Sophomore Report: d’Arnaud, Baez, Giles, Peralta

Today at the Sophomore Report we look at the good and the bad of four players’ sophomore seasons in 2015.

Travis d’Arnaud, Catcher, Mets: Talented but brittle is d’Arnaud’s reputation and that’s exactly what he’s been this season for the Mets. He’s missed chunks out of the 2015 season and has appeared in just 25 games. During those stretches, though, he’s been solid behind the dish and well-above average with a bat in his hand — as witnessed by his wRC+ of 121. The good news for the Mets is that another former Top-100 prospect , Kevin Plawecki, has been able to fill the void left by d’Arnaud’s trips to the infirmary (although the rookie has been much better on defence as opposed to offence, according to advanced metrics). d’Arnaud remains a pretty big question mark moving forward for the Mets because of his fragility and everyone knows the catching position is not a job for the faint of heart. His skill set wouldn’t play nearly as well at third base but perhaps he’d be athletic enough to handle third base. It’s not an ideal solution to d’Arnaud’s woes but with Plawecki in tow, it’s at least worth consideration.

Javier Baez, 3B/SS, Cubs: Baez’s freshman season was an absolute nightmare for the young slugger. He hit just .169 and struck out an eye-popping 41.5% of the time. Injuries ensured that he’d open the 2015 season in the minors and other players — notably Kris Bryant and Addison Russell — have risen to the challenge much more adeptly than Baez. Now healthy, the young infielder is once again tearing the cover off the ball and has trimmed his strikeout rate to 26% with an OPS of almost .900. The club’s hesitation to promote Baez is understandable given that the Cubs are no doubt trying to increase Starlin Castro’s trade value (if he has any). The Puerto Rico native is no doubt going to be a non-event in 2015 (outside of a September call-up) but he continues to have significant potential for 2016.

Ken Giles: The 241st player selected in the 2011 draft, Giles reached the Majors in just his third full professional season. He was downright filthy in ’14 and that’s continued into this season. His strikeout rate has been above 11.50 K/9 in each year and he’s also done an outstanding job of keeping the ball in the yard. His control, though, has been hit and miss. With Jonathan Papelbon finally out of the picture in Philadelphia, Giles is the closer of the future — as well as the here and now. He has the raw stuff to be one of the best.

David Peralta, OF, Diamondbacks: Despite their modest pro beginnings (and being signed as a minor league free agent out of the Cardinals system), the Diamondbacks have received excellent value to date from Ender Inciarte and Peralta. The latter outfielder has been a little bit better in 2015 while showing a more patient approach with a little more pop. A left-handed hitter, he hasn’t embarrassed himself against southpaws but he’s been quite dangerous against right-handed pitching. With very little threat to his playing time from the minor leagues, and questionable commitment from ownership to spend money to better the club, Peralta should be in a good position to continue to see significant playing time if he hits like he’s shown in 2015 — especially considering he’s also capable of playing all three outfield positions.