Baseball America | Blog | Baseball America Prospects Blog | Top Performances By Position Prospects Over The Weekend, April 27-29

We turn our attention now to the top offensive performers from weekend series, April 27-29, this time counting down the top performances in terms of the Bill James runs created metric (the convoluted ’02 version). At the heart of RC are reaching base safely (on-base percentage) and total bases (slugging percentage), two factors that correlate strongly with run scoring, and for obvious reasons.

TOP 10 RUNS CREATED BY PROSPECTS IN THE MINORS • APRIL 27-29
BATTER	ORG	TEAM	LEAGUE	LVL	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	SB	RC
Ryan Wheeler*	ARI	Reno	Pacific Coast	AAA	11	7	0	1	1	2	1	0	6.0
J.B. Shuck*	HOU	Okla. City	Pacific Coast	AAA	10	8	1	1	0	0	0	1	5.9
Johermyn Chavez	SEA	Jackson	Southern	AA	10	6	1	0	2	2	1	0	5.8
Tyler Saladino	CWS	Birmingham	Southern	AA	14	7	0	1	1	2	2	1	5.6
Christian Colon	KC	NW Ark.	Texas	AA	9	5	2	0	0	3	1	1	4.5
Tommy La Stella*	ATL	Lynchburg	Carolina	HiA	13	6	2	0	1	1	0	0	4.4
Cory Vaughn	NYM	St. Lucie	Florida State	HiA	14	5	0	0	3	1	4	0	4.3
Billy Hamilton#	CIN	Bakersfield	California	HiA	11	6	0	0	0	3	2	6	4.1
Randal Grichuk	LAA	In. Empire	California	HiA	15	5	0	1	2	1	3	0	4.0
Francisco Lindor#	CLE	Lake County	Midwest	LoA	12	6	0	0	1	1	1	2	4.0
*Bats lefthanded. #Switch-hitter. Chart considers only players who appear in 2012 BA Prospect Handbook

Diamondbacks Triple-A Reno first baseman Ryan Wheeler connected for a first-inning grand slam as part of a 2-for-3 day yesterday at Salt Lake. Like Arizona prospect Matt Davidson in Double-A, Wheeler is splitting his time between first and third base . . . White Sox shortstop prospect Tyler Saladino already has accumulated 18 walks in 23 Double-A games, and now he appears to have found his power stroke with a homer and a triple over the weekend . . . High Class A St. Lucie right fielder Cory Vaughn homered once on Friday, once on Saturday and once on Sunday, and he's now tied for the Florida State League with five longballs . . . The Reds' Billy Hamilton leads the California League with 29 steals, four triples and 24 runs scored, giving him the "speed" triple crown. Oh, and the high Class A Bakersfield shortstop also leads the circuit in average (.398) and on-base percentage (.481) . . . Angels right fielder Randal Grichuk mashed a pair of homers versus High Desert on Saturday. The 2009 first-rounder is batting .253/.293/.473 through 91 at-bats for high Class A Inland Empire as he attempts to turn in his first healthy season since his debut summer . . . Speaking of first-rounders, Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor, taken eighth overall last June, now shares the Midwest League lead with 32 hits. He's batting .314/.369/.451 through 102 at-bats for low Class A Lake County.

Top Performance By A Prospect-Eligible Player Outside His Team's Top 30

A 10th-round pick from Alabama in 2010, Ross Wilson spent the bulk of the 2011 season with low Class A Kannapolis in the White Sox system. He's back with the Intimidators this April after going 4-for-24 (.167) with high Class A Winston-Salem to begin the year. The 23-year-old Wilson mashed three homers in a game at Augusta on Friday (including two off Giants righty reliever Keith Bilodeau in the eighth and ninth innings) as part of a 6-for-12 weekend that also included a double and eight RBIs. He already has started games at second base, shortstop, third base and left field this season.

Rough Stretch

Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett went 1-for-15 with a pair of strikeouts and no walks for Double-A Huntsville. He also got caught stealing and grounded into a double player. The 21-year-old (for one more day) lefty hitter can put a charge into the ball, though he'll need to improve his ability to induce opposing pitchers to throw the ball in the strike zone. Gennett has two walks and 18 whiffs on the year.