Player Breakdowns: April 4th
The Norfolk Tides, Luis Matos, & Michel Otanez
The Norfolk Tides:
The Tides scored 26 runs last night on 29 hits. I mentioned there would be no player breakdowns on April 3rd because it would’ve involved players who have — well — already been broken down. The usual suspects — Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo, and Heston Kjerstad to name a few. Well, I’m not going to go back-to-back days without a breakdown just because the Tides decide to score nearly 4 touchdowns.
They got it started in the 1st inning with a Jackson Holliday leadoff single that was 106.1 mph off the bat. The right fielder misplayed the ball allowing Holliday to advance to second. A few batters later Heston Kjerstad, who is now slugging 1.208 through 5 games, hit a double down the right-field line scoring Holliday. More on Kjerstad later. The next batter, Kyle Stowers hit a homer that was 107 mph off the bat. It would be the first of his three homers on the night.
Here is the 1st inning in action — and don’t blame me, but I can’t stand this broadcast view. This is all the available video, though:
The Tides scored at least a run in all but the 2nd inning. It’s a shame that half of these players are still in AAA, but the future is looking bright in Baltimore. They have the potential to be scary good. I know — how many times has that been said — but it’s true.
Heston Kjerstad put up a touchdown and a field goal in terms of run production with 2 homers & 10 RBI on the night. To be fair and bring things back down to earth, his grand slam in the 8th inning came off Danny Mendick, who was just lobbing the ball over the plate at 50 mph at that point. He came on in the 8th and 9th, however, and the Tides were scoring in bunches for much of the entire night.
Coby Mayo once again put up some gaudy metrics. He hit a 107.6 mph triple in the 3rd, a 105.7 mph single in the 4th, and a 112.3 mph double in the 6th.
Here is video of the double and triple from Mayo:
And here is an open-side view of Mayo’s triple. This kid is going to be an absolute beast. The power he generates from both his lower and upper half is going to make him a premier slugger.
Let’s go over the numbers:
Jackson Holliday: 4-for-6 with 2 doubles, 2 walks, 5 runs, and 2 RBI
Connor Norby: 2-for-5 with 1 HR, 1 double, 2 walks, 3 runs, and 3 RBI
Heston Kjerstad: 5-for-7 with 2 HR, 2 doubles, 4 runs, and 10 RBI
Coby Mayo: 5-for-7 with 1 triple, 1 double, 2 runs, and 1 RBI
Kyle Stowers: 4-for-7 with 3 HR, 1 double, 3 runs, and 7 RBI
Jackson Holliday is now slashing .400/.448/.800 with 2 homers and 4 doubles through 5 games.
Coby Mayo is now slashing .385/.385/.654 with 1 homer, 1 triple, and 2 doubles through 5 games. He is striking out at a high clip and that is something to watch.
Heston Kjerstad is now slashing .583/.577/1.208 with 4 homers and 3 doubles through 5 games.
Some notable players on the other side of this bloodbath were Lenyn Sosa and Colson Montgomery:
Lenyn Sosa: 2-for-5 with 1 HR, 2 runs, and 2 RBI
Colson Montgomery: 3-for-6 with a double, 1 run, and 1 RBI
I mentioned Kjerstad on my Twitter/X a few days ago and feel that he’s being overlooked as a prospect because he’s now 25 years old. He missed 2 years of development time with illness and injury post-draft and I think if he was 22 or 23 years old, he would be looked at as a consensus top-10 prospect given the profile and what he’s doing now.
Speaking of top-10 prospects — a call I made last year before this next player made it to the big leagues was that given his elite bat-to-ball skills and production as a 21-year-old in AAA, a top-10 ranking wasn’t out of the cards. He struggled in the big leagues last year and is now back at AAA.
I think there’s a lot of undervaluing going on when it comes to Luis Matos. What have you done for me lately, comes to mind. And Matos has still just recently turned 22 years old. Let’s go over what he did last night and my thoughts going forward.