Chattanooga Team Leaders and Top hitting and pitching prospects

Chattanooga Team Leaders

Offensive Leaders

Stat Category	Leader	Number
Batting Average	Joey Votto	.320
On Base Percentage	Joey Votto	.408
Slugging Percentage	Joey Votto	.547
Runs Scored	Joey Votto	85
Doubles	Joey Votto	46
Triples	Chris Dickerson	7
Home Runs	Joey Votto	22
RBI	Joey Votto	77
Walks	Joey Votto	78
Stolen Bases	Joey Votto	24

Pitching Leaders

Stat Category	Leader	Number
ERA (90ip minimum)	Josh Hall	3.39
Innings pitched	Tyler Pelland	142.0
Wins	Kelly/Hall/Pelland	9
Saves	David Shafer	26
Strikeouts	Edward Valdez	111
WHIP (90ip minimum)	Edward Valdez	1.26

Top Hitting Prospect

Joey Votto - 2002 2nd round draft pick out of Toronto, Canada

2006 Season Stats

Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
CHA	SOU	.319	136	508	85	162	46	2	22	77	78	109	24	7	.408	.547	.956

Well seriously was there any question as to who was the best hitting prospect on the Lookouts? Joey led the team in every offensive category except triples, oh yeah, he also won the Southern League MVP award. Joey rebounded about as well as you possibly can coming off of a disappointing 2005 season. He made a legit run at the SL triple crown until the last month of the season where he tailed off in RBI. Joey does a lot of things well, but the thing that surprised me most was the 24 stolen bases. His previous career high was 9. Joey hired a personal trainer in the offseason because he wanted to get in better shape and become a faster runner. It looks like that was a good idea and it worked out very well for him. Joey will probably start the season out in AAA Louisville next year, but if Scott Hatteberg struggles, he could see a call up by midseason depending on what happens with first base in the offseason for the big league club.

Top Pitching Prospect

Homer Bailey - 2004 1st round draft pick out of La Grange, TX (High School)

2006 Season Stats

Team	League	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO
CHA	SOU	7	1	1.59	13	13	68.0	50	13	12	1	28	77	1.43

Homer Bailey is the crown jewel of the Reds farm system, no doubts about it. Baseball is all about pitching, and Homer could be the #1 pitching prospect in all of Minor League Baseball. Bailey has a fastball that sits in the Mid-90's and has reached 98 frequently, a plus-plus 11-5 breaking curve ball and an in progress change up that has seen steps forward this year but still needs some work. Homer began the year in Sarasota and had some success there posting a 3.31 ERA but was promoted to Chattanooga after the All-Star Break in the FSL and went off and dominated the Southern League the rest of the way. He held opposing hitters to a .208 average against and an ERA of 1.59 as a 20 year old in AA. His rate stats were quite well, as would be expected with such a good prospect. He struck out 10.19 hitters per 9 innings, allowed just 6.61 hits per 9 and most impressive in my opinion, 0.13 Home Runs per 9 innings pitched. Homer will probably start the season in Louisville (at least I hope) and will be the first guy on call when the Reds need a pitcher in all likelihood.