Plunk Everyone

Pitchers and Catchers are beginning spring training, with the Red Sox and Indians starting camp yesterday, and the other 28 teams kicking things off between today and Sunday. This is a special time, when the pitching batteries get to do their sinister plotting before the regular position players (aka targets) have gotten to their spring training sites. You didn't think it was just because pitchers and catchers need more work in the spring did you? No - they like to plan, and work on secret things that they don't want the regular position players and hitters to know. In some cases they work on new and clever ways to hit batters without looking like they're trying to. In other cases they have extensive meetings to review studies of whether or not it's even possible to miss batters like Jason Kendall, Carlos Quentin and Chase Utley.

These are the subjects of many of the reports turned in by pitchers and catchers, but those are advanced topics. They all have to do a report, or so the headline leads me to believe when it says "pitchers and catchers report", and while the veterans and leading minds tackle the tough and top secret topics like who to hit with pitches and how hard to hit them, the rest of the pitchers and catchers are left to their own discretion what to do for their reports. Unfortunately, I fear most of the pitchers and catchers have probably paid too much attention to major sports news outlets and they all be reporting on nothing but Brett Favre (wanting to avoid the more sensitive topics closer to their own sport). But, just to help them out with their reports, maybe we can think of some better topics here.

So, if you're a pitcher or catcher and need help with your report, I give you full permission to use the following information about the final HBP totals in the various winter leagues. Maybe you can write it up as a study comparing the leagues, or maybe if you're one of these people listed you can write it as the classic "what I did on my winter vacation" report. Or, you can make a diorama. That's always fun too.


Arizona Fall League HBP Leaders (Batting):

Name	Team	HBP	Plate Appearances	HBP per PA
Casper Wells	Mesa Solar Sox	8	96	0.083
Chris Pettit	Scottsdale Scorpions	7	164	0.043
Kevin Frandsen	Scottsdale Scorpions	7	152	0.046
Tyler Greene	Peoria Saguaros	5	99	0.051
Eric Young	Phoenix Desert Dogs	3	122	0.025
Brandon Snyder	Surprise Rafters	3	72	0.042
Mike Baxter	Peoria Saguaros	3	101	0.03
Emmanuel Burriss	Scottsdale Scorpions	3	93	0.032
Michael McKenry	Phoenix Desert Dogs	3	98	0.031
Kevin Russo	Peoria Javelins	3	123	0.024
Brian McFall	Surprise Rafters	3	73	0.041

Arizona Fall League HB Leaders (Pitching):

Name	Team	HB	Batters Faced	HB per BF
Sergio Perez	Scottsdale Scorpions	6	106	0.057
Rowdy Hardy	Surprise Rafters	5	103	0.049
Gaby Hernandez	Peoria Javelins	4	136	0.029
Joe Woerman	Peoria Javelins	3	62	0.048
Jeff Sues	Scottsdale Scorpions	3	71	0.042
Dan Cortes	Surprise Rafters	3	132	0.023
Jeff Manship	Phoenix Desert Dogs	3	167	0.018
Kevin Pucetas	Scottsdale Scorpions	3	146	0.021
Phil Hughes	Peoria Javelins	3	124	0.024
Tommy Hanson	Mesa Solar Sox	3	124	0.024
Shane Lindsay	Phoenix Desert Dogs	3	96	0.031

Hawaii Winter League HBP Leaders (Batting):

Name	Team	HBP	Plate Appearances	HBP per PA
Darin Holcomb	Honolulu Sharks	6	110	0.055
Tommy Giles	Waikiki Beach Boys	4	84	0.048
Chris Carter	North Shore Honu	4	101	0.04
Todd Frazier	Waikiki Beach Boys	4	116	0.034
James Skelton	West Oahu CaneFires	3	87	0.034
Gregory Burns	West Oahu CaneFires	3	124	0.024
Adam Loewen	West Oahu CaneFires	3	38	0.079
Matt McBride	North Shore Honu	3	151	0.02
Cyle Hankerd	West Oahu CaneFires	3	106	0.028
Mark Hallberg	West Oahu CaneFires	3	136	0.022
Tony Thomas	Waikiki Beach Boys	3	136	0.022

Hawaii Winter League HB Leaders (Pitching):

Name	Team	HB	Batters Faced	HB per BF
Chris Salberg	West Oahu CaneFires	7	136	0.051
Steve Edlefsen	Waikiki Beach Boys	6	72	0.083
Jason Godin	North Shore Honu	5	137	0.036
Rob Harmon	Waikiki Beach Boys	4	73	0.055
Scott Shaw	Honolulu Sharks	4	124	0.032

Dominican Winter League HBP Leaders (Batting):

Name	Team	HBP	Plate Appearances	HBP per PA
Juan Francisco	Gigantes del Cibao	7	210	0.033
Timo Perez	Tigres del Licey	7	273	0.026
Luis Terrero	Aguilas Cibaenas	7	115	0.061
Esteban German	Azucareros del Este	6	199	0.03
Angel Berroa	Azucareros del Este	5	93	0.054
Dusty Brown	Azucareros del Este	5	99	0.051

Dominican Winter League HB Leaders (Pitching):

Name	Team	HB	Batters Faced	HB per BF
Julio DePaula	Gigantes del Cibao	7	128	0.055
Ramon Ortiz	Tigres del Licey	5	196	0.026
Julian Tavarez	Aguilas Cibaenas	4	194	0.021
Dustin Nippert	Tigres del Licey	4	150	0.027
Matt Wright	Tigres del Licey	4	151	0.026

Mexican Pacific League HBP Leaders (Batting)

Name	Team	HBP	Plate Appearances	HBP per PA
Jesse Gutierrez	Caneros de los Mochis	7	300	0.023
Sergio Contreras	Yaquis de Obregon	7	182	0.038
Jose Rodriguez	Algodoneros de Guasave	7	347	0.02
Carlos Gastelum	Naranjeros de Hermosillo	6	285	0.021
Oswaldo Morejon	Aguilas de Mexicali	6	325	0.018
Todd Jennings	Aguilas de Mexicali	6	175	0.034
Kit Pellow*	Tomateros de Culiacan	6	96	0.063
Ruben Rivera	Venados de Mazatlan	5	210	0.024
Geronimo Gil	Naranjeros de Hermosillo	5	235	0.021
Brian Myrow	Venados de Mazatlan	5	117	0.043
John Lindsey	Venados de Mazatlan	5	187	0.027

* - Besides being hit 6 times for Tomateros de Culiacan, Kit Pellow was also plunked 4 times for Algodoneros de Guasave for a total of 10 plunks in 112 plate appearances in the Mexican Pacific League. He also managed to get 23 plate appearances for Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican League, but didn't get plunked there.

Mexican Pacific League HB Leaders (Pitching):

Name	Team	HB	Batters Faced	HB per BF
Pablo Ortega	Venados de Mazatlan	7	451	0.016
Alfredo Caudillo	Aguilas de Mexicali	7	298	0.023
Edgar Gonzalez	Naranjeros de Hermosillo	7	277	0.025
Oscar Villarreal	Aguilas de Mexicali	6	252	0.024
Miguel Ramirez	Naranjeros de Hermosillo	6	296	0.02

Puerto Rican Winter League HBP Leaders (Batting)

Name	Team	HBP	Plate Appearances	HBP per PA
Randy Ruiz	Indios de Mayaguez	7	137	0.051
Joe Thurston	Leones de Ponce	6	167	0.036
Jorge Padilla	Lobos de Arecibo	6	214	0.028
John Rodriguez	Cangrejeros de Santurce	6	108	0.056
Luis Matos	Criollos de Caguas	5	184	0.027
Jose Leon	Lobos de Arecibo	5	158	0.032

Puerto Rican Winter League HB Leaders (Pitching):

Name	Team	HB	Batters Faced	HB per BF
Josue Matos	Gigantes de Carolina	6	220	0.027
Angel Garcia	Cangrejeros de Santurce	5	112	0.045
Hector Mercado	Leones de Ponce	5	312	0.016
Chris Kelly	Lobos de Arecibo	5	160	0.031
Orlando Roman*	Criollos de Caguas	5	225	0.022

* - Orlando Roman also hit 2 of the 24 batters he faces pitching for Indios de Mayaguez for a total of 7 hit batters and 249 batters faced. He also faced 27 batters in the Caribbean Series, but didn't hit anyone.


Venezuelan Winter League HBP Leaders (Batting)

Name	Team	HBP	Plate Appearances	HBP per PA
Brendan Katin	Aguilas de Zulia	11	221	0.05
Max Ramirez	Tiburones de La Guaira	8	203	0.039
Luis Gonzalez*	Caribes de Anzoategui	8	208	0.038
Jose Lopez	Cardenales de Lara	7	187	0.037
Jesus Guzman	Leones del Caracas	7	374	0.019

* - Luis Gonzalez also got hit once for Leones del Caracas, for a total of 9 HBPs in 276 plate appearances in the Venezuelan League.

Venezuelan Winter League HB Leaders (Pitching):

Name	Team	HB	Batters Faced	HB per BF
Tracy Thorpe	Cardenales de Lara	6	187	0.032
Tony Armas	Leones del Caracas	6	109	0.055
Darwin Cubillan	Leones del Caracas	5	132	0.038
Yorman Bazardo	Tigres de Aragua	5	237	0.021
Harold Eckert	Tiburones de La Guaira	5	173	0.029
Henry Bonilla	Tiburones de La Guaira	5	357	0.014
Marcel Prado	Aguilas de Zulia	5	68	0.074

Caribbean Series Plunks:
(In case your not familiar with the Caribbean Series, every year the winning teams from the Venezuelan, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Domincan winter leagues get together and play a round robin tournament called the Caribbean Series. Each team plays each other team twice.)

Team Venezuala won the Caribbean series this year, but it was Mexico who took the title for getting hit by the most pitches, with 3 plunks in their 6 series games. Christian Quintero got hit twice for Mexico, by Giancarlo Alvarado of Puerto Rico, and Oneli Perez from the Dominican team. Mexico's 3rd HBP was recorded by Agustin Murillo against Edward Buzachero of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican team led the tournament in hitting batters, with 3 - two against the Mexican team, and one more against the Dominican Republic when Travis Minix hit Ronny Paulino. That was the only plunk taken on behalf of the Dominican team. Rounding out the Caribbean Series HBP list, Jose Cobos, representing Mexico, hit Luis Maza, of the Venezuelan team, and Andrew Lorraine, pitching for Venezuala, hit Jesus Feliciano of Team Puerto Rico.

Labels: Winter ball