2006 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

OF- Carl Loadenthal

Loadenthal had a fantastic season in Myrtle Beach, but his age really limits what we can take from it. Carl is 24 years old which is very old for advanced A ball. Anyways, here is what he did. He hit .323 and got on base at a .425 clip to go with 7 homers and 48 RBI. He was second on the team with 25 stolen bases and had an excellent K/BB ratio at 67/62.

OF- Matt Young

Young had a very nice season despite displaying virtually no power. He hit .281 and walked 71 times against 55 strikeouts for a .389 OBP. He also stole 21 bases in 31 attempts. Young combined with J.C. Holt to form a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup in the second half of the season.

2B- J.C. Holt

Holt also had a decent year without any power to speak of. He batted leadoff much of they year and hit .266 while stealing 35 bases in 40 attempts. His plate discipline wasn’t ideal for a leadoff hitter, however, as he walked 41 times and struck out 80 times.

3B- Van Pope

Pope started slow but became the star of the offense once Brandon Jones was promoted. Pope hit .263 with 15 homers and 74 RBI’s to go along with 31 doubles. His batting averages from June to August were .338, .299, and .280 respectively. He also hit 7 home runs during the month of August.

1B- Kala Kaaihue

Kala struggled quite a bit in his first exposure to High-A ball, but there were also many positives. He hit .223 but still slugged .473 thanks to 13 homers in 188 at-bats. He also continued to show a tendency to not only strike out a lot but also walk a lot. He walked 30 times but also struck out 49 times. He has the power, he just needs to improve his contact a little bit.

SP- Kelvin Villa

Kelvin was the lone representative in the all-star game for the Pelicans. The lefty had a nice year, going 8-6 with a 3.83 ERA. He really pitched well during the first half of the season before tailing off a bit in the second half.

SP- Matt Harrison

Harrison began his season in Myrtle Beach and earned a mid-season call-up by going 8-4 with a 3.10 ERA. His K/9 was decent at 6.65 and he had excellent control by only walking 16 and allowing a WHIP of only 1.14. In my opinion, he is possible the brightest pitching prospect in the organization right now.

RP- Michael Nix

After dominating Rome for a few weeks, Nix came up to the Beach and pitched very well there as well, compiling a 2.90 ERA with 7 saves. He struck out 50 guys in 49.2 innings but also walked 30 for a 1.49 WHIP. He is going to have to get that WHIP down to be a successful reliever at higher levels.