Checking Out Our Hitting Stats Predictions After 1 Month

Christopher Morel – Picture by Dylan Heuer/Iowa Cubs

A little over a month ago, the two Gregs and I predicted who we thought would lead the system in several statistical categories. Those prognostications included numbers for hitters and starting pitchers as well as relievers. Today, we are going to see just exactly how many of the 18 statistical groupings would have the guy we thought would be there at the end of the season. Here is who is there at the beginning of the season.

Home Runs – Christopher Morel – 11

And nobody at North Side Bound got this one right. We didn’t even think runner-up Matt Mervis would even be in Iowa for more than a few weeks. Although, Greg Huss did predict Chase Strumpf to lead the system in home runs and he is currently in third place. He had four in April and already has one in May.

Runs Batted In – Christopher Morel – 28

Yep, this is the second stat in a row we did not see coming. Seeing Matt Mervis drive in almost 120 runs last year was a pretty special event, Morel is on pace to drive in 180 this year and that’s not going to happen as he’s probably going to be in Chicago fairly soon. The same is true for Matt Mervis, who had 27, but Jake Slaughter is sitting in third place with 19 and that is the prediction of none other than Greg Zumach. Both Greg Huss and I predicted Kevin Alcântara would lead the system in RBI.

Stolen Bases – Pete Crow-Armstrong and Bradlee Beesley – 9

All three of us picked Pete to run away with this. None of the three of us probably didn’t even consider Bradlee Beasley in the discussion. We are still feeling pretty good about our choice though.

Batting Average – Miles Mastrobuoni – .384

That average is probably not sustainable, but then again, Iowa is scoring runs in bunches and Miles doesn’t seem too phased by it all. Not one single North Side Bound writer picked him. Zumach went with PCA while Greg Huss went with Ezekiel Pagan and I went with BJ Murray. I don’t think I’m going to win this one, unless it involves a miracle.

OPS – Christopher Morel – 1.298

It’s pretty clear that this is a conspiracy by the Cubs to make all of us look bad at North Side Bound. Greg Huss went with Jordan Nwogu while Greg Zumach stuck with Jake Slaughter, and I rolled the dice with Kevin Alcantara. There’s still plenty of time for us to get back in this. Morel is just waiting for an opportunity to head to Chicago.

wRC+ – Christopher Morel wins his fourth category

With an amazing 219 wRC+, I’m not even going to get into who we picked because once Morel goes up to Chicago that’s going to open the door for guys are like Haydn McGeary and Jake Slaughter to get us back in the prognostication game. Hopefully that promotion will right our ship.

Two stats we should include for next year include highest BB% and lowest K%. Moises Ballesteros has the lowest K% at 13.3 with Brennen Davis next at 14.9%. That’s a good sign. As for walking, Mike Tauchman is walking at a 22.4% clip with BJ Murray at an excellent 20%.

Tomorrow I’ll be back to look at our predictions and how the numbers laid out for pitching.