Tagged: Fort Myers Miracle

August 19, 2010

Road Trip at a Glance

The
Miracle entered the past 7 game road trip looking for answers at the
plate. The offense has improved over recent weeks, but still is looking
to find consistency. Here is a breakdown of the Miracle bats over the
last 7 games:

Morales: 9-27, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K, 1 SB

Dozier : 9-25, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 7 K, 1 SB

Hanson: 7-27, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 SB

De. Romero : 3-15, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K

N. Romero : 9-29, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 0 BB, 7 K

Solarte : 5-23, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K

Herrmann : 6-22, 3 BB, 3 K

De San Miguel : 2-14, 1 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K, 1 SB

Goncalves : 5-24, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K

Streich: 1-7, 0 BB, 4 K

Santana: 0-7, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K

Thompson: 1-11, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K

Totals: 57-231, 8 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 22 BB, 60 K

Over
the 7 game road trip, the Miracle collectively batted .247. On the
year, they are hitting .248. Although the Florida State League is known
as a pitchers league, the lack of extra base hits grabs my attention.
The top of the Miracle line-up continued to stay hot over the last week.
Morales and Dozier seem to be a good 1/2 fit atop the Miracle line-up
with their high on base percentages.

One
of the biggest challenges for the Miracle in 2010 has been their
inability to string multiple hits together. It seems like game after
game they get 2 quick outs in an inning followed by 2 hits and they’ll
strand those base runners. I would like to see Miracle hitters more
selective at the plate; this will increase their base on ball totals and
set-up the offense to score more runs. 3 Miracle hitters had 13 of the
22 walks on the past road trip. With their inability to hit for extra
bases, I think it would benefit the Miracle to be more aggressive on the
bases with the hit and run; putting runners in motion will create holes
in the infield giving hitters a better chance to reach base.

The
Miracle enters the final 19 games, 5 games behind Palm Beach. The
Miracle were unable to pick up any ground in the standings over the last
7 days. With this said, the Miracle will face Palm Beach 6 of the final
19 games. What do I think it will take for the Miracle to make a
dramatic come back to catch Palm Beach and win the second half? At the
very least, 15-4 taking 5 of 6 against Palm Beach. If the Miracle can
make this happen, I think you’ll be looking at the Fort Myers Miracle as
2010 2nd half Florida State League South Division Champions. Let’s Go
Miracle!!!

July 22, 2010

Here come the Miracle

July 22nd, 2010

For the first time since June 28th, when Fort Myers was 3-2 to start the second half, the club is back above .500. Now at 13-12, they sit just three games back of St. Lucie, and are alive and kicking the FSL South race. The Miracle have won 9 of their last 12, and have been playing so well that they could have conceivably won all 12 of those games.

What has been the key for the team to turn things around in the second half after losing nine of ten games a few weeks ago? Pitching.

Both the Miracle starting staff, and even recently the bullpen, have been outstanding. In their last 13 games, going back to a 7-6 loss against St. Lucie, the Miracle starting staff has been the best in the league. And this is without perhaps their best pitcher, Liam Hendriks, who went down with an appendectomy. Unfortunately Fort Myers has also lost Bobby Lanigan, who was promoted to Double-A, but there are still plenty of quality arms in this rotation.

Let’s take a closer look at the starting pitching during this stretch:

7/8 vs. St. Lucie (L) – Bobby Lanigan – 6IP, 1ER

7/9 vs. St. Lucie

– Dan Osterbrock – 6IP, 0ER

7/10 vs. Jupiter

– Michael Tarsi – 5IP, 0ER (1-0 shutout win)

7/11 vs. Jupiter (L) – Bruce Pugh – 2.2IP, 4ER

7/12 vs. Jupiter

– Santos Arias – 9IP, 2ER

7/14 vs. Daytona

– Bobby Lanigan – 6IP, 0ER

7/15 vs. Daytona (L) – Dan Osterbrock – 4.2IP, 4ER

7/16 vs. Daytona

– Bruce Pugh – 6IP, 2ER

7/17 vs. Daytona

– Santos Arias – 5IP, 0ER

7/18 vs. Lakeland

– Michael Tarsi – 6IP, 0ER (1-0 shutout win)

7/19 vs. Lakeland (L) – Matt Williams – 5IP, 0H, 0ER (first start since 2008)

7/20 vs. Lakeland

– Dan Osterbrock – 8IP, 1ER

7/21 vs. Lakeland

– Kane Holbrooks – 5IP, 4ER (FSL debut, had no hitter through 4IP)

———-

During the stretch – 74.1IP, 18 ER = 2.18 starters ERA

So of the last 13 games, Miracle starters have tossed shutouts in almost half (6). They’ve allowed two earned runs or less in 10 of the last 13. That’s going to win you a ton of ballgames.

How does the bullpen stack up during that stretch – let’s go with the last 12 games instead of 13 because they allowed 6 runs in that July 8th game against St. Lucie….since then…

7/9 vs. St. Lucie – 3IP, ER (Joe Testa)

7/10 vs. Jupiter – 4IP, 0ER (Steve Blevins)

7/11 vs. Jupiter – 6.1IP, 0ER (3.1 Dakota Watts, 1.0 Shooter Hunt, 2.0 Michael Allen)

7/12 vs. Jupiter – Arias Complete Game – 0IP

7/14 vs. Daytona – 3IP, 2ER (Matt Williams)

7/15 vs. Daytona – 3.1IP, 0ER (2.1Testa, 1.0 Blevins)

7/16 vs. Daytona – 3IP, 1ER (1.0 Tarsi (ER), 1.0 Hunt, 1.0 Allen)

7/17 vs. Daytona – 4IP, 4ER (2.0 Watts (4ER), 2.0 Testa)

7/18 vs. Lakeland – 3IP, 0ER (2.1 Blevins, 0.2 Allen)

7/19 vs. Lakeland – 4IP, ER (0.1 Hunt (ER), 2.2 Watts, 1.0 Allen)

7/20 vs. Lakeland – 3IP, 0ER (Testa)

7/21 vs. Lakeland – 4IP, 0ER (0.2 Hunt, 3.1 Blevins)

———————————-

40.2 IP, 7ER = 1.56 bullpen ERA

That’s a lot of zeros.

Since they blew a five run lead on the 8th, the bullpen has not blown a single game, and have a minuscule 1.56 ERA. Compare that to the bullpen’s full season ERA of 4.31 — big difference.

Guys really on a roll:

Allen – 4.2IP, 2H, 0ER, 5K

Blevins – 11.2IP, 11H, 0ER, 5K

Testa – 10.1IP, 11H, ER, 12K

—

Let’s not forgot about the offense though. The pitching has carried this team, but the lineup has been getting it done. Including last Monday’s 7-2 win over Jupiter, the Miracle have scored 51 runs in their last 9 games, and that included only three runs being scored in the first three games against Lakeland. That’s an average of 5.7 runs per game. Compare that to the season average of 3.7 runs per game. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but the extra two runs are crucial. In games where the Miracle score three runs or less, their record is 14-39. Four runs or more? 27-15.

Who’s leading the charge? You have to start with University of Minnesota product Nate Hanson. Heading into his third at-bat in the series against Daytona, Hanson was 3 for his last 20. Since then, he’s 11-for-28 (.393), with three home run’s (including two 3-run bombs), and 11 RBI’s. Hanson has been the hero in the last two series. Against Daytona, he clubbed a monster 3-run homer with the Miracle trailing 2-1 in the sixth inning of game three. Then added a solo shot in the 8th inning of that game. The next night he whacked another three-run bomb to give him a team-leading 7 on the year. He had 3 last year in Low-A. Oh, did I mention he had the game-winning hit in Tuesday’s 2-1 11th inning walk-off victory? Talk about being locked in. He’s on fire — somebody get a bucket of water.

Before that game against Jupiter, the Miracle were dead last in the league in home run’s with only 24. Well, there still tied for last, but at least they have 32 now after an 8 home run week. In addition to Hanson’s three, Drew Thompson had two, and Deibinson Romero, Brian Dozier, and Evan Bigley all had one.

No one else’s production stands out quite as much as Hanson’s in the last week or so — but that’s just fine. More importantly, scoring has been a team effort. That’s how you win long stretches of games. With the whole lineup contributing. Last night’s monster 13-4 win over Lakeland was a classic example. Every player, 1-thru-9, had at least one hit in the game, and eight of nine had at least one RBI.

Now that’s what I’m talking about.

—

Let’s hope both the Miracle pitching and offense continues on this roll. This is the time of year to start getting hot. If the team can carry this type of play for another fews weeks, they could really sneak up on this division. Larry Benesse, who’s in his 12th season as the Miracle trainer, told me the other day that the final two weeks of July is where teams make or break their season.

Another week like the last week and the Miracle might not be sneaking up on the division, they may very well be in the conversation. And that’s all you can ask for this time of year…

June 28, 2010

Off we go….

I’m sitting in a rain delay in Bradenton so I thought I would offer my thoughts on the opening weekend of the second half. The Miracle had a much better start to the opening weekend of the “second season” than their 0-4 start of the first half. The Miracle swept the Charlotte Stone Crabs in three games at Hammond Stadium, and then lost to Bradenton 7-6 on Sunday.

Lets start with the good stuff…and then I’ll touch on the tough Bradenton loss a little further down…

The Miracle busted out the broomsticks for the first time in 2010 against Charlotte. The team showed a lot of grit in the three games against the Stone Crabs. All three games were close, and the Miracle had two impressive come-from-behind victories. They were put in an early 4-0 hole on Friday, and then scored five runs in the fourth inning. On Saturday, they were down 3-0 and again put a five spot on the board in the sixth inning. They won 3-1, 7-6 (11 innings), and 5-4. The Miracle and the Stone Crabs have now remarkably played six one-run games and five two-run games this season. Fort Myers owns a 7-5 record against the Stone Crabs, and is 21-11 in the regular season all time.

The one thing I took away from the Charlotte series was the success of the top and bottom of the Miracle lineup. Bottom order players Angel Morales, Dan Rohlfing, and Jhonathan Goncalves in particular set the table for the top of the order – which took advantage of their opportunities. Estarlin De Los Santos and Brian Dozier came through with clutch two-out hits when the team needed it several times.

De Los Santos was 5-14 with 4 RBI in the series, Dozier was 6-12 with 5 RBI, Goncalves was 4-10 with an RBI, and Morales was 4-9 with an RBI (only struck out once — struck out 13 times in 25 previous at-bats).

The solid offensive series boosted whats has been a hot June for the lineup. A big reason has been those parts of the batting order. Fort Myers is hitting .264 in June (compare that .223 in April and .247 in May)

***

Speaking of Brian Dozier, he has been “bulldoziering” pitching during the last two weeks. Entering the Palm Beach series exactly two weeks ago, Dozier’s batting average was hanging just above .200. That included an 0-for-26 slump. Flash forward two weeks, and he’s hitting .306. Dozier busted out of the slump with a couple big RBI knocks in the Palm Beach series, and has carried that momentum to bat exactly .500 (21-42) in his last 10 games. During the 10 game stretch he’s had two four-hit games, two three-hit games, and two multi-RBI games. Oh, and he hit not only his first home run of the 2010 season, he notched his first professional home run in the Twins system since being drafted last year out of Southern Miss.

While I had some downtime at the ballpark this weekend, I had to chance to talk to one of the NL scouts. One player that I brought up during our conversation was Dozier. I remarked how impressive I thought his turnaround was following the 0-for-26 slump, and his defensive play in the series at third (a position he’s only played a handful of times in his career), and he said, “you know, there’s a term that players, coaches, and broadcaster’s use for a guy like him. He’s a true baseball player.” As simple as that sounds, that’s about as good of a compliment as you can get. Someone who plays the game the right way.

Earlier this season at one of the hotel’s on the road, I had a chance to talk to Miracle catcher Dan Rohlfing, and one thing he brought up was Dozier. This was way before Dozier was called up. He mentioned about his playing experience with Brian in Elizabethton (rookie) and he said that he is just the type of guy you want on the field with you. He remarked how smart of a baseball player he was.

***

I also asked the same NL scout about what he had thought about Miracle starting pitcher’s Bruce Pugh and Bobby Lanigan. He was impressed. He said he really liked them both. When they were on the DL, scouts would come up to me ask me all the time about them and I always would say they were two guys they really needed to see. One AL scout was so bummed he didn’t get to see them that he said he might have to make a return trip back to Florida just to check them out.

***

One last player I also wanted his opinion on was newly called up top-10 Twins prospect Angel Morales. He referred to him as being very “crude”. No, not because of his personality. Angel possesses many tools that scouts look for in a prospect. He is very naturally gifted. But as a 20-year-old, he still has many things to improve on. What he means by “crude” is that he is very “raw” and “unrefined”. He mentioned his swing which he says has some mechanical flaws. But there is no ignoring some of the physical gifts that he possesses including incredibly quick hands.

***

Now on to the Bradenton game. I’ll say this…in my lifetime I would have to rank it pretty high as far as a game that just absolutely made me sick. Fort Myers watched a 5-0 advantage in the eighth-inning disappear within a matter of minutes. The Marauders tagged new Miracle reliever Bart Carter for three runs, and then got the final two off of Steve Blevins. With the game tied 5-5 in the ninth, Nate Hanson blasted a solo home run to put Fort Myers up a run. Nick Romero then tripled with one out, but was left on the bases. When we left that run on, I just didn’t feel good about the situation.

Up 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth, my worries about the slim lead came to fruition, and the Marauders scored two in the inning to win 7-6. To make matters worse, the Miracle had seen this happen just a week prior. They lost a game last weekend to Charlotte where Hanson hit a home run in the top of the 12th inning, and the team could not hold a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 12th – losing 3-2.

Blevins had pitched 1.2 innings the night before and recorded the save. He was pitching again on about 16 hours of rest. Why were the Miracle put in this situation? The team had already played two double-headers, and two extra-innings games (including that game in Charlotte) within the span of 10 days. But that’s not all. The Twins also decided to promote reliever Billy Bullock to AA, and send relievers Andrei Lobanov and Jose Gonzalez to Elizabethton (Rookie). Even though Lobanov and Gonzalez more than proved they were ready to pitch in the FSL, the Twins thought it would be best to send them down to E-Town to continue their development. I’m in no position to argue with the Twins decision to make that move, but the move nonetheless came at a very bad time for Fort Myers. So Jake Mauer’s hands were tied and he had to send out Carter (signed less than two weeks ago, drafted in the 39th round of the 2010 draft) and Blevins for the second straight day.

They guy I felt the worst for yesterday was Blevins. I can only imagine how hard it would be to pitch the day after pitching a multi-inning save the night before. I asked Mauer who he would have gone to if the game yesterday when to extras. He said he would have had to use a position player (he said Nate Hanson has done it before, or maybe even Dozier who he said he thought could thrown downhill). What a sight that would have been.

As we were riding back home on the bus ride back to Fort Myers, I couldn’t get the game out of my head. What a missed golden opportunity. The Miracle would have started the second half 4-0 (five straight overall wins), and put Bradenton at 1-3. Not to mention it would have been just the second win at McKechnie Field in Bradenton in 7 tries. After lamenting the loss for awhile, I had to remind myself to put the loss into perspective. Sometimes I forget that the minor leagues isn’t always about winning and losing – the goal is to develop players. And the proper development of the players, and the system, can sometimes cost a team (or teams) a few losses when maybe it shouldn’t. That’s not to say the Twins don’t care about their minor league teams winning, and developing winning attitudes. They do.

My only hope is that this one doesn’t linger with the team. I think how they bounce back from a tough loss like that will be an interesting test as to how this team will play in the second half. Should be interesting to watch…..

June 24, 2010

Lets Try This Again…

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Miracle blog. With the second half kicking off tonight against Charlotte I thought this would be a good time to debut our blog. I think everyone is glad to finally have the first half of the season over with. The Miracle’s 28-42 record was their worst in over a decade, when they sported a 25-44 first half record in 1999. So what happened to the Miracle in the first half of 2010 after such a great 2009 season where the club won both the first and second halves of the season.

1) The Miracle were decimated by injuries. Losing starters Bruce Pugh, Bobby Lanigan, and Brad Tippett for over a month really hurt Fort Myers. Last season, not a single pitcher missed a start due to injury. They also lost some of their top position players Paul Kelly and Drew Thompson for most of the first half. The whole Minnesota Twins minor league system, as a whole, was killed by injuries which resulted in very little help to the Miracle. Just to give you an example of how bad this was, the Miracle made 54 roster moves in the first half — in 2009 they made 29 for the ENTIRE SEASON. Miracle trainer Larry Bennese, who has been with the club now for 12 years and has been in baseball for over 20, said this was “the most injuries he has ever had to deal with in his career.” I think that says it all…

2) Offensive production – The Miracle scored two runs or less in 27 of 70 first half games and three runs or less in a 39 of 70 games. They finished second to last in both team batting average (.240) and runs scored (243 or 3.5 per game). The 2009 Miracle hit .265 as a team and averaged 4.24 runs per game. But the majority of the offense from 2009 is now rightfully with Double-A New Britain.

Of players that spent the entire first half in the Florida State League, the top average went to Chris Herrmann who hit .224. The most home runs went to Nate Hanson at 3, and the most RBI’s to Deibinson Romero with just 23. The players that were expected to anchor the 2010 offense, Evan Bigley and Deibinson Romero, struggled in their roles in the middle of the lineup. Bigley hit just .222 with 0HR and 22RBI after hitting .280 with 5HR and 46 RBI in 2009. Romero, who was placed on the Twins’ 40-man roster for Spring Training last year, still has not progressed. He hit .221 with 2HR and 22 RBI in the first half, after hitting a disappointing .225 with 5HR and 56 RBI in 2009.

3) Inconsistent Pitching – For the majority of the first half the bullpen failed to hold onto many leads for the Miracle. It was most apparent down the stretch when Fort Myers lost four games in the final week in the ninth inning or later. The ‘pen sported a 5.89 ERA in April, had an improved 2.42 ERA in May, but shot back up to 5.18 in June.

The Fort Myers starting rotation had some great games (7 shutouts) but also put their offense in a deep holes early in games. The Miracle staff allowed a staggering 45 first inning and 45 second inning runs in 70 games. Combine that with the shaky offense, and it resulted in several losing slides.

—-

With all of that said, call me crazy and optimistic, but I think the Miracle have a legitimate cha
nce in the second half. Here’s why…

1) When the Miracle starting five is healthy, I think they have a chance to be one of the best rotations in the entire Florida State League. The key will be how Bobby Lanigan and Bruce Pugh return from injury. Lanigan was a first-half FSL All-Star even though he made just six starts. Pugh started out slow but when he was locked in, he was unhittable. His last start before injury showed glimpses of his capability. On the road in Bradenton, against the top offensive team he needed just over 70 pitches to toss a one-hit shutout through seven innings – striking out 10. If he didn’t start to feel pain in his elbow during that last inning of that start, he probably would have gone the distance.

Then there’s the ace of the staff – 21-year-old Australian Liam Hendriks. Hendriks flew under the radar in many scouting sources like the “2010 Baseball America Prospect Handbook”, which ranks each organizations top 30 prospects. The right-hander didn’t even make the top 30. When you pick up a copy of the 2011 version, expect him to be in the top half of that list. Hendriks has been arguably the best pitcher in the entire Twins farm system. In his split time between Low-A Beloit and Fort Myers, Hendriks leads the Twins minor leaguers in ERA (1.38), strikeouts (83), WHIP (0.81), and Batting Average Against (.196). Oh, yea, and by the way he has not allowed an earned run in his last 19 2/3 innings with Fort Myers.

His reward? A spot in the 2010 MLB Futures Game in

Anaheim. He will be the first ever current Miracle to

participate in the event.

Rounding out the rotation is Dan Osterbrock and Santos Arias. Osterbrock started 0-4 with a 5.41 ERA in Fort Myers, but since then has allowed only 5 ER in his last five starts (31 innings – 1.45 ERA). Recently demoted RHP Santos Arias from AA should also be solid.

2) The schedule is must softer – here’s how the Miracle’s second half schedule breaks down with their record against first half opponents:

Charlotte – 9 games (4-5)

Palm Beach – 6 games (2-10)

Bradenton – 7 games (4-8)

St. Lucie – 12 games (3-3)

Jupiter – 12 games (4-2)

4 games versus Daytona, Lakeland, Clearwater, Tampa, Brevard, and Dunedin (combined 11-13)

With this schedule I feel like the Miracle will at the very least finish a few games above .500. They play the majority of their games against the 2 weakest FSL teams (St. Lucie and Jupiter) and their least amount of games against the two teams that gave them the most trouble (Bradenton and Palm Beach).

3) I would expect some offensive upgrades. The Miracle are expecting the arrival of Twins #1 prospect Aaron Hicks at some point in the second half (hopefully sooner rather than later), and they’ve already got top 10 prospect, Angel Morales, who I would expect to turn things around after a slow start in his first week with the team. It takes time for these guys to adjust levels.

SO — what must happen for the Miracle to contend for a second-half playoff spot…

1) Charlotte cannot win the second half. Even if Fort Myers has a great second half, if they finish second to Charlotte they will mostly likely be doomed by their first half record. If a team win’s both halves the playoff spot goes to the team with the next best OVERALL record. Fort Myers would have a hard time competing with that.

2) They must stay healthy

3) The bullpen and lineup need better production to support strong starting pitching.

4) Play better at Hammond Stadium (13-20 first half record at home).

— If those four things happen I think the Miracle have a shot at making some noise in the second half. At least Fort Myers has the hope of a second chance at this season….