The Fort Wayne TinCaps opened the 2011 season with a home series against the South Bend Silver Hawks for 4 games, winning 3 of the 4. This year’s team boasts several top level prospects for the San Diego Padres and their progress is being closely watched by the organization and the fans.

Highly regarded starting pitcher started off the season with a bang, pitching a 6-inning perfect game before being removed for a pitch count. He piled up 10 SO during those 6 innings and was dominant, to say the least. When drafted in ’09, Sampson was touted as a prized prospect and, after battling early arm/shoulder soreness, appears to be coming into his own.

Other highly touted prospects on the TinCaps roster include OF Donovan Tate and Everett Williams; pitchers Zach Cates, Sampson and Adys Portillo. As a Padre fan, you would have to have your head in the sand not to know about the anxiety accompanying Tate during his first couple of years in the organization. This will be his first full season of pro ball with the main goal to be staying healthy for the whole season. Unfortunately, this goal has already gone south as Tate and Williams collided on the field during the 4/12 game and both are currently on the DL although neither injury is considered serious.

SP Zach Cates and Matt Branham had quality first starts but Portillo struggled in his first outing, only making it through 3 innings, allowing 5 H, 5 R/ER, 2 BB, a HR and 4 SO for a 15.00 ERA.

Fort Wayne followed the first series with a 4 game series against the Bowling Green Hot Rods, the 1^st 2 games played as a doubleheader to offset a rainout on the first day. They split the double header and got 2 good pitching performances from reliever Mark Hardy (6 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, HR  0.96 ERA) in a 1-0 pitching duel for a loss and Andrew Werner (1-0, 0.00 ERA in 6 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 6 SO) for the win.

Sampson has his second start in game 3 of the series and was almost as good as his first start. Still carrying his 0.00 ERA he had 5 IP, 2 H, BB, 9 SO. His 0.27 WHIP is best in the league (duh) and gives him 2 hits, 1 base on balls and 19 strike outs over 11 innings! No one expects him to carry this dominance over the whole season but it sure creates some excitement so early in the year.

On 4/15 the first game of the series against Great Lakes was postponed due to rain but will be made up with a 4/16 double header.

As a side note. Pitcher Yefri Carvajal (formerly an OF in the system) has thrown 3.2 innings over 4 games in this young season, allowing 3 hits, 2 runs, 0 earned runs, 3 base on balls, and 4 strikeouts for 3 holds and a 1.09 WHIP. For those of us who have followed him since his first season in the system, it is a good sign. Possessing a great arm and good speed, Carvajal could never get it together at the plate and the Padres were inspired to convert him to pitching late last season, We wish him well.

On the position player side, Tate and Williams were doing well before their injuries with Tate carrying a .353 avg and Williams a .263 avg. Hopefully they will both be back within 7- 10 days.

IF Jake Blackwood, a free agent signing during the off season, is a bat first minor league career player who has not played above the A level and is 26 yr old. But he leads the TinCaps with 2 HR and 7 RBI, sporting a .333/.350/.590 line.

My personal sleeper pick, Tommy Medica, is a strong armed, fleet footed catcher who had shoulder surgery in 2009 and has yet to be able to return to his previous position. He is a capable 1B who wants to return to his natural position, if possible, but is playing DH/1B at this point. He possesses good line drive power and in 7 games has 4 2B, 3 RBI and a .500/.545/.700 line in this small sample size. He worked at catcher in Peoria but has not gotten back his previous arm strength as of yet.

After their 3 games with Great Lakes, the TinCaps play West Michigan for three and South Bend for three. They are currently 6-4 and in 3^rd place, ½ game back in the Midwest league.

Transactions for the first of the season include placing Tate and Williams on the DL and bringing Wande Olabisi and Corey Adamson up from extended spring training for OF depth.