Sitting a game under .500, the Naturals have been about as streaky as their players. We can figure out which guys thrived in April by focusing on a few specific MLB translatable stats. For pitchers, we will look at strikeouts (on a scale of course for relievers), WHIP, ERA, and walks. Hitters will revolve around OPS, wOBA, strikeouts, BABIP, wRC+, and home runs (unless a contact-oriented player decides to have a month.) These are the stats I will look for when evaluating performance in the minors. There is deviation of course but statistics like these tend to show translatable production to different levels. With a feast-or-famine approach to the 2024 season, a few hitters and many pitchers have established consistent production which stands out amongst the rest of the squad.
Pitcher of the Month – Beck Way
Way only pitched a handful of innings in April as a reliever but is off to a hot start for the Naturals. In 10 innings pitched during April, he compiled a 0.90 ERA, 14 strikeouts, and an opponent batting average of .171. He waited until his final appearance of the month before giving up his earned run. It was difficult to compile enough base runners in an inning to score easily due to his WHIP of 1.00.
He is currently in the middle of a transition from starter to bullpen arm this year, which seems to be going quite well. This is thanks to his ability to get outs at the plate and avoid hard contact in short-term pitching situations. Opponents aren’t having any hard luck with him, sitting at a BABIP of .304, which indicates that his success isn’t too “flukey”. He’s striking out 34 percent of batters this season, a jump of 14 percent (!) from last season. His command issues are still a bit present, with just under 4 BB/9 (3.97 if it matters to you) but this shouldn’t hurt him as much if he continues to pitch out of the pen.
He has been given three save opportunities so far, converting two of them. His role in the pen is a bit up in the air as they figure out who they can rely on in this young season and they try and develop talent. There are only so many numbers we can look at over a 10-inning span in April. So far the results speak for themselves.
Honorable Mentions
Mason Barnett – 23.2 IP / 3.42 ERA / 32 K / 9 BB / 1.06 WHIP
Noah Cameron – 25.1 IP / 3.20 ERA / 29 K / 9 BB / 1.38 WHIP
Anthony Simonelli – 12.2 IP / 1.42 ERA / 16 K / 5 BB / 0.95 WHIP
Hitter of the Month – Dillan Shrum
In December I wrote about a guy who lived under the radar in 2023 due to his average and age. I dubbed him a breakout candidate who hadn’t yet produced based on what his college numbers showed. Well…he came out of the gates on fire, putting up a .292/.413/.708 slash with seven home runs in 65 at-bats over 19 games. That man was Dillan Shrum, and the Naturals agree with me that he was the team’s best hitter of April
With a phenomenal OPS of 1.121, Shrum showed an unprecedented power surge that the team had yet to see from him in previous years. The most he has ever hit in a season was 16 in 2022, and he is now just under half that amount only halfway into the 2024 season. This doesn’t come accidentally, as he’s seen a 4.8% jump in his flyball rate. 30.4 percent of those total flyballs even turn into home runs. More impressive is that only 4.3 percent of those flyballs are infield flies. Last year’s average was 20 percent. Don’t forget that he is hitting to both sides of the field with 37.5% of his contact going to the pull side and opposite side. He is having a great start but he is also improving upon every statistic that made him stand out to me a few months ago.
A lot of percentages there so I’ll leave you with two final percentages. Shrum did have a drop-off in walks but he has also seen a dip in strikeouts. A 12.4 BB% and 29.2 K% are both significantly respectable based on the rest of the numbers. Both are minute but noticeable and both can be traced to his increase in contact. Can’t walk or strike out if you’re putting the ball in play.
What increases how incredible of a month Shrum had are the advanced numbers. He has put up a .457 wOBA and 176 wRC+ in April. Fangraphs calculates that he was responsible for 20 runs by himself due to these numbers. Not to mention these numbers aren’t due to streaky hitting or luck, with his BABIP sitting at .317. Perhaps there’s a little luck with his BABIP sitting 25 points above his average but I’d hardly call it a pot of gold. This is simply due to a slight increase in balls batted into the air. He’s been great, I’m expecting him to continue to be great, and he’s being seen by the club. Dillan Shrum more than earned this title for April.
Honorable Mentions
Rodolfo Duran – .306/.364/.633, 4 HR, 4 2B, 4 BB
Cayden Wallace – .281/.387/.422, 1 HR, 6 2B, 8 BB
