2008 Cards Minors Rookie Hitter of the Year

Top draft pick Brett Wallace demonstrated his hitting skills over two levels and the third baseman is our 2008 St. Louis Cardinals Minor League Rookie Hitter of the Year.

When the St. Louis Cardinals drafted Brett Wallace with the 13th overall pick in 2008, most baseball watchers knew he would hit. But most could not know the third baseman would hit so well. With a .337 average including a .367 mark at Double-A, Brett Wallace is our Minors Rookie Hitter of the Year.

The choice was not an easy one. Late-round selection Curt Smith made it interesting by being named the Appalachian League Player of the Year after posting some gaudy numbers at Johnson City. But in the end, Wallace got the nod for his production at higher levels in the system at around the same age as Smith.

Not only did Wallace finish second among rookies in average but also he led them in on-base percentage, OPS, and tied for first in home runs. The Arizona State product was second among rookies in runs created, isolated power, and third in slugging. He finished the season helping Springfield in their quest for a playoff berth.

Wallace’s time in the Texas League was highlighted by a two home runs, including a walk off blast that put the team in a first-place tie with Northwest Arkansas. He continues play in the prestigious Arizona Fall League, where he was named to the Future Stars Showcase game.

Honorable Mention

The Cardinals’ 39th round selection this June, first baseman Smith led the qualifiers in this category in batting average, slugging percentage, runs created, RBIs with 59, twenty more than Wallace. Smith also tied Wallace for the home run lead with eight long balls.

Tenth-rounder Alex Castellanos was credited with the top isolated power number and he stole the most bases, 20. The Belmont-Abbey second base product was second in slugging, third in OPS and home runs while finishing fourth in RBIs and fifth in average.

A catalyst for the Batavia Muckdogs, Colt Sedbrook finished third among rookies in on base percentage, runs created, and stolen bases. The former Arizona Wildcats shortstop finished fourth in average.

Outfielder Shane Peterson was one of the offensive keys for the league champion Batavia team. The former Dirtbag finished second in on base percentage and RBIs. The left-handed swinger put up the fourth-best OPS.

Third-round pick, shortstop Niko Vasquez logged the fifth-best on-base percentage and slugging percentage, which also translated to the fifth-highest OPS.

By the numbers

As with all system-wide awards, there was significant competition. Our own Leonda Markee assembled 2008 system-wide stats, both traditional and sabermetric, for Cardinals rookie minor league position players.

Batting Average
Rk	Team	Player	POS	AVG	H	AB
1	QC/JC	Curt Smith	1B	0.353	84	238
2	Sprf/QC	Brett Wallace	3B	0.337	68	202
3	JC/GCL	Ryde Rodriguez	OF	0.329	52	158
4	Bat	Colt Sedbrook	2B	0.305	84	275
5	Bat/JC	Alex Castellanos	2B	0.295	61	207
On-Base Percentage
Rk	Team	Player	OBP	H	BB	HBP	AB
1	Sprf/QC	Brett Wallace	0.427	68	19	13	202
2	Bat	Shane Peterson	0.400	67	39	4	230
3	Bat	Colt Sedbrook	0.394	84	24	17	275
4	QC/JC	Curt Smith	0.388	84	11	4	238
5	QC/JC	Niko Vasquez	0.383	71	33	6	247
Slugging
Rk	Team	Player	OBP	H	BB	HBP	AB
1	QC/JC	Curt Smith	0.538	18	1	8	238
2	Bat/JC	Alex Castellanos	0.531	16	6	7	207
3	Sprf/QC	Brett Wallace	0.530	13	1	8	202
4	GCL	Rainel Rosario	0.426	12	2	5	169
5	QC/JC	Niko Vasquez	0.413	17	1	4	247
OPS
Rk	Team	Player	POS	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Sprf/QC	Brett Wallace	3B	0.427	0.530	0.957
2	QC/JC	Curt Smith	1B	0.388	0.538	0.926
3	Bat/JC	Alex Castellanos	2B	0.352	0.531	0.884
4	Bat	Shane Peterson	OF	0.400	0.409	0.809
5	QC/JC	Niko Vasquez	SS	0.383	0.413	0.796
Runs Created
Rk	Team	Player	POS	RC
1	QC/JC	Curt Smith	1B	47.4
2	Sprf/QC	Brett Wallace	3B	42.1
3	Bat	Colt Sedbrook	2B	38.8
4	QC/JC	Niko Vasquez	SS	38.8
5	Bat/JC	Alex Castellanos	2B	37.9
Home Runs
Rk	Team	Player	POS	HR	AB	HR/AB
T1	Sprf/QC	Brett Wallace	3B	8	202	25.3
T1	QC/JC	Curt Smith	1B	8	238	29.8
3	Bat/JC	Alex Castellanos	2B	7	207	29.6
Isolated Power
Rk	Team	Player	POS	ISO
1	Bat/JC	Alex Castellanos	2B	0.208
2	Sprf/QC	Brett Wallace	3B	0.188
3	QC/JC	Curt Smith	1B	0.181
Runs Batted In
Rk	Team	Player	POS	RBI	AB
1	QC/JC	Curt Smith	1B	59	238
2	Bat	Shane Peterson	OF	39	230
3	Sprf/QC	Brett Wallace	3B	36	202
4	Bat/JC	Alex Castellanos	2B	35	207
5	Bat	Colt Sedbrook	2B	33	275
Stolen Bases
Rk	Team	Player	POS	SB	CS
1	Bat/JC	Alex Castellanos	2B	20	3
2	JC/GCL	Luis Mateo	MI	15	3
3	Bat	Colt Sedbrook	2B	13	8
Whiffer
Rk	Team	Player	POS	SO	PA	K/PA
1	GCL	David Medina	1B	53	175	3.3
2	GCL	Rainel Rosario	OF	50	201	4.0
3	QC/JC	Niko Vasquez	SS	69	291	4.2
4	Bat	Shane Peterson	OF	65	275	4.2
5	Bat/JC	Alex Castellanos	2B	52	228	4.4

Master article with all 2008 Scout.com Cardinals Minor League Players of the Year and the schedule for daily announcements: link. (This link is also permanently located at the lower left of The Birdhouse home page.)

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