OFFICIAL GAME NOTES George M. Steinbrenner Field • One Steinbrenner Drive • Tampa, FL 33614 Phone: (813) 875-7753 • E-Mail: [email protected] • Social Media: @TampaTarpons Florida State League Champions: 1957, 1961, 1994, 2001 (co. w/ Brevard County), 2004 (co. w/ Daytona), 2009, 2010 TAMPA TARPONS (15-18) at FORT MYERS MIRACLE (22-11) G1: RHP Frank German (1-1, 3.60) vs. LHP Tyler Watson (1-3, 5.06)| G2: LHP JP Sears (0-1, 4.70) vs. LHP Charlie Barnes (2-2, 7.99) Thursday, May 9, 2019 • Hammond Stadium • Fort Myers, FL • 3:30 p.m. Games #34/35 • Away Games #15/16 • Radio: TuneIn Radio (Fort Myers Miracle) • Phone App: MiLB First Pitch LET'S PLAY TWO!: Due to last night's rainout, the Tampa Tarpons are now scheduled to battle the Fort Myers Miracle in a double- ACTIVE ROSTER header, with Game 1 set for 3:30 p.m. today at Hammond Stadium. This will be Tampa's first twinbill of the season. Last year, the Tarpons finished 3-6 in doubleheader games. 5 Bristo, Braden ......................RHP 22 Frawley, Matt .......................RHP LAST TIME OUT: Despite holding the Blue Jays to one run, the Tarpons fell in the rubber game as Tampa hitters were held to one 26 Gardner, Austin ..................RHP hit in a shutout loss, 1-0, on Wednesday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field…RHP Miguel Yajure (L, 1-4) logged his second 30 German, Frank ....................RHP quality start (6.0IP, 5H, 1ER, 2BB, 2K, 83P/55S)…Steven Sensley (1-for-2, BB) tallied the only Tarpons hit with a single down the 14 Harris, Hobie ........................RHP right field line in the 4th, but was thrown out stretching for a double…RHP Braden Bristo (2.0IP, 1H, 3K) and RHP Matt Wivinis 15 Junk, Janson ........................RHP (1.0IP, 3K) logged scoreless outings. 17 Lehnen, Dalton ................... LHP 23 Sears, JP ................................ LHP STREAK SNAPPED: Diego Castillo (0-for-4) failed to reach base on Wednesday, snapping his 20-game on-base streak. The 16 Semple, Shawn ...................RHP 21-year-old had been batting .347 (25-for-72) with 11BBs to just 7Ks in that span. Castillo was 0-for-28 to begin his season but 28 Valdes, Jefry .........................RHP has batted .317 (26-for-82) since April 11. 48 Wivinis, Matt ........................RHP 12 Yajure, Miguel .....................RHP HITLESS HICKS: Aaron Hicks (0-for-3, BB) drew a walk in the 1st, but finished 0-for-11 (BB, 3K) in his three rehab games with the Tarpons. The 29-year-old played eight innings in centerfield on Monday and served as the designated hitter on Tuesday before 25 Zurak, Kyle ...........................RHP playing all nine innings in centerfield on Wednesday. Hicks was placed on the 10-day injured list on March 28 with a strained 10 Lopez, Jason ..............................C left lower back. Originally selected in the first round (14th overall) by the Minnesota Twins in 2008, Hicks had not played in the 33 Sands, Donny ............................C Florida State League since 2011, when he batted .242 with five home runs and 38 RBI in 122 games with the Fort Myers Miracle. 4 Burt, Max .................................INF 3 Cabrera,Oswaldo .................INF HOMER HAPPY: Despite ranking second-to-last in the Florida State League with a team batting average of .224, the Tampa 2 Castillo, Diego .......................INF Tarpons are second in the league in home runs (25) and third in runs scored (140), trailing first-place by one homer and one run, 40 Garcia, Dermis ......................INF respectively. A dozen different Tarpons have contributed to the 25 home runs, led by Dermis Garcia's eight dingers. 1 Mateo, Welfrin .......................INF 27 Sensley, Steven.....................INF VALDEZ STEPS UP: In the wake of scheduled starter RHP Clarke Schmidt being placed on the 7-Day Injured List, RHP Jefry 24 Gilliam, Isiah ...........................OF Valdez made his second-career start on Monday. The 23-year-old last started a game in his professional baseball debut with the 9 Hill, Tyler ..................................OF DSL Rockies at DSL Orioles2 on August 20, 2015 (2.0IP, 4H, 5ER, 2BB, 0K, 1HB). On Monday, Valdez logged his first scoreless outing 7 Olivares, Pablo .......................OF of the season, tallying a season-high 4Ks in 3.1IP (3H, 2BB). 6 Pita, Matt ..................................OF DERMIS DELIVERS: Dermis Garcia tallied his eighth home run on Saturday, which proved to be the game-winning run in a 4-3 LAST 10 GAMES (6-4) final. Garcia ranks first in the Florida State League in RBI (26), second in HRs (8) and third in Total Bases (58) and SLG (.542). 4/28 vs. Clearwater .............W, 7-6 STEINBRENNER FIELD REHAB CENTER: Yankees OF Aaron Hicks (left lower back strain) became the fourth player to rehab with 4/30 vs. Charlotte ................W, 6-4 the Tampa Tarpons this season. LHP CC Sabathia made a rehab start on April 7th, recovering from offseason heart surgery.3B 5/1 vs. Charlotte .....................L, 5-3 Miguel Andújar (right shoulder strain) and SS Troy Tulowitzki (strained left calf) joined the Tarpons on April 30. 5/2 vs. Charlotte ...................W, 6-5 MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT: The Tampa Tarpons are set to host Military Appreciation Night on Saturday, May 18th, when 5/3 @ Florida ...........................L, 3-0 they play host to the Daytona Tortugas. Gates will open at 5:00 p.m. and the first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m…The first 1,000 5/4 @ Florida .....................W/6, 4-3 fans in attendance will receive an Armed Forces Card Set, featuring military members local to the Tampa Bay Area. The Tarpons 5/5 @ Florida .....................W/6, 2-1 will also honor those heroes in an on-field ceremony…Tarpons players and coaches will wear special military-themed uniforms 5/6 vs. Dunedin ......................L, 5-3 that will be available for bid in an online auction. The auction will open on Friday, May 10th at 8:00 a.m. and last until Saturday, 5/7 vs. Dunedin ....................W, 4-1 May 18th at 7:00 p.m. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Central Florida USO…Following the game, fans are invited to stay and witness a fireworks extravaganza. 5/8 vs. Dunedin ......................L, 1-0 UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS SEASON SERIES vs. FORT MYERS (0-0) DATE OPPONENT PROBABLE PITCHERS TIME 5/9 6:30 p.m @ Fort Myers PPD (rain) Sat., May 11 @ Fort Myers RHP Glenn Otto (1-1, 3.38) vs. RHP Jordan Balazovic (1-0, 0.00) 5:00 p.m. Sun., May 12 OFF DAY (Mother's Day) 5/10 3:30 p.m. @ Fort Myers (G1) Mon., May 13 @ Palm Beach TBA (0-0, -.-- ERA) vs; TBA (0-0, -.-- ERA) 6:30 p.m. 5/10 6:30 p.m. @ Fort Myers (G2) FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE STANDINGS TARPONS AT A GLANCE Records 5/11 5:00 p.m. @ Fort Myers NORTH 1st Half GB Overall Record: ..............................................................................15-18 Dunedin (TOR) 19-13 - Place: ..................................................................................................... 3rd 6/10 6:30 p.m. @ Tampa Daytona (CIN) 16-17 3.5 Games Back: ........................................................................................4.5 Home: ................................................................................................8-11 Tampa (NYY) 15-18 4.5 Away: ....................................................................................................7-7 6/11 6:30 p.m. @ Tampa Lakeland (DET) 14-18 5.0 Last 5: .....................................................................................................3-2 Last 10: ..................................................................................................6-4 Clearwater (PHI) 14-19 5.5 6/12 6:30 p.m. @ Tampa Florida (ATL) 13-21 7.0 Hitting Leaders Batting Average: ..................................................Isiah Gilliam (.299) Runs Scored: .......................................................... Diego Castillo (19) 6/13 6:30 p.m. @ Tampa SOUTH 1st Half GB Home Runs: .............................................................Dermis Garcia (8) Fort Myers (MIN) 22-11 - Runs Batted In: ..................................................... Dermis Garcia (26) 7/16 7:00 p.m. @ Fort Myers Bradenton (PIT) 20-12 1.5 Stolen Bases: ...........................................................Diego Castillo (5) Palm Beach (STL) 19-13 2.5 Pitching Leaders 7/17 12:00 p.m. @ Fort Myers St. Lucie (NYM) 18-14 3.5 Wins: .............................................................................................4 Tied (2) Charlotte (TB) 16-18 6.5 ERA: ...........................................................................Rony Garcia (2.45) Strikeouts: .................................................................. Deivi Garcia (33) 7/18 7:00 p.m. @ Fort Myers Jupiter (MIA) 10-22 11.5 Saves ..................................................................................Kyle Zurak (5) TODAY'S GAME 1 STARTING PITCHER #30 FRANK GERMAN RHP HT: 6'2 WT: 195 AGE: 21 BORN: September 22, 1997 in Queens, New York ACQUIRED: Selected by the Yankees in the fourth round in 2018. SCHOOL: University of North Florida (2016-18) @fgswift ARSENAL: Fastball, Curveball, Changeup. LAST TIME OUT: Earned his first win of the season, holding the Florida Fire Frogs to 3R (2ER) in 5.2IP (6H, 1BB, 6K, 91P/54S) - German's longest outing of his young career. 2018: Made his professional debut on June 23rd, starting 2019 GAME-BY-GAME for Yankees GCL West and retiring all six batters he faced Date Opp. Dec. IP H R ER BB K HR ERA NP-S (3K) vs. GCL Phillies West…Pitched his final 10 games (four 4/15 vs. BRD L 4.1 3 2 2 1 3 1 4.15 67-50 starts) with short-season Single-A Staten Island, going 1-3 4/22 @ CHA ND 5.0 3 1 1 4 5 0 2.89 80-44 with one save and a 2.22 ERA (28.1IP, 22H, 9R/7ER, 6BB, 4/28 vs. CLW ND 5.0 6 3 3 0 3 1 3.77 91-60 38K). 5/4 @ FLO W 5.2 6 3 2 1 6 0 3.60 91-54 Personal: Pitched three seasons (2016-18) at North Florida, going 18-8 with a 2.36 ERA (205.2IP, 169H, 67R/54ER, 52BB, 206K, 12HR) in 42 games (35 starts)… as a junior in 2018, was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation's top collegiate player, and received All-America honors from D1Baseball (second team) and Perfect Game/Rawlings (third team)…is a 2015 graduate of Bishop McLaughlin H.S.