Some Thoughts on a Tuesday

Just a few things I've been thinking about the last few days...

• Brian McCann is having an amazing season, but isn't getting much attention thanks to Geovany Soto. What most people don't realize is that McCann is a year younger than Soto, and is outperforming him is almost every significant category, including average, OBP, slugging, OPS, home runs, doubles, hits, and strikeout rate. Soto is definitely one of the best hitting catchers in the majors, but McCann is better.
• If you're one of the few people that still doubts Chris Davis, now might be a good time to reconsider your position. After 90 plate appearances at AAA, the 22 year old Davis is hitting .350/.411/.688 with 7 home runs, 6 doubles, and an ISOP of .338. In his last 8 games, Davis is 13 for 28, with 5 home runs, 2 doubles, and a walk to strikeout ratio of 4:2. That comes out to a home run to plate appearance rate of about 1:6. When Ryan Braun was called up last year at 23 years of age, he was averaging 1 home run per 13 plate appearances. As we all know, Braun went on to hit 34 home runs with the Brewers and won Rookie of the Year.
• After a 50 game suspension for substance abuse, Jeremy Jeffress is back with a vengeance, posting a 34.6% K%, and a GB% over 50%. His numbers last year suggest that he might be over performing at the moment, but he still looks very impressive, and his 7.5% BB% suggests that this might be a breakout year for him.
• If you thought Chris Davis was posting nice numbers, check out Billy Butler's stats at AAA since being sent down in May: .403/.481/.642 in 77 plate appearances. Unfortunately for Butler, he only has 1 home run, but his 11 doubles and 10:3 BB:SO ratio are great indicators that he doesn't have a lot left to fix before he can head back up to the majors.
  
• Here's how I rank some of the young arms in the minors: 1. Madison Burmgarner, 2. Trevor Cahill, 3. Brett Anderson, 4. Rick Porcell, 5. Jarrod Parker.

That's all I've got for now.

-Adam G.