The Lake Elsinore Storm improved their second half record over their first half record and clinched the final playoff spot by tying with Inland Empire for second place in the Cal South division. Both the Storm and 66ers finished eleven games back of Rancho Cucamonga, who also won the first half title in the division.

The offense for the Storm finished with infielders Jeudy Valdez, Jonathon Galvez and Nate Freiman carrying the majority of the first half of the lineup load. Catcher/first baseman and DH Tommy Medica was hampered for the whole season with a recurring, persistent shoulder injury and was only able to DH after coming back from the DL during the second half of the season. When able to play, Medica carried a consistent .300 or above average and also contributed to the top half of the lineup.

The Cal league is a hitter’s league for the most part and it was difficult to find outstanding pitching numbers among the Storm staff. Starter Jose DePaula shined with a 10-5 record and 5.22 ERA in 23 games started and 112 innings pitched.

Left handed starter Andrew Werner began the season with Fort Wayne and was promoted half way thru the season. He finished the year with a 5-2 record and 3.03 ERA for the Storm in 13 games started and 68.1 innings pitched.

Hard throwing Matt Lollis struggled with his control and posted a 4-8 record and 5.35 ERA after starting the year dismally and working out of the bullpen for most of the second half of the season. He remained inconsistent but did turn in much better performances as a reliever than as a starter. He did finish with 114 strikeouts.

Starters Jerry Sullivan and Michael Watt stayed healthy for the season and turned in almost identical performances in terms of record and ERA (6-9, 5.95 for Sullivan, 6-9 5.36 for Watt) with Watt posting the most strikeouts for the team at 119.

Relievers Dustin Pease and Zach Herr had very good results for their year with both earning an ERA slightly above 3 for the season.

Rehabbing Nick Schmidt, oft injured and three years post Tommy John surgery, had a good performance with a 3-5 record and 3.84 ERA in 12 games but is about to turn 26 and may not have much time left to advance to be of any interest to the major league system.

Much touted trade acquisition Reymond Fuentes failed to impress in his single-A season. His final line of .275/.342/.369 in 124 games and 510 AB’s was not what we had all hoped for. He totaled 15 2B, 9 3B, 5 HR and 45 RBI for the year with only 44 BB to his 117 SO. He was successful in 41 of his 58 attempted stolen bases but some scouts thought him to be the prize of the Adrian Gonzalez trade and these numbers should make all of us hope that is not the case. As a possible 5-tool athlete, the only tool that seems to be showing well here is his running speed.

Lake Elsinore finished the first half of the season with a 32-38 record and the second half with a 37-33 record. So they did perform better in the second half but did not have a winning record in any of their final four weeks of the season.

The firepower of Valdez, Galvez, Freiman and Medica provided the majority of the pop with some contributions from journeyman 3B Jake Blackwood and a rotating cast of catchers and other subs. Fuentes appeared at the top of the order for the season while tying for second in runs scored (Galvez) while losing out to Valdez with 93.

The team leaders offensively were Valdez with tops in doubles with 37, Fuentes first in triples with 9 (Valdez-7), Freiman with 22 HR and 111 RBI. It seems obvious that Freiman, Valdez and Galvez will be given the opportunity to play at the AA level next season. Fuentes will probably be evaluated in the spring to determine if he needs to start the year back with the Storm. He turns 21 in February and may benefit from some more single A seasoning.

Valdez, at 22, is maturing well and may move quickly the rest of the way. Galvez, who doesn’t turn 21 until January, may still need to work on his defense and will probably move a little slower.

It should be noted that Galvez split time between shortstop and second base during the first half of the season but played second almost exclusively for the second half of the season. Valdez also split time between second and short during the first half but played almost exclusively at short in the second half. Both players split time between those two positions in all their previous minor league seasons. It seems that the coaches have found the correct spots for them this year. Galvez cut down on his errors from 40 last year, while playing mostly short, to 21 this season while playing mostly second.

Valdez had 31 errors at short but this is the most he has played that position in his minor league career and should improve over time.

The core of this team should be the core for the San Antonio Missions next season and I am looking forward to see if they can take the next step in their development. Many have placed their hope on Cory Spangenberg and Jace Peterson being the infield of the future for the Padres but I am very interested to see how these two will progress going forward, both defensively and offensively.