Despite a very solid year at the plate in 2013, Juan Silva was asked to repeat the Class-A Advanced level in Bakersfield. Although injuries unfortunately ended his season in early July, Silva sufficiently handled the California League for a second consecutive season.
Silva came out of the gate extremely slow, as he managed only one hit in his first 20 plate appearances over seven games. He rebounded modestly over the remainder of the month to post a .242/.346/.308 slash line in April. Silva was not overly concerned by the slow start, as he stated he is a notorious slow starter, only hitting .249 for his career in April.
The 23-year old outfielder began May with a 5-game hitting streak, which included three multi-hit games. Silva smacked two doubles, a triple, and a homer en route to hitting .400/.429/.750 over this stretch. On May 19th, he embarked on another mini-tear, which would last for seven games, seeing him hit .407/.556/.593 with two doubles, another bomb, five stolen bases, and a remarkable 8/2 BB/K ratio. He finished the month hitting .305/.402/.432, with an impressive 13.2% BB-rate and 14.9% K-rate.
As the weather warmed up in June, Mr. Silva’s bat continued to heat up as well. He again began the month with another 5-game hitting streak, and hit safely in 15 of the 17 games he played in an injury-shortened month. While he was healthy, Silva was absolutely ruining California League pitchers’ confidence. From June 11-14, Silva turned in three consecutive 3-hit games and reached base an unfathomable 12 times. For the month, he hit a robust .415/.548/.631, with an incredible 18/9 BB/K ratio, and he added 12 thefts on the base paths. Silva would sit out the final six games in June, and would only return for one at-bat on July 2, before being placed on the disabled list for the rest of the year with a fractured thumb.
Overview
Juan Silva is a player who has performed well at every level since he was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 2009, and that trend continued in 2014. Silva slashed a solid .310/.421/.437, while walking 48 times, and only striking out 49 times in 307 plate appearances. He was even better when batting in the leadoff spot, where he hit .325/.435/.472. His excellent on base skills, along with his above average speed, appear to make him an ideal candidate to bat leadoff for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos next season. And as much as Silva would love to wear a Tortugas hat (like everyone else), I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to settle for a promotion to AA in 2015.
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Season Stats
| Team | PA | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Bakersfield | 307 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 42 | 34 | 9 | 48 | 49 | .310 | .421 | .437 |