It's now time to check in with the All-Time Player Standings, which don't vary that greatly with only four games completed in the second half so far. Those four games were not good, with the Fireflies getting swept by Augusta at home to continue the struggles in Columbia. As a result, few players gained many points with some losing them. To refresh, here is how the points system is calculated:
Batters:
(TB + R + RBI) * 5
(BB + HBP) * 3
SB * 10
2 point penalty for each 0 for 1 at-bat, with an additional point penalty for a strikeout.
5 point penalty for getting caught stealing
Pitchers:
5 points for each out recorded while on the mound, with a 3 point bonus for it coming by strikeout.
10 point penalty for allowing an earned run
5 point penalty for giving up a hit
3 point penalty for walking or hitting a batter
30 point bonus for getting the official win or save
15 point penalty for getting the official loss
Okay, with that set, here we go...
1. P.J. Conlon, 1,041
Conlon was promoted last Thursday, so any additional statistics he has will come in the Former Fireflies Report (unless he gets demoted back here). Yet even without adding to his statistics, Conlon has a commanding lead in his point total for best Firefly. And unless Palsha keeps going strong without getting promoted or unless Thompson can comeback strong from injury, there is a good chance that even at the end of the season Conlon will be selected by the point system as the Firefly of the Year.
2. Alex Palsha, 715
Unfortunately Palsha didn't have any save opportunities last weekend but looked good in his one inning pitched.
3. Kevin Canelon, 694
Fianlly got to see Canelon pitch, and he got through until a bad 6th inning where a HR that could have gone either fair or foul scored three runs. With the lack of runs by the Firefly offense, that meant a loss for Canelon and his ERA dropped slightly. But with Conlon promoted Canelon may still be the best starter at keeping opposing hitters off balance.
4. David Thompson, 675
I'll just say that with Siena promoted the Fireflies need him back badly. And since I first wrote that, he came off the DL for a big night tonight against Hickory. Glad to see you back, DT.
5. Vinny Siena, 645
For those who look at conventional batting stats, Siena's line (.291 with no home runs and 13 RBIs) wasn't that impressive during his time as a Firefly. But his OPS was .834, boosted by a .435 OBP. Perhaps he might struggle at higher levels getting walks against pitchers with better control, but he seems to still be working pitchers early in the FSL.
6. Joe Shaw, 513
Shaw had a bad outing Thursday, but not very bad at least. He's 4-5 with a 4.41 ERA, which at least keeps the Fireflies in games that he pitches. He could get more effective with more work by the coaching staff on his mechanics.
7. Tyler Bashlor, 508
I generally don't like power pitchers who have questionable control, but I've enjoyed watching Bashlor the few times I've seen him pitch so far. He has often come into games with the Fireflies behind and keeps them in it, winning twice in Asheville and almost last Saturday. He does walk batters but never grooves it after getting behind in the count and does what he needs to do to get zeroes in the inning column when he pitches. If he can keep his pitches to a minimum per batter, he should continue to succeed after coming back from injuries the last couple years.
8. Tyler Badamo, 506
Badamo did reasonably okay Sunday, giving up a lot of hits again but only two runs in just over five innings and avoiding the official loss. He did have to leave Sunday after getting injured so we'll see how he does coming back from that on Friday.
9. J.C. Rodriguez, 495
He didn't have a particularly good weekend in the sweep, and his average is back under .250 again. He's probably the best hitter still of anybody on the active Fireflies' roster, which unfortunately isn't much of a compliment right now.
10. Kevin Kaczmarski, 463
Kacz is probably the best contact hitter on the team right now after Siena's promotion and Thompson going on the DL again. He's hitting .264, a big improvement from earlier in the season and more in line with how he did batting for Evansville. He's not much of a power hitter but does have tools to go with his average including speed and fielding. His biggest problem as a prospect may be his age (24) is a bit high for Class A, which could lead to the Mets promoting him soon to see how he does against players closer to him in age.
11. Seth Davis, 416
Davis isn't a physically imposing pitcher, but he's a lefty who can work multiple innings out of the bullpen which could make him valuable as a specialist down the road.
12. Dash Winningham, 379
His power is finally starting to come around. That said, his ability to hit for contact seems to be going down making his recent showings a bit of a wash.
13. Christian Montgomery. 341
A very similar pitcher to Bashlor, and is often used in similar situations to Bashlor as well. Yet Montgomery makes me a bit more nervous than Bashlor, as Montgomery has gotten blasted when falling behind in the count. That said, he seems to be getting better lately at avoiding problems. Noticed that he is suspended, not sure why yet.
14. Craig Missigman, 338
Missigman was very erratic early in the season but seems to have settled down and is basically an ordinary middle reliever right now.
15. Chase Ingram, 334
Ingram lost 131 points over the past week and has gone from 9th to 15th on this list, his worst position of the season. That is because he gave up 11 runs in less than four innings on Friday. He managed to go 90 pitches despite having the kind of night pitchers never want to have. That's probably because Leger or whoever in the organization is managing playing time for prospects always wants guys to go at least 80+ pitches even on nights when they don't have it. As a result, Ingram is now 4-6 with a 5.48 ERA. I'm not sure that letting a pitcher stay in to take a beating helps his development. I can see keeping Ingram in the rotation, but you don't want somebody's stats to take that big a hit over one outing.
16. Jeff Diehl, 320
Diehl is the best power hitter on the Fireflies, which is very relative because that's only 7 home runs. Diehl's not even on pace for 15 home runs despite leading the team. His HR total is not good enough to makeup for a .225 average and a 33.8% strikeout rate. Those numbers have been slightly improving however, so there is still time for him to come around.
17. Johnny Magliozzi, 318
Magliozzi has brought his ERA down to 3.86. He's still not who you want to see coming out of the bullpen, but the bullpen as a whole has been making great strides compared to the hitters. Magliozzi made a surprise appearance on offense when he pinch-ran for Natanael Ramos in the 9th as the potential winning run. Had no idea that Magliozzi was faster than Ramos or even Patrick Mazeika who was available on the bench. Unfortunately the Fireflies couldn't hit after that as it would have been a moment of glory to watch Magliozzi run home for the win.
18. Joe Tuschak, 295
While most Fireflies stayed about the same in their point values or went down, Tuschak went up as he actually had a pretty good weekend. He's been in the minors for quite a while now, so he needs to be making strides as he is now as old as most college prospects.
19. Ivan Wilson, 277
Wilson on the other hand did not have a good weekend as his batting average dropped under the Mendoza Line to .197. His .628 OPS is at least credible, but it's not what you want to see from a player drafted in the third round. Wilson's playing about where you would expect from a 21-year old, but not from somebody drafted as high as he was (the highest of all Fireflies this year except for the quickly promoted Andrew Church). He has shown big potential in bursts though and has delivered some crucial big his this year when I have seen him on the road, but not so much at home.
Since I wrote this I found out that he has apparently left the team. That's a shame, as he still had potential being younger than the college guys. Maybe some of the fans quoting
Cast Away by shouting "Wilson!" every time he strikes out got to him. The First Firefly is also the first Firefly out of professional baseball, and that is sad. My fondest memory of him came just over a week ago in Asheville, when a Kingsport Mets fan who called him "Pookie"predicted he would hit the winning home run in the 9th, and he did just that. We'll miss you Pookie.
20. Milton Ramos, 241
Not only did his batting stats drop a slight amount this weekend, he made two crucial errors that cost the Fireflies the game in the 7th inning on Sunday. He's still 20 and still has a lot of potential, so as I've said before I don't see him being released soon. But I am starting to wonder if there are any shortstops on the Rookie or Short A Mets teams that is worthy of a shot at Class A, and perhaps Ramos could be sent down to the level he skipped in Brooklyn. I don't see that as likely, but he probably won't be moving up unless somebody in the Mets organization is particularly impressed with him.
21. Andrew Church, 240
Church was the stereotypical minor leaguer in making only two starts with the Fireflies. That's actually not as common though as people with a casual understanding of MiLB believe though.
22. Luis Ortega, 193
At times he looks like he is able to fill in Thompson's shoes quite nicely. But he hasn't kept his power numbers going after a good start and his average is down to .248. He's earned a spot in the lineup for the rest of the season most likely however, not just for his bat but how he handles the hot corner.
23. Patrick Mazeika, 176
Like Ortega, Mazeika looked like he could be an instant star when he arrived in Columbia but hasn't stayed that way. He's still batting .255 with an OPS of .679, which makes him by far the best option at catcher.
24. Tyler Moore, 162
He's still here, but barely gets any playing time anymore buried on the depth chart behind Mazeika and even Natanael Ramos.
25. Vicente Lupo, 131
Like Tuschak, Lupo put up a big week while his teammates faltered. He's now batting .222 with an OPS of .689, respectable numbers if he can develop another tool.
26. Tucker Tharp, 110
While some casual fans think Church getting promoted after two starts is routine in the minors, others aren't that aware of such happenings. Take for example my conversation of the parking attendant, who asked me after the first two games of the series if there were any lineup problems or was Augusta really just that good. I told him that the second best hitter (Siena) and the best pitcher (Conlon) got promoted. "Wow!, he said, "what about that guy who got hit in the face (Tharp)? When is he coming back?" I told him he was also at High A and the attendant was amazed and felt like the whole team had been called up. Well, not everybody anyway, just a few.
27. Gaby Almonte, 105
Almonte will be higher next time I do this list, as he pitched a 5 inning no-decision since I compiled the scores with just 1 run and he's still pretty new. Almonte is though old (23) to be just starting at Class A, so the pressure will be on him to succeed here.
28. Thomas McIlraith, 86
Hopefully he can still come back strong after getting injured as the rotation could use some help with Conlon getting promoted.
29. Enmanuel Zabala, 38
After only coming up as an injury replacement for Kaczmarski/Tharp, Zabala has returned! And this time I got his first name spelled correctly as I missed the n as it looks like a m as is the case with that name typically. So sorry for that in past posts, Enmanuel.
30. Natanael Ramos, 31
He's been on the DL much of the season, but seems to have overtaken Tyler Moore for the backup position to Mazeika behind the plate. He has looked okay at times, hope to see some productive games from him.
31. Witt Haggard, 10
Had a tough loss Sunday after Ramos made two errors at short. So I'll break a tie on his behalf and give him a higher spot over Jose Garcia as he deserves some recognition for making strides after a poor start and a DL stint early this season.
32. Jose Garcia, 10
He was batting only .200 when he went on the DL and when he comes back will have to beat three catchers for playing time. He's only 21 however and manages his pitchers well so I suspect we'll see him around later.
33. Nicco Blank, -14
Hopefully he can be like Haggard and recover nicely and get back to Columbia and do well. Hopefully he can like Zabala prove in Brooklyn he should get back down here.
