Rounding the Bases: Best bats of April

By Sam Dykstra / MiLB.com

A month of Minor League Baseball has come and gone, and that means we’ve had a month’s worth of games and stats to digest. Having done that, these are my picks for April’s Hitters of the Month in each of the 10 full-season leagues:

International League: Gregory Polanco, OF, Indianapolis — An easy pick as Polanco’s torrid start to the 2014 season has been one of the biggest storylines in the Minors. The Pirates’ top prospect led the IL in average (.400), OBP (.457) and RBIs (25) in April and was fourth in both slugging (.632) and OPS (1.089).

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Pacific Coast League: Joc Pederson, OF, Albuquerque — The Dodgers’ №2 prospect was squeezed out of a potential Major League job before the season started and has responded by tearing up the PCL. The left-handed slugger had all of his offensive tools on display with a .398/.504/.663 slash line that includes six homers, 14 RBIs plus nine steals in April. No other player in the PCL put together as impressive a package as Pederson. Astros prospect Jon Singleton, who led the PCL with nine homers and was second with 27 RBIs, gets an honorable mention.

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Eastern League: Mookie Betts, 2B, Portland — We’ve devoted a lot of digital ink to Betts on this blog, but just to recap: his .430 April average was tops in the Minors, and it wasn’t close. Despite what some saw as a limited power tool, he ranked at the top of the Eastern League in slugging (.688) and OPS (1.169). Thanks to plus speed, he finished second in steals (10). He walked 11 times and struck out on only eight occasions. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better hitter in the Minors this April than Betts, never mind the Eastern League.

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Southern League: Rangel Ravelo, 1B, Birmingham — Since being taken in the sixth round of the 2010 Draft, Ravelo has shown quality on-base skills with OBPs in the mid-to-high .300s in each of his three full seasons entering 2014. He was on another level in April, walking 19.8 percent of the time and leading the Minors with a .518 OBP in his first month with the Barons. He also batted .375 and showed some pop with 10 doubles and two homers in 23 games.

Texas League: Ryan Rua, 3B, Frisco — The 23-year-old infielder is doing his best to prove his 32-homer season was no fluke. He sat in a three-way tie for first in the Texas League with six homers in April, but that’s not the most impressive bit. With a .358/.441/.654 line in 24 games, Rua owned the Texas League Triple (Slash) Crown with the highest number in each category.

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California League: Trevor Story, SS, Modesto — Story took a step back in 2013 (.233 average, 183 strikeouts) and was forced to repeat the Cal League to start this season. He might not be there much longer. He batted .361 and, thanks to a 14.8 percent walk rate, owned a .461 OBP. His speed allowed him to top the Cal League with 16 steals (good for second in the Minors) and helped him accrue 11 doubles and three triples in 27 games. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Story in Tulsa before the All-Star break.

Carolina League: Joey Gallo, 3B, Myrtle Beach — There were a lot of questions about Gallo coming into the season. Would he be able to come close to matching his 40-homer season? Would he make enough contact to even give himself a chance? Would the advanced level give him fits? He’s answered them all. Loudly. Gallo’s nine homers in April not only led the Carolina League but were also second-most in the entire Minors (he added a 10th on May 1). He batted an honorable .317 and walked 20 times in 24 games to help lift his OBP to .434, third-best in the circuit.

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Florida State League: Brandon Nimmo, OF, St. Lucie — The Mets’ first-round pick from 2011 jumped to the hottest start in the Sunshine State. His .384 average was second only to teammate T.J. Rivera (.388), and he led the circuit in walks (25) and OBP (.508). His 1.023 OPS was second to Tampa’s Peter O’Brien, who has a good case for this spot with eight homers and a 1.064 OPS. Nimmo is apparently a fan of the season’s first month. He had a .322/.421/.433 slash line in April for Class A Savannah last season.

Midwest League: Clint Coulter, C, Wisconsin/Mitch Garver, C, Cedar Rapids — These two backstops are too close to split hairs. Garver had the advantage in power numbers (league-leading five homers and .628 slugging percentage) and had the higher average (.312), but Coulter wasn’t far behind (.312 average, four homers, .584 SLG) and had the advantage in OBP (.438-.413). We’re looking at this through an offensive prism, but if you need a personal tiebreaker, Coulter nabbed 20 percent of would-be basestealers while Garver threw out only 13.3 percent.

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South Atlantic League: Ryan McMahon, 3B, Asheville — McMahon is the only player on this list with a sub-.300 average, but he gets the nod for good reason. His power numbers were too great to ignore. His league-best nine homers are nearly double his closest competition of David Dahl and Michael O’Neill, both of whom hit five dingers in April. (For those concerned about the benefits of his playing in hitter-friendly Asheville, only three of his nine homers came at home.) McMahon, who hit .291 with a .396 OBP, also led the league with 23 RBIs, a .696 slugging percentage and a 1.092 OPS.

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Mascot Item of the Week

There are no words for this, but colleague Ben Hill takes a good shot at it.

Quick Hits

• The Astros have made waves in recent years by piggybacking their Minor League starting pitchers. Now, they’re doing it again by changing the positioning of their defenders in the Minors, according to the Houston Chronicle. It’s not quite shifting, but it is a different approach to defense.
• We had our first big promotion of the season when George Springer moved up to the Astros. I looked at who could be next and what the fantasy implications could be.
• Jake Seiner provided some cool nuggets in his weekly Stock Up/Stock Down column, among them a breakdown what’s making Betts so good at the plate.
• Robbie Ray has been promoted to the Majors for his debut with the Nationals, following a finger injury to Anibal Sanchez. Baseball Prospectus gave him the “The Call-Up” treatment.