(Photo Courtesy of: Donn Parris)
With the final month of the Oakland campaign having reached its conclusion throughout the nation, the last slough of accolades are prepped to be distributed following an eventful July that brought breakthrough stints for Tyler Marincov that ignited his Stockton promotion and Dillon Overton en route to his New York-Penn League dominance. During the fifth month of minor league proceedings througout the organization, once more the majority of outstanding performances originated from the prospect hub of Stockton with Daniel Robertson, Bobby Crocker, Ryon Healy and Jaycob Brugman each having orcastrated phenomenal campaigns offensively with Stockton additionally having tightened a commanding stranglehold upon the Cal League with an astonishing 85-59 record. Ryan Mathews, Conner Crumbliss, Beau Taylor and Nick Buss partook in successful concluding crusades as well, but none of the remaining contenders wound up approaching the Stockton juggernaut for August:
April: Tyler Ladendorf/Seth Streich
May: Stephen Vogt/Michael Ynoa
June: Renato Nuñez/Seth Streich
July: Tyler Marincov/Dillon Overton
August Player of The Month: Jaycob Brugman -
Despite anticipated regression to close his mindblogging effort within California, Jaycob Brugman's absurd power demonstration with a stretch of 10 HRs blasted through 10 days coupled with his 11 HR milestone for August, the first player in the Oakland organization to achieve an 11 HR month since Chris Carter with Stockton in August of 2008, easily stamps him as another Stockton monthly award representative with the southpaw furthermore having placed himself within contention for a 2015 Midland berth to commence his second MiLB full season. The evenly graded 6'0"/195 pounder had astounded with his arm strength while presenting a projectable swing and athleticism that plopped the BYU alumni into the clutches of Oakland within the 17th round of the 2013 Draft prior to his debut Vermont assignment. Brugman struggled while acclimating to professional repetiores amongst his fellow NYPL competitors with a lackluster .261/.301/.382 statistical output along with a 7:48 BB/K through 176 plate appearances prior to the offseason and a full season task following his preliminary Arizona spring warm-ups. Brugman burst forth in Wisconsin during an otherwise abysmal campaign for Beloit as their most consistent and reliable offensive contributor with minimal down stretches to produce a .278/.371/.484 slash and 35:65 BB/K (12.6% BB%) that saw the 22 year old corner outfield farmhand shipped westward to Stockton to assist with the Ports' postseason hopes. Having already established himself profoundly within the Central Valley thanks to the favorable dimensions of Banner Island for lefties, Brugman has firmly entrenched himself within Stockton legend for his dinger exploits in one of the more memorable offensive weeks in A's organizational history. Brugman's demonstrated power displays have been largely attributable to the California League atmosphere with the projectable right field prospect figuring to amass more modest totals in that regard. Still with zero glaring deficiencies throughout the entirety of his cumulative tool package outside of some strike zone/offspeed pitch recognition refinement still to be focused upon, Brugman profiles as a reserve outfield asset upon reaching a major league plateau with his ceiling residing in that of a starting right fielder. Offering a glimpse of his potentiality and probable ceiling through Mid-August, Brugman easily absconds with the prize following his fellow Beliot and current Stockton outfield companion in that of Tyler Marincov.
Runner-Up: Beau Taylor -
Another Stockton representative, Beau Taylor had floundered through three seperate stints within Midland offensively as the organization opted to displace Taylor back towards California in favor of Bruce Maxwell to better acquire starting duties consistently and hopefully tweak issues present amongst the often difficult Texas League transition. The more-so offensively oriented asset, Taylor's plus attribute present at the plate resided within his disciplinary capabilities, a trait not observed throughout the majority of his Texas tenure while still failing to consistently recognize and evaluate major league average potential offspeed offerings on his current assignment with the Ports. Regardless, Taylor has demonstrated an improved ability to turn off of fastballs for Stockton as he has since obliterated inferior California League arsenals predicated upon the fastball with a mindboggling .333/.435/.533 result through 138 PAs within his second Stockton go-around with an even .200 ISO (15 XBH/5 HR) after thwacking a mere 6 HRs through his entire Midland duration between 2012-2014. Specifically through August, Taylor obliterated competition as he gave Stockton a crucial outlet offensively to lean upon as they steadily rose towards the postseason with a .333/.436/.542 month coupled with a 19:26 BB/K. Taylor's catching abilities alone won't be able to provide him with further opportunities such as Iolana Akau and Santiago Chavez and thus shall have to hit his way upwards to the PCL and the majors. This demotion and corresponding success could ignite the since forgotten farmhand however as he shall have to challenge Bruce Maxwell upon the Oakland MiLB catching depth chart come March to retain his prospect status going forward.
Honorable Mentions:
Conner Crumbliss - .323/.404/.525, 115 PAs, 12 XBH (4 HR), 11 BB, 11 K, 3 HBP, 3 SB (0 CS)
Daniel Robertson - .368/.429/.504, 133 PAs, 13 XBH (1 HR), 13 BB, 17 K, 2 SB (1 CS)
Max Kuhn - .333/.400/.456, 101 PAs, 8 XBH (1 HR), 9 BB, 24 K, 3 SB (1 CS)
Sandber Pimentel - .341/.434/.523, 53 PAs, 15-44 (4 XBH/1 HR), 7 BB, 6 K
Bobby Crocker - .319/.407/.489, 108 PAs, 10 XBH (2 HR), 14 BB, 35 K, 9 SB (0 CS)
Nick Buss - .342/.435/.410, 138 PAs, 6 XBH (1 HR), 18 BB, 18 K, 5 SB (1 CS)
Argenis Raga - .417/.463/.583, 41 PAs, 15-36, 4 XBH (2 2B/2 3B), 3 BB, 3 K
Jeremy Barfield - .275/.400/.478, 85 PAs, 8 XBH (2 HR), 15 BB, 19 K
Santiago Chavez - .098/.156/.098, 46 PAs, 4-41 (0 XBH), 2 BB, 13 K, 69% CS% (9 of 13 basestealers thrown out)
August Pitcher of The Month: Dillon Overton -
Claiming the accolade for the second consecutive month, Dillon Overton eviscerated short season caliber positional foes to an even more extreme extent through his concluding month prior to the offseason as the lanky southpaw neutralized NYPL offenses with a 15 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 22 K line while with the Monsters. Resulting in an encompassing and statically exquisite 0.91 FIP, Overton has additionally increased his velocity to 87-90 MPH recently from his initial 83-86 fluctuation to commence his campaign alongside a plus potential slider flashed in bursts accompanied by a solid changeup seldom witnessed within the NYPL. Demonstrating a present semblance of command, Overton has frightening potential to streak through the organization upon his Beloit/Stockton debut and arrive within Texas towards the latter portion of the upcoming summer. The lefty amassed a cumulative 37 IP, 30 H, 8 ER (0 HR), 4 BB, 53 K, 1.25 GB/FB short season result through his induction into the Oakland organization with additional promises of slight velocity increases to follow Overton as he ascends. Possibly having achieved even more comical statistical outputs and the probability of a 50 strikeout month should Overton been permitted to exceed his three inning limitation, the Oklahoma native strolls towards another monthly pitching excellence award for the A's.
Runner-Up: Chris Lamb -
Essentially recognized for his resounding performance in Rancho Cucamonga in which the southpaw amassed a 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 17 K line, Lamb joins Nate Long (July) as the second individual within the A's organization to accumulate a 40 strikeout month with a 35 IP, 28 H, 11 R (3 HR), 9 BB, 41 K result. Having broken through to establish himself for Texas residency for the upcoming spring, Lamb's outing versus the Quakes propels him towards the cusp of the POTM honors narrowly being bested by Dillon Overton's consistency and precision:
"Having already had a successful California League induction, Chris Lamb's breakthrough 2014 rampage through Beloit and Stockton culminated in a historic and awe inspiring outing in which Lamb abused an unsuspecting Rancho Cucamonga lineup for an unprecedented 17 strikeout performance. Additionally, Lamb tied the California League record for consecutive punchouts with 10 amassed straight including a mindboggling duration of fourteen struck out of a cumulative fifteen batters faced, with the lone exception occurring upon an infield single. Concluding with a final 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 17 K result, Lamb shattered the previous placeholder of Arnold Leon's 13 strikeout outing for Sacramento during July that knotted Sean Murphy's start in Burlington during the 2012 campaign for the single most punchouts having been accumulated through a lone appearance over the past three seasons. More so reminiscent of Pedro Martinez than the 11th round acquisition from the 2011 draft proceeding that embarked on his third consecutive Midwest League assignment to open his 2014, Chris Lamb suddenly has since amassed three seperate double digit strikeout performances for Stockton with the remainder of the organization having only produced six during this season (Tim Atherton, Arnold Leon, Zach Neal, Matt Buschmann, Jake Sanchez, Nate Long). The Berkley native has burst forth from the cusp of non-prospect status forth towards a probable Midland assignment to commence the 2015 campaign in a remarkable sequence for the southpaw in one of Oakland's most prominent storylines to have emerged from the previous few months"
Honorable Mentions:
Jesus Zambrano - 29 IP, 26 H, 8 ER (1 HR), 7 BB, 25 K, 27 GB/20 FB
Mike Fagan - 7 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 10 K, 9 GB/2 FB
Daniel Gossett - 10 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 15 K, 6 GB/4 FB
Matt Stalcup - 34 1/3 IP, 32 H, 9 ER (3 HR), 7 BB, 30 K, 31 GB/30 FB
Brendan McCurry - 12 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 15 K, 14 GB/5 FB
Zach Neal - 39 2/3 IP, 41 H, 13 ER (3 HR), 4 BB, 27 K, 38 GB/35 FB
Austin House - 10 2/3 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 14 K, 14 GB/0 FB
Ruber Aquino - 7 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, 4 GB/5 FB
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