Minor Leagues Beat Writer
Chicago Sports Online
The San Pedro de Macoris Green Sox have selected DH/Catcher Brooks Buck as their Hitter of the Year, in what team management described as an extremely close vote.
“Brooks had an excellent season for us, but so did (Catcher) Pete Sánchez,” said manager Gustavo Hernández. “The parent club said they could only afford one trophy, so we had to pick one guy. Otherwise, we probably would have split the award.”
Brooks Buck
Pete Sánchez
Buck slashed .319/.418/.532 for the Green Sox, Chicago’s Short Season A-Level affiliate. He hit 7 homers, knocked in 35 runs and compiled 1.4 WAR in just 44 games played. He also had a WOBA of .411.
Sánchez, meanwhile, slashed .263/.374/.440 in 58 games played, compiling 1.6 WAR and posting a .349 WOBA. He had 8 homers and 32 RBIs.
“See what I mean?” asked Hernández. “Tough choice.”
Buck, 21, of Falmouth, Maine, was a 7th round pick in the 2039 draft by the then-Huntsville Phantoms. He played two uninspiring seasons in Monclova, and this was widely considered his last-chance season.
“Well, he made the most of it, didn’t he?” said Chicago Asst. GM Bill McGuffin. “He’ll certainly be moving up to Grand Junction next season, and we’ll likely send him to the Florida Prospect League this fall, too.”
The BBA Scouting Consortium has come around on Buck to some degree. His scouting reports in past season dismissed him as minor league filler at best, but now say he “has the chance to fashion a major-league career as a bench player.”
Buck, of course, feels he can be a starter, but said he’s open anything that gets him to the BBA.
“Hell, yeah,” he said. “I’ll play backup, if that’s what it takes. My mama didn’t raise an idiot.”
