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Appalachian League: Data Darlings (June 4 - July 4)

July 10, 2024
Seth Fromowitz, Alex Cullen, JD Linhardt & Jackson Gormley

One aspect of the Appalachian League that distinguishes it from other collegiate summer leagues is its technology and data integration. Through the league’s data coordinators, all Appy League players have readily available information to help evaluate, scout and develop their skill set while directly distributing that information to all 30 Major League teams. Taking a deeper look into the numbers that have stood out across the first month of the season, we’ve picked out “data darlings” from each team to highlight the players who have displayed eye-opening metrics during the 2024 Appy League season.

Bluefield Ridge Runners

RHP Blake Gillespie (Georgia / PORTAL) - Coming off of the latest Pitcher of the Week performance, where he struck out eight over five innings and allowed no runs off of one hit, the former Bulldog has seen himself allow harder hits than the rest of the league, but does a strong job at getting batters to swing-and-miss in two-strike counts while allowing zero free passes. A fastball-heavy mix that features two-seam action, Gillespie has been able to strikeout 34.6% of batters faced, 77.8% to strikeout swinging, predominantly with pitches moving away from the batter (fastball vs left, slider vs right). (Data as of July 4, 2024)

OF Alexander Wright (Illinois) - One of Bluefield’s leading bats, Wright combines solid contact and power as he paces the team in extra-base hits. With a hard-hit rate of 21.4% and a max exit velocity of 104 mph, the rising junior’s ability to drive the ball has allowed him to perform better than his xSLG of .307, with one of .625. He’s done damage against sliders, posting a .875 SLG, .500 average and .456 wOBA. (Data as of June 27, 2024)

Bristol State Liners

LHP Matthew Lynch (Towson) - With his actual numbers playing a little higher than expected, Lynch has been the victim of some poor luck. With an average exit velocity of 80.7 mph, above the Draft League’s average, the rising Towson junior has walked 9.9% of batters and kept them to a .205 average. Lynch has found success in keeping the ball on the ground. Ranking in the top five across the league with a 74.1% ground ball rate, the left-handed starter has seen batters make contact with an average launch angle of 18.2 degrees. Similarly, five of the 15 hits he’s allowed in over 20 innings (four starts) have been for extra bases. Only one of those hits had a launch angle above 10 degrees, and hitters averaged five degrees. (Data as of July 4, 2024)

1B/3B Tyler Zedalis (Old Dominion) - Entering the transfer portal after his first year at South Carolina, Zedalis started the summer as the league’s hottest hitter, earning Hitter of the Week honors from June 4 to June 9. In five games that week, he slashed .409/.458/1.227 with an OPS of 1.685, seven runs, 17 RBIs and a league-leading five home runs. Since then, Zedalis has continued to hit the ball hard, with a barrel rate of 24% and a hard-hit rate of 37%. Zedalis has fared particularly well against cutters, hitting .600 with a 1.800 slugging and a wOBA of .963. (Data as of June 27, 2024)

Burlington Sock Puppets

RHP/UTL Bromley Thornton (UNC - Wilmington) - Thornton has emerged as one of the more lockdown relievers out of the Sock Puppets bullpen, carrying an ERA of 0.71 and a WHIP of 0.47, second-best within the league. Overall, he’s kept opponents to a .121 average and slugging and a .158 wOBA while walking 2.9% of batters faced. Thornton is adept at preventing hard contact, with a 4.8% hard-hit rate, zero barrels allowed and an average exit velocity of 73.9 mph. He generates weak contact across the zone and consistently gets hitters to expand, as evidenced by Thornton’s 36.5% chase rate and 36.1% whiff rate. He has yet to allow a hitter against his cutter, posting a .055 wOBA with the offering this season. (Data as of June 27, 2024)

MIF Noah Murray (Duke) - With fantastic plate discipline and awareness, Murray finds himself on both ends of the power spectrum when putting the ball in play. In the discipline category, the Duke infielder is only striking out 12.2% of the time while walking at a 22.4% clip. He’s chasing pitches out of the zone 10.4% of the time with a 16.4% whiff rate. Murray hits the ball with authority when he does swing, parlaying hard hit and barrel rates of 31.3% and 18.8%, respectively, into a .537 SLG (.544 xSLG). However, despite a solid portion of Murray’s hits checking in over 95 mph, his average exit velocity sits around the league average of 84.5 mph. Inconsistent launch angles and an equally weak contact percentage to his hard-hit percentage underscore Murray’s room for improvement. Yet, even with a below-league-average launch angle of 19.4 degrees, he still finds a way to do damage when he puts the ball in play. (Data as of June 27, 2024)

Danville Otterbots

LHP Cyle Phelan (UNC - Wilmington) - With the help of his slider, Phelan, the Appy’s Pitcher of the Week (June 17-23), has shown effectiveness as a starter and out of the bullpen. Posting a .069 opponent average that is better than his .092 xBA, Phelan has been exceptional at keeping the ball on the ground, registering a 64.3% groundball rate and 79.7 mph average exit velocity. The left-hander has also missed plenty of bats, with a 46.9% strikeout rate and a 41.9% whiff rate. Phelan’s slider has fewer than three inches of horizontal movement on average. Still, his low three-quarter delivery, with over five feet of extension, has made the offering untouchable this summer, as Appy League hitters have yet to reach base against it. (Data as of June 27, 2024)

1B/DH Cole Johnson (Oklahoma State / PORTAL) - Unanimously named the Hitter of the Week opposite Phelan, Johnson has brought sheer power to the league with consistently loud contact. With a max exit velocity of 106.9 mph, nearly half of Johnson’s hits have registered over 95 mph, with a barrel rate of 23%. In general, he’s doing damage with nearly every swing he takes. However, Johnson has been exceptional against curveballs, hitting .600 and slugging .900 with a .660 wOBA and hard-hit rate of 75%. During Johnson’s award-winning week, he averaged an extra-base hit per game en route to a 1.542 OPS. (Data as of June 27, 2024)

Elizabethton River Riders

RHP Manning West (Walters State CC) - An uncommitted JUCO product, West has showcased impressive stuff while also delivering results on the mound, with an xBA of .099, xSLG of .149 and xwOBA of .208. The right-handed starter leads the league in strikeouts (50 in 29.2 IP; 15.2 K/9) thanks to an advanced arsenal with a ton of movement. West has not allowed a hit on his curveball this summer, while hitters have whiffed against his slider at a 58.6% clip. Paired with a cutter (2450+ rpm, 8.2” IVB, -1.5” HB), the Appalachian League’s June Pitcher of the Month has effectively kept hitters off balance while inducing soft contact, if any. (Data as of June 27, 2024)

UTL Kevin Hall Jr. (Grambling State / PORTAL) - Hall finds himself in the same obscure category as Burlington’s Noah Murray with a respectable hard-hit rate and a low average exit velocity. Moved to the River Riders after a short stint with the Kingsport Axmen, Hall has found more success when putting the ball in play since changing teams. After posting a .127 xBA with Kingsports, Hall has upped that mark to .279 with the River Riders while lowering his chase and whiff rates by 10% and 14%, respectively. As a result, Hall’s strikeout rate dropped from 28.6% to 13%, and his walk rate also moved in a positive direction (14.3% to 30.4%). Hall’s overall average exit velocity sits at just 75.9 mph, but he’s still registered a hard-hit rate of 23.2% with a 19.65% barrel rate. (Data as of July 3, 2024)

Greeneville Flyboys

RHP Blake Julius (Oklahoma State) - Julius has held hitters to a batting average and slug of .080 while racking up strikeouts with swing-and-miss stuff, highlighted by his changeup. He fanned 46.4% of batters this summer, with 80% of those punchouts coming on the changeup. Spinning the pitch at 1791 rpm with 3.2” IVB and 13.6” HB, opponents have yet to register a hit or reach base against it. (Data as of June 27, 2024)

OF/LHP Max Knight (Oklahoma State / PORTAL) - Greeneville’s offense has been a force this season, and Knight has played a key role in helping the Flyboys remain atop the West division. After entering the transfer portal this summer, Knight has been making his case to go to a Power-5 school as he’s registered a hard-hit rate of 37.1% and 22.9% barrel rate, with a max exit velocity of 107 mph. The two-way lefty has outperformed his expected numbers, with a .375 batting average (.268 xBA), .521 SLG (.402 xSLG) and a .434 wOBA (.359 xwOBA). (Data as of July 4, 2024)

Johnson City Doughboys

RHP Mason Dillow (Long Beach State / PORTAL) - Dillow’s extreme East to West approach with his arsenal instantly catches the eye when he takes the mound. Working off a sinker that sits 91-92 mph and averages 16.8” HB, Dillow mixes in an 83.1 mph slider (T86.8) with an average spin of 2726 rpm and -10.3” HB and a curveball that sits just under 3000 rpm with -4.6” IVB and -13.9” HB. With his unpredictable pitch mix and unique movement profile, Dillow has produced a ground ball rate of 67.9%, with an average exit velocity of 79.1 mph and a 37% overall whiff rate. He’s also piled up whiffs with his secondary pitches, registering whiff rates of 72.7% and 75% with his slider and curveball, respectively. (Data as of July 2, 2024)

INF Gunner Boree (Brown) - Boree’s June Hitter of the Month campaign highlighted his pure hitting ability. One of the Appy League’s leading bats, Boree is hitting .393, slugging .607 and has a wOBA of .505. The Ivy Leaguer drives the ball consistently, with a max exit velocity of 104.9 mph and an average exit velocity of around 90 mph. Boree finds success against multiple pitches, specifically the fastball and changeup. Against the heater, Boree is hitting .529 and slugging .765 with a wOBA of .590. When pitchers slow it down on him with the change, he’s hitting the ball over 95 mph 42.9% of the time. With his advanced ability to put the bat on the ball, Boree has demonstrated strong plate awareness and discipline with his 22.2% walk rate. (Data as of June 27, 2024)

Kingsport Axmen

RHP Jacob Gholston (Oklahoma) - Mixing a sinker and a curveball, Gholston capitalizes on opponents in changing speed and movement. Not allowing a hit with the breaking ball offering, the Kingsport starter has seen the pitch tally a strike 63.6% of the time with a put-away rate of 46.7%. Opponents are whiffing more than half the time against the upper-70s offering, which averages 2461 rpm with -6.3” IVB and -8.4” HB of tight movement. Gholston’s sinker averages 92.3 mph (T95.1) with 6.5” IVB and 18.4” HB. He displayed the pitch as the Appalachian League West Select Team’s starting pitcher against the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, where he struck out two of the three batters. (Data as of July 3, 2024)

OF Cal Sefcik (Cincinnati) - Sefcik’s surface stats might suggest that the Cincinnati transfer has scuffled. However, he’s shown to be one of the more powerful bats in the Appy League. With an average exit velocity of 89.4 mph, Sefcik delivered one of the hardest-hit balls this season at 109.2 mph. Capitalizing on curveballs (.444 AVG / 1.000 SLG / .614 wOBA) and cutters (100% HH%), Sefcik’s loud contact has resulted in an 18.8% barrel rate and 28.1% hard-hit rate. (Data as of June 27, 2024)

Pulaski River Turtles

RHP Owen Quinn (Ball State) - A softer thrower in the league with a fastball averaging 86 mph, Quinn deploys a deeper arsenal that effectively slows down opponents' tempo and direction. Quinn’s 9.6” of horizontal movement and 20.5” IVB on his heater has helped him put away batters 36.4% of the time. He also features one of the more bizarre yet effective curveballs in the league, throwing it with -0.9” IVB and 1.0” HB while spinning it at 1910 rpm on average. Quinn’s curve has performed better than the expected numbers of .161 xBA (.125 BA), .236 xSLG (.188) and .172 xwOBA (.135) thanks largely to his 61.8% whiff rate and 33.3% strikeout rate with the pitch. (Data as of July 4, 2024)

INF Kevin Jones (UNC - Wilmington) - Jones brings an aggressive approach to the plate with an average exit velocity of 89.3 mph, a hard-hit rate of 25.6% and a barrel rate of 23.1%. The approach has yielded unfavorable results, such as a higher chase, whiff, and strikeout rate. However, Jones also has performed better than the expected numbers, posting a batting average of .291 (.182 xBA), slugging .509 (.337 xSLG) and a wOBA of .393 (.296 xwOBA). Where Jones has excelled at the plate is when facing changeups, as he’s demonstrated the ability to be patient and punish it with a 15.2% chase rate, 22.2% whiff rate, 38.5% hard-hit rate, holding a line of .471 BA, .882 SLG and .651 wOBA with a BABIP of .583.

Tri-State Coal Cats

RHP Joe Gomez (Virginia Commonwealth) - The main attraction to Gomez’s pitching has been the hammer of a curveball and high spin rates. With an inverted vertical break of -15.1 inches and 17.5 inches horizontal glove-side movement, Gomez’s curveball averages 3301 rpm and can eclipse 3500. With such movement on the pitch, it doesn’t find the zone as much (22.2%), yet when it does, the movement is so extreme that it’s frozen batters 62.5% of the time. Still, Gomez has found success when the pitch misses the zone, as batters have chased 35.7% of the time, whiffing 38.5% of the time. (Data as of June 27, 2024)

INF Spencer Barnett (West Virginia) - Entering the Appy League two weeks after Opening Day, the Barnett delivered a walk-off home run for Coal Cats, the team’s first home run. The rising West Virginia sophomore’s extra-base hits have a combined exit velocity of 101.43 mph, and he’s barrelled the ball at an 18.2% clip while producing a 36.4% hard-hit rate. Barnett has also succeeded against the slider, batting .400 with a 1.200 SLG and wOBA of .674. (Data as of June 27, 2024)