Down On The Farm: Teams' Stat Leaders

As the minor league season heads into its final few weeks, I thought I'd take a look at each affiliate's team-leaders in some key offensive categories. And if you've managed to stay healthy and play for the same team all year, you've definitely got a big leg up! You can keep tabs on all the A's top prospects and minor league teams on my Athletics Farm site and get lots more details on all the latest down on the farm right here on Athletics Nation...

SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS

Outfielder Shane Peterson leads active River Cats in almost every offensive category, including runs, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, total bases, walks, strikeouts, batting average and slugging percentage. But he's second to Alden Carrithers in stolen bases and to Colin Walsh in on-base percentage. Arnold Leon leads all pitchers in strikeouts with 105 in 122 innings, but Matt Buschmann is right behind with 104 in just 105 2/3 frames. Drew Pomeranz has the best ERA among the team's current starting pitchers at 3.12, but Buschmann's is the best among those with more than half a dozen starts at 4.68. Kyle Blanks made his first rehab appearance for the River Cats this week and went 1 for 2 with a pair of walks while batting third and playing first base. Center fielder Billy Burns has gone 5 for 36 with no extra-base hits and 2 stolen bases in 3 attempts in his first 9 games for Sacramento. Catcher Luke Montz officially started a rehab assignment in Arizona this weekend and went 2 for 2 in his first game back in action as the designated hitter, and infielder Tyler Ladendorf's 50-game suspension should be coming to an end next week. Drew Pomeranz turned in another solid start this week, allowing just 1 run and striking out 7 over 5 2/3 innings to earn his second win for Sacramento.

MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS

Shortstop Dusty Coleman leads all active RockHounds in many offensive categories, including doubles, runs, RBIs, total bases, strikeouts and stolen bases. Outfielder Kent Matthes leads in home runs and slugging percentage and, of course, first baseman Max Muncy leads in walks and on-base percentage. Nate Long leads all pitchers in strikeouts with 108 in 126 1/3 innings and has the best ERA among the team's current starting pitchers at 2.99. Matthes has gone 9 for 29 with 3 doubles, 3 home runs and 7 RBIs in his first 8 games in August, while second baseman Conner Crumbliss had a pair of doubles, a pair of home runs and 8 RBIs this week, and Hiro Nakajima has been heating up a bit, hitting .400 this week. But catcher Bruce Maxwell has gone 8 for 47 since his promotion to Midland. Pitchers Nate Long and Chris Jensen both posted their league-leading 11^th wins this week, while Sean Murphy missed his start on Sunday with a sore elbow and Tanner Peters, who's been sidelined with a sore shoulder since April, officially began a rehab assignment with Arizona this week.

STOCKTON PORTS

First baseman Matt Olson not only leads the team in home runs with 34 but also in walks with an even 100. He's the team's leader in total bases as well. But third baseman Renato Nunez leads in RBIs and slugging percentage and is second to Olson in both home runs and total bases, while shortstop Daniel Robertson is the team-leader in hits, doubles and batting average. Despite being on the disabled list, Seth Streich still leads all Ports pitchers with 116 strikeouts in 114 innings, while Chris Lamb boasts the best ERA among current Stockton starters at 2.98. Robertson went 5 for 5 in Saturday's game and went 15 for 31 on the week. Nunez hit his 28^th and 29^th home runs this week, while Olson hit his 33^rd and 34^th.  A couple of other Ports players had big weeks. Outfielder Jaycob Brugman went 10 for 22 with 5 home runs, while catcher Beau Taylor went 12 for 25 with 3 homers. And with Streich on the DL, three of Stockton's starting pitchers have really stepped up to take his place. Chris Lamb has allowed just 1 run over his last 14 innings, while Jake Sanchez and Tim Alderson both posted a pair of wins this week. Alderson allowed a total of 3 runs over his last 2 starts, while Sanchez allowed just 2 runs over his last 2 starts and struck out 12 in his last start on Saturday.

BELOIT SNAPPERS

Outfielder Tyler Marincov leads active Snappers in almost every offensive category, including runs, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, total bases, strikeouts, stolen bases and slugging percentage. Lou Trivino leads all pitchers in strikeouts with 79 in 118 2/3 innings, while Kyle Finnegan sports the best ERA among current Snappers starting pitchers at 3.61. Marincov's been accounting for most of the meager offense that Beloit's been producing of late. But after struggling most of the season, fellow outfielder B.J. Boyd has been heating up a bit lately, going 11 for 30 with 2 home runs this week. 1^st-round draft pick Matt Chapman has posted a .259/.316/.407 slash line over his first 30 games with the Snappers. Meanwhile, on the mound, 22^nd-round pick Brendan McCurry has continued to impress out of the bullpen, allowing just 1 run while striking out 27 in his first 19 innings for Beloit.

VERMONT LAKE MONSTERS

27^th-round draft pick J.P. Sportman, who joined the Lake Monsters last month, currently leads the team in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, while 19-year-old shortstop Yairo Munoz leads all current Lake Monsters in hits, doubles, triples, total bases and RBIs. A.J. Burke leads all pitchers in strikeouts with 40 in 50 1/3 innings, while Cristhian Perez has the best ERA among current Vermont starters at 4.28. Sportman, who's been providing much of the offensive spark for the team lately, went 10 for 22 this week. 13^th-round pick Max Kuhn has been heating up lately too, going 9 for 23 with 3 doubles and a home run this week. Meanwhile, last year's 2^nd-round pick Dillon Overton, who's been making his way back from Tommy John surgery, made his first appearance for Vermont on Wednesday, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3 in 3 innings of work.

AZL A'S

20-year-old Puerto Rican outfielder Robert Martinez leads the team's active players in most offensive categories, including walks, strikeouts, home runs, RBIs, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. 17-year-old Jesus Zambrano leads all pitchers in strikeouts with 45 in 52 1/3 innings, while this year's 8^th-round draft pick, 18-year-old Branden Kelliher, has the best ERA among the team's current starters at 2.82. Speedster Rodolfo Penalo has now stolen 4 bases in his first 13 games, while Luke Montz made his first appearance in Arizona in over 7 weeks on Sunday, going 2 for 2 as the designated hitter. Pitcher Tanner Peters also began a rehab assignment in Arizona this week, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits over 2 2/3 innings on the mound after being sidelined since April with a sore shoulder. Meanwhile, 5^th-round draft pick Heath Fillmyer picked up his first pro win on Sunday and has now allowed 1 run and struck out 6 in his first 3 2/3 innings in Arizona.

You can check out my blog - Athletics Farm - for updates on the A's minor league teams and all the top prospects down on the farm.