Sports stats



CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

2010 California-Carolina League All-Star Game Rosters Announced

June 10, 2010 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The Myrtle Beach Pelicans, in conjunction with the California and Carolina Leagues, have announced the rosters for the 2010 California-Carolina League All-Star Game to be held on Tuesday, June 22 at BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The 15th edition of the interleague showcase game features top prospects from each coast including a game-high seven players headed to the 2010 All-Star Game in Myrtle Beach from the Winston-Salem Dash, the Carolina League Southern Division first-half leaders. Two clubs from the Golden State circuit will send five players each to lead the way in the California League: the Lake Elsinore Storm and the 2009 California League-champion San Jose Giants.

The two-day All-Star Game festivities include the 2010 California-Carolina League All-Star Gala to be held at the Myrtle Beach House of Blues on Monday, June 21 at 7:00 PM as well as pregame autograph sessions, batting practice, and home run derby on the 22nd.

CAROLINA LEAGUE: The Winston-Salem Dash have busted out of the gate to say the least in 2010. Entering their most recent series on June 7 against Myrtle Beach, the Dash had the best record in all of professional baseball at 38-19. Winston-Salem's hot start has been duly rewarded as seven Dash players will make the trip to the beach for the 2010 California-Carolina League All-Star Game. Five Dash are in the Carolina League's top ten in batting average, and four of those will be among the circuit's position players. Infielders Eduardo Escobar, Jon Gilmore and Seth Loman, the Carolina League home run leader with 14, join outfielders Brandon Short and Justin Greene on the roster. Greene is a native of Goose Creek, South Carolina who will be playing just two hours from his hometown. Two Dash pitchers will also make the trip in righties Nevin Griffith and Gregory Infante. Infante, with a league-leading eight saves, is the only reliever of ten total pitchers on the Carolina League staff.

While battling it out with the Dash for the Carolina League Southern Division crown, five Salem Red Sox have earned the honor of an All-Star Game nod. They are catcher/designated hitter Ryan Lavarnway, second baseman Oscar Tejeda, third baseman Will Middlebrooks, and starting pitchers Brock Huntzinger and Alex Wilson. Lavarnway leads the loop with 48 runs batted in while Huntzinger went 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA in the month of May. Middlebrooks is ranked as the second-best third base prospect in the Boston Red Sox system, and Tejeda's .324 average leads all Red Sox batters and is currently tied for fifth in the league.

Representing the Kinston Indians, left-hander T.J. McFarland has dominated the Carolina League this season. The southpaw from Palos Hills, Illinois leads the Carolina League with a 2.08 ERA and did not allow more than one earned run in a start until his eighth outing of the year on May 20. McFarland has been a focal point of a K-Tribe pitching staff that owns a 2.87 team ERA.

The host Myrtle Beach Pelicans will send three pitchers from their resurgent pitching staff to the second consecutive All-Star Game hosted in Myrtle Beach in a Carolina League year. Right-handers Randall Delgado, J.J. Hoover, and Julio Teheran will join the Carolina League squad to add a local element. Delgado, despite a 2-5 record, has been the Pelicans' most consistent starter this year. The right-hander from Las Tablas, Panama leads the circuit with 87 strikeouts, 78 innings pitched, and a 0.97 WHIP and ranks third in the Carolina League with a 2.42 ERA. His strikeout total ranks fourth in all of Minor League Baseball. Hoover stumbled out of the gate but has dominated since some mechanical adjustments righted his ship in the early part of May. Over his last six starts, the Elizabeth, Pennsylvania native has gone 4-1 with a 0.92 ERA, striking out 34 batters against seven walks. Teheran was on track to make the South Atlantic League All-Star Game until his mid-May promotion to the Advanced Class A ranks. The 19-year-old Colombian raised eyebrows with 12 strikeouts in his Carolina League debut and dropped jaws two outings later when he whiffed a Pelicans record-matching 14 Winston-Salem Dash batters. In four starts for the Pelicans, Teheran has posted a 2-0 record and a 1.04 ERA. The group's coaching staff, manager Rocket Wheeler, hitting coach Rick Albert, pitching coach Kent Willis, and trainer Chas Miller will coach the Carolina League stars. It marks Wheeler's third straight season managing his circuit's midsummer best.

The Northern Division-leading Frederick Keys send two members as utility men to the showcase game. Shortstop Greg Miclat and outfielder Ronnie Welty will don their club's orange and black on June 22 at BB&T Coastal Field. Had he not missed time this season due to injury, Miclat's .313 average would qualify for a tie for seventh in the league. Welty has smacked his nine home runs this year at a rate of one every 21.22 at-bats, good for fifth-best in the circuit.

The Potomac Nationals will send top Washington Nationals top right field prospect Michael Burgess to Myrtle Beach. Burgess, who batted just .235 last season in the Carolina League, has hit his stride this year, batting .273 with 44 runs batted in, second in the league.

Out of Wilmington, first baseman Eric Hosmer and catcher Salvador Perez bring some thump to the Carolina League lineup. Hosmer leads the loop with a .359 batting average after two months of Advanced Class A ball. The top first base prospect in the Kansas City Royals system checks in at first in the league with 21 doubles, second in on-base percentage at .425, third with 79 hits, and fourth with 114 total bases. Perez, the Carolina League's reserve catcher behind Lavarnway, has batted .294 with three homers and 22 runs batted in but has committed just five errors behind the plate (good for a .987 fielding percentage) and has thrown out 44% of would-be basestealers.

Lynchburg starting pitcher Brad Boxberger rounds out the Carolina League squad. The ninth overall prospect in the Cincinnati Reds system, Boxberger is a 6'2", 200-pound right-hander out of the University of Southern California and the son of former College World Series MVP Rod Boxberger. Brad has gone 4-5 with a 3.20 ERA in his 12 starts with the Hillcats this year, striking out 62 against 17 strikeouts.

CALIFORNIA LEAGUE: The Lake Elsinore Storm, hosts of the 2009 California-Carolina League All-Star Game, have been the class of the California League in 2010 with 40 wins in the season's first 60 games. The Storm will send five prospects to this year's event, three of whom are ranked in the San Diego Padres' top 30 according to Baseball America. Lake Elsinore's middle infield will hold down that vital part of the Cal League's All-Star corps. Shortstop Drew Cumberland, the eleventh-best overall Padres prospect and best shortstop in the San Diego system, and second baseman Cole Figueroa, the 17th-best overall and second-best second baseman, are two of five Storm members named to the California League squad. They'll be joined by their Storm teammates outfielders Blake Tekotte (17th-best overall, third-best center fielder) and Dan Robertson as well as pitcher Brad Brach who has converted an astounding 21 of 22 save opportunities to accompany his 1.91 ERA this year.

While the Dash have posted eye-popping offensive numbers in the first half of the 2010 campaign in the Carolina League, their West Coast counterparts, the High Desert Mavericks, have been a shade better with the bats. The Mavericks boast the second-best team batting average in all of professional affiliated baseball and will send first baseman Rich Poythress, second in the Cal League with 12 home runs, along with pitcher Ken Kasparek to Myrtle Beach. Kasparek leads the circuit in innings pitched (77) and WHIP (1.06) and ranks fourth with a 2.34 ERA.

The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes add three players to the Cal League roster in infielder Alexi Amarista, outfielder Tyson Auer, and pitcher Tyler Chatwood. Amarista leads the circuit with 78 hits while Auer has swiped a league-leading 31 bases. Chatwood is tied for tops in the California League with seven wins and owns the league's second-best ERA at 1.87.

From the Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino, pitcher Nathan Eovaldi gets the nod. Already with a complete-game shutout on his tally this year, Eovaldi has made nine starts for the 66ers and has gone 1-3 with a 3.40 ERA.

The Houston Astros-affiliated Lancaster JetHawks send their big league club's eighth-best overall prospect, outfielder Jay Austin. The 19-year-old ranks second in the league with 26 stolen bases just two years after being selected out of high school in the second round of the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

On an early-season collision course with the Storm, the defending league-champion San Jose Giants match Lake Elsinore's roster total with five men headed to the Grand Strand. Infielder Brandon Belt, who leads all All-Stars with a .379 batting average, headlines San Jose's contingent. He'll be joined in Myrtle Beach by outfielder Juan Perez and a trio of pitchers: right-handers Craig Westcott and Justin Fitzgerald and lefty Eric Surkamp. Westcott leads the California League with a 1.38 ERA in ten starts this year, and Fitzgerald is two spots behind him at 2.09. The pair has combined to go 8-0 this season. Surkamp's 1.12 WHIP (third) and .237 batting average against (fifth) both rank in the top five among league pitchers. Like they did in 2008, the Giants will be also sending their coaching staff to serve as the California League's leaders. Manager Brian Harper, pitching coach Jerry Cram, and trainer L.J. Petra will be the Cal League's coaching trio.

Representing the Modesto Nuts are catcher Jordan Pacheco, infielder James Cesario, and pitcher Ethan Hollingsworth. Pacheco, the third-best catching prospect in the Colorado Rockies system, started the season on a tear, batting over .400 as late as May 18. He currently ranks eighth in the league with a .337 batting average, one spot below teammate Cesario. Hollingsworth, a right-hander from Joliet, Illinois, won five straight decisions spanning six starts from April 14 through May 14. He has pitched through the sixth inning or longer in eight out of eleven starts this year.

Pitcher Brian Woodall will represent the Visalia Rawhide out of the bullpen. In 21 relief appearances this year, Woodall has posted a microscopic 0.33 ERA while going 3-2 with five saves in six chances. His 13.17 strikeouts-per-nine-innings ratio is the highest in the California League.

Stockton Ports infielder Stephen Parker has been a steady force at third base for the Oakland Athletics affiliate. Parker has played in all but one of his team's games and ranks third among team regulars with a .292 batting average. His nine home runs place him one spot outside the top five in the Cal League in that category.

Rounding out the Golden Staters' roster is catcher Jose Felix from the Bakersfield Blaze. The sixth-best catching prospect in the Texas Rangers system has hosed 64% of baserunners attempting to steal against him this year and has batted .268 in 43 games for the Blaze.

* ALL STATISTICS IN THIS RELEASE ARE CURRENT THROUGH GAMES OF JUNE 9, 2010.

Tickets are still available for the 2010 California-Carolina League All-Star Game at BB&T Coastal Field on June 22. For more information, log onto myrtlebeachpelicans.com, call 1-877-918-TIXX or 843-918-6000, or stop by the Pelicans Box Office at BB&T Coastal Field.

Check out the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...

Carolina League Stories from June 10, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Myrtle Beach Pelicans Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central