AARON BAKER
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FIRST BASEMAN
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Born: September 10, 1987 Height: 6′ 2″ Weight: 220 Bats: Left Throws: Right Drafted: 11th Round, 325th Overall, 2009 How Acquired: Draft College: Oklahoma Agent: N/A |
WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES |
Baker’s hitting over his three collegiate seasons went though an interesting progression, with the power, walks and strikeouts increasing and the average decreasing. He did some catching at Oklahoma and did reasonably well at it, but the Pirates announced him as a firstbaseman when they selected him. Baseball America ranked Baker as the 19th best prospect in Oklahoma in a banner year for the state. He’s not strong defensively.
2009: Alternated with Justin Byler between first and DH for State College. Struggled through July but posted an OPS of .842 in August. Remained patient and K total, although high, wasn’t alarming. Surprisingly, tied for league lead in triples. LHPs were a problem, holding him to an OPS of .553, as opposed to .838 against RHPs. Another big platoon split was home/road: like all Spikes’ LH hitting regulars, Baker had huge split, with .900 OPS at home and .598 on the road. Spikes’ ballpark isn’t hitter’s park overall, but appears to favor LH hitters greatly over RH hitters. 2010: Put up solid numbers at West Virginia, but nothing more than you’d expect from player drafted out of major college program playing in low A. Hit LHPs better than RHPs, so that seemingly won’t be a long-term issue. Power and strike zone judgment were both OK, but no more for player who’s limited to first. It’d help if some doubles turned into HRs as he moves up. Had defensive problems, with nineteen errors. Baker figures to be the firstbaseman at Bradenton in 2011. He needs a breakout season to establish himself as a prospect. |
STATS
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Baseball Reference–Minors Fangraphs MiLB.com
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