HOW ARE THOSE COLUMBIA FIREFLIES LOOKING - Tom Brennan

 

HOW ARE THOSE COLUMBIA FIREFLIES LOOKING? by Tom Brennan

Having previously elaborated, joyfully mind you, on the 3 higher Mets’ full season farm teams in past weeks, here’s my not-so-dirty low down on the Columbia Fireflies, based in the great state of South Carolina.

NEW DIGS: Before getting to the players, Spirit Communications Park (brand spankin’ new and located in downtown Columbia, SC) is the new home ballpark of the Fireflies, the Mets’ Class-A affiliate in the S. Atlantic League. Its dimensions are hitter-friendly; LF – 319 ft; CF – 400 ft; RF – 330 ft.   Players have to smile at those dimensions, quite a bit more than the “historic” (read ancient) Savannah ball park (cavern) they played in last year.  Whether the Flies produce many homers remains to be seen (9 so far in 20 games in 2016).

Savannah in 2015 was a great squad, winning roughly 40 more games than it lost.  With normally expected promotions and a few trades, this year’s bunch represents a huge # of newly promoted faces.

So, Dude, like who’s who?  Let’s take a peek.

PROGRESS NOTE: At time of publication, the Flies have gone a solid 12-8, so this is part preview, part progress update.  This team has had solid starting pitching, decent pen work, and a spectacular offensive 20 game start to 2016 by IFs Vinny Siena and David Thompson.  The team’s 112 runs in 20 games is tied for the league’s lead.  A team ERA of 3.75 and 9.5 K’s per 9 inning to boot.

PITCHERS – AN INTERESTING LOOKING SQUAD:

NAME	THW	AGE	COMMENTS
STARTERS
P.J. Conlon	L	22	Impeccable career control (3 BB, 41 IP) and ERA (0.66).
Chase Ingram	R	21	Very solid in his 4 starts.
Joe Shaw	R	22	Ditto. Very solid in his 4 starts.
Tyler Badamo	R	23	Decent Brooklyn stint in 2015, struggling in 2016.
Thomas McIlraith	R	22	Jumped a few levels. Stuggling in 2016.
Kevin Canelon	L	22	Decent in Bklyn in 2015, good in three 2016 starts.
RELIEVERS
Tyler Bashlor	R	23	Out 2 years, great start to his 2016 with 9 IP, 2 R, 12 K.
Nicco Blank	R	23	Decent 2015, limited but good so far in 2016. Smallish at 5’9”.
Seth Davis	L	22	29th Rd in 2015. Career 2.56 ERA so far in relief.
Johnny Magliozzi	R	24	Career 3.55 in 37 games.  Did close out a no hitter this season.
Alex Palsha	R	23	1.53 ERA, 71 K in 53 IP, 25/28 SV career.  A for effort.
Chris Montgomery	R	23	Lots of Ks & BBs. Last 3 outings, just 1 BB in 7 IP. Big, live arm.
Craig Missigman	R	22	37th Rd 2011, and slow out of gate in 2016.
Cameron Griffin (DL)	R	24	1.96 career ERA for the 37th founder. But on DL.
Witt Haggard (DL)	R	24	10th rounder in 2015 has struggled in limited outings.

CATCHERS – MAZELKA (ON DL) MAY BE ONE TO WATCH:

NAME	BAT	AGE	COMMENTS
Jose Garcia (DL)	L	21	Barely playing.
Pat Mazeika (DL)	L	22	6’3” 210 lb. Tore up Kingsport in 2015. Yet to play in 2016.
Tyler Moore	L	22	Hitting .175 in 76 games in 2015 and 2016.
Natanael Ramos	R	22	Barely playing.

 

            VINNY SIENA

 

 DAVID THOMPSON

 

INFIELDERS – SOME DECENT PROSPECTS IN THE FOLD (see above):

NAME	POS	BAT	AGE	COMMENTS
Jeff Diehl	1B	R	22	213 games. 253 Ks, .263 career average, modest pop.
Eudor Garcia	3B	L	21	Suspended. Hit well here last year. See you in 30 games
Milton Ramos	SS	R	20	3rd Rd 2014. Career .262. Hitting .200 so far in 2016.
J.C. Rodriguez	3B	S	23	Hitting .169 after 16 games.
Vinny Siena	2B	R	22	.518 OBP after 20 games. Amazing.  Wow.
David Thompson	3B	R	22	Over .300, .520 with RISP, 23 RBI in 20 games. Wow.
Dash Winningham	1B	L	20	Making great contact. Real potential.

 

OUTFIELDERS: SOME HIGH K GUYS, AND A GUY WITH  KK INITIALS:

NAME	BAT	THW	AGE	COMMENTS
Kevin Kaczmarski	L	R	24	Great 2015 in Kingsport, .180  2016 start. On DL
Vicente Lupo	R	R	22	Just off DL. Good power, but needs to drastically cut Ks.
Tucker Tharp	R	R	24	Poor prior to 2016, doing well so far part time.
Joe Tuschak	L	R	23	Drafted in 2011. Career .230 hitter.
Ivan Wilson	R	R	20	Great reduced Ks. Just 1 in last 3 games. Impressed.

 

Columbia’s predecessor, Savannah, in 2015 was awful in roughly its first 20 contests, but soared thereafter.  Columbia’s fine first 20 games this year may or may not be an accurate indicator of its future performance, but so far, so good.  

We'll have to see how the Fire Flies fly in 2016.  I think the Flies will fly high.