How did he get here?: Undrafted Free Agent (Troy University)
Stats: 6'3", 205 lbs, Bats: Right. Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2011: 22
2010 Overview
| PA | Avg/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI | K/PA% | XBH/H% |
| 154 | .274/.364/.356 | 23:9 | 8-12 | 14.9% | 21.6% |
What happened?
Ditthardt was a nice pickup as an undrafted free agent out of Troy towards the end of June. He spent most of his time at 1B (28 of 40 starts), but also saw six starts in LF. Ditthardt posted his best numbers of the season at the beginning of the year, with a .764 OPS in six June games, an .871 OPS in 17 July games, before bottoming out with a .217/.325/.275 line in 19 August games, including a 6x37 run in his final ten games of the season.
Ditthardt hits a lot of groundballs - 43.2%, with 38.9% flyballs, and 16.8% line drives. This is a decent indicator of his 2010, as his BABIP was .309.
In the field, Ditthardt posted a .968 Fld% - committing seven errors at 1B and one error in seven chances in LF.
What went right?
Hitting against LHPs. In a limited sample size (which will be a theme throughout the GCL In-Reviews), Ditthardt hit .324/.395/.441 against lefties in 2010, compared to .257/.353/.327 in 101 ABs against RHPs.
Also, Ditthardt thrived on the road - which is always nice to see. His road OPS (.793) was 140 points higher than his home OPS.
Total Man of the Match awards: Three
What went wrong?
It seems like Ditthardt just got tired. He struck out eight times in 23 games in June and July, and 15 times in 19 games in August, seeing a 271-point OPS dropoff from July to August.
Also, check this out. With the bases empty, Ditthardt had a .798 OPS. With runners on, that drops to .644, and with runners in scoring position that dropped further to .558.
An off-season for conditioning should help Ditthardt as he moves up the chain.
