2009 Myrtle Beach Pelicans Preview

Alright I took a couple days from these but I'm back! Last year's Myrtle Beach team was an absolute juggernaut for the entire regular season going 89-51 on the season but eventually losing out in the playoffs. Most everyone from that team is gone but this year's team is loaded with talent again.

The rotation for the Pelicans is unique in that it is all lefties. Jeff Locke probably the top pitching prospect behind Tommy Hanson in the organization and he will be teamed with Cole Rohrbough, Edgar Osuna, Jose Ortegano, and Chad Rodgers. That is a very solid rotation (though 100% lefty) to go with on the season. Osuna will bounce between the rotation and the bullpen but he might have the most live arm in the bunch. A lot of people are expecting Rohrbough to explode this year as well.Chad Rodgers will start the year on the DL so I'm not sure who will fill his role until then. Maybe Carlos Rivas.

There are several solid bullpen arms at the Beach this season with Craig Kimbrel, Michael Broadway, Cody Gearrin, Lee Hyde and Thoms Palicia being possibilities for Atlanta's pen. Kimbrel is an elite arm similar to Joey Devine with slightly better stuff than what Devine has and we might even see him this year in Atlanta (though he was roughed up in his first appearance).

The catchers for the team will be Matt Kennelly and Benji Johnson. Kennelly is our top catching prospect since Flowers left (some might argue for teenager Christian Betancourt), I am super suprised however that they jumped him straight to High A. He got about 35 AB in Rome las year are hitting O.K. at Danville. He has excellent defensive ability even though he didn't catch when he was in Australia (he threw out 57% of baserunners last year) and he has above average power potential. Keep an eye on him.

The infield will be led by Freddie Freeman, probably our #2 prospect at the end of the season. The rest doesn't look great. Michael Fisher is the shortstop and he has a decent bat, but definitely not great and he didn't walk much last year. Coles Miles is a tiny 'scrapper' kind of player, but he is useless at the plate. Donell Linares is another Cuban guy we picked up who could move fast  given his age (25), so we shall wht he can do at third. Robert Marcial and Randy Gress will be the backup guys with Marcial likely splitting time with Miles at 2B.

The OF will be the main source of offense for the Pelicans with top prospect Jason Heyward manning RF, Cody Johnson (who already has 2 HRs) in LF and Quentin Davis (who is fast, but thats about it; he played in Miss. last year if that tells you anything). Stephen Shults will be the DH/OF and he has  bunch of power and might be ready to break out  little so we have to keep an eye on him.

This team has a great pitching staff front to back and that alone will make them contenders but the offense is weak outside Freeman, Heyward and Johnson. Shults could surprise and Kennelly is loaded with potential but everyone else is a wash.