Fresh Stat: Cody Decker leads AAA in HR, RBI production

June 26, 2015 (Friday)

By Scott Barancik, editor

Cody Decker is known for producing funny videos. But according to our research, he deserves at least as much praise for his production at the plate.

Through games played Thursday (6/25/2015), the 28-year-old San Diego Padres prospect had 14 HRs and 49 RBIs in just 183 at-bats this season. That sounded pretty darn good to us, so we decided to see how Decker compared to his Triple-A peers.

We looked at HRs first. Twenty-six Triple-A players had 10 or more round-trippers as of Thursday. Who’s hitting them the most often? Cody Decker. The Padres’ all-time minor-league HR leader — he has hit 147 — is averaging one dinger per 13.1 at-bats this season for the El Paso Chihuahuas.

Triple-A leaders: HR productivity (thru 6/25/2015)

Rank	Name	Franchise	AB	HR	AB/HR
1	Cody Decker	Padres	183	14	13.1
2	Travis Taijeron	Mets	194	13	14.9
3	Jon Singleton	Astros	264	17	15.5
4	Jarrett Parker	Giants	200	12	16.7
5	J.P. Arencibia	Rays	208	12	17.3
6	Domingo Santana	Astros	197	11	17.9
7	Peter O'Brien	Diamondbacks	271	15	18.1
8	Alex Castellanos	Mets	222	12	18.5
9	Adam Duvall	Giants	281	15	18.7
10	Xavier Scruggs	Cardinals	207	11	18.8
11	Corey Brown	Rays	213	11	19.4
12	Patrick Kivlehan	Mariners	257	13	19.8
13	Jared Hoying	Rangers	240	12	20.0
14	Kyle Roller	Yankees	248	12	20.7
15	Mike Hessman	Tigers	208	10	20.8
16	Matt Davidson	White Sox	271	13	20.8
17	Matt Clark	Brewers	255	12	21.3
18	Matt Mcbride	Rockies	232	10	23.2
19	Arismendy Alcantara	Cubs	235	10	23.5
20	Jamie Romak	Diamondbacks	261	11	23.7
21	Nick Evans	Diamondbacks	265	11	24.1
22	Stephen Piscotty	Cardinals	258	10	25.8
23	Dariel Alvarez	Orioles	288	11	26.2
24	Jefry Marte	Tigers	263	10	26.3
25	Jesus Montero	Mariners	291	11	26.5
26	Jesus Aguilar	Indians	277	10	27.7

Note: Includes the 26 Triple-A players who had 10 or more HRs as of 6/25/2015.
Source: JewishBaseballNews.com

Next, we examined RBIs. Jewish Baseball News identified 67 Triple-A players who had amassed 30 or more RBIs as of Thursday. You probably won’t be surprised to find out who’s leading the pack: yep, Cody Decker. The UCLA alum is averaging one RBI for every 3.7 at-bats this season.

Now, it’s not our job to tell the Padres what to do. Maybe Decker isn’t capable of hitting Major League pitching. Maybe his play at first base or third base isn’t MLB-quality. We honestly can’t say.

But seven years into his storied minor-league career, the prince of Triple-A jesters has gotten more call-ups from ESPN’s Keith Olbermann (two) than he has from the Padres (zero).

San Diego, isn’t it time you gave Cody Decker a chance?

Triple-A leaders: RBI productivity (thru 6/25/2015)

Rank	Name	Franchise	AB	RBI	RBI/AB
1	Cody Decker	Padres	183	49	3.7
2	Jon Singleton	Astros	264	66	4.0
3	Nick Evans	Diamondbacks	265	60	4.4
4	Peter O'Brien	Diamondbacks	271	58	4.7
5	Matt Duffy	Astros	248	53	4.7
6	Travis Taijeron	Mets	194	39	5.0
7	Alex Castellanos	Mets	222	43	5.2
8	Domingo Santana	Astros	197	38	5.2
9	Jesus Montero	Mariners	291	56	5.2
10	Jamie Romak	Diamondbacks	261	49	5.3
11	Jason Coats	White Sox	224	41	5.5
12	L.J. Hoes	Astros	210	38	5.5
13	Jarrett Parker	Giants	200	36	5.6
14	Brandon Allen	Mets	198	35	5.7
15	Jefry Marte	Tigers	263	46	5.7
16	Kyle Roller	Yankees	248	43	5.8
17	Christian Villanueva	Cubs	191	33	5.8
18	Franklin Gutierrez	Mariners	180	31	5.8
19	Danny Ortiz	Twins	250	43	5.8
20	Dan Johnson	- - -	206	35	5.9
21	Stefen Romero	Mariners	236	40	5.9
22	Xavier Scruggs	Cardinals	207	35	5.9
23	Jesus Aguilar	Indians	277	46	6.0
24	Nevin Ashley	Brewers	183	30	6.1
25	Mike Hessman	Tigers	208	34	6.1
26	Andy Wilkins	- - -	216	35	6.2
27	Jason Pridie	Athletics	273	44	6.2
28	Adam Duvall	Giants	281	45	6.2
29	Brad Glenn	Blue Jays	200	32	6.3
30	Kyle Parker	Rockies	239	38	6.3
31	Matt Hague	Blue Jays	271	43	6.3
32	J.P. Arencibia	Rays	208	33	6.3
33	Vinny Rottino	Marlins	221	35	6.3
34	Roger Kieschnick	Angels	196	31	6.3
35	Rymer Liriano	Padres	242	38	6.4
36	Alex Dickerson	Padres	237	37	6.4
37	Patrick Kivlehan	Mariners	257	40	6.4
38	Steven Moya	Tigers	225	35	6.4
39	Corey Brown	Rays	213	33	6.5
40	Brett Wallace	Padres	239	37	6.5
41	Ramiro Pena	Padres	241	37	6.5
42	Matt Reynolds	Mets	281	43	6.5
43	Matt Clark	Brewers	255	39	6.5
44	Brent Morel	Pirates	231	35	6.6
45	Matt Davidson	White Sox	271	41	6.6
46	Kyle Jensen	Dodgers	207	31	6.7
47	Michael Choice	Rangers	223	33	6.8
48	Matt Mcbride	Rockies	232	34	6.8
49	Jared Hoying	Rangers	240	35	6.9
50	Alex Presley	Astros	215	31	6.9
51	Reynaldo Rodriguez	Twins	250	36	6.9
52	Adonis Garcia	Braves	252	36	7.0
53	Chris Parmelee	Orioles	234	32	7.3
54	Shawn O'Malley	Mariners	220	30	7.3
55	Dariel Alvarez	Orioles	288	39	7.4
56	Taylor Motter	Rays	268	35	7.7
57	Yorman Rodriguez	Reds	255	33	7.7
58	Matt Long	Brewers	258	33	7.8
59	Stephen Piscotty	Cardinals	258	33	7.8
60	Alen Hanson	Pirates	256	32	8.0
61	Cheslor Cuthbert	Royals	262	32	8.2
62	Trayce Thompson	White Sox	272	33	8.2
63	Brian Bogusevic	Phillies	266	32	8.3
64	Henry Urrutia	Orioles	258	31	8.3
65	Dixon Machado	Tigers	262	31	8.5
66	Joey Wendle	Athletics	285	33	8.6
67	Rob Refsnyder	Yankees	266	30	8.9