It's what we have been waiting for 12 years, Opening Day for the Midlands' professional baseball team! But we'll start the season where the closest Minor League team to me has been for the last several years in Charleston. Hope we get some people making the trip down I-26.
The weather forecasts are going to be a bit hard to keep up with upwards of 60 games a day now with Class A on up now under way. I'll just add we had a slight delay in Cleveland yesterday, their second weather-affected game of the season. AAA Syracuse has cancelled their four game opening weekend due to snow, they will makeup two of those games in Lehigh Valley's closed stadium tomorrow. That's four games scratched right there, hard to see how even early in the season how Syracuse will stay off the leaderboard in games cancelled this season. Our Fireflies should be good in Charleston unless Joe Riley Park drains as well from this morning as old Capital City Stadium used to.
But here's the look at our roster this season! 28 players are starting on the Fireflies' active roster. Chances are that come Labor Day this roster will be substantially different as the Mets make roster shifts. I will list players by my evaluation of their stats and background how likely they are to become stars in professional baseball.
1. Ivan Wilson, CF
Age: 20 Round Picked: 3 Last Year: .249, 3 HR, 21 RBI in Rookie Home State/Country: Louisiana
Wilson was picked in the third round out of high school in northern Louisiana three years ago. He is a speedy center fielder who has yet to get hot with the bat, but is still young and has lots of potential.
2. Patrick Mazeika, C
Age: 22 Round Picked: 8 Last Year: .354, 5 HR, 48 RBI in Rookie Home State/Country: Massachusetts
Mazeika, drafted in the 8th round last year out of Atlantic Sun member Stetson, still has yet to be assigned a jersey number for the Fireflies. But he was arguably Kingsport''s best player last summer.
3. Milton Ramos, SS
Age: 20 Round Picked: 3 Last Year: .295, 1 HR, 27 RBI in Rookie Home State/Country: Florida
Ramos was drafted in the third round two years ago out of high school in Miami. Ramos is a good defensive shortstop who has hitting potential, and is the consensus top prospect on the Fireflies according to scouting websites.
4. Chase Ingram, P
Age: 20 Round Picked: 6 Last Year: 1-2, 3.60 ERA in Rookie Home State/Country: Florida
Ingram, drafted out of junior college in Florida last year, appears to be the most highly touted prospect on the Firefly pitching staff. But the Mets aren't sending many pitching prospects here, and Ingram was just okay for Kingsport last year. We'll see how he does quickly, as he gets the start tonight in Charleston.
5. Dash Winningham, 1B
Age: 20 Round Picked: 8 Last Year: .266, 12 HR, 51 RBI in Rookie Home State/Country: Florida
Another HS pick out of Florida, Winningham has a great first name. But despite his name, he is a slow first baseman. He'll be who the Fireflies depend on for power hitting this year.
6. Kevin Kaczmarski, OF
Age: 24 Round Picked: 9 Last Year: .355, 4 HR, 34 RBI in Rookie Home State/Country: Illinois
Kaczmarksi, a former Evansville Purple Ace, appears to be the best of the older Firefly players. Along with Mazeika, he was one of Kingsport's best hitters a year ago.
7. P.J. Conlon, P
Age: 22 Round Picked: 13 Last Year: 0-1, 0.00 ERA in Short Season A Home State/Country: California
Conlon was born in Northern Ireland, but grew up in California and played for the San Diego Toreros. Conlon didn't pitch much out of the bullpen in Brooklyn but did well when he did, aside from getting a hard-luck loss due to an unearned run.
8. Jose Garcia, C
Age: 21 Round Picked: International Free Agent Last Year: .286, 0 HR, 13 RBI in Class A Home State/Country: Venezuela
Garcia was slow to develop as a pro out of Venezeula, but started to improve with the now defunct Sand Gnats last year. Garcia is still young, but now will have to compete with Mazeika for playing time.
9. Thomas McIlraith, P
Age: 22 Round Picked: 20 Last Year: 6-1, 1.71 ERA in Rookie Home State/Country: Texas
McIlraith didn't get a very good draft slot coming out of a solid Oklahoma program, but he ended up being one of Kingsport's best pitchers last year.
10. Jeff Diehl, 1B
Age: 22 Round Picked: 23 Last Year: .276, 5 HR, 20 RBI in Short Season A Home State/Country: Rhode Island
Diehl has been in the minors a while after going pro out of high school. He finally achieved success last year in Brooklyn, but now has to compete with younger prospects like Winningham for playing time.
11. Alex Palsha, P
Age: 23 Round Picked: 27 Last Year: 0-1, 13 saves, 0.68 ERA in Short Season A Home State/Country: California
Palsha wasn't highly regarded coming out of Sacramento State, but was a very good closer for Brooklyn last summer.
12. Joe Shaw, P
Age: 22 Round Picked: 12 Last Year: 1-1, 3.29 ERA in Rookie Home State/Country: Texas
Shaw is fresh out of a solid mid-major program in Dallas Baptist. He should be a mid-rotation guy for the Fireflies.
13. Vicente Lupo, LF
Age: 22 Round Picked: IFA Last Year: .213, 8 HR, 40 RBI in Class A Home State/Country: Venezuela
Like a lot of foreign players, Lupo has been slow to develop but has potential. He's one of only a few players who were regulars last year for the team we took from Savannah. Generally however it's not good to be playing at the same level this low in the minors two years in a row though.
14. Witt Haggard, P
Age: 24 Round Picked: 10 Last Year: 2-1, 3 saves, 5.11 ERA in Rookie Home State/Country: Mississippi
Haggard pitched for Delta State, which is possibly the best supported non-Division I college baseball team. Haggard was picked higher than most Firefly pitchers, and has decent results a year ago in Kingsport. But his ERA is going to have to get better for him to make progress in professional baseball.
15. Jean Rodriguez, 3B
Age: 23 Round Picked: IFA Last Year: .254, 3 HR, 44 RBI in Class A Home State/Country: Dominican Republic
Like Lupo, Rodriguez is a foreign player doing his second go-around in Class A with pressure on to make progress. Surprisingly, Rodriguez is the lone Dominican on the Fireflies.
16. Kevin Canelon, P
Age: 22 Round Picked: IFA Last Year: 5-5, 4.09 ERA in Short Season A Home State/Country: Venezuela
Canelon is the lone foreign pitcher on the Fireflies. His stats are fair, and his age is average for Class A. It's hard to project him right now since as a foreign player he wasn't drafted.
17. Christian Montgomery, P
Age: 23 Round Picked: 11 Last Year: 2-0, 2 saves, 4.97 ERA in Class A Home State/Country: Indiana
Montgomery is the lone returning Sand Gnat pitcher. Montgomery has been in the minors for a long time out of high school, and like with the other Sand Gnats the pressure is on for him to have a breakout season now or else not make it.
18. Joe Tuschak, LF
Age: 23 Round Picked: 6 Last Year: .224, 1 HR, 11 RBI in Class A Home State/Country: Pennsylvania
While a batter, similar to Montgomery in that he is a former high school prospect who is in danger of reaching the end of his string.
19. David Thompson, 3B
Age: 22 Round Picked: 4 Last Year: .218, 3 HR, 22 RBI in Short Season A Home State/Country: Florida
Thompson is generally higher regarded than I am putting him here since he was one of the better players in the ACC a year ago with Miami. But he struggled in Brooklyn last year, which puts pressure on him to get going in hitting professional pitchers this year.
20. Natanel Ramos, C
Age: 22 Round Picked: IFA Last Year: .257, 1 HR, 6 RBI in Class A Home State/Country: Venezuela
Along with Garcia, Ramos was in the regular rotation of Sand Gnat catchers a year ago. It will only get harder for Ramos to breakout with Mazeika in the mix now as well.
21. Tyler Badamo, P
Age: 23 Round Picked: 24 Last Year: 5-6, 3.10 ERA in Short Season A Home State/Country: New York
Badamo, a Long Island native, got to pitch in Brooklyn last year and would love to make it back and be with the Mets in Queens. But the former Division II pitcher with Dowling has the odds against him as he is a 23 year old 24th round pick pitching in Class A/
22. Vinny Siena, 2B
Age: 22 Round Picked: 14 Last Year: .268, 0 HR, 21 RBI in Short Season A Home State/Country: Connecticut
Siena was drafted higher than most pitchers, but lower than most hitters. Siena is a UConn product, and projects to be a solid minor leaguer but probably not a true MLB prospect.
23. Tyler Moore, C
Age: 22 Round Picked: 6 Last Year: .181, 2 HR, 12 RBI in Class A Home State/Country: Louisiana
It's hard to go against a 6th round pick out of LSU, which gets better support than every minor league team. But Moore batted under the Mendoza line with the Sand Gnats a year ago and is playing the position where the Fireflies are at their deepest.
24. Craig Missigman, P
Age: 22 Round Picked: 37 Last Year: 1-3, 2.34 ERA in Short Season A Home State/Country: North Carolina
Missigman, from Charlotte, is the lone Carolinian on the Fireflies.He has potential, but given his draft slot he probably should have gone to college to improve.
25. Seth Davis, P
Age: 22 Round Picked: 29 Last Year: 0-1, 1 save, 2.79 ERA in Rookie Home State/Country: Colorado
It's always great to see guys from tiny places like Augustana College, a D3 school in Illinois, get a shot at the pros. But this isn't the Coastal Plain League, and those guys usually don't last in the pros.
26. Tyler Bashlor, P
Age: 22 Round Picked: 11 Last Year: 0-1, 5.74 ERA in Rookie (2013) Home State/Country: Georgia
Bashlor had some promise coming out of junior college in Georgia three years ago. but has been hurt most of the last two seasons. It'll be interesting to see if he can come back with the Fireflies.
27. Johnny Magliozzi, P
Age: 24 Round Picked: 17 Last Year: 0-1, 1 save, 4.84 ERA in Short Season A Home State/Country: Massachusetts
Magliozzi pitched for a big-time school in Florida. But he wasn't a high pick and has struggled so far professionally, so his prospects aren't looking good as a 24-year old.
28. Tucker Tharp, CF
Age: 24 Round Picked: 30 Last Year: .222, 2 HR, 11 RBI in Short Season A Home State/Country: Colorado
Like Magliozzi, Tharp is 24, played for a P5 school (in his case Kansas), has struggled in the pros, and was not a very high draft pick (only Missigman was picked lower among Firefly players). So unfortunately for him, somebody has to be last on this list.
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