Get to know the 2014 Miracle
A new season in baseball can mean several things to fans, personnel and coaches alike. Above all, the coming of the year translates to a fresh set of faces for fans to watch and enjoy.
The Fort Myers Miracle welcome 2014 with a team containing 13 returning players and 12 newcomers, along with seven on the disabled list. Each player has a unique history, beginning pre-draft in their college - and, for a few, high school - careers and through the prior season.
Some have honors, some have setbacks and all contribute a piece to the roster tale.
Starting rotation:
Jason Wheeler (LHP)
A 6-8, 265-pound hurler from Torrance, Calif., Wheeler led the Florida State League in wins (9) in 2013 and will serve as the opening day starter on April 3. The southpaw was chosen in the eighth round of the 2011 draft and earned three honors in his first professional season the following year: Pitcher of the Week on May 7, Midwest League Mid-Season All-Star, and Twins Organizational All-Star.
Tyler Duffey (RHP)
An attendee of Rice University, Duffey carried several collegiate honors into the minor league scene before the Twins nabbed the Houston, Texas native in the fifth round of the 2012 draft. Duffey led the Rice staff with four saves in his freshman year, and as a sophomore was granted the title of 2011 Conference USA Championship MVP.
Jose Berrios (RHP)
The native of Puerto Rico is the youngest member of the Miracle squad at age 19 and is also one of the highest ranked prospects for the Twins at number five on the preseason lists from Baseball America and MLB.com. He was named to the Puerto Rican National Team for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Berrios was considered by scouts to have one of the most aggressive mound presences in the minor leagues and lived up to that claim by notching 100 strikeouts last season in Single-A Cedar Rapids.
Mason Melotakis (LHP)
Melotakis settled in at number 20 according to the MLB.com prospect watch list entering the 2014 season. The 6-2, 209-pound southpaw has been clocked as high as 97 MPH on the radar gun. In 2013, Melotakis tied for second in the Midwest League for wins in 2013, racking up 11 alongside an ERA of 3.16 and 84 strikeouts while splitting time as a starter and reliever.
Alex Wimmers (RHP)
After undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2012, Wimmers spent the previous year rehabbing with the Gulf Coast League Twins and joins the Miracle rotation for a second time. Wimmers was drafted in the first round (21 overall) of the 2010 draft out of Ohio State University, where he was well-ornamented with honors. The 6-2, 195-pound right hander pitched the school's first complete game no-hitter in 2009, was named National Pitcher of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation in 2010 and became the first player ever to be named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in consecutive two seasons (2009 and 2010).
Brett Lee (LHP)
Lee was drafted in 2011 out of St. Petersburg College and will appear in his third professional season. Lee maintained a strong 2.95 ERA in 2013, third best in the Midwest League, while with the Single-A Cedar Rapids Kernels.
Bullpen:
Madison Boer (RHP)
A familiar face to the Miracle, Boer was named to the 2013 opening day roster as a starter, but was injured and after three appearances sent to Cedar Rapids to work as a reliever. Beforehand in 2011, Boer was named an Appalachian League Post-Season All Star while with the rookie Elizabethton Twins. At the University of Oregon, the right hander was part of the first baseball team when the program was reinstated in 2009 and held the accolade of Most Valuable Pitcher on the squad right before his selection in the 2011 draft.
Matt Tomshaw (LHP)
One of three players on the roster to hail from Jacksonville University, Tomshaw was honored for his exceptional academic performance. Earning a spot on the Dean's List and as an A-Sun All-Academic Honors recipient, Tomshaw majored in finance. Tomshaw saw most of his 2013 season as a starter with the Miracle. Between Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids, he only pitched eight of 26 games in relief.
David Hurlbut (LHP)
Hurlbut was initially drafted by the Twins in 2009, but opted to wait and ended up signing two years later after his senior season at Cal-State Fullerton. The southpaw put up four solid starts with the Miracle last season, ending with a 1-1 record with a 3.54 ERA in 20.1 innings of work.
Steven Gruver (LHP)
Ohio-native Gruver traveled south for his college career, winding up at the University of Tennessee and subsequently being drafted in 2011. Gruver made his mark that same year with Elizabethton by closing out a no-hitter against the Greeneville Astros with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Gruver pitched with Fort Myers last season and in nine games boasted a 3.96 ERA.
Tim Shibuya (RHP)
The University of California-San Diego product served as the starter for the aforementioned Elizabethton no-hitter, going 7.1 innings in perhaps the most memorable outing of his career. Shibuya carried over his strong mound presence the remainder of the season and in the higher levels, accumulating two Pitcher of the Week Honors - one with Elizabethton in July of 2011 and the other with Cedar Rapids at the end of August last year. Shibuya also earned the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year award and a spot on the Post-Season All Star team. Shibuya translated one of his four starts last year with the Kernels into a complete game shutout and also pitched in relief.
Brian Gilbert (RHP)
After being selected in the seventh round of the 2013 draft, Gilbert rapidly travelled from the Seton Hall University baseball scene to the pros. The 21-year old right-hander more than held his own with Elizabethton and Cedar Rapids last year, tallying a combined 0.78 ERA and .157 opponent batting average between the two teams.
Catchers:
Stuart Turner
A former high school football player, Turner focused on baseball in college and was an Academic All-American, Easton Defensive Player of the Year and a Rawlings Gold Glove recipient at LSU-Eunice. He transferred to the University of Mississippi in 2013, where the Twins selected him in the third round of the draft. He jumped to Double-A New Britain for one game last year, going 2-for-4, but settles in onto the Miracle roster to start 2014.
Tyler Grimes
Grimes will make the jump to the Florida State League after spending his first three professional years in the Midwest League. The Wichita State University alum was named a Midwest League Mid-Season All-Star in 2012 with the former Twins affiliate, the Beloit Snappers, and last year hit .256 with six home runs in Cedar Rapids.
Jairo Rodriguez
Rodriguez will serve as a luxury third catcher. Rodriguez was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2007 out of Venezuela and calls the city of Acarigua home. He played in the offseason for the Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan Winter League, but only appeared in one game.
Infielders:
Jorge Polanco (2B)
Listed on the prospect watch lists at numbers 10 (Baseball America) and eight (MLB.com), Polanco heads into this season with the honors of 2013 MiLB Organizational All-Star and Mid-Season All-Star to his name. In his time with Cedar Rapids, the 5-11, 165-pound second baseman from the Dominican Republic finished sixth in the Midwest League with a .308 batting average and tied fourth with 10 triples, hailing 78 RBIs and five home runs.
Travis Harrison (3B)
Harrison will defend the hot corner for the Miracle. Cited for his power, the third baseman is the Twins' 12th-ranked prospect on MLB.com. Harrison was a supplemental first round (50 overall) pick in the 2011 draft out of Tustin High School in California.
Niko Goodrum (SS)
The switch-hitting Goodrum, a 2010 draft pick out of Fayette County High School in Georgia at the age of 18, was selected as a Mid-Season All-Star in 2013 with the Kernels.
Dalton Hicks (1B)
Hicks garnered a positive reputation in Cedar Rapids before his promotion to Fort Myers last year. The first baseman was named a Player of the Week in April, a Mid-Season All-Star, and a Post-Season All-Star in the Midwest League. Hicks attended the University of Central Florida until his selection in the 2012 draft. He was twice placed on the NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team and ranks fifth in home runs, sixth in RBIs, and seventh in walks in the Central Florida record books.
Mike Gonzales (1B)
Gonzales split time between three teams in 2013: the GCL Twins, Fort Myers and ending in Cedar Rapids. He was a ninth round pick out of Diablo Valley College in California and a year later earned a Player of the Week honor in July with Elizabethton. In 2011, Gonzales was a Midwest League Mid-Season All-Star.
A.J. Pettersen (Utility)
A multi-talented infielder, Pettersen was promoted to the Double-A New Britain Rock Cats, but returned to the Miracle during the latter's playoff bid. The Minnesota native and former University of Minnesota student has contributed for the Twins Daily blog, offering his prospective on the game to readers.
Levi Michael (SS/2B)
Michael, who handled both positions of the middle infield last year, is a two-year veteran of the team. Described as having a "quiet confidence" upon being drafted, Michael was picked from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill as primarily a shortstop. The 23-year old began last season on the disabled list, but played 94 games in Fort Myers last year and hit .229.
Outfield:
John Murphy
Murphy is the second player from Jacksonville University on the Miracle team this year. In his junior year as a Dolphin, the outfielder was one of only three players to appear in all 61 games of the collegiate season and earned A-Sun All-Academic Honors. After being sent to Cedar Rapids in 2013, Murphy put up solid numbers hitting .272 with 22 RBIs and seven stolen bases.
Max Kepler
The Twins' 15th-ranked prospect according to MLB.com, Kepler spent time in Major League camp before his assignment to the Miracle in early March. Born in Berlin, Germany and hailing from a family of ballet dancers, the 21-year old opted for baseball as his route. Signing in 2009 as a non-drafted free agent and currently manning a spot on the Twins' 40-man roster, Kepler looks to rebound from a season shortened by an elbow injury.
Adam Walker II
Walker joins Kepler in the MLB prospect ratings at 14th and rounds out the list of Jacksonville University prodigies and A-Sun All-Academic honors recipients. The 6-4, 225-pound right fielder led the Midwest League in home runs (27), RBI (109) and total bases (267) in 129 games with Cedar Rapids in 2013. Walker was the first minor league player to reach 100 RBI last year. Selected in the third round of the 2012 draft, he is the son of former Minnesota Viking Adam Walker.
Disabled List:
Zack Jones (P)
Jones was a Florida State League Mid-Season All-Star in 2013 with the Miracle. The right-hander posted a 4-3 record with a meager 1.85 ERA in 39 games. He was drafted out of San Jose State in California.
Tyler Jones (P)
A 2011 selection out of Louisiana State University, Jones pitched with Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers last year and held his own with a combined 2.58 ERA and 13 saves.
Corey Williams (P)
Williams joined Zack Jones as a Mid-Season All-Star last year and the prior season with Cedar Rapids was named to the Post-Season All-Star team. He was a third round draft pick in 2011 out of Vanderbilt University.
Byron Buxton (OF)
The number one prospect in all of baseball and the reigning recipient of the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year Award, Buxton has dominated all facets of the game in his professional career. At just 20 years of age, Buxton pocketed 13 awards in 2013, including an MLB Futures Game selection, Midwest League Prospect of the Year, Topps Minor League Player of the Year, and Arizona Fall League All-Prospect Team member. At Appling County High School in Georgia, Buxton was also a pitcher.
Nate Roberts (OF)
Roberts was a participant in the 2012 Arizona Fall League, winning the batting title and garnering the second highest batting average in the history of the league. The 6-1, 200-pound outfielder was chosen in the fifth round of the 2010 draft out of High Point University in North Carolina.
Lance Ray (OF)
Ray, a 2010 selection out of the University of Kentucky, played for Fort Myers the past two seasons. During the 2012 season, Lance gained an FSL Player of the Week honor in May.
J.D. Williams (OF)
Tampa-native Williams was drafted in 2010 out of Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School in Tampa and is one of the fastest players in the Twins organization. Williams stole 26 bases between Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers last year and with the Miracle hit .236 in 140 at-bats.
The Miracle open the season on Thursday, April 3 against the Jupiter Hammerheads. The team plays two games at Roger Dean Stadium before returning to Fort Myers for the final pair with the home opener scheduled for Saturday, April 5. Fans can pick up complimentary tickets at Wendy's restaurants and HESS Express stations in Lee and Collier Counties for the home opener. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. and first pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.