Ty Washington entered 2013 off of a solid debut in 17 games with the Arizona League Reds after being drafted in 2012. The Reds sent him to Billings to begin his 2013 season with the Mustangs.
Washington got off to a quick start in June as he began his season with a 1-4 game on the 20th with 2 RBI and a run. He followed that game up with hits in four straight games to extend his hitting streak to five games where he went 7-17 (.412) with 6 runs, 3 walks, a double and 3 RBI to go along with 2 steals. The 19-year-old would go hitless in the final two games of the month to finish out the short month with a line of .292/.370/.333 with 3 walks and a strikeout in 27 plate appearances. Clearly just one strikeout in 27 trips to the plate was good and 3 walks in that frame is also good.
July began with another hitless game to push his hitless streak to three games, but Washington caught fire after that as he went 13-30 (.433) over the next eight games with 3 doubles, a triple, 4 RBI and 5 runs. After going hitless on the 12th against Grand Junction the middle infielder once again ran off a good hit streak, this one of 10 games. Over those 10 games Washington went 16-40(.400) with 6 runs, 3 doubles, 8 RBI, 3 walks and 3 steals. He went into a slump following the hit streak, going just 1-16 to finish the month. For July he posted a line of .326/.364/.413 in 104 plate appearances with 6 walks and 11 strikeouts to go with 6 doubles, a triple, 12 runs and 13 RBI. His walk rate dropped off some and his strikeout rate was well above-average with a 10.6% strikeouts rate.
The August and September stretch to end the season began with the extension of the slump that ended July as Washington began August by going 1-14, placing him in a 2-30 slump. He broke out of the slump on the 10th against Helena with a 2-3 effort that included a walk and a double. He would go 1-4 in the next three games, including two more doubles before going into another slump for the next 8 games, going 2-26. On the 29th the infielder began a 5-game hitting streak where he went 6-19 (.316) that included a double, 5 runs and 2 walks. The season finished with two hitless games that spanned just 5 at bats. The final five week stretch of the season produced a line of .177/.264/.266 in 95 plate appearances that had 9 walks and 19 strikeouts. The walk rate was solid on the month, but his strikeout rate jumped up to 20%.
Season Stats
| PA | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| 220 | 29 | 51 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 10 | 5 | 18 | 31 | .264 | .326 | .347 |
Overall Thoughts
Ty Washington had an inconsistent season. June and July went quite well as he hit over .300 in that span while posting good walk rates and strong strikeout rates. The last five weeks of the season saw several big slumps though as he struggled and hit under .200 as his walk rate remained solid but his strikeout rate more than doubled what it was in June and July. Washington is a bit undersized and power won’t be a part of his game, so his ability to make contact at a high rate will be big for his offensive game. Defensively he played at both shortstop and second base, but he struggled in limited time at shortstop, posting an .839 fielding percentage in 9 games. At second base he was much stronger as he posted a .977 fielding percentage in 42 games. He also made one appearance at third and in left.
For more player season review, you can see the entire list here.