Miami Palms Blog

Martin Prado came from the Braves and was generally expected to be more of a utility player rather than a staple in the Palms every day lineup. After back to back seasons hitting over .300 and last year's 20 home runs, it's very clear that Prado has become an important element to the Miami offense. His versatility in the field is becoming less important as there are fewer players that can play third, and he projects to be placed there almost every day from this point forward, until he wants to leave town.

One thing the Palms like doing is putting former starters in the role of closer, as is the case this year after Buddy Carlyle left town. Manny Parra was a starter the past couple of years, but the team has decided to reduce his innings this year, instead electing to put him in the closers role where his impact will be slightly mitigated, but his importance will not be. He hasn't had an ERA below 5 since he has come to the Palms.

Troy Munoz has been the star pitcher for a few years in Miami, but he has seen his numbers decline over the past few years. Last year was a difficult season for pitchers across the team, but he managed to post the best ERA among starters at 3.92. The only thing that went up for Munoz, however, was his batting average against, which has historically been kept well below the league average, so he hasn't really lost any of his traditional control or fly ball tendency. Ge is going to continue to be a solid innings eater at the top of the rotation.

For the first time in a long time, the catcher position is not going to be relied upon as a major source of offense. After Eddie Black left for Pittsburgh, the Palms added Jose Molina, a good source of defense, but not someone generally noted for his bat. Last season, Molina saw his offense improve over his career numbers, however, hitting .280 with 6 home runs in limited time with the Blue Jays. Still, Molina and Omir Santos are expected to split time behind the plate, and an opening day catcher is yet to be announced.

McLoughlin was, like most of the bullpen last year, incredibly hittable. The entire bullpen was down last year, but nobody lower than McLoughlin. His ERA dropped from 3.84 to 5.69 thanks in large part to a higher batting average against. His control and strikeout rate was much better, so the problem may be with an aging center fielder and the now displaced Ryan Henning. Perhaps this is a year the bullpen recovers.

Two seasons ago, it appeared that Blake Johnston was destined for a spot in the rotation, but now it appears that may have been a little presumptuous. After a strong rookie campaign, he regressed terribly. The big problem was the homeruns. His BAA against was fairly decent, but the 14 homers in only 72 innings of work took their toll. His strikeout total has never been good, and all these factors have led to a label of being a guy that is eminently hittable. Still, with a speedy outfield, his might be the type of style that works in the long term for the Palms.

Paul Janish's high batting average and above average glove have earned him an every day spot in the Palms order. He was expected to be light hitting going into the season, and he more or less lived up to that, but in coming to Miami, his average jumped by about .90 points. The Palms will certainly hope for a repeat, but pitchers will mostly be glad to have Janish's glove behind them in the infield. Any offense is a bonus.

Ryan Henning is a popular figure in Miami, but his skills with the bat have been crying for an upgrade for the past couple of years. After usurping the role from Rico Gomez in 2009, many thought it was only a one year deal, with up and comer Jaspero Gonzalez ready to claim the spot, but with Gomez and Troy Tulowitzki departing, there was a spot available at short instead. His place in the lineup preserved, Henning didn't take advantage last year, instead hitting .264 with 15 home runs. The emergence of Paul Janish last year at short lead to the decision to move Henning to a utility role, which is a certain offensive upgrade all around, to the offense and to the bench.

Jaspero Gonzalez has bounced around in his time with the Palms, but it has all been in an upward progression. His first season with the team, 2009, he was a utility infielder, but his skill with the bat earned him a spot in the every day lineup when Troy Tulowitzki moved on. As Paul Janish came aboard last year and established himself as a reliable hitter, Gonzalez moved to his natural second base position, supplanting incumbent Ryan Henning. Gonzalez may be one of the best second basemen in the league, last year hitting .325 with 25 home runs and having a decent enough glove. So young in his career, his numbers can only improve from here.

Felix Gonsales was quite the win vulture last year. Despite a 4.34 ERA coming out of the bullpen, he managed to pick up 13 wins out of the pen. He generally has good control but loses a lot of baserunners because of the high numbers of home runs he allows. Initially, he was one of the top candidates to move into the rotation, but the Palms preferred a younger pitcher in Ivan Fernandez for that role.

Ivan Fernandez is projected to nab a spot in the Palms rotation, pushing starter of the past two years Manny Parra out. He isn't expected to be a power pitcher, a problem among the Palms rotation, but getting the ball in play isn't necessarily a bad thing given the team defense. If he can keep his pitches under control, he will be a welcome addition to the rotation, even if he isn't blowing opponents away.