Miami Palms Blog

  South Florida Sun-Beat Column by Rhys Thomason It’s been said often enough this spring that the Miami Palms have been snakebitten by injuries, and sure, that’s true. Brett Gardner’s hamstring, Jaspero Gonzalez’s wrist, Jarod Lantz’s shoulder — all of them are the kind of setbacks that could sink a team with less depth. But let’s be honest: relying on duct tape and good vibes to paper over holes isn’t a strategy. It’s negligence. Look at the infield. Matt Koch has been pressed into everyday duty at second base, and while he’s played hard, nobody in Coconut Coast camp ever dreamed he’d be logging this many starts in April. He’s a utility man being asked to survive as a keystone anchor. That’s not development, that’s desperation. Then there’s the lineup. Edwin Encarnación keeps finding ways to knock in runs, but where’s the support? Pat Grant’s homer in the Bronx was a bright spot, but there’s a lack of consistent firepower around the middle of the order. The front office’s answe...

The Miami Palms finished off a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon, riding an early Nick Markakis home run and seven solid innings from Brian Kragh to a 6–3 victory at Yankee Stadium. Markakis wasted no time setting the tone, drilling his sixth homer of the year in the top of the first. Miami added on with a pair of runs in the second, then strung together more offense in the third, fifth, and sixth. Rookie Ian Pfaff notched his first big-league RBI with a single in the sixth, while shortstop Matt Koch delivered a pair of run-scoring hits, including a ringing triple in the second. The Yankees closed the gap briefly with Gleyber Torres’ two-run homer in the third and a solo shot from DJ LeMahieu in the fifth, but Kragh steadied himself and worked into the seventh inning. He scattered nine hits and three runs, striking out three without walking a batter. From there, Cody Allen and Chris Martin closed it out, with Martin earning his 12th save. Offensively, the ...

 The Miami Palms needed only three innings of offense on Saturday to put away the Yankees, and Blake Johnston did the rest. Miami pounded out 18 hits and scored all eight of their runs in the first three frames, cruising to an 8–2 win in the Bronx. The victory pushed the Palms to 20–15 , their fifth win in six games, while the Yankees fell to 2–7 against the Palms. Nick Markakis set the tone with a leadoff single and scored in the first. In the second, Miami strung together five hits, capped by Pat Grant’s RBI single and Chris Korb’s one-run knock . An inning later, the Palms broke the game wide open. Greg Garcia doubled home two runs , Yairo Munoz singled in another , and Korb added his third RBI of the night . By the end of the third inning, it was already 8–0 Miami . That was plenty for Johnston, who turned in a vintage performance. The right-hander went the distance, allowing just two runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and no walks. He retired 14 of the last 17 batte...

  Friday, May 1, 2020 – Yankee Stadium The Palms are suddenly making New York feel like home. Nick Markakis and Edwin Encarnacion powered the offense, the bullpen turned in another lockdown effort, and Miami took its second straight in the Bronx with a 4–2 win over the Yankees on Friday night. Markakis set the tone right away with a solo homer in the first, and Pat Grant followed with a solo shot of his own in the third. Encarnacion chipped in with an RBI single in the fifth, then doubled home an insurance run in the ninth. The Yankees scratched out runs on a Luke Voit double and Aaron Judge’s first homer against Miami of the season, but that was all New York could muster. Erick Fedde labored through 3 2/3 innings before handing off to the bullpen, which slammed the door. Allan Persons earned his first win with 2 1/3 scoreless frames, Cody Allen and Jeremy Jeffress held the line, and Chris Martin nailed down his 11th save with a clean ninth. On the injury front, Frank Sohn exi...

  Thursday, April 30, 2020 – Yankee Stadium The Miami Palms are proving they know how to win ugly — and long. It took 14 innings, but Nick Markakis and Edwin Encarnacion delivered the big swings, and Miami’s bullpen held the line as the Palms outlasted the Yankees, 4–2, on Thursday night in the Bronx. Down 2–0 after Gary Sánchez’s second-inning homer, Miami spent most of the night chasing Masahiro Tanaka, who spun nine innings of two-run ball. The breakthrough finally came in the eighth, when Markakis drilled a two-run homer to right, tying the game. That set the stage for the 14th, when Encarnacion — held quiet all night — crushed a go-ahead two-run shot off Chad Green. Chris Martin shut the door in the bottom half for his 10th save. The Palms’ bullpen was the unsung story: six relievers combined for 8⅓ scoreless innings, highlighted by Jeremy Jeffress’s three dominant frames in extras. Cody Allen and Mike Morin each chipped in key zeros before Martin finished it off. The wi...

 by Rhys Thomason The Miami Palms don’t ask Adam Conley to do much these days. He’s been in that vague gray space between “organizational depth” and “long man in the bullpen,” waiting for the moment someone’s arm tightens up or a doubleheader clogs the rotation. Wednesday afternoon against Boston was one of those moments. And you know what? He didn’t look like an afterthought. Five innings. Two runs. Seven strikeouts. The line isn’t Cy Young material, but it was the kind of steady, professional start that gives a team a chance to win. That’s exactly what Miami needed after the bullpen got stretched the night before. Conley’s outing says something bigger, too. For all the attention on Dylan Bundy’s ace status and the injuries to Jarod Lantz, the Palms have quietly built something they never used to have: actual pitching depth. Between Conley, Brian Matusz, and Wandy Peralta, this team doesn’t have to panic if a starter falters or misses a turn. Manager Scott Hatteberg praised Conley...

by Vin Castillo, Palms Beat Miami — The Miami Palms bounced back from Tuesday’s defeat with a sharp all-around effort Wednesday night, using a seventh-inning outburst to put away the Boston Red Sox, 7–2, at Coca-Cola Palms Park. The Palms struck quickly in the first when Chris Korb walked in a run, then added another on Edwin Encarnación’s sacrifice fly. Boston chipped away with single runs in the third and fifth, including a two-run swing on Juan Peraza’s sacrifice fly and solo homer, but Miami’s bullpen locked things down from there. The decisive blow came in the sixth and  seventh. Wellington Castillo came through again with an RBI double to break a 2–2 tie, and the Palms poured it on in the seventh with four runs against Matt Barnes. Yairo Muñoz  tripled home a pair of runs to put the game out of reach. On the mound, spot starter Adam Conley gave Miami five steady innings, allowing just two runs on four hits while striking out seven. Brian Matusz (1–0) earn...

  by Vin Castillo, Palms Beat Miami — The Boston Red Sox broke a 1–1 tie with a five-run seventh inning, pulling away from the Miami Palms in a 6–2 victory Tuesday night at Coca-Cola Palms Park. Boston third baseman Rafael Devers was the difference-maker, belting a towering grand slam to expand the lead from 1 to 5 in the 7th. He finished 2-for-5 and was in the middle of nearly every big inning for the visitors. Miami starter Brian Kragh was effective early, limiting damage through six innings, but the Boston bats caught up in the seventh. Xander Bogaerts added an RBI single, and Devers' slam broke things open. The Palms struck first in the second inning, when Yairo Muñoz doubled home Edwin Encarnacion to give Miami a brief 1–0 lead. Jaspero Gonzalez added a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth—his eighth of the season—but the late offense wasn’t enough to climb out of the hole. Palms manager Scott Hatteberg tipped his cap to Boston’s lefty Eduardo Rodriguez , who wen...

 RHYS THOMASON | COLUMNIST, THE SPLASH ZONE Let’s not sugarcoat it — the Boston Red Sox brought a sledgehammer to the good vibes party at Coca-Cola Palms Park on Monday night. After three wins over a punchless Tigers club, the Palms came crashing back to Earth against a team with a plan, a lineup with bite, and a pitcher in Martín Pérez who made Miami's bats look more like beach umbrellas. The final? 7–1 Boston. But it felt worse. The Palms managed just one run, a solo shot from Jaspero Gonzalez in the first inning. From that moment on, they were quiet — on the scoreboard and in the dugout — until Matt Wieters got himself tossed after a called third strike in the sixth. It’s the second blowup from a Palms catcher in under two weeks, and it might be emblematic of a roster that’s losing its grip — literally and figuratively. First it was Manny Parra going to the IL. Then Brett Gardner, the heartbeat of the outfield, goes down for two months. That’s not just a hole in center — that’s ...

By Vin Castillo, Coca-Cola Palms Park  MIAMI — The Palms got a dose of reality Monday night, and it came in the form of a relentless Boston lineup and an untimely outburst from their veteran catcher. Alex Verdugo went 4-for-4 with three RBIs, and the Red Sox racked up 16 hits en route to a 7-1 win over the Miami Palms at Coca-Cola Palms Park. The loss snapped Miami’s four-game win streak and featured a forgettable debut for newly called-up reliever Allan Persons, who gave up three runs on five hits in a single inning of work. Boston wasted no time, tagging Palms starter Blake Johnston for three runs in the opening frame, thanks to a pair of RBI hits from Xander Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland. Johnston lasted just three innings, surrendering four earned runs, and took his second loss of the season. Miami’s lone highlight came in the bottom of the first when Jaspero Gonzalez drilled a solo home run—his seventh of the year—to cut the early deficit to 3-1. That would be all the offense...