Jake McCarthy is Making Good Progress With His Swing in Triple-A

The Diamondbacks' Jake McCarthy was sent down to Triple-A Reno on April 21. Since his demotion, he's slashing .435/.509/.652 with six doubles and two triples in 11 games with Reno.

On the surface, that appears to be good numbers and McCarthy is making the most of his opportunities there. However, taking into account that the Pacific Coast League is an extremely hitter-friendly environment, the numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt.

His batting line is fueled by a .513 BABIP, which is hardly sustainable at any level. However, if we take a look at his expected stats in Triple-A, he has a .337 xBA and a .444 xSLG, so there is still a healthy amount of quality contact in terms of getting hits in the batted ball data.

The high BABIP is likely a result of a high line drive rate. McCarthy is hitting line drives at a 35.9% rate on 39 balls in play with Reno, so he's getting solid results in that department. On line drive contact, he's hitting .929 and slugging 1.286.

While it's unlikely he'll maintain that high a line drive rate over a larger sample, seeing him spray line drives is a positive sign. At the major league level, he was hitting too many rollover ground balls and lazy fly balls the other way, which is why he was batting .070 to begin the season.

His game is very reliant on spraying line drives and using his speed to stretch out for extra bases or be a nuisance on the basepaths. The past two times McCarthy was sent down to the minors, he spent 22 and 23-game stints in Reno, so it will be interesting to see what the results of the next 11-12 games look like.

Notable Top Prospect Performances

Tommy Troy turned in a solid week for Amarillo, batting .421 (8-for-19) with four walks. Troy has reached in six straight games, over which he's reached base a total of 13 times in 27 plate appearances. His .454 on-base percentage is the third highest total in the Texas League, trailing Peyton Wilson (.502) and Yeiner Fernandez (.458).

LuJames Groover had a pretty quiet series against Midland. He collected just two hits in 18 at-bats, one being a solo home run, and struck out five times. His six home runs leads the Sod Poodles, one ahead of Kristian Robinson's five.

Ryan Waldschmidt has cooled off a little in the past couple of series, hitting just .237 in his last 12 games. Despite balls not falling in for him, he continues to be a selective hitter at the plate with a 12/13 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has hit for a decent amount of power with five extra-base hits. His .466 OBP and 24 walks on the season both lead the Northwest League.

Dylan Ray won the Texas League Player of the Week with a superb start against Midland. The right-hander struck out eight, walked none, and allowed just two hits in a 4-0 win. It's been a tough season for Ray, who has shown issues with long innings and short starts. However, that start is hopefully a step in the right direction for a pitcher who has stalled a bit at the Double-A level.

Slade Caldwell turned in another strong week at the plate, hitting .400 with a home run and a 1.191 OPS against the Fresno Grizzlies. He drew five walks to six strikeouts, four of those coming on April 29. On his home run, he showed the ability to turn on an inside fastball and drive it out to his pull field. His .524 OBP leads the California League by a considerable margin.