Hey, another dominant pitching staff! The Minnesota Twins sent several of their best pitching prospects to the Florida State League, so it’s no wonder the Fort Myers Miracle have seven pitchers on the FSL South Division All-Star team.
The Miracle were third in the league with a 3.05 ERA entering Tuesday, and Tyler Jay is the most touted prospect of the bunch. He leads the league in FIP (2.43), is fourth in K/9 (9.58) and generally is shoving unhittable pitches down batters’ throats.
Kohl Stewart’s season is an encouraging one considering he was promoted to Double-A last week. Stewart spent all of 2015 in the FSL and made 22 starts and finished with a 3.20 ERA. While it was a productive season, his strikeout rate (4.94) dropped by nearly 1.5 per nine innings and his walk rate (3.13) rose by more than 0.60 from 2014. His walk rate jumped again this season, but so did his strikeout rate (7.66/9 IP over nine starts). He had a 2.61 ERA at the time of his promotion.
Felix Jorge and Stephen Gonsalves also deserve to be mentioned. Jorge leads the starting rotation with a 1.83 ERA over nine starts and he has the league’s fourth lowest walk rate (1.37/9 IP). Gonsalves is also in his second stint in the FSL after posting a 2.61 ERA in 15 starts last season. This year, he is fourth in the league in FIP (2.59) and ERA (1.93) with 10 starts under his belt.
Next: Single A