LaMonte Wade, outfielder, Minnesota Twins
First look: Wade was hitting .358/.413/.604 with one home run through April 20. He drew six walks in that span.
Since then: Holy cow, does this man know how to get on base. From April 21 through June 19, Wade had a .403 OBP and a 19.2 BB%. Even though he hasn’t played a game in the Midwest League since then, he still leads the league in walks per strikeout (1.62) while the player in second place is at 1.15. He’s slashed .343/.385/.429 in 10 games since a promotion to Class A Advanced.
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Austin Allen, catcher, San Diego Padres
First look: Allen was slashing a torrid .509/.567/.667 through his first 16 games.
Since then: Allen has definitely fallen back to earth. He’s slashed .249/.298/.373 since that break-neck pace, but he’s also hitting just .282 on balls in play. He’s only struck out in 18.3 percent of plate appearances over that span, so he’s not hurting himself. Better luck on balls in play will help, but he’s still slashing a solid .303/.358/.434 on the season and homered in two straight games.
Phil Bickford, pitcher, San Francisco Giants
First look: Bickford was sixth in the South Atlantic League in strikeout rate (11.08 per nine innings) and held a 3.41 ERA and 2.20 FIP through six starts.
Next: Should Phillies move Hellickson?
Since then: Bickford has been excellent. Over his next five starts, he allowed just six runs in 28.1 innings for a 1.91 ERA and 2.79 FIP. Then he was promoted to the California League and made his debut on June 19, and through three starts he has a 1.59 ERA and 2.36 FIP while striking out 13.24 batters per nine innings. He also tossed a scoreless inning in the Futures Game, striking out two.