Choosing a player of the month for the Storm that is not named Jedd Gyorko could prove to be a challenge. Gyorko has been so dominating for the Storm this season that it would be easy to just pick him each month. But we are not to be overwhelmed by Jedd’s amazing early season success. There are other players in Lake Elsinore that deserve attention.

Catcher Jason Hagerty (23 yr old) is an exciting player within the Padres organization. The major reason being that there are few  advanced catching prospects within the system and Jason is showing real promise at that position. When drafted in the 5^th round of the 2009 draft, Hagerty had played little behind the dish in his later college career. He was the backup to high draft pick Yasmani Grandal and spent most of his time playing first base. But a switch-hitting catcher with power potential should never be ignored and the Padres took a gamble that he might develop within the system.

Their gamble has paid off.

Coming out of the University of Miami, the 6-3, 220 lb backstop started his pro career, after signing, with Eugene, where he played in 47 games with 173 AB for a .225/.335/.399 average. He started the 2010 season a bit slowly but was on fire for the second half of the season, hitting .351/.479/.586 including 14 HR and 74 RBI overall.

Defensively, Hagerty has made strides behind the plate. Working as a backstop full time has allowed him to work on his defensive mechanics and play-calling ability. Not yet a plus defender, Hagerty has made 8 errors so far in 2011 with a 29% put out average on steal attempts (19/46) with 2 passed balls. There is still plenty of room for growth in that area, with more experience.

The criticism of Hagerty coming out of the draft was the lack of development offensively during his college career. That criticism no longer sticks. Jason has put up terrific numbers in May with a .338/.414/.584 line in 19 games and 77 AB with 17 runs and 26 hits. He is a doubles machine with eleven in May while adding a triple and 2 HR. This tear has resulted in 17 RBI with 8 BB, 12 SO, 1 SB and 1 CS. He has a .998 OPS for the month. Possessing a little speed for his size and position, Hagerty likes running the bases.

He has a left/right split of .342/.306 and an overall .331/.395/.541 line for the year so far.

It can be noted that this is A ball and it is still a long way to the major leagues but Hagerty possesses the right tools and watching his development should be fun.

Relief pitcher Miles Mikolas was a 7^th round pick in 2009 out of Nova Southwestern University in FL. At 6-5 and 220 lbs he joins the group of tall and sturdy pitchers within the Padres system. At 22 yrs old, he features a low 90’s fastball and plus curve ball and has been a very effective reliever during his minor league career. There has been little attention given to Miles so far as a prospect in the Padres system. I am not sure why this is the case. Going into Eugene, after signing in 2009, Mikolas was a starter who was fairly quickly converted to relieving and spent time in instructs to hone his skills as a reliever.

Going into the 2010 season with Fort Wayne, Mikolas was slated as a reliever. He shared the closer role with Nick Schumacher and assumed the role after Schumacher was promoted to Lake Elsinore. He did not disappoint by finishing the year with a 6-3 record and 2.20 ERA in 60 games and 81.2 IP while saving 13 of 16 games, walking fifteen and striking out seventy eight. He had almost a 2:1 ground ball to fly ball ratio. He has learned to pitch to contact and keeps the ball down while obviously missing a lot of bats with his curve.

So far in 2011 he has been dominant. For the overall  season he is 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in 19 games and 22.1 IP with 6 SV, 4 BB and 25 SO for a .198 average against.

For May, Mikolas is 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA in 12 games and 15.1 IP with 4 SV, 9 H, 3 ER, HR, 4 BB, 16 SO and a .170 average against. He has a .114 avg against with runners on and a .130 avg against with RISP.

Don’t forget this name. Miles Mikolas has shown a similar success path to that of Brad Brach, who set the Cal League record last year for saves in a season. The Padres history of developing quality relief pitching seems to be continuing.