:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/36157266/20140222_mse_aa9_1925.0.jpg)
Over at Baseball America, a reader wondered why Andy Wilkins wasn't on the site's "Hot Sheet." Josh Norris shot the question down as misunderstanding the feature's mission.
Kyle (Dallas, TX): You young'uns at BA may view older prospects differently than young ones, but Charlotte's Andy Wilkins deserved better this past week than to be completely ignored. Would you care to comment, Joshua?
Josh Norris: No, he didn’t. He’s a 25-year-old, one-tool 1B/DH in Triple-A. That’s not a prospect. The Hot Sheet is for prospects only.
But it's hard to blame Kyle for asking, because at the time the question was raised, Wilkins had his 10 homers over his last nine games. It wasn't an all-or-nothing approach, either, because Wilkins went 22-for-39 for a line of .564/.585/1.436. He leads the International League with 26 homers, five more than minor-league home run king Mike Hessman.
Norris' criticism is valid, because Wilkins draws fewer walks than any Charlotte Knights hitter (19 in 97 games), and so even his "offense-first" label has to be qualified. But he carried an OPS above 2.000 for a nine-game stretch, and that's worth acknowledging.
Sunday's box scores will appear in the comments shortly. Tyler Saladino will not be in any of them, or any others for the rest of the season.
Charlotte Knights SS Tyler Saladino to have Tommy John surgery: http://t.co/YuBMgXZFRT
— Seth Lakso (@SethLakso) July 28, 2014