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Diamondbacks Minor League Season in review: Overview

We'll be taking a look at each team in more detail over the next few weeks, but today, here's a quick overview of the highs and lows of the minor-league system for the Diamondbacks this year.

By Jim McLennan
Socrates Brito's 15 triples led all minor-leaguers in 2015
Socrates Brito's 15 triples led all minor-leaguers in 2015
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Team records
Tm Lg Lev W L W-L%
Kane County Cougars MIDW A 84 54 .609
Visalia Rawhide CALL A+ 84 56 .600
Hillsboro Hops NORW A- 45 31 .592
Missoula Osprey PION Rk 42 33 .560
Mobile BayBears SOUL AA 70 67 .511
DSL Diamondbacks DOSL FRk 35 37 .486
Reno Aces PCL AAA 70 74 .486
AZL Diamondbacks ARIZ Rk 25 30 .455
Affiliate Totals 455 382 .544

That's a solid winning record, though it's actually 20 points below what the Diamondbacks farm system managed last season (473-365, .564 W%), when only the Osprey finished with a losing record. Kane County improved in their first year as an affiliate, on the .597 mark set by South Bend, and the Rawhide increased their winning percentage by 64 points. The biggest improvement, however, went to the Osprey, who boosted their W% by 86 points. Conversely, the biggest drop-off was by the DSL Diamondbacks, who lost 114 points. The Hops repeated as Northwest League champions, and the Osprey won the Pioneer League crown; Visalia and Kane County also reached their playoffs.

Pitching
Tm Lev Age R/G ERA G IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 K/W
KC Cougars A 21.6 3.74 3.11 138 1220.0 1094 516 422 52 436 976 1.254 8.1 0.4 3.2 7.2 2.24
Hillsboro Hops A- 21.5 3.84 3.27 76 684.1 571 292 249 31 253 681 1.204 7.5 0.4 3.3 9.0 2.69
Mobile BayBears AA 24.5 3.98 3.65 137 1215.0 1141 545 493 70 476 985 1.331 8.5 0.5 3.5 7.3 2.07
AZL D-backs Rk 20.4 4.44 3.68 55 475.0 458 244 194 15 161 415 1.303 8.7 0.3 3.1 7.9 2.58
Visalia Rawhide A+ 23.7 4.36 3.75 140 1275.1 1207 611 532 104 384 1304 1.248 8.5 0.7 2.7 9.2 3.40
DSL D-backs FRk 18.4 5.38 3.97 72 638.2 590 387 282 15 310 571 1.409 8.3 0.2 4.4 8.0 1.84
Missoula Osprey Rk 20.8 4.96 4.27 75 653.2 657 372 310 51 238 671 1.369 9.0 0.7 3.3 9.2 2.82
Reno Aces AAA 26.0 5.40 5.17 144 1250.1 1441 778 718 117 543 1006 1.587 10.4 0.8 3.9 7.2 1.85
Affiliate Totals 4.47 3.89 837 7412.1 7159 3745 3200 455 2801 6609 1.344 8.7 0.6 3.4 8.0 2.36

Obviously, these are numbers where you need to take context enormously into account: level, league and location all factor into the numbers here. We'll get into that a bit more when we look at each specific franchise, and how their figures stack up compared to the other teams against whom they are competing. That said, it's certainly an impressive figure for the Cougars, with an ERA almost a run better than the Silver Hawks managed in 2014. Keeping the ball in the park was a huge help: the 52 home-runs allowed was down from 81 given up by South Bend last year, though of course, that was in a different park.

Hitting
Tm Lev Age R/G G PA AB R H HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
Missoula Osprey Rk 20.4 5.72 75 2889 2496 429 666 65 367 98 45 326 653 .267 .356 .428 .784
Reno Aces AAA 27.8 5.26 144 5534 4962 758 1421 138 722 43 29 453 1025 .286 .347 .453 .801
DSL D-backs FRk 18.3 5.19 72 2815 2449 374 621 13 276 110 48 267 552 .254 .338 .341 .679
Visalia Rawhide A+ 22.6 5.14 140 5464 4948 719 1316 154 650 126 47 373 1199 .266 .321 .433 .754
KC Cougars A 21.9 4.54 138 5222 4692 627 1291 48 538 104 60 368 885 .275 .332 .371 .703
AZL D-backs Rk 20.6 4.18 55 2051 1831 230 457 9 188 63 18 160 433 .250 .318 .330 .647
Hillsboro Hops A- 20.9 4.13 76 2891 2574 314 612 32 273 67 17 236 584 .238 .309 .345 .654
Mobile BayBears AA 23.9 4.03 137 5143 4586 552 1146 81 502 93 60 422 1050 .250 .319 .369 .688
Affiliate Totals 4.78 837 32009 28538 4003 7530 540 3516 704 324 2605 6381 .264 .330 .393 .723

Similarly, be very cautious when comparing numbers between teams. However, the overall figure was down a quarter-run per game across all franchises, though Missoula bucked that trend, increasing their production by 0.67 runs. This was largely the result of a 38% increase in the number of walks taken by the Osprey, again bucking an overall trend which saw bases on balls decline by 10% although strikeouts dropped by about 5%. The Rawhide were, as last year, the most active on the base-paths, though their SB total dropped by 16 from last season. Impressive to note that also had more home-runs than the Reno Aces again too!

Individual marks

HITTING

  • Runs: Daniel Palka, Visalia (95)
  • Hits: Nick Evans, Reno (161)
  • 2B: Jamie Romak, Reno (42)
  • 3B: Socrates Brito, Mobile (15)
  • HR: Palka (29)
  • RBI: Peter O'Brien, Reno (107)
  • SB: Matt McPhearson, Missoula (30)
  • BB: Romak (60)
  • SO: Palka (164)
  • BA: Danny Dorn, Reno (.386)
  • OBP: Dorn (.444)
  • SLG: Isan Diaz, Missoula (.640)
  • OPS: Diaz (1.076)

PITCHING

  • Wins: Aaron Blair, Mobile + Reno; Johnny Omahen, Visalia + Mobile (13)
  • Losses: Braden Shipley, Mobile; Blayne Weller, Visala, Mobile + Reno: (11)
  • ERA (min 50 IP): Zac Curtis, Kane County (1.33)
  • Saves: Curtis (33)
  • IP: Blair (160.1)
  • HR: Blake Perry, Visalia (19)
  • BB: Jeferson Mejia, Hillsboro + Kane County (62)
  • SO: Anthony Banda, Visalia (152)
  • WHIP (min 50 IP): Cameron Smith, Missoula (0.801)
  • BB/9 (min 50 IP): Nicholas Baker, Kane County (0.9)
  • K/BB (min 50 IP): Smith (8.86)
  • K/9 (min 50 IP):Nick Sarianides, Visalia (14.8)

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