Josh Ockimey, 1B: 2014 MLB Draft 5th Round

AlNipper49

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https://twitter.com/NG_Baseball2014/status/474995226667679745
 

Josh Ockimey, 1B — Neumann-Goretti High School (Pa.)
A left-handed hitting high school first baseman from Neumann-Goretti High School in Philadelphia, Josh Ockimey first caught my eye during a winter workout in the Poconos. I stopped in to see him last week and the Indiana signee’s bat speed and raw power are still enticing. Ockimey is built like a Division-I linebacker at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds and is a first baseman all the way, but there’s some serious bang in the hands and wrists. There are some things about Ockimey’s swing that may need tweaking to further tap into the power in the bat and body. For example, all of his weight transfers onto his front side a little early for me, leaving him flat footed and punch-less if he’s fooled by a breaking ball or even if he simply times things wrong. Also, the bat path is also more contact-oriented than it is lofty, which means he’ll have to really strike the baseball in the right spot to get the backspin and arc needed to drive flyballs. I think the athleticism is here for adjustments to be made and like him quite a bit.
http://prospectinsider.com/tag/josh-ockimey
 

AlNipper49

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BosRedSox5 said:
 
MLB.com has him listed at 6-1 215 which is a serious drop off in height. Multiple sources have the 6'4'' 220 stats though. Weird. Just how big is this dude? 
 
So we drafted Lars Anderson 2.0 and Sam Horn 2.0 this year? :)
 

BosRedSox5

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AlNipper49 said:
 
So we drafted Lars Anderson 2.0 and Sam Horn 2.0 this year? :)
 
You mean Travis isn't the next Jeff Bagwell? 
 
-----

Anyway, am I crazy, or does Ockimey's swing look a little weird? 

He sort of leans towards the ball as it arrives. It looks weird, and you would think as a power hitter he'd be putting more weight on his back leg at the point of impact. Not only that, but because of this lean, his hands drift a bit. Once you've loaded and are waiting for the pitch, there shouldn't be a lot of movement there, you should be ready to swing. 

He's got good feet, a short step and his hips drive his swing, which is all very good... but I would imagine that the Sox instructors might want to encourage him to stay back and wait for the ball. Leaning towards the pitcher as you swing can lead to difficulty as he faces better and better pitching.
 

AlNipper49

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BosRedSox5 said:
 
You mean Travis isn't the next Jeff Bagwell? 
 
-----
Anyway, am I crazy, or does Ockimey's swing look a little weird? 

He sort of leans towards the ball as it arrives. It looks weird, and you would think as a power hitter he'd be putting more weight on his back leg at the point of impact. Not only that, but because of this lean, his hands drift a bit. Once you've loaded and are waiting for the pitch, there shouldn't be a lot of movement there, you should be ready to swing. 

He's got good feet, a short step and his hips drive his swing, which is all very good... but I would imagine that the Sox instructors might want to encourage him to stay back and wait for the ball. Leaning towards the pitcher as you swing can lead to difficulty as he faces better and better pitching.
Everything I'm reading (I had never heard of him before) is indicating that his swing does have some serious flaws but his athleticism suggests that it's something that can be fixed.  Or we hope will get fixed.  (alas the Sam reference)
 

DJnVa

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BosRedSox5 said:
 
 
-----
Anyway, am I crazy, or does Ockimey's swing look a little weird? 

He sort of leans towards the ball as it arrives. It looks weird, and you would think as a power hitter he'd be putting more weight on his back leg at the point of impact.
 
Well, isn't that kind of what the report a few posts about you says? That he gets out in front too early, but it's correctable.
 
He's using it as a timing mechanism and it saps his power.
 

Detts

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Josh just needs to say 'no' and go to college. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(note:  I am an Indiana grad).
 
 
 
 
 
 

nvalvo

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Needs to quiet down the head movement, too. But I like to see them drafting some potential power bats in the middle rounds. 
 

mabrowndog

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Perfect Game.org scouting report from June 2013
 
 
Outstanding athletic build, strong and projectable, resembles top Astros prospect Jonathan Singleton. Left handed hitter, very good raw bat speed and strength at times, loud line drive contact when squared, young hitting mechanics, bad body angle leaning in and lunges to front side early, low hand set to start swing, everything working against him but still manages to hit the ball hard, has high ceiling offensive tools with adjustments. 7.28 runner, moves well for his size defensively, good footwork around the bag, soft hands, playable arm strength. Follow closely for changes in hitting approach. 
 

mabrowndog

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A pre-draft feature story that re-aired last night on CSN Philly. FWIW, he's still got an Indiana avatar on his Twitter profile:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6eIAuciBig
 

TheGoldenGreek33

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mabrowndog said:
A pre-draft feature story that re-aired last night on CSN Philly. FWIW, he's still got an Indiana avatar on his Twitter profile:
 
Yeah, he needs to sign. The Hoosiers are losing their No. 2, 3 and 5-hole hitters and their ace pitcher. Ockimey is their top recruit as the No. 225th high school player in the class.
 

mabrowndog

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My timing is impeccable. ;)
 
Great news. Lots to work on with this kid.
 
Please don't be Sam Horn, Lars Anderson or Otis Foster. Please don't be Sam Horn, Lars Anderson or Otis Foster. Please don't be Sam Horn, Lars Anderson or Otis Foster. Please don't be Sam Horn, Lars Anderson or Otis Foster. Please don't be Sam Horn, Lars Anderson or Otis Foster. Please don't be Sam Horn, Lars Anderson or Otis Foster. Please don't be Sam Horn, Lars Anderson or Otis Foster. Please don't be Sam Horn, Lars Anderson or Otis Foster. Please don't be Sam Horn, Lars Anderson or Otis Foster. Please don't be Sam Horn, Lars Anderson or Otis Foster.
 

mt8thsw9th

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mabrowndog said:
Please don't be Sam Horn
 
If the Red Sox get over 1000 ABs at a 119 OPS+ clip out of a 5th round pick, they should be ecstatic. 
 
And what's the story with Otis Foster? He was an OBP machine in the minors and never cracked the bigs. There's also pretty much nothing about him on the internet, either. Looking at when he should have gotten a cup of coffee, he was pretty much buried behind Yaz, George Scott, and Bob Watson.
 
And seriously, if he's half the minor leaguer than the guys mentioned above (who were all pretty high draft picks), they've done well. Though I guess it's fitting that Mookie Betts was picked there 3 years ago, so he's probably set the bar high for 5th rounders.
 

Eddie Jurak

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mt8thsw9th said:
 
And what's the story with Otis Foster? He was an OBP machine in the minors and never cracked the bigs. There's also pretty much nothing about him on the internet, either. Looking at when he should have gotten a cup of coffee, he was pretty much buried behind Yaz, George Scott, and Bob Watson.
 
Apparently the only thing higher than his OBP was his weight.
 

The Talented Allen Ripley

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Ockimey got a nice mention in BA's Prospect Hot Sheet this week:

A power-hitting prep first baseman from Philadelphia, Ockimey earned comparison with Phillies slugger Ryan Howard. So far, Ockimey has shown many of Howard’s traits, including big power, lots of strikeouts and defensive limitations. But Ockimey, a 2014 fifth-rounder, was a standout in instructional league last year, and is off to a fast start in 2016 in his first crack at full-season ball. He’s trimmed back the strikeouts (14 in 63 plate appearances) and is walking more—including eight this week—and still showing big power, with four homers in just 51 at-bats.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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I just hope he builds a career successful enough for SoSH to use a bunch of bad Ockimey's Razor puns.
 

FanSinceBoggs

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Ockimey has turned into an interesting prospect. Mayo had him ranked as the 16th best prospect in the Red Sox system and said the following about him:

After Ockimey impressed the Red Sox with his pull power during a pre-Draft workout at Fenway Park in 2014, they drafted him in the fifth round and paid him an over-slot $450,000 bonus. He hasn't torn up pro pitching in his first two seasons, though he did improve his OPS from .524 in 2014 to .771 last year and was Boston's most impressive hitter during instructional league.

Ockimey has some of the best raw power among Red Sox farmhands, generating it with considerable strength and solid bat speed. He batted just .238 with a 32 percent strikeout rate in his first two years as a pro because he gets overly aggressive, and the length and uppercut in his left-handed swing become more pronounced. He does show some feel for hitting and willingness to use the whole field, and Boston thinks he's on the verge of making more consistent contact.

Perhaps too muscled up in the past, Ockimey spent a lot of time this season endeavoring to get leaner and more flexible. That should help him at first base, where he has put in the work to improve defensively. He's a well-below-average runner who may never be more than adequate at first, so his bat will have to take him to the big leagues.
http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2016?list=bos
Currently, in Greenville, Ockimey has 26 W and 27 K in almost 100 ABs, along with a 1.025 OPS. The thing that stood out to me is his youth--he is only 20 years old. He could be an ascending prospect.
 

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I'd like to see him bumped up soon to see if his plate discipline is real. It seems like they're now pitching around him.
 

jmm57

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Up to a 38 game sample, still not huge, but he has nearly doubled his BB% (10.9 to 21.1) and slashed his K% from 34.1% to 22.4% and gotten his ISO up above .250 in the jump from A- to A. I'd like to see the jump to AA, but he's still young-ish for the level.
 

The Talented Allen Ripley

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Pull quote:

Ockimey's education is beginning to pay much greater dividends this season at Greenville. Through Tuesday's games, he led the South Atlantic League with a .436 on-base percentage and 43 walks. The first baseman also was third on the circuit with a .537 slugging percentage and fourth with nine home runs (just one behind the leaders) in addition to hitting at a .299 clip with 13 doubles and 29 RBIs in 51 contests. On Tuesday, his performance was rewarded when Ockimey was named the starting designated hitter for the Southern Division in the SAL All-Star Game.
 

Cesar Crespo

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He's cooled off considerably in the 2nd half. .165/.258/.392. 10bb/29k in 89 PA. The walk rate and ISO are still in line with the rest of the season though, maybe just a babip issue. He does have 5 HRs in that stretch, contact is a concern though.
 

Cesar Crespo

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He had a huge day yesterday in the first game of the doubleheader, going 3/4 with 2 HRs and 6 rbi.

For the year, he's now at .404/.477/.692 with a 15.4% BB rate and 26.2% K rate in 65 PA.
His rates last year 17.6% BB rate, 25.9% K rate (499 PA).

He still strikes out way too much but he did move up a level so it's nice to see the K rate hasn't gone up, at least not yet. This year 46% of his PA have resulted in 1 of the 3 true outcomes (k, bb, HR). Last year, 47.1%.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Ockimey hit his 4th HR of the year last night. He is up to 101 PA and is slashing .346/.455/.590. He has 18 walks and 24 strikeouts.
 

Cesar Crespo

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He's now at 132 PA and slashing .327/.439/.529. He has 22bb/32k for a 16.7% BB rate and 24.2% K rate. He's already been IBB 3 times this year.

He's also hitting lefties much better this year but 59 PA is a tiny sample. .326/.396/.512 (6bb/16k) this year after hitting .196/.291/.304 in 2015 (52PA, 6bb/15k) and .192/.272/.329 in 2016 (81 PA, 8bb/21k).
 

Cesar Crespo

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Currently has a 17 game hitting streak where he's slashing .333/.432/.540 with a .490 BAbip in 74 PA with 9bb/20k. He has 4 doubles and 3 HRs in that period. He's at .320/.421/.520 with a BAbip of .405 in 216 PA for the year. 32bb/55k.

It'll be interesting to see if they promote him or not. I can see a case either way.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Last 14 games, 53 PA .163/.321/.178. That includes today's 2 games, the .233 BAbip does not. Good news is he has 10bb/9k during that stretch so it looks like mostly bad BAbip luck. .290/.401/.453 for the year. Prior to today's game his BAbip was .375.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Ockimey hit his 8th HR and his first since 5/29 last night. Over his last 25 games, 106 PA: .190/.358/.270 on a .246 BAbip. The good news is he has 22bb/22k in that time so his struggle isn't the same as last years. Only 5 extra base hits though. He's now at .279/.400/.439 for the year in 325 PA with 54bb/78k.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Ockimey has been hitting better since 7/3, slashing .264/.339/.547, .344 BAbip in 59 PA, 6bb/18k. 4 doubles, 1 triple, 3 HRs. He is now at .272/.389/.443 for the season with 60bb/94k in 378 PA.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Looks like Josh Ockimey is finally starting to heat up again. He went 3/5 with his 11th HR of the season last night. It's his 3rd HR in 7 games. He had gone 117 PA without a HR from May 31st-July 2nd. The last 7 games have brought his July line to .269/.359/.537 on a .350 BAbip.

April: .338/.427/.563
May: .305/.424/.484
June: .212/.362/.271
July: .269/.359/.537

Last year, he started off amazing. He hit a slump and never broke out of it. This year, he had a 113 PA stretch of .198/.354/.253, .267 BAbip. However, during that stretch, he had 22bb and 25 strikeouts. He is back up to .278/.393/.454 for the year with a K% rate of exactly 25% and a BB rate of 15.7%. Last year he was at 25.9% K rate, 17.6% BB rate. Most of his improvement this year stems from a .359 BAbip, last year he was at .284.

For reference, last year he hit .165/.305/.331 on a .205 BAbip the final 295 PA of the year. He had a 27.5% K rate and 15.6% BB rate during that stretch.
 

moondog80

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OBP of .362 in his otherwise horrible month seems encouraging?
 

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He's got 3 HR in his last 7 games to go along with two 3 hit nights. Might be heating up. We discussed him and Roldani Baldwin on the podcast this week. Episode should be up tomorrow afternoon some time if anyone is curious.
 

The Talented Allen Ripley

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Ockimey hit HRs in back-to-back games on Fri & Sat against Bowie. His two other hits since being promoted were doubles. SSS of 5 games, but he's slugging .706 with an OPS of 1.115 as a Sea Dog.
 

The Talented Allen Ripley

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Ockimey had a brutal stretch in mid-August, but rebounded nicely, closing the year with a 10-game hitting streak, batting .424 over that span.

His numbers at AA for the year: .272/.372/.427 for an OPS of .799 in 103 AB. 3 HR and 11 RBI. His BB/K rates mirrored his MiL career numbers; his eye is strong, draws a lot of walks, but also strikes out a lot (~28%). Overall a solid debut at that level for a 21-year old.
 
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The Talented Allen Ripley

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After a slow start to the year, Ockimey has been hitting well as of late, batting .371 with 2 HR and 10 RBI over his last 10 games.

He's at .266/.373/.453 for an OPS of .826 in 139 AB. 6 HR and 25 RBI.
 

bringbackburks

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He deserves another bump. Over the last two weeks he's been hitting around .400 and has brought his season line up to .295/.397/.520. Strikeouts are still there, but the rate has gone down a little bit recently. He and Shawaryn are starting to but themselves into position for a bump to Pawtucket
 

charlieoscar

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Ockimey's eating habits...June 27, 2018 at New Hampshire Fisher Cats every time he was on deck. He kept in his mouth until he started walking to the plate or back to the dugout. There was some small attachment on the end of the chain but because I was being netting I couldn';t get a clear shot of that.