MTV’s new reality series Washington Heights takes viewers into the lives of nine tight-knit young men and women as they come of age in the Big Apple with big dreams. All of the cast face obstacles they have to overcome, but perhaps none have more obstacles going in than Jimmy Caceres, an aspiring baseball player whose father is currently in prison serving a seven-year sentence as Jimmy himself tries to put his past run-ins with the law behind him.
In the premiere episode we get to see Jimmy try out for a baseball league and get accepted. I did a little research online and found an entry for Jimmy as a player in the New York City Metro Baseball League, so I am assuming this is the league we saw him try out for.
Listed as a third baseman and outfielder, Jimmy played in 24 games during the 2012 summer season and compiled some rather great batting numbers, at least by major league standards. He had 24 hits in 58 at bats, which equates to an impressive .404 batting average. Though he hit no homeruns, Jimmy did show some pop with 10 of his 24 hits going for extra bases.
Of course, some of those doubles and triples can be partially attributed to Jimmy’s apparent speed, as can his impressive 17 stolen bases with only one caught stealing. 17 stolen bases in 24 games — a lot of which he didn’t even start?!? Wow! He even stole 5 bases in a single game during the Highlanders’ July 21 shellacking of the Gotham A’s 13-2. And in case you moneyballers out there were wondering, he struck out 8 times compared to walking 12, and had an on base percentage of .514. (In other words, he went up to the plate 70 times and got on base 36 of those times! Actually, looking at his stats, it appears he got hit by a pitch once, so let’s go ahead and bump that OBP to .521.)
But don’t think for a second that Jimmy’s gaudy offensive numbers are because of poor pitching in the New York City Metro League. In perhaps the most telling of all the stats, check out how he ranked compared to his teammates:
Batting average: 3rd at .414
RBI: 1st with 26 (2nd was 18)
Stolen bases: 1st with 17 (2nd was 13)
Walks: 1st with 12
Here are his full-season stats followed by a game-by-game breakdown — just click to enlarge:
The only major negative I see is that Jimmy had 6 errors, which isn’t horrible since it appears he played at third base most of the time, but unless he plans to move to the outfield on a more permanent basis, he’s going to need to work on his defense.
I look forward to seeing Jimmy’s playing on the show — I just hope MTV was there to capture some of his amazing season with the Highlanders!
