Miracle Pitching Can't Go Unnoticed

Yes, it's probably fair to say that the Miracle's offense has carried it -- having top offensive prospects like Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario in the same minor league lineup is usually a temporary, and great, phenomenon. But I would be remiss if I didn't mention the starting pitching.

Tonight's starter, D.J. Baxendale. Courtesy of TwinsTrivia.com

Through 2 innings tonight, Miracle starter D.J. Baxendale has 4 strikeouts and appears to be dominating a good Tampa Yankees roster. Going into this evening's game, Baxendale's WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched -- a good stat to measure a pitcher's general effectiveness over things he can control) was a mere 0.92. It's already lower, of course, given his solid first couple innings. He could pick up his 5th win tonight, which would give him at least a temporary lead in wins for the entire Florida State League.

But it hasn't just been Baxendale keeping this pitching staff afloat. As a team, the Miracle have a respectable 3.69 ERA going into tonight's game, and a more-than-respectable 183-60 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In other words, they've been striking out just more than 3 hitters for every 1 hitter they've walked.

This is important. The odds that Sano wears a Miracle uniform for all of 2013 get slimmer with each home run he hits. The pitching is going to have to be ready to pick up the slack when some of these top hitters get mid-season or late-season promotions.