Top Minor League Hitters in Milwaukee Brewers History: #3 John Jaha, 1991 El Paso

Like the Brewers season that is winding down, so is my series of Top Minor League Hitters in Milwaukee Brewers History.  (A dirty glare to the person in his parent’s basement that is cheering that fact!)

We are down to #3, and each of the final trio has placed in the Top 25 list one other time.

John Jaha earned the #22 spot with his 1989 season at Class A Stockton. This time, we will re-visit his 1991 season at Class AA El Paso, in which he played at Cohen Stadium instead of the hitter-friendly Dudley Dome. Jaha was a year older than league average, so he lost some rating points for that, as well as for ballpark effect, although not nearly as drastic as the reduction for the Dome.

#3 John Jaha, 1991 El Paso (AA)

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Jaha’s season helped the Diablos to an 81-55 season, but they lost in the league finals to the Shreveport Captains. All was not lost, as Jaha earned the Player of the Year Award in the Texas League with his superior campaign.

It was well-deserved, as his stats show. Jaha ranked first in the following categories: runs scored (121), home runs (30), RBI (134), OBP (.438), slugging percentage (.619), OPS (1.057), and total bases (301).

He placed second with 167 hits, 38 doubles, and .344 batting average. His 78 walks placed third.

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‘Jaws’ spent most of his time at first base (109 games) and booked a .992 fielding average. He also played four games at third base, but didn’t fare nearly as well, making two errors in 11 total chances (.818 fielding).

Check out John Jaha’s #22 piece from a few weeks ago.

Jaha played ten big league seasons, but appeared in only 826 games. In a full-season equivalent, Jaha would have hit 28 homers with an average slash line of .263/.369/.465. His 13% walk rate shows that he had a good eye and good patience.

In 13 minor league seasons, Jaha averaged about 22 homers/140 games, which is representative of a minor league season. His slash line read .297/.426/.513, the mark of a good power hitter with a good eye.

Injuries hijacked his baseball career, but Jaha still had numbers to be proud of. Jaha was named to the Milwaukee Brewers inaugural class in 2013 of the ‘Wall of Honor’ at Miller Park.