Cam Collier had himself a nice evening at the plate in Daytona on Tuesday night to kick off the Tortugas series against Lakeland. In the first inning with a runner on the 18-year-old third baseman committed a lefty-on-lefty crime against 26-year-old rehabbing Max Green. Collier unloaded on a 392-foot home run to right field and did so with an exit velocity of 111 MPH.
.@Cam_Collier16 ? Carlos Jorge
Hittin' bombs?? pic.twitter.com/b0Aol9azDq
— Daytona Tortugas (@daytonatortugas) May 24, 2023
While a majority of the Florida State League has Hawkeye installed and we get the data from that on the public side of things, Daytona’s home ballpark does not. What that gives us is an incomplete view of the data for the Tortugas players when trying to compare them with the other players in the league. Jackie Robinson Ballpark does have Trackman installed and that information does make its way into broadcasts sometimes as the operator will share that for some of the home runs. That was the case on Tuesday night for Collier’s blast.
The 111 MPH exit velocity on the home run was easily the tops of the season for Collier that we have information for. Previously the hardest hit ball he put in fair territory was 106.8 MPH (he had a 107.0 MPH foul ball). It also topped his home run from earlier this month that was at 104.7 MPH off of his bat.
This is going to be prefaced again by the fact that Daytona’s home games do not have public facing data, but this season no other 18-year-old (or younger) has reached 111 MPH on a batted ball in the Florida State League in 2023. There aren’t very many players that young in the league, though Daytona’s got three of them, but the ball that Collier hit last night and two batted balls by Termarr Johnson are the only three to top 108 MPH this season in the league.
Carlos Jorge continues to rake
When the Cincinnati Reds signed Carlos Jorge as an international free agent he was a well regarded prospect. He wasn’t at the top of the class, but he was considered a strong middle-to-high end signing. At the time of the signing he was considered to be more hit over power with good athleticism and plus-plus speed.
Carlos Jorge is now in his third professional season, and all he’s done is hit. But he’s also hit for plenty of power along the way, too. In 2021, his first season as a professional, Jorge put up an OPS of 1.015 and ranked third in the league. Last year he moved up from the Dominican Summer League to the Arizona Complex League. His .934 OPS ranked 4th in that league.
Last night in Daytona, Jorge homered, singled, and walked. That raised his line on the season to .344/.420/.536. His batting average ranks third in the league, his on-base percentage ranks sixth, and his slugging percentage ranks third. His .956 OPS is also currently the third best mark in the league. The two guys ahead of him are 21 and 23-years-old.
Jorge is tearing up the FSL. Time to think about moving him to Dayton. Collier and Acosta are finally showing up. It is a shame Balcazar got injured because he was doing quite well also.
I think Cam Collier is finally getting healthy. First time in his life he was hurt and it’s showed. He’ll learn from this experience and as he continues to get closer to 100%, I suspect he will begin to rake more and more.
Jorge’s swing is ridiculously short and sweet. It is going to play at much higher levels.
Especially when considering those big ballparks in FL. A guy hitting line drives going in every direction is tough to defend.
I’d love to see Jorge and Arroyo coming up together through the minors. That would be a nice middle infield combo.
When’s sweet swinging Sally Stewart going to get going? Both Stewart, and Collier are 3B’s that seem like 1B’s, so it will be interesting to see where they end up long term.
Gotta think Cam is like EDLC in that he’ll get every chance to play himself off of 3B (SS, of course for Elly for those in the rear seats).
Jorge and Arroyo would be fun. That would leave Acosta and Balcazar next year in Hi-A, with Cabrera and ? Behind
Jorge left the game today after a HBP.
Collier looks to be built more for 1B than 3B. He is a big boy at 18 years old! It would be nice to see him getting reps at 1B, too.
maybe he just needs to work on his conditioning. Depending on his injury it could have affected that part of his work.
He’s built that way to a large degree (no pun intended), very thick through the legs and hips/waist. Hard to imagine his dad and trainers would let him get off track with conditioning, as well. Think Rafael Devers, IMO.
I went to the Bat’s game today in Syracuse. A couple observations:
Andrew Abbott looked great. The automated strike zone system went out in his last inning and the home plate umpire was brutal. Abbott was hot leaving the mound and gave it to the umpire.
CES has easy power but was fooled quite a bit. A little more time for pitch recognition may be needed.
Seeing Elly in person was great. Just has a passion for the game. The whole team seemed to be having a great time.
Will Benson looks like a different player in AAA. I noted how fidgety he was in Cincinnati the other day, none of that and he smoked 2 doubles down the line.
And Elly scored from third on a check swing dribbler five feet from home plate … to the third base side.
Jorge removed from game in first inning tonight after being hit by a pitch.
Jorge removed the game after a hit by pitch