This article is part of our Leaderboard of the Week series.
With the Dominican and Venezuelan winter leagues wrapping up, I created a hitter leaderboard from guys I found interesting. For these batters, I looked for underlying talent changes like walk rate, strikeout rate, power, etc. While some evaluators may blow off these leagues, a batter can get nearly 200 plate appearances if playing every game. That's the same as two months in the majors. I'm not going to make major changes to my player rankings based on this information, but it's a definite tie-breaker.
Here is this week's "leaderboard".
| Name | Age | PA | HR | SB | OPS | ISO | K% | BB% | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jhostynxon Garcia | 22 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1.267 | .111 | 30% | 10% | Venezuelan |
| Ronald Acuna Jr. | 27 | 71 | 4 | 11 | 1.130 | .265 | 8% | 23% | Venezuelan |
| Miguel Sano | 32 | 101 | 9 | 0 | 1.039 | .348 | 22% | 9% | Dominican Republic |
| Luis Garcia Jr. | 25 | 66 | 1 | 2 | .942 | .166 | 8% | 6% | Dominican Republic |
| Luisangel Acuna | 23 | 174 | 8 | 12 | .939 | .260 | 19% | 15% | Venezuelan |
| Geraldo Perdomo | 25 | 14 | 0 | 0 | .929 | .167 | 0% | 14% | Dominican Republic |
| Bryan De La Cruz | 28 | 188 | 8 | 4 | .888 | .214 | 19% | 10% | Dominican Republic |
| Gabriel Arias | 25 | 180 | 9 | 7 | .879 | .231 | 27% | 11% | Venezuelan |
| Ezequiel Duran | 26 | 153 | 2 | 7 | .862 | .125 | 13% | 8% | Dominican Republic |
| Lenyn Sosa | 25 | 118 | 7 | 1 | .845 | .262 | 14% | 4% | Venezuelan |
| Salvador Perez | 35 | 63 | 3 | 0 | .844 | .185 | 19% | 10% | Venezuelan |
| Andruw Monasterio | 28 | 107 | 2 | 5 | .835 | .133 | 18% | 11% | Venezuelan |
| Isaac Paredes | 26 | 34 | 0 | 0 | .833 | .041 | 6% | 21% |
With the Dominican and Venezuelan winter leagues wrapping up, I created a hitter leaderboard from guys I found interesting. For these batters, I looked for underlying talent changes like walk rate, strikeout rate, power, etc. While some evaluators may blow off these leagues, a batter can get nearly 200 plate appearances if playing every game. That's the same as two months in the majors. I'm not going to make major changes to my player rankings based on this information, but it's a definite tie-breaker.
Here is this week's "leaderboard".
| Name | Age | PA | HR | SB | OPS | ISO | K% | BB% | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jhostynxon Garcia | 22 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1.267 | .111 | 30% | 10% | Venezuelan |
| Ronald Acuna Jr. | 27 | 71 | 4 | 11 | 1.130 | .265 | 8% | 23% | Venezuelan |
| Miguel Sano | 32 | 101 | 9 | 0 | 1.039 | .348 | 22% | 9% | Dominican Republic |
| Luis Garcia Jr. | 25 | 66 | 1 | 2 | .942 | .166 | 8% | 6% | Dominican Republic |
| Luisangel Acuna | 23 | 174 | 8 | 12 | .939 | .260 | 19% | 15% | Venezuelan |
| Geraldo Perdomo | 25 | 14 | 0 | 0 | .929 | .167 | 0% | 14% | Dominican Republic |
| Bryan De La Cruz | 28 | 188 | 8 | 4 | .888 | .214 | 19% | 10% | Dominican Republic |
| Gabriel Arias | 25 | 180 | 9 | 7 | .879 | .231 | 27% | 11% | Venezuelan |
| Ezequiel Duran | 26 | 153 | 2 | 7 | .862 | .125 | 13% | 8% | Dominican Republic |
| Lenyn Sosa | 25 | 118 | 7 | 1 | .845 | .262 | 14% | 4% | Venezuelan |
| Salvador Perez | 35 | 63 | 3 | 0 | .844 | .185 | 19% | 10% | Venezuelan |
| Andruw Monasterio | 28 | 107 | 2 | 5 | .835 | .133 | 18% | 11% | Venezuelan |
| Isaac Paredes | 26 | 34 | 0 | 0 | .833 | .041 | 6% | 21% | Mexican |
| Kyren Paris | 23 | 72 | 1 | 3 | .814 | .113 | 22% | 21% | Mexican |
| Maikel Garcia | 25 | 45 | 0 | 3 | .810 | .102 | 7% | 13% | Venezuelan |
| Leody Taveras | 26 | 173 | 1 | 10 | .806 | .133 | 13% | 16% | Dominican Republic |
| Jorge Mateo | 30 | 62 | 1 | 3 | .793 | .141 | 18% | 5% | Dominican Republic |
| Johan Rojas | 24 | 148 | 3 | 14 | .772 | .093 | 8% | 9% | Dominican Republic |
| Kristian Campbell | 23 | 62 | 0 | 2 | .771 | .122 | 19% | 21% | Puerto Rican |
| Gary Sanchez | 32 | 77 | 3 | 0 | .766 | .184 | 26% | 10% | Dominican Republic |
| Eloy Jimenez | 28 | 139 | 5 | 1 | .750 | .180 | 20% | 11% | Dominican Republic |
| Orlando Arcia | 30 | 52 | 2 | 0 | .717 | .184 | 13% | 6% | Venezuelan |
| Freddy Fermin | 30 | 49 | 0 | 0 | .717 | .100 | 14% | 14% | Venezuelan |
| Jerar Encarnacion | 27 | 54 | 2 | 0 | .701 | .154 | 22% | 2% | Dominican Republic |
| Oswaldo Arcia | 34 | 112 | 3 | 1 | .700 | .151 | 25% | 20% | Venezuelan |
| Adrian Del Castillo | 25 | 51 | 0 | 0 | .641 | .048 | 16% | 16% | Puerto Rican |
| Luis Campusano | 26 | 58 | 2 | 0 | .633 | .140 | 29% | 10% | Dominican Republic |
| Carter Jensen | 21 | 37 | 0 | 0 | .627 | .069 | 32% | 19% | Dominican Republic |
| Griffin Conine | 27 | 40 | 0 | 1 | .569 | .031 | 25% | 18% | Dominican Republic |
| Jasson Dominguez | 22 | 46 | 0 | 3 | .568 | .079 | 20% | 15% | Dominican Republic |
| Vidal Brujan | 27 | 107 | 0 | 5 | .561 | .012 | 20% | 14% | Dominican Republic |
| Jhonkensy Noel | 23 | 38 | 2 | 0 | .540 | .182 | 26% | 8% | Dominican Republic |
| Luis Guillorme | 30 | 31 | 0 | 0 | .521 | .039 | 10% | 13% | Venezuelan |
| Jorge Mateo | 30 | 70 | 0 | 6 | .493 | .034 | 24% | 14% | Dominican Republic |
| Esteury Ruiz | 26 | 39 | 1 | 6 | .476 | .097 | 21% | 18% | Dominican Republic |
| Jose Siri | 29 | 21 | 0 | 2 | .460 | .055 | 24% | 10% | Dominican Republic |
| Oscar Colas | 26 | 46 | 0 | 0 | .450 | .070 | 20% | 4% | Mexican |
| Gabriel Moreno | 25 | 9 | 0 | 0 | .444 | .000 | 0% | 0% | Venezuelan |
| Jordan Lawlar | 22 | 46 | 0 | 1 | .432 | .047 | 39% | 0% | Dominican Republic |
| Luis Matos | 23 | 68 | 0 | 0 | .255 | .015 | 7% | 3% | Venezuelan |
Here are my thoughts on a few of the players.
Ronald Acuna Jr.: His 11 steals in 71 plate appearances (on pace for 93 steals per 600 PA) show that he's ready to start running again after only stealing nine bases last year.
Luisangel Acuna: The other Acuna put up some interesting numbers, especially his eight homers to go with his 12 steals. He didn't hit a single home run in the minors or majors last year. Of the 141 balls he put in play, only two were barrels. I'm going to investigate any potential changes in his swing.
Geraldo Perdomo, Lenyn Sosa, Salvador Perez and Maikel Garcia: Good hitters with good results.
Bryan De La Cruz: The 29-year-old posted one of the more impressive lines, especially the 19 percent strikeout rate after his 36 percent strikeout rate in the majors last season. He showed both speed and power. Currently, he's on a minor-league contract with the Phillies. I'll try not to be dismissive of him if he gets another major-league shot.
Gabriel Arias: I was hoping to see a strikeout rate lower than 27 percent, but at least it's better than the 34 percent strikeout rate he posted in the majors last year.
Luis Garcia Jr.: I was hoping he'd be playing at first base, but all his starts were at second base.
Isaac Paredes: Only played four innings in the field and was otherwise the designated hitter.
Carter Jensen: These are not the results I'm looking for. Fantasy managers are hoping Jensen will take a step forward after a solid 69 PA last season. The 32 percent strikeout rate was worse than his 28 percent mark in Triple-A and far worse than his 17 percent strikeout rate in the majors, and .069 ISO was nowhere near his .250 ISO at the MLB level. If he had performed like this in the majors, there's no way he would have an ADP near 200 as he does now.
Jasson Dominguez: The Yankees gave him the opportunity to show he deserves major-league at-bats, and he failed at it. He seems to have peaked in his age-20 season.
Jorge Mateo: The newest Brave started for two teams with two separate results (.793 OPS vs .493 OPS). With Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican Winter League, posted an OPS near .800 and started at shortstop in all 15 games.
Kyren Paris: While not hitting for much power, Paris only had a 22 percent strikeout rate after posting a 42 percent strikeout rate in the majors last season.
Johan Rojas: More of the same from Rojas: a bunch of steals (14) and not much else.
Jordan Lawlar: He's lost or something. A 39 percent strikeout rate is shi … not good. Continues to disappoint.
Luis Campusano, Esteury Ruiz, Jose Siri, Oscar Colas and Luis Matos: All are trying their hardest not to be on a major-league team.
