May Awards: Fort Myers Miracle

Today I will be continuing my May awards by taking a look at the Fort Myers Miracle who are in first place in their division in the Florida State League. There were several deserving canidates for both awards so it was tough to pick just one. Let me know what you think about who I picked either by leaving a message in the comment box or emailing me at travis_aune@yahoo.com.

• Pitcher of the Month: David Bromberg- This award probably would of went to Carlos Gutierrez, but I decided that since he is no longer with the Miracle it would only be right to go with a member of the Miracle. Really though even if Gutierrez had been there it would have been a tough competition between Gutierrez and dominant starter David Bromberg. After having a good month of April of 1-0 2.70era he really ratcheted things up in May. Look at these crazy May numbers in 5 starts David went 4-0 with a 1.45 era. He worked 31 innings in those 5 starts which is 6.2 innings a start which is the proverbial bulldog. In those 31 innings Bromberg only allowed 5 earned runs. His only downfall is he did walk 14 batters which is a little too much, but he did strike out 27 which is 8.7 strikeouts every 9 innings which is very good including a game where he struck out 12. He also held hitters to a very impressive .179 batting average against him. David Bromberg has really stepped it up last year after posting a 9-10 record with a 4.44 era in 27 starts last season at Beloit. If he can cut down on the walks a little he will be very good as his 94 mile per hour fastball will translate as he moves up the system.
  
  
  
  


• Others under consideration: Mike Mccardell, Spencer Steedley, Blair Erickson

• Hitter of the Month: Ben Revere- This is not as big a easy decision as I thought it would be. Although Revere had an awesome month which he did there were other good months by Rene Leveret, Chris Parmalee, and Mark Dolenc. Revere was just a little bit better and really I can't give him enough supleratives because he is that good of a hitter. After hitting .379 in his rookie season at Beloit there were alot of expectations on Revere and he has met every one of them. After having a good month of April by hitting .296 with 2 doubles and 11 stolen bases, which would of been great every month, Ben really turned it on in May. In 26 games Revere hit .388 with 4 doubles and 1 triple to go along with his 10 rbi's. Not Withstanding the 10 bases he stole to bring his season total up to 21 after stealing 44 last season in Beloit. The weird thing is he is just learning how to steal bases because he gets thrown out too many times for a man with his speed. He is getting better in every asset of his game and will continue to get better. He had a unbelievable .430 obp along with a good .449 slug percentage for a non power hitter. It meant a very solid ops of .879 which is great for a leadoff hitter because if he continues to get on base 43% of the time he will be with the Twins in no time. I really can't say enough about him because every time I look in the boxscore the first thing I look for is to see how Ben Revere did because he is the most exciting player in the Twins Organization.


• Others under consideration: Chris Parmalee, Rene Leveret, Mark Dolenc