Continuing our series of pieces on the Blue Jays' new draftees, Ryan Levy of tamu-and-baseball.com tells us about the team's two draftees from Texas A&M University. First up, 6th round draftpick Cory Patton. Enjoy everyone!
Cory Patton
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 210 lbs
Hometown: Owasso, OK
High school: Owasso
College: Seward County CC/Texas A&M
For those of you who have never stumbled across my website, you need to be filled in on the fact that I really like Cory Patton. The guy can flat out play ball, and he's been a whole lot of fun to watch play over the last two years here at A&M.
Cory came to A&M from Seward County Community College after being named the Juco Player of the in 2001 (his sophomore year). He stepped right into the Aggie lineup (the 3-hole) and just flat out hit. He led the team right into the playoffs for the first time in 4 years while leading the squad in hits, HRs, RBIs, total bases, & SLG%.
I got really worried after last year because the Padres surprised everyone and drafted Cory in the 6th round (161 overall). Thankfully he didn't sign. He would have received a bonus somewhere in the neighborhood of $170,000 (I got that figure by looking at some of the players around him). Of the 160 players drafted ahead of him only 7 didn't sign. When asked about why he came back in an interview that I ran across, Cory responded by saying, "There were just a lot of things going into it. One of the main reasons was that I knew we were going to have a good team this year, so I really wanted to come back and try to be a part of some kind of championship here. I didn't want to miss out on anything special here. There was just a lot of stuff that went into it. You know, I got married this summer, and stuff like that. So, it was just bad timing for me."
So we got Cory back for his senior year and WOW, he hasn't disappointed!
He leads the team in HRs by more than double the next hitter, he leads in RBIs, total bases, SLG%, OBP, & outfield assists.....all while lowering his SO total and increasing his BB total.
Here's BaseballAmerica.com's analysis on Cory:
Others To Watch
I don't know Cory's times in the 40m, but he sure motors out there in the outfield....and I'd like to see what a plus-plus arm looks like because if it's better than his I'd be surprised. Ok, so he doesn't throw like Ichiro!, but I've been to approximately 100 collegiate games in my life and 100s of MLB games and I've never seen throws so on-the-money every single time. I love it when teams test him and he always comes up with a bullet.
Seward County Community College (Kansas):
2002 Summer
During the summer of 2002, I found out that Cory played with Team USA during USA-China Friendship Series (June 13th, 2002). Here are all the stats I could dig up on that:
2003 Summer
During the summer of 2003 (after his first year at A&M), Cory went back up to Kansas and played summer ball with the Liberal BeeJays who were coached by his former Seward County CC head coach.
I've got this split up a ton of different ways. I'll start with the more interesting stuff and work down towards his game-by-game line stats....
(note: the 2004 stats in this section do not include Regionals and Super Regionals; to see how he did there, refer to his game-by-game stats at the end of the article)
Hitting Ratios
So you can get an idea of what he does on a game-by-game basis....
Season's Split into 1/3rds
I dropped this in here to show how hot he's been during this final stretch of the season this year and decided to see if it was similar to last year....it was, but he's even better this year....
2003 Season Split into Thirds:
2003 Note: G43-64 has 1 more game included
2004 Season Split into Thirds:
AB R H RBI SO/BB XBH HR BA
G1-18 68 14 22 23 3/9 8 1 .324
G19-36 63 12 17 13 8/14 6 1 .270
G37-54 77 19 32 28 9/9 15 9 .416
2004 Note: Team has played 58 games (Cory DNP in 4 G)
Vs. Ranked Teams
This gives a little bit better idea of how Cory hit against better pitching because almost by default, better teams have better pitching....
Vs. Top 25 Teams:
Vs. Top 10 Teams:
Career vs. texas
You've got to love that he owned them.....
Career vs. Rice
(includes 2004 Regionals)
Game-by-Game Line Stats
Here is every game that Cory has played wearing a Fightin' Texas Aggie uniform....
2003 Season (Junior Year)
2004 Season (Senior Year)
During the week in-between Regionals and Super Regionals, I found out that Cory had suffered a stress fracture in his left foot (his back foot in his stance). He played through it and here's the difference it made to his season stats.
It's terrible that his numbers dropped so much as he was trying to help out the team as best he could. Not only did they drive down his season numbers but they also impacted his career numbers v. Top 25 teams, Top 10 Teams and v. Rice simply because of the time frame that it happened.
He's a heckuva kid and I hope you all enjoy Cory as much as I have.
A Salute to the General
Cory Patton
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 210 lbs
Hometown: Owasso, OK
High school: Owasso
College: Seward County CC/Texas A&M
For those of you who have never stumbled across my website, you need to be filled in on the fact that I really like Cory Patton. The guy can flat out play ball, and he's been a whole lot of fun to watch play over the last two years here at A&M.
Cory came to A&M from Seward County Community College after being named the Juco Player of the in 2001 (his sophomore year). He stepped right into the Aggie lineup (the 3-hole) and just flat out hit. He led the team right into the playoffs for the first time in 4 years while leading the squad in hits, HRs, RBIs, total bases, & SLG%.
I got really worried after last year because the Padres surprised everyone and drafted Cory in the 6th round (161 overall). Thankfully he didn't sign. He would have received a bonus somewhere in the neighborhood of $170,000 (I got that figure by looking at some of the players around him). Of the 160 players drafted ahead of him only 7 didn't sign. When asked about why he came back in an interview that I ran across, Cory responded by saying, "There were just a lot of things going into it. One of the main reasons was that I knew we were going to have a good team this year, so I really wanted to come back and try to be a part of some kind of championship here. I didn't want to miss out on anything special here. There was just a lot of stuff that went into it. You know, I got married this summer, and stuff like that. So, it was just bad timing for me."
So we got Cory back for his senior year and WOW, he hasn't disappointed!
He leads the team in HRs by more than double the next hitter, he leads in RBIs, total bases, SLG%, OBP, & outfield assists.....all while lowering his SO total and increasing his BB total.
Here's BaseballAmerica.com's analysis on Cory:
Others To Watch
OFs Cory Patton and Hunter Pence aren't going to win any beauty contests, but they swing two of the meanest bats in Texas. Patton, who has a 5-foot-10, 210-pound frame that one scout compared to Matt Stairs', was the National Junior College Athletic Association's player of the year in 2002, when he hit .463 and led national juco players with 31 homes and 119 RBIs at Seward County (Kan.) CC. He led Texas A&M with 13 homers and 58 RBIs last year, which got him drafted in the sixth round by the Padres. But Patton was getting married and had no desire to sign last summer. He is having a similar season this year, hitting .341-11-64 with good plate discipline (32 walks, 20 strikeouts), and could get drafted in the same area. He runs and moves OK for his size and has a plus arm in right field. He went 8-1 on the mound in 2002, with his fastball clocked at 88-89 mph.
I don't know Cory's times in the 40m, but he sure motors out there in the outfield....and I'd like to see what a plus-plus arm looks like because if it's better than his I'd be surprised. Ok, so he doesn't throw like Ichiro!, but I've been to approximately 100 collegiate games in my life and 100s of MLB games and I've never seen throws so on-the-money every single time. I love it when teams test him and he always comes up with a bullet.
Overall Stats at Texas A&M
G/GS AB R H RBI 2b 3b HR TB SO/BB OBP SLG BA OPS GPA
2003 64-64 257 53 85 58 15 1 13 141 25/28 .401 .549 .331 .950 .318
2004 60-60 230 49 75 67 18 3 11 132 25/34 .418 .574 .326 .992 .332
Total 124 487 102 160 125 33 4 24 273 50/62 .411 .561 .329 .972 .325
Non-Texas A&M
Seward County Community College (Kansas):
Freshman year (2001):
- .337 BA, 10 HRs, 49 RBI
- All-Conference
- Conference Freshman of the Year
Sophomore year(2002):
- 238AB, 108H, 31HR, 120RBI, .463BA
- 8-1 Record, 70.0 IP on the mound
- First team All-Conference
- All-Region
- All-American
- National Junior College Player of the Year
- NJCAA Male Athlete of the Year
2002 Summer
During the summer of 2002, I found out that Cory played with Team USA during USA-China Friendship Series (June 13th, 2002). Here are all the stats I could dig up on that:
Pitching: 2 G, 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2K/0BB, 0-0 Record, 0.00 ERA
Hitting: 4 RBI, 2 HR
2003 Summer
During the summer of 2003 (after his first year at A&M), Cory went back up to Kansas and played summer ball with the Liberal BeeJays who were coached by his former Seward County CC head coach.
2003 Summer: Jayhawk League: Liberal Bee Jays
G AB R H 2B 3B HR TB BB SO SH SF SB RBI OBP SLG BA
33 118 30 42 15 2 4 73 13 13 0 1 3 19 .434 .619 .356
Texas A&M
I've got this split up a ton of different ways. I'll start with the more interesting stuff and work down towards his game-by-game line stats....
(note: the 2004 stats in this section do not include Regionals and Super Regionals; to see how he did there, refer to his game-by-game stats at the end of the article)
Hitting Ratios
So you can get an idea of what he does on a game-by-game basis....
AB/G R/G H/G RBI/G RBI/H AB/HR BB/SO BA OBP SLG
2003 4.02 0.83 1.33 0.91 0.68 19.77 1.12 .331 .401 .549
2004 3.85 0.85 1.31 1.19 0.90 18.91 1.60 .341 .435 .606
Tot 3.94 0.84 1.32 1.03 0.78 19.38 1.33 .337 .419 .572
Season's Split into 1/3rds
I dropped this in here to show how hot he's been during this final stretch of the season this year and decided to see if it was similar to last year....it was, but he's even better this year....
2003 Season Split into Thirds:
AB R H RBI SO/BB XBH HR BA
G1-21 84 15 29 20 7/7 9 4 .345
G22-42 85 19 25 13 11/12 7 2 .294
G43-64 88 20 31 25 8/10 13 7 .352
2003 Note: G43-64 has 1 more game included
2004 Season Split into Thirds:
AB R H RBI SO/BB XBH HR BA
G1-18 68 14 22 23 3/9 8 1 .324
G19-36 63 12 17 13 8/14 6 1 .270
G37-54 77 19 32 28 9/9 15 9 .416
2004 Note: Team has played 58 games (Cory DNP in 4 G)
Vs. Ranked Teams
This gives a little bit better idea of how Cory hit against better pitching because almost by default, better teams have better pitching....
Vs. Top 25 Teams:
AB R H RBI SO/BB XBH HR BA
2003 99 19 29 25 17/12 9 8 .293
2004 45 12 27 21 8/5 9 6 .600
Tot 144 31 56 46 25/17 18 14 .389
Vs. Top 10 Teams:
AB R H RBI SO/BB XBH HR BA
2003 40 5 11 9 7/7 4 3 .275
2004 19 6 8 13 3/3 5 4 .421
Tot 59 11 19 22 10/10 9 7 .322
Career vs. texas
You've got to love that he owned them.....
AB R H RBI SO/BB
5/16/03 texas (5) 1 1 1 2 0/2 HR
5/17/03 @texas (5) 3 0 0 0 0/1
5/18/03 @texas (5) 4 1 2 2 0/0 HR
5/22/03 texas (9) 3 0 1 1 1/1
5/24/03a texas (9) 3 2 2 2 0/1 HR, HBP
5/24/03b texas (9) 4 0 0 1 0/0
5/21/04 @texas (2) 3 1 1 0 0/1
5/22/04 texas (2) 4 2 3 7 0/1 HR, HR
5/23/04 texas (2) 2 1 1 1 1/1 2B, HBP
5/27/04 texas (1) 5 1 1 1 0/0 HR
Totals 32 9 12 17 2/8 .375 BA
Career vs. Rice
(includes 2004 Regionals)
AB R H RBI SO/BB
2/14/03 Rice (2) 5 1 2 0 2/0
4/08/03 @Rice (1 4 0 0 0 2/0
3/23/04 Rice (6) 5 1 2 4 2/0 2B
6/08/04 Rice (4) 4 0 0 0 1/0
6/08/04 Rice (4) 3 1 1 0 2/1
Totals 21 3 5 4 9/1 .238 BA
Game-by-Game Line Stats
Here is every game that Cory has played wearing a Fightin' Texas Aggie uniform....
2003 Season (Junior Year)
- Second Team All-Big XII
Date Opponent AB R H RBI SO/BB BA
2/11 A&M-CC 4 1 1 1 1/0 .250 HR/SH
2/14 Rice (2) 5 1 2 0 2/0 .333
2/15 LaLafayette 6 0 2 1 1/0 .333
2/16 Houston (11)5 1 1 0 1/0 .300
2/18 @SamHouston 5 1 2 2 0/0 .320 2B
2/22a Creighton 3 2 2 4 0/0 .357 2B/HR
2/22b Utah 3 0 0 0 0/0 .323
2/23a Creighton 4 1 2 3 0/0 .343 HR
2/23b UCLA 4 0 0 0 0/0 .308
2/24a Utah 3 0 1 1 0/0 .310
2/24b UCLA 4 0 2 2 0/0 .326
2/28 @Arizona 4 0 0 0 1/0 .300
3/01 @Arizona 3 1 1 0 0/2 .302
3/02 @Arizona 4 0 2 0 0/0 .316
3/04 UT-SA 4 1 1 0 0/0 .311 3B
3/05 SWT 4 0 1 0 0/1 .308 2B
3/07 UT-Pan Am 3 1 1 2 0/1 .309 HR
3/08 UT-Pan Am 4 2 4 1 0/0 .347 HBP
3/09 UT-Pan Am 5 1 2 1 1/0 .351
3/11 Centenary 3 1 0 0 0/2 .338
3/12 Centenary 4 1 2 2 0/1 .345 2B
3/14 Nebraska(12)4 0 2 0 0/0 .352
3/15 Nebraska(12)3 1 0 0 3/1 .341
3/16 Nebraska(12)4 2 2 0 0/0 .347
3/18 @UT-SA 4 1 2 3 0/0 .354 2B/HR
3/21 @txtech(23) 5 0 1 0 0/0 .346
3/22 @txtech(23) 5 1 2 2 1/0 .349
3/23 @txtech(23) 4 1 1 0 1/0 .345
3/26 Lamar 4 1 1 0 0/1 .342
3/28 @Baylor (6) 4 0 0 0 1/1 .331
3/29 Baylor (6) 4 0 2 0 0/0 .336 2B
3/30 Baylor (6) 5 0 1 1 1/1 .331
4/01 SamHouston 4 2 0 0 0/1 .321
4/04 @Oklahoma 2 0 1 0 0/2 .324
4/05 @Oklahoma 4 1 2 0 0/0 .329 2B/HBP
4/06 @Oklahoma 5 2 2 2 0/0 .331 SF
4/08 @Rice (1) 4 0 0 0 2/0 .322
4/11 @K-State 5 0 0 0 0/0 .312
4/12 @K-State 6 1 2 0 1/0 .313
4/13 @K-State 3 2 1 1 0/1 .313 SF
4/15 UT-A 3 2 1 0 0/2 .313 2B
4/18 OkState(21) 3 2 2 4 1/2 .320 HR
4/19 OkState(21) 4 1 2 1 1/1 .324 SH
4/20 OkState(21) 3 0 0 0 0/1 .318
4/22 SamHouston 5 2 4 1 0/0 .331
4/25 @Missou(19) 4 2 2 4 0/0 .335 HR/HR
4/26 @Missou(19) 5 0 0 0 1/0 .326
4/27 @Missou(19) 5 2 2 5 1/0 .328 HR/HR
5/06 SWT 4 1 1 1 1/0 .327 2B/SF
5/09 Kansas 4 0 3 1 0/1 .335
5/10 Kansas 5 2 2 1 0/0 .337 2B
5/11 Kansas 5 1 2 1 1/0 .338 2B
5/13 Houston 5 1 2 1 0/0 .339 2B
5/16 texas (5) 1 1 1 2 0/2 .342 HR
5/17 @texas (5) 3 0 0 0 0/1 .338
5/18 @texas (5) 4 1 2 2 0/0 .341 HR
5/21 Oklahoma 5 2 2 0 0/0 .342 2B/2B
5/22 texas (9) 3 0 1 1 1/1 .342
5/24a texas (9) 3 2 2 2 0/1 .346 HR/HBP
5/24b texas (9) 4 0 0 1 0/0 .340
5/30 OralRoberts 4 0 1 1 1/0 .339
5/31 Alabama(23) 5 1 1 0 0/0 .336
6/01a Houston 3 0 0 0 0/2 .332
6/01b Houston 4 1 1 0 1/0 .331 SH
2004 Season (Senior Year)
- 1st Team All-Big XII
Date Opponent AB R H RBI SO/BB BA
2/14 A&M-CC 5 2 3 2 0/0 .600 2B/2B/2B
2/15a A&M-CC 4 0 1 0 0/1 .444
2/15b A&M-CC 3 1 1 0 0/2 .417 SB/CS
2/17 @SamHousto 5 2 3 5 0/0 .471 2B/HR/HBP
2/20 S.Alabama 4 3 3 3 0/1 .524 2B
2/21 S.Alabama 5 0 2 2 0/0 .500 SB
2/22 S.Alabama 3 0 0 1 0/0 .448 SF
2/27a Arkansas 2 0 0 1 0/1 .419 SF
2/27b N.Mexico 4 0 0 0 1/0 .371
2/28a N.Mexico 4 1 1 2 0/0 .359 2B/HBP/HBP
2/28b Arkansas 4 0 0 1 0/0 .326
2/29a Arkansas 5 1 1 1 0/0 .313
2/29b N.Mexico DNP
3/05 @UCLA 5 0 3 2 0/0 .340 2B
3/06 @UCLA 5 0 0 0 1/0 .310
3/07 @UCLA 4 1 1 0 0/1 .306 SB
3/09 @Houston 3 2 0 1 1/2 .292
3/12 SantaClara 3 1 3 2 0/1 .324 SF
3/13 SantaClara 3 1 2 0 1/1 .338
3/14 SantaClara 4 0 1 3 0/1 .333 2B
3/16 @Lamar 4 1 0 0 1/1 .316
3/17 SamHouston 3 3 1 2 1/2 .317
3/19 Baylor 4 1 1 3 0/1 .314 HR
3/20 @Baylor 2 0 0 0 0/2 .307
3/21 @Baylor 5 1 1 0 1/0 .301 3B
3/23 Rice (6) 5 1 2 4 2/0 .306 2B
3/26 txtech 3 0 2 0 1/1 .317
3/27 txtech 4 1 1 0 0/0 .314 2B
3/28 txtech 3 0 0 0 0/2 .306
3/30 TexasState 6 1 3 1 0/0 .316 2B
3/31 UT-SA 2 1 0 0 0/1 .310
4/02 @Ok State 4 0 0 0 0/0 .300
4/03 @Ok State 4 0 2 0 0/0 .306
4/04 @Ok State 3 0 0 0 0/1 .299 HBP
4/06 SamHouston DNP
4/09 @Kansas 4 1 1 0 1/1 .298
4/10 @Kansas 4 0 0 0 0/0 .289
4/11 @Kansas DNP
4/13 Houston DNP
4/16 Oklah(18) 5 2 2 2 1/0 .293 HR
4/17 Oklah(18) 4 1 2 1 1/1 .299 3B
4/18 Oklah(18) 5 1 2 4 1/0 .302 HR
4/20 @UT-A 4 1 2 2 1/0 .307 HR
4/23 Missouri 3 1 1 1 0/0 .308 HR
4/24 Missouri 4 1 1 1 0/0 .306 HR
4/27 TexasState 2 0 0 0 0/2 .302
4/30 @Neb (19) 2 1 1 0 1/1 .305
5/01 @Neb (19) 5 1 4 0 0/0 .320
5/02 @Neb (19) 5 0 3 1 1/0 .328 2B
5/12 UT-SA 4 1 2 2 0/0 .331 2B/3B
5/14 K. State 4 0 1 0 0/0 .330
5/15 K. State 4 1 2 2 0/1 .333
5/16 K. State 4 3 3 3 1/1 .342 HR/2B
5/21 @texas (2) 3 1 1 0 0/1 .341
5/22 texas (2) 4 2 3 7 0/1 .350 HR/HR
5/23 texas (2) 2 1 1 1 1/1 .352 2B/HBP
5/26 Ok State 4 0 0 0 1/0 .345
5/27 texas (1) 5 1 1 1 0/0 .341 HR
6/06 Lamar 3 0 1 2 2/1 .341 2B
6/07 Tx Souther 3 1 1 1 0/0 .341 2B
6/08 Rice (4) 4 0 0 0 1/0 .335
6/08 Rice (4) 3 1 1 0 2/1 .335
6/12 LSU (8) 5 1 1 0 0/0 .332
6/13 LSU (8) 4 0 0 0 0/0 .326
During the week in-between Regionals and Super Regionals, I found out that Cory had suffered a stress fracture in his left foot (his back foot in his stance). He played through it and here's the difference it made to his season stats.
G/GS AB R H RBI 2b 3b HR TB SO/BB OBP SLG BA OPS GPA
Hlthy 54-54 208 46 71 64 16 3 11 126 20/32 .435 .606 .341 1.041 .347
Hurt 60-60 230 49 75 67 18 3 11 132 25/34 .418 .574 .326 .992 .332
It's terrible that his numbers dropped so much as he was trying to help out the team as best he could. Not only did they drive down his season numbers but they also impacted his career numbers v. Top 25 teams, Top 10 Teams and v. Rice simply because of the time frame that it happened.
He's a heckuva kid and I hope you all enjoy Cory as much as I have.
