We’ve reached the All-Star Break in the Northwest League, and while a relatively solid first half hasn’t translated to the second half just yet for the Hillsboro Hops, it’s a good time to look at what was, is, and will be for the remainder of the 2024 season.
Hillsboro finished the first half in second place, three-and-a-half games behind first place Spokane.
The Hops owed much of their first-half success to starting pitching, which accumulated a 3.18 ERA pre-All-Star Break, and an entire pitching staff that led the NWL with a team ERA of 3.50.
Starters Spencer Giesting (1.50 ERA) and Billy Corcoran (2.22) led the way for the bulk of the season before being promoted to Double-A Amarillo, but Joe Elbis (2.77) and Avery Short (2.87) have too impressed from the beginning of the year, while Roman Angelo has been solid of late, tallying a 3.14 ERA, while striking out 59 and walking just 19 in nine starts since being called up from Single-A Visalia a month into the season.
To the contrary, however, Hillsboro’s bats were mediocre at best, finishing the first half with a team batting average of .239 which ranked them fourth in the six-team league, and with the least amount of home runs, 43, over 86 games.
Andrew Pintar led the way before being promoted to Amarillo mid-June, hitting .304 with nine home runs in 57 games in Hillsboro.
Additional bats that have impressed over the season’s first half were Jean Walters who hit .293 in 52 games; Gavin Conticello who hit .283 with seven home runs and 45 RBI in 82 games; Jack Hurley who hit .252 with eight home runs and 44 RBI in 75 games; and Manuel Pena who hit .270 in 75 games.
On the opposite end, first baseman Kevin Sim has hit just .203 while striking out 73 times in 73 games; Juan Corniel has hit just .185 in 60 games; catcher and former Oregon State standout Gavin Logan has hit just .165 in 28 games; and 2023 first round pick Tommy Troy is batting just .209 with a single home run in 22 games.
Troy, along with 2023 second round pick Gino Groover, has missed the bulk of the season due to an early-season injury. The shortstop from Stanford returned to Hillsboro July 1, and has batted .238 in 10 games, while Groover has yet to return to the Hops after being assigned to the Diamondbacks’ rookie league team on July 6, where he’s batted .222 in eight games.
If the Hops are to make a second-half run at the postseason, they’ll need both Troy and Groover to step up at the plate.
Looking across the Diamondbacks organization, players who’ve impressed start with Triple-A Reno’s catcher Adrian Del Castillo. The 2021 second round pick from the University of Miami has batted .329 with 30 doubles, three triples and 16 home runs in 76 games.
First baseman Deyvison De Los Santos who is now in Reno, spent the bulk of this season in Amarillo and put up eye-popping numbers for the Sod Poodles, batting .372 with 14 home runs in 38 games. Since arriving in Reno just more than a month ago, the 21-year-old is batting .297 with 13 home runs in 44 games. If you’re counting, that’s 27 home runs in 82 minor league games this season.
Outfielder Druw Jones has impressed as well, with the 20-year-old and 2022 second overall pick hitting .275 with five home runs in 70 games at Visalia. Jones’ development has been slowed by injuries, but Diamondbacks Director of Player Development, Shaun Larkin, told MLB.com said he’s been impressed with the young prospect this season.
“He’s only 20 years old, and he's had a good year,” Larkin said. “Especially coming off the past year, with the injuries and just all the stuff he’s dealt with with the hype and everything else. He’s just kind of settled in and had a good, quality first half, and he’s only getting better.”
Former West Linn standout football and baseball player, Tim Tawa, who was drafted in the 11th round out of Stanford in 2021, is batting .264 with 15 home runs in Amarillo after spending nine games in Reno early in the season.
Other local players over the first half of the season…2020 first round pick Mick Abel out of Jesuit High School has a 6.88 ERA in 15 starts at Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the Phillies organization…2023 first round pick Noble Meyer, too from Jesuit High School, has impressed in his first full season as a pro, advancing from Single-A Jupiter to High-A Beloit in the Florida Marlins organization, combining to tally a 3.22 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 12 starts and 50.1 innings pitched this season. Meyer was also represented the National League in the MLB All-Star Futures Game this past week, allowing one hit and striking out two in one inning of work…Former Westview High School and University of Oregon standout Kenyon Yovan is at Triple-A Salt Lake with the Angels organization, and has a 4.78 ERA in 23 games as a relief pitcher this season…Former Westview High School catcher Carson Kelly is batting .247 with seven home runs and 29 RBI with the Detroit Tigers.
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