Down on the Farm: High A Report

Just a brief note of interest to probably no one but myself -- this is the 500th post in the history of this blog. I guess I've been writing quite a bit in the last 10 months or so!

Ft. Myers Miracle (0-4)
6th Place -- Florida State League West Division

Miracle Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Kyle Waldrop - 1 start
2.) Oswaldo Sosa - 1 start
3.) Alexander Smit - 1 start
4.) Jay Rainville - 1 start, 1 relief appearance
5.) Eduardo Morlan - 1 relief apperance

Who's Hot: Kyle Waldrop opened the season with 5 near-perfect innings, striking out 7 batters before leaving the game due to his rising pitch count. He did hit a couple of batters, but no harm no foul on that score. Oswaldo Sosa also had a fairly respectable start on Friday, going 4.1 innings and allowing just one unearned run on 5 hits while walking a batter and striking out 2.

Who's Not: Alexander Smit lasted 4.1 innings in his first start of the year, but unlike Sosa he didn't keep the score down, as he allowed 4 runs on 8 hits while walking a batter and picking up 3 K's. Jay Rainville returned to the mound after missing all of 2006 in the Miracle opener, pitching in relief of Waldrop. He allowed 2 unearned runs in 0.2 innings on a hit and a walk. Somewhat surprisingly (considering his earlier relief appearance), Rainville got a start on Monday night. Unfortuntely, it wasn't particularly strong -- he allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks.

Relief Pitchers
1.) David Shinskie - 2 relief appearances
2.) Kyle Aselton - 2 relief appearances
3.) Yohan Pino - 2 relief appearances
4.) Angel Garcia - 2 relief appearances
5.) Josh Hill - 1 relief appearance
6.) Zach Ward - 1 relief appearance
7.) Frank Mata - 1 relief appearance
8.) Ryan Mullins - 1 relief appearance

Who's Hot: Kyle Aselton, who was widely expected to be a starter, has begun his season with 2 solid relief appearances, accounting for 2.2 innings of scoreless relief while picking up 3 K's and walking 2 batters. David Shinskie has allowed a hit and 2 walks in 3.2 innings, but has not yet allowed a run. Yohan Pino has gone 2.1 innings and been perfect with the exception of one walk (he's struck out 2). Finally, Angel Garcia has pitched 1.2 innings in his 2 appearances out of the 'pen, and he too has allowed just one walk, while picking up 3 K's.

Who's Not: Josh Hill had a rough 2.2 inning appearance in which he allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits, a walk, and a hit batter in taking the loss on Saturday.

Catchers
1.) Javier Sanchez - C (2)
2.) Caleb Moore - C (2)
3.) Jeff Christy - C (1)

Who's Hot: Caleb Moore took advantage of his only start of the year thus far (he got into the opener as a defensive replacement) by going 2-for-4 and scoring a run. Moore is a top flight prospect with a good bat, so if he proves early on that he can hit well at this level, he should get a lot of playing time.

Who's Not: Both Sanchez and Christy are still searching for their first hits of the season. Sanchez has gone 0-for-5, but has drawn 2 walks and scored a run. Christy is 0-for-4 with a walk. Both have also made an error already on the season.

Infielders
1.) Whitney Robbins - 1B (4)
2.) Juan Portes - 2B (2), RF (2)
3.) Toby Gardenhire - SS (2), 3B (2)
4.) Matthew Betsill - 3B (2), SS (2)
5.) Steven Tolleson - 2B (2), DH (2)

Who's Hot: Steven Tolleson has started off his season on a 5-for-14 stretch with 3 runs scored and 5 walks (with no K's). He's also 1-for-2 on stolen base attempts. Somewhat surprisingly, Toby Gardenhire also belongs on this list, having gone 5-for-15 with an RBI and 2 runs scored through the first 4 games of the year. Meanwhile, Juan Portes is hitting just .250, but he has 3 RBI's and 2 runs scored.

Who's Not: Whit Robbins is 3-for-14 with so far with 3 RBI's. Mostly, though, he's on this list because he already has 2 errors on this young season. Matt Betsill, meanwhile, has gone just 2-for-14 to open the season, and has already struck out 5 times. Even worse -- he's topped Robbins by making 3 errors already. The corner infield defense has been a bit spotty for the Miracle, in other words.

Outfielders
1.) Eli Tintor - CF (4)
2.) Erik Lis - LF (3), DH (1)
3.) Dwayne White - RF (2)
4.) Edward Ovalle - LF (1), DH (1)

Who's Hot: Sadly, none of these guys has earned a place here through the first week of the season.

Who's Not: Where to start? How about Erik Lis, one of my favorite minor leaguers: he's gone 1-for-14 to open his season. Eli Tintor has gone 3-for-17 with 6 K's. Meanwhile, Dwayne White (0-for-8) and Edward Ovalle (0-for-7) are both still looking for their first hits of the season.