Stuart Fairchild was selected in the 2nd round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft by the Cincinnati Reds. He went 38th overall and the reports coming out of Wake Forest were strong. One rival executive referred to him as a potential future All-Star after the draft.
Like last years early picks out of college, Stuart Fairchild got out to a slow start in June once he was assigned to the Billings Mustangs. It was only six games in the month before it was over, but he hit .192/.250/.308 in those 28 plate appearances. Things picked up once the calendar flipped to July. In the first nine games of July the center fielder hit .294.
Over the last eight games things have really picked up. The Mustangs outfielder has gone 15 for 27 with two walks, two strikeouts and he’s been hit by two pitches, too. In that span he’s hit .556/.613/.778 – good for an OPS of 1.391 in that span. That stretch has boosted his line for July to .410/.486/.525 with four walks and seven strikeouts over 70 plate appearances.
The plate discipline that he’s shown, at least statistically, has been very impressive so far this year. In 98 total trips to the plate he has only struck out eight times. That’s a strikeout rate of just 8.2%. While it’s clearly a long way from the Major Leagues, to put in perspective just how low that strikeout rate is, Mookie Betts has the lowest strikeout rate in the Majors this season at 8.8%. Dustin Pedroia is the only other qualified hitter under 10.2% in the league.
Through 23 games he’s now hitting an impressive .345/.418/.460 with nine stolen bases this season for the Mustangs. It’s been a real nice run after a bit of a slow start for the second round pick.
Dilson Herrera likely done for the year
Yesterday we found out that Dilson Herrera’s shoulder was giving him problems again. Last night after the Louisville Bats game we found out that it’s probably going to cost him the rest of the season.
Delino DeShields said after Saturday’s Bats game that Dilson Herrera was likely done for the year
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) July 23, 2017
Jason Linden was working the Bats game on Saturday night and later in the evening had some more stuff from Delino DeShields, including quotes on Tyler Mahle, Rookie Davis, Cody Reed, and Amir Garrett. Here’s what he had to say on Mahle:
I asked him what he’s seen from Tyler Mahle since his AAA call-up. He said, “Mahle, I think, has the best command of all the guys here.” He said he didn’t think Mahle was ready for the big leagues yet, but “I like what I see. He puts his fastball where he wants.”