Pond Performers (6/9-6/16): Fort Myers Miracle
By Wally Fish
Fort Myers finished the first half of the Florida State League season with a 2-3 record, but was still the class of the league. Their 43-21 record put them 8.0 games out in front of every other team in both the North and South division.
The promotions of Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario and Angel Morales to Double-A New Britain on June 10th dealt a blow to the star power of the team and impacted the rosters of the FSL All-Star game that was played on June 15th. All three players had over 100 total bases before the promotions and all three had an OPS north of 0.880. Those are massive shoes to fill in the second half but it seems rather likely that Byron Buxton will be sent to Fort Myers in the very near future.
On the day the big-three made their way to the Rock Cats, the Miracle welcomed Mike Kvasnicka (24), who was activated off the 7-day disabled list, and Bryan Haar (23) who spent 2012 playing for the GCL Twins. Haar played in one game for the Miracle on June 12th and has since been reassigned to Elizabethton in the Appalachian League.
Wrapping things up on the transaction front, Candido Pimentel (22) was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Fort Myers on the 16th.
All-Star Game
While the FSL ASG was without Sano, Rosario and Morales, five members of the Miracle saw action in the game as the South All-Stars sailed past the North by a score of 8-1. For the South the victory was fueled by pitching and Fort Myers hurlers played a big part in that. Three members of the Miracle staff, RHP Zach Jones (22) and LHPs Taylor Rogers (22) and Corey Williams (22) each threw a hitless inning in the game. Rogers had the honor of taking the mound first for the South and Williams and Jones each notched a strikeout.
In the field Fort Myers was represented by C Matt Koch (22) and 1B Kennys Vargas (22) who both started the game. Koch went 0-1 and Vargas went 1-3 with a strikeout.
Pitching Performances:
The Fort Myers rotation cobbled together a 4.98 ERA and 1.66 WHIP with 24 H, 12 BB and 17 SO in 21.2 IP this past week. RHP Matthew Summers (23) had the best start of the group when he threw 4.0 shutout innings while allowing 2 hits. He struck out 6 but battled the walk gremlins en route to issuing 5 free passes.
Considering none of the starters pitched into the 6th, there were plenty of innings available for the bullpen to gobble up. Most of the relievers were unable to capitalize on that and they struggled nearly across the board. Only Zach Jones escaped the week without giving up a run and he was limited to one appearance. He did his job however with no hits, no runs, one walk and three strikeouts in 1.1 innings to notch his 7th save on the year.
Peaking at the Plate:
2B/SS Aderlin Mejia (21) had the best week at the plate by a fairly large margin. In 18 at bats he produced a 0.444/.546/.500 slash line with 5 RBI, 4 BB, 1 SO and 1 SB. Koch was the only other player with 10 or more at bats to hit over 0.300 for the week. He put together a 0.313/.353/.438 line with 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB and 5 SO.