GCL Astros - First Basemen

This is the first of what will be many posts breaking down Eddie's Farm, player by player (a couple a day, I suppose), in 2009. First up, the first basemen of the Gulf Coast League Astros. Note, at this level we'll consider players with 75 plate appearances.

Ronald Sanchez
How did he get here?: Drafted, 16th round (2009)
Stats: 5'10", 180 lbs, Bats: Left; Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 18

Season line: 43 games, 164 PAs. 29x138 - .210/.327/.246 - 5XBH-16RBI. 33K:18BB

Splits:
vs. LHP (45ABs): .111/.231/.111, 11K:5BB, 0XBH-5RBI
vs. RHP (93ABs): .258/.373/.312, 22K:13BB, 5XBH-11RBI

Home (50ABs): .160/.288/.180, 14K:7BB, 1XBH-7RBI
Away (88ABs): .239/.350/.284, 19K:11BB, 4XBH-9RBI

Day (127ABs): .220/.327/.263, 30K:14BB, 5XBH-14RBI
Night (11ABs): .091/.333/.091, 3K:4BB, 0XBH-2RBI

Runners on (72ABs): .222/.317/.236, 12K:6BB, 1XBH-16RBI
w/RISP (49ABs): .265/.390/.286, 7K:6BB, 1XBH-16RBI

June (20ABs): .250/.318/.350, 8K:2BB, 2XBH-3RBI
July (66ABs): .242/.398/.258, 11K:4BB, 1XBH-10RBI
August (52ABs): .154/.228/.192, 21K:12BB, 2XBH-3RBI

K/PA rate: 20.1%
XBH/H rate: 17.2%
K:BB ratio: 1.83

Lefties obviously gave Sanchez fits, but July was obviously the high-water mark of Sanchez' short season, hitting .242/.398/.258 before a significant drop off in all offensive lines, and an increase in strikeouts. His K/AB rate jumped from 16.7% in July to 40.4% in August (again, numbers are skewed with such a limited sample size.

Defensively, Sanchez ended 2009 with a .982 fielding percentage, committing six errors in 323 chances.

Kody Hinze
How did he get here?: Undrafted Free Agent
Stats: 6'0", 225 lbs, Bats: Right; Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 22

Season line: 32 games, 128 PAs. 21x103 - .262/.391/.398 - 10XBH-14RBI. 26K:19BB

Splits:
vs. LHP (31ABs): .258/.395/.387, 10K:5BB, 3XBH-2RBI
vs. RHP (72ABs): .264/.389/.403, 16K:14BB, 7XBH-12RBI

Home (49ABs): .224/.400/.306, 13K:12BB, 3XBH-4RBI
Away (54ABs): .296/.381/.481, 13K:7BB, 7XBH-12RBI

Day (101ABs): .257/.379/.376, 25K:17BB, 9XBH-12RBI
Night (2ABs): .500/.750/1.500, 1K:2BB, 1XBH-2RBI

Runners on (48ABs): .208/.322/.375, 13K:7BB, 5XBH-14RBI
w/RISP (40ABs): .175/.286/.300, 11K:6BB, 4XBH-12RBI

July (54ABs): .241/.295/.426, 13K:5BB, 7XBH-9RBI
August (49ABs): .286/.478/.367, 13K:14BB, 3XBH-5RBI

K/PA rate: 20.3%
XBH/H rate: 47.6%
K:BB ratio: 1.37

Hinze had a rough go of it in the early season, regressing a bit and getting sent down from Lexington after hitting .175/.267/.363 in 90 plate appearances. He was much better on the road in 09, and had noticeably better stats in August than in July.

11 of his 31 starts came as a DH, but in his 20 starts at first base, Hinze made two errors in 79 chances for a .990 fielding percentage.

This is the second year in the Astros' organization, spending 55 games in Greeneville in 2008 and hitting .269/.374/.457. The 22-year old should find himself back up in the higher levels of A-ball come 2010.