Miami Palms Blog

Troy Munoz is one of the longer tenured pitchers on the Palms roster. He puts in a lot of work and had a good ERA, in the 3s until last year. Perhaps the heavy workload was the cause, but his ERA was up almost a full run. He has also seen his strike out rate and batting average against climb each of the last three seasons. The Palms need Munoz to rebound and become the solid performer they know he can be.

The Palms knew they were losing Eddie Black last season, so they went out to pick up an additional catcher to pair with Omir Santos. the Palms were worried about Santos' production, and defense, so they brought in one of the catching Molinas, Jose. Jose Molina ended up exceeding expectations, but at the same time, Omir Santos had a break out year. Molina had 15 home runs to Santos' 18, and hit .281 to Santos' .314. The problem isn't that Molina hasn't been good, it's that Santos has been elite. And now, with the team adding Nick Markakis and Matt Holliday, he may lose time as DH as well. Still, his bat off the bench will continue to be invaluable.

Art Mcloughlin is a long time member of the Palms, managing to stick in the bullpen without ever being terribly overpowering. While his strikeout totals have gone down over the past few years, so too has his walk rate. McLoughlin is a not a power pitcher, and needs help from his defense, but he is generally not going to hurt himself too badly.

Nick Markakis is entering the prime of his career. He has a career batting average of just shy of .300 and is generally good for 15-20 home runs. He also brings an excellent glove to the Palms, having won the Gold Glove in right field last year. Markakis' introduction to the roster may cause a few positions to switch. Frank Sohn came up as a center fielder, and Coco Crisp spent time early in his career in left field. Matt Holliday, a good fielder in his own right, may be relegated to a designated hitter role. More than likely, Markakis, Sohn, Crisp and Holliday will all see time as DH's this season.

Like Ivan Fernandez, Blake Johnston is a starting prospect that didn't quite work out in that role. His home runs allowed total has skyrocketed since a dominant break out year in 2009, allowing a home run every three innings of work. He needs to work on keeping the ball down when he pitches to prevent the damage that that does. He isn't a particularly unlucky pitcher, and if he were to cut his home run total in half, bringing, he would quickly become one of the better relievers on the team. The Palms can live with his low strikeout rate, because he doesn't walk many players, but he does need to do something about how hittable he was last year.

The Palms were sad to see Ayoz Sadan go, but at the same time, they knew they were bringing in another all star in the outfield. Matt Holliday isn't the same fielder Sadan was, but he does bring the same bat, if from the other side of the plate. He will be good for an average around and probably over .300 with about 25 home runs and an OPS north of .900. Additionally, he brings a bit of postseason experience to a roster that hasn't seen the playoffs in a few years and has undergone a good deal of turnover. It's always a positive to bring in an all-star from a World Series champion.