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1B Sean Doolittle, 21 (L), Stockton Ports (Oakland Athletics, A) |
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Written by Jason Revelia, RotoExperts.com Staff Writer
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Thursday, 29 May 2008 |
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Diamond in the Rough
5/29/08
Sean Doolittle, 1B, 21 (L), Stockton Ports (Oakland Athletics, A)
Sean Doolittle is not your prototypical 1B. In fact, like many draftees, he will not be playing his main position in the majors.
Doolittle, the 41st overall pick of the 2007 Draft out of the University of Virginia, was a pitcher at UVa. A southpaw, he had 22 wins, a UVa record when he left school. Doolittle hit a lot but not for a lot of power...27 2B and 15 HR in his first two years at UVa. The lack of power could be somewhat be attributed to UVa's pitcher friendly home park.
That being said, it wasn't a surprise that Oakland drafted him to play first base and not pitch. After signing last year, he reported to Short Season Northwest League and also played in the Midwest League in 2007. The A's might have questioned their decision to make him a hitter and not a pitcher after he hit a paltry .243 last year. Of greater concern was his lack of power; 4 HR in 239 AB's. The A's showed confidence in him this year however by starting him off in High A and not having him repeat the Midwest League.
Doolittle did just what he needed to do in the off-season. He hit the weight room and added 15 pounds of muscle. He’s come out of the gate hot, hitting 12 HR in only 185 AB's and adding 14 2B for a nice .627 SLG. I love it when hard work pays off! His walk to strike out ratio isn't a cause for concern with 31 BB and 53 SO. That isn't a great ratio for the walk hungry Oakland organization but I don't think it will hold him back one bit...especially if he can keep his OBP (currently at an unsustainable .425) around .380. The fact that he might be a viable candidate to man one of the outfield corners some day makes me believe that if he keeps hitting that he could reach the Majors by 2010.
Doolittle isn’t a someone who has come out of nowhere. He has however been written off due to his poor showing last year. That could be a mistake, but those kind of mistakes are our bread and butter. We don’t believe he’ll be overlooked for long.
2007 SS NOR and A (20)
.243 AVG 239 AB 29 R 53 H 13 2B 0 3B 4 HR 33 RBI 33 BB 50 SO 1 SB 0 CS .341 OBP.347 SLG .688 OPS
2008 A+ (21)
.335 AVG 185 AB 39 R 62 H 14 2B 2 3B 12 HR 43 RBI 31 BB 53 SO 4 SB 1 CS .425 OBP.627 SLG 1.052 OPS
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 19 June 2008 )
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