Rockies, Angels, Dodgers Pioneer League prospects to watch
The Rockies, Angels and Dodgers had 2015 draftees who got off to a hot start in the Pioneer League.
We’ve looked at first-year prospects from the Appalachian and Gulf Coast Leagues, and today, 2015 draftees who played in the Pioneer League are highlighted.
Collin Ferguson, 1B, Rockies, 17th Round
Ferguson led the league with 171 weighted run created plus (wRC+), and his most obvious skills were his plate discipline and power: He had 35 walks to against just 32 strikeouts in 231 plate appearances. He showed similar plate discipline in college while playing at St. Mary’s (CA), where he hit .337/.463/.577 with eight home runs, 47 strikeouts and 43 walks during his senior season. In the PL, he hit .346/.463/.605 with nine home runs. As a left-handed hitter, he was especially potent against right-handed pitchers: he had a 1.142 on base plus slugging percentage against righties but a .897 OPS against lefties. (The latter is still impressive, just not as eye-popping.)
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Michael Pierson, 3B, Angels, 21st Round
Pierson won the PL batting title with a .395 average and had a .467 OBP and .528 SLG and had a 160 wRC+, third in the league. Like Ferguson, he showed impressive plate discipline to go with decent power. He struck out in only 13.3 percent of his plate appearances in the PL, and in his final two years of college at Appalachian State, he drew 67 walks and struck out 69 times. In those final two years, he also hit .344/.448/.536 with 14 home runs.
Austin Byler, 1B, Diamondbacks, 11th Round
Byler developed into quite the power hitter in his final two years at Nevada, hitting .327/.465/.637 with 28 home runs. That power carried over into the PL, where he led the league with 15 home runs and hit .298/.422/.636 and was fourth in the league with a 159 wRC+. Unfortunately, Byler will be suspended for 50 games in 2016 due to a positive test for a banned substance.
Next: Red Sox, Yankees prospects to watch in 2016
Gage Green, C/OF, Dodgers, 35th round
Green was drafted as a catcher out of Oklahoma State but spent most of his playing time in center field, which is evidence of his athleticism. He stole 56 bases in 65 attempts as a Cowboy and was a steady but not dominant hitter, hitting .292/.395/.406 in his four years in Stillwater. In the PL, he hit .370/.433/.536 and was fifth in the league with a 147 wRC+. He even played in four games for the Great Lakes Loons of the Class A Midwest League.
Stats from Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs.com and The Baseball Cube.