GCL Astros - Shortstops

Luis Bryan held down the fort at shortstop for the GCL Astros for 30 games, but we're also going to take a brief glance at Jan Baldee, who might just have had the most unfortunate minor-league season. Ever.

Luis Bryan
How did he get here?: Signed to a minor league contract prior to 2008 season
Stats: 6'2", 165 lbs, Bats: Right; Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 20

Season line: 31 games, 111 PAs. 36x106 - .340/.345/.491 - 10XBH-19RBI. 20K:0BB

Splits:
vs. LHP (38ABs): .289/.325/.474, 6K:0BB, 3XBH-7RBI
vs. RHP (68ABs): .368/.357/.500, 14K:0BB, 7XBH-12RBI

Home (46ABs): .326/.333/.391, 10K:0BB, 3XBH-9RBI
Away (60ABs): .350/.355/.567, 10K:0BB, 7XBH-10RBI

Runners on (60ABs): .400/.397/.483, 9K:0BB, 4XBH-17RBI
w/RISP (41ABs): .366/.349/.463, 8K:0BB, 3XBH-17RBI

June (12ABs): .333/.385/.500, 2K:0BB, 2XBH-1RBI
July (82ABs): .329/.329/.488, 16K:0BB, 7XBH-17RBI
August (12ABs): .417/.417/.500, 2K:0BB, 1XBH-1RBI

K/PA rate: 18%
XBH/H rate: 27.7%
K:BB ratio: INF

All of Bryan's 30 games this season were at short, where he made 13 errors in 122 chances, for an .893 fielding percentage. This is, remarkably, an improvement over his 2007 season in the DSL, when he made 32 errors in 227 chances for an .859 fielding percentage.

Bryan was, by far, the GCL Astros' best hitter this season. But one thing that you probably noticed was that he went 111 ABs without a walk. That's tough to do, and he's going to need to be more patient in order to advance through the system. I would have a hard time believing that he wouldn't open 2010 in Greeneville, or Tri-City, given that he'll be 20 on April 1, 2010.

Jan Baldee
How did he get here?: Signed to a minor league contract (October 2007)
Stats: 6'2", 170 lbs, Bats: Right; Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 19

Season line: 18 games, 43PAs. 1x41 - .024/.070/.024 - 0XBH-0RBI. 24K:2BB

Splits:
vs. LHP (10ABs): .000/.091/.000, 5K:1BB, 0XBH-0RBI
vs. RHP (31ABs): .032/.063/.032, 19K:0BB, 0XBH-0RBI

Home (21ABs): .048/.091/.048, 9K:1BB, 0XBH-0RBI
Away (20ABs): .000/.048/.000, 15K:1BB, 0XBH-0RBI

Runners on (19ABs): .000/.050/.000, 12K:1BB, 0XBH-0RBI
w/RISP (11ABs): .000/.000/.000, 8K:0BB, 0XBH-0RBI

July (9ABs): .000/.100/.000, 6K:0BB, 0XBH-0RBI
August (32ABs): .031/.061/.031, 18K:0BB, 0XBH-0RBI

K/PA rate: 55.8%
XBH/H rate: 0%
K:BB ratio: 12.0

Baldee was considered one of the top middle infield prospects in all of Europe, and is the second European prospect signed by the Astros. To be fair, this is his first season in the U.S., and it's going to take him some time to get adjusted. But this season was a train wreck. If the average BABIP is .300, keep in mind that Baldee's BABIP was .052. He struck out in over half of his plate appearances, and obviously had one single all season long.

The word on Baldee is he is a smooth defensive player. How true is that? In eight game at short, Baldee committed seven errors in 29 chances, for a .759 fielding percentage. In six games at second, he didn't commit an error in 21 chances. So let's call him a 2B. The conversion from short to 2B might prove to be a good one, as his "career" (it's hard to call 31 total games a "career") fielding percentage at short sits at .799.

Personally, it's easy to rail on a guy with an .024 average, but I wanted to cry doing this post. I really do hope he's back next year.