60 FIP, 31.8% GB%
SP4- Miguel Pena (21), Greenville Drive (Red Sox)
Acquired: 6th round of 2011 MLB Draft
Prospect Rankings: unranked
2012 SAL Stats: 4-3 record, 2.49 ERA, 11 GS, 61.1 IP, 64 K (9.4 K/9), 10 BB (1.5 BB/8), 3 HR (0.3 HR/9), 2.29 FIP, 43.8% GB%
SP5- Adam Conley (22), Greensboro Grasshoppers (Marlins)
Acquired: 2nd round of 2011 MLB Draft
Prospect Rankings: #10 in BA’s Marlins Top 30
2012 SAL Stats: 7-3 record, 2.78 ERA, 14 GS, 74.1 IP, 84 K (10.2 K/9), 24 BB (2.9 BB/9), 4 HR (0.5 HR/9), 2.69 FIP, 54.5% GB%
RHRP- Jeffrey Walters (24), Savannah Sand Gnats (Mets)
Acquired: 7th round of 2010 MLB Draft
Prospect Rankings: unranked
2012 SAL Stats: 3-2 record, 0.99 ERA, 16 appearances, 27.1 IP, 30 K (9.9 K/9), 4 BB (1.3 BB/9), 0 HR (0.0 HR/9), 3 SV, 1.66 FIP, 43.2% GB%
LHRP- Evan Grills (20), Lexington Legends (Astros)
Acquired: 10th round of 2010 MLB Draft
Prospect Rankings: unranked
2012 SAL Stats: 2-0 record, 2.76 ERA, 18 appearances, 32.2 IP, 20 K (5.5 K/9), 10 BB (2.8 BB/9), 3 HR (0.8 HR/9), 4.27 FIP, 47.1% GB%
CL- Dayan Diaz (23), Lexington Legends (Astros)
Acquired: signed out of Colombia
Prospect Rankings: unranked
2012 SAL Stats: 4-2 record, 0.85 ERA, 19 appearances, 31.2 IP, 35 K (9.9 K/9), 16 BB (4.5 BB/9), 1 HR (0.3 HR/9), 7 SV, 3.11 FIP, 52.8% GB%
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LD% (line drive rate) and GB% (groundball rate) statistics are courtesy of Minor League Central.
To check out Mid-Season All-Stars for each of the other full-season leagues, please head here.