Miracle open season Thursday
Special to the Breeze
The Fort Myers Miracle will raise the curtain on their Florida State League schedule on Thursday at Hammond Stadium with the last three first-round draft picks of the Minnesota Twins on the opening day roster.
Starting pitchers Kohl Stewart and Tyler Jay and shortstop Nick Gordon head up the team’s mix of 13 pitchers, two catchers, six infielders and four outfielders. Stewart and Jay make up one-third of the team’s six-man starting rotation that also includes four of the top 30 prospects in the Twins’ organization, according to MLB Pipeline.
Stewart, the fourth overall selection in 2013, returns for his second season in Fort Myers and currently ranked as the No. 8 prospect in the Twins system. Jay, the sixth overall pick in 2015, is rated at No. 4 and is making the move from the bullpen to the rotation. Gordon, who played at Cedar Rapids last summer, was the Twins’ first-round pick in 2014.
Gordon is the No. 5 prospect for the Twins and has baseball bloodlines. His father is longtime MLB reliever Tom Gordon and his brother is current Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon. A lefty in the box, Gordon hit .277 in his first full season of professional baseball in 2015 in the Midwest League.
The Miracle are being managed on the field by Naples native Jeff Smith, who returns after leading them to a 76-63 record a year ago. They open the season Thursday and Friday at Hammond Stadium against the Bradenton Marauders with fireworks following Friday’s game.
Left-hander Stephen Gonsalves is the No. 7 prospect in the Twins organization and will start the year on the mound for the Miracle after splitting the 2015 season between Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers. Gonsalves combined to win 13 games and post a 2.01 ERA over 134.1 innings with 132 strikeouts.
Fellow lefty Randy Rosario makes his Florida State League debut this season after being added to the Twins’ 40-man roster last November. Rosario spent time with Minnesota in big league camp during Spring Training after making 13 starts between the GCL and Cedar Rapids last year.
Right-handers Felix Jorge and Keaton Steele round out Smith’s rotation to open the season. Jorge is the No. 26 prospect in the system, according to MLB Pipeline, and went 6-7 with 114 strikeouts as well as a 2.67 ERA in 142 innings with Cedar Rapids in 2015. Steele begins his third professional season after being drafted in the 8th round out of the University of Missouri in 2014. Steele was 7-4 with the Kernels in the Midwest League last year.
In the bullpen, the Miracle bring back last year’s team leader in saves and appearances, Todd Van Steensel. An international free agent signing in 2014 for a second time by the Twins, Van Steensel struck out 81 in 66 innings and nailed down 13 saves while being named a Florida State League All-Star.
Familiar right-handers Brian Gilbert and Trevor Hildenberger return to the Miracle along with lefty Luke Westphal.
Behind the plate, the Miracle welcome back 2015 FSL All-Star Alex Swim. Despite an injury cutting his season short, Swim finished last year as the top hitter on the Miracle with a .311 average. Joining Swim at the dish is Brian Navaretto.
Ryan Walker will play second base and Logan Wade will play all over the diamond in his return to Fort Myers. Last season, Wade played first, second and third base as well as left and right field.
T.J. White will see time at third base after a 20-game stint with the Miracle and Trey Vavra will play the infield corners. Vavra is the brother of Tanner, who played with the Miracle last year. Alex Real also will play on the infield.
Chad Christensen returns to the Miracle outfield after hitting .257 in 114 games there last season. He is joined by Tanner English, Edgar Corcino and Austin Diemer.