Stacey King
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Miracle primed with pitching for 2015 season
The Fort Myers Miracle set records and won their first championship in in 2014 because of superior offense, a strong bullpen and a plethora of big-name hitting prospects.
As the 2015 minor league baseball season arrives, the Miracle will try to repeat as Florida State League champions with new players and a different approach under new manager Jeff Smith.
The Miracle now have superior starting pitching, including a big-name prospect, to pair with some less-heralded but emerging hitters.
Kohl Stewart, the No. 4 pick in the 2013 draft out of Tomball, Texas, and St. Pius High School, joins the Miracle after posting a 3-5 record and 2.59 ERA in low Class A Cedar Rapids, Iowa, last season. He struck out 62 batters in 87 innings and could have done more if not for some shoulder soreness and strict innings and pitch counts imposed by the parent organization, the Minnesota Twins.
“Kohl will be excellent,” said Miracle outfielder Jason Kanzler, one of few holdovers from the 2014 title team. Most of last season’s standouts, including outfielders Adam Brett Walker, Travis Harrison and Max Kepler, infielder Levi Michael, catcher Stuart Turner and pitchers Zack Jones and Nick Burdi have been promoted to Double-A. The Miracle went 82-57 last season.
“He’s a great pitcher,” Kanzler said of Stewart. “He seems to have gotten better from last season to now. He has a commanding presence. He’s fun to watch. He’s got a low-to-mid-90s fastball. I’m comfortable when he’s on the mound, playing defense behind him. Everything about him is good.”
Stewart will start the season opener at 6:30 p.m. Thursday night at Charlotte Sports Park against the Charlotte Stone Crabs, Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.
But beyond Stewart, the Miracle have in line five more starting pitchers.
Aaron Slegers, who is 6-foot-10 and played baseball, not basketball, at hoops-heavy Indiana University, will start the Miracle’s home opener at 7:05 p.m. Friday at the new-look Hammond Stadium, which underwent massive renovations over the past two years as part of the $48.5 million makeover to the surrounding CenturyLink Sports Complex.
Taiwan native Chin-Wei Hu, who had a 7-2 record and 2.29 ERA last season for Cedar Rapids, is slated to start Saturday as the third piece in a six-man rotation that also includes Ethan Mildren, Ryan Eades and Luke Westphal.
“It’s really exciting,” said relief pitcher J.T. Chargois, who missed the previous two seasons recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery. Chargois, a second-round pick from Rice University in 2012, will anchor the bullpen.
“I’ve got a lot of friends on the team,” Chargois said. “It’s a lot of good guys. We’ve got a lot of good arms. I’m excited about the starting pitching. We’re excited to get things going. The offense is looking good, too. I think it’s going to be fun.
“Our confidence right now is through the roof. I think that’s the key.”
Another key will be for Smith to get acclimated to his new players and reacclimated to managing again at the Class A level. Smith, a Naples High School graduate, managed the Miracle in 2008-09, but spent the previous five seasons managing the Double-A affiliate in New Britain, Conn. Doug Mientkiewicz, who managed the Miracle in 2013-14, now manages the Double-A affiliate, which has moved to Chattanooga, Tenn.
“It’s not going to change who I am or how I manage because I love to teach,” Smith said of managing Class A players again. “My goal is to help these guys develop into major league players and to get these guys to the next level, to get them to Chattanooga. It’s going to be a fun season to watch these guys get better.”
Mitch Garver, a Midwest League All-Star last season, will handle the heralded pitchers as the team’s primary catcher.
Niko Goodrum, another piece of the 2014 title team, returns to third base after converting from shortstop last season. He will be joined in the infield by Bryan Haar, Aderling Mejia, Tanner Vavra and Engelb Vielma, a flashy shortstop prospect from Venezuela.
Kanzler, Chad Christensen and Marcus Knecht will patrol the outfield, while Australian native Logan Wade will play everywhere but catcher as a super utility player.
Goodrum said this 2015 edition of the Fort Myers Miracle looks a lot different from 2014, but the two teams share something in common.
“It’s all about chemistry,” Goodrum said. “We’ll find a good mix. We had a great chemistry last year, but we’ll have a great chemistry this year also.”
Five Fort Myers Miracle players to watch
As the Fort Myers Miracle begin their quest to repeat as Florida State League champions, here are five players to watch with comments from Brad Steil, the Minnesota Twins director of minor league operations.
Mitch Garver, catcher
How acquired: Ninth round pick in 2013 out of the University of New Mexico.
Last season: Hit .298 with 16 home runs, 79 RBI and seven stolen bases for low Class A Cedar Rapids. Named Midwest League All-Star and participated in big-league camp this spring training.
Steil said: “He’s an offensive oriented catcher. He’s working a lot on his defense, and he’s making progress there, which is a good thing, because he can swing the bat. He’s one of the better hitters in our organization. He has worked some at first, but we’re hoping he can stick at catcher.”
Kohl Stewart, starting pitcher
How acquired: Fourth overall pick in the first round of the 2013 draft out of St. Pius High in Tomball, Texas.
Last season: Had a 3-5 record and 2.59 ERA in 19 starts for low Class A Cedar Rapids. Struck out 62 in 87 innings. Named to Midwest League All-Star team.
Steil said: “Obviously being a first-round pick, he’s one of our top prospects and in all the different publications. He’s starting to mature. He’s got four good pitches. He’s had a little bit of shoulder soreness the last two years, and he missed some starts because of that, and we kind of held his innings down. But I think he’s going to be in a spot this year where he won’t have many restrictions in terms of pitch counts or innings pitched. He was pretty much 75 to 80 pitches a game last year. We were trying to keep his innings down so he wouldn’t throw that many more than the year before. He throws his fastball 90-93 (miles per hour) for the most part. He’ll touch 95, 96 once in a while, too.”
Aaron Slegers, starting pitcher
How acquired: Fifth round pick in 2013 out of Indiana University.
Last season: The 6-foot-10, 255-pound starting pitcher had a 7-7 record and a 4.53 ERA in 20 starts for Cedar Rapids. He struck out 90 in 113 and a third innings. He also had a 2-1 record and 3.32 ERA in three starts for the Miracle, striking out 12 in 19 innings.
Steil said: “Sleggers has had a good camp. He’s obviously one of the tallest pitchers in the game, if not the tallest. He’s starting to throw the ball with some aggressiveness, which is a good thing. He’s got a great arm angle for a guy that tall. Hopefully he’ll be ready to go to Double-A by the end of the year.”
Chin-Wei Hu, starting pitcher
How acquired: Signed as an undrafted free agent Aug. 3, 2012, out of Taichung, Taiwan. He is 21.
Last season: Had a 7-2 record with a 2.29 ERA in 10 games, nine starts, for Cedar Rapids. Struck out 48 in 55 innings.
Steil said: “He had a really good year last year. He started in extended spring training last year and ended up in Cedar Rapids by the end of the year. We just didn’t think he was quite ready for that level to start the year, and there were a couple of other guys ahead of him at that point. He’s a four-pitch guy or a five-pitch guy. He’s got two different changeups he throws. Fastball, curveball and slider. He really has a good feel for pitching. He knows how to change pitches and change speeds. He’s been one of the more impressive performers in spring training.”
J.T. Chargois, relief pitcher
How acquired: Second-round pick in 2012 draft out of Rice University.
Last season: Rehabilitated from Tommy John surgery. Has not pitched since 2012, when he had a 1.69 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 16 innings and five saves in12 games.
Steil said: “He’s been out for two years. He’s been impressive in camp. His off-speed stuff, I don’t know if they’re quite where they are before he got hurt, but they’re getting close. If he throws strikes, he could be a quick mover to the big leagues. But we’ll just have to see how it goes. He’s never been above rookie ball. We’ll just see what happens with him. He’s got really good stuff. He throws in the upper 90s, and he has two really good off-speed pitches. He was pitching 100 the other day.”
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