3B/DH Jedd Gyorko has had a tremendous April for the Lake Elsinore Storm. The team has struggled on almost every front but Gyorko has been consistently outstanding with his game. Defensively, he has split the hot corner position with Edinson Rincon but has made only 3 errors thru the first month of the season. Offensively, he has been an overall performer. He hits for average and power and the only thing lacking in his offensive game is speed. At 5-10, 195 lbs he will not be confused with a sprinter. But in every other aspect of his offensive game he is outstanding.

His April numbers for the Storm are for 23 games played and 92 at bats. He scored 20 runs with 35 hits, 10 doubles, 5 homeruns, 24 RBI with 11 BB and 15 SO. His line of .380/.442/.652 was tops for the team and 5^th in the league.

In the player profile I wrote on Jedd last month, his scouting report only faults him for his lack of speed but speaks of his aggressive base running and great baseball instincts. The only stat in his brief minor league career that needs improvement is his lack of a triple to his credit. He has yet to leg out a three-bagger with one of his line drive hits.

There is one teammate of Jedd’s to compete with his production on the power front. 1B Nate Freiman has 5 HR and 25 RBI for the same period but his batting line of .272/.331/.474 shows he is more of a pure power hitter although he has 17 strikeouts to Gyorko’s 15 punchies.

Naming a pitcher of the month was not as easy. The five starters for the Storm have had a rough time of it. Only one has an ERA below 5.00 and only one has more wins than losses (Watt and Sullivan, respectively). But the honor of best performer of the month goes to relief pitcher Pedro Hernandez.

A native of Venezuela, Hernandez is 22 yrs old and a 5-10, 200 lb left-hander. The Padres signed him in 2007 and he played in the Dominican summer league in 2007 and 2008. Coming to the States for the first time in 2009, Pedro started with the Eugene Emeralds but had difficulties so was sent to the Arizona rookie league to work on his pitches and confidence. He spent the entire 2010 season in Fort Wayne and pitched in 29 games, starting 13 of those, for 100.1 IP and a 4-3 record with 4.04 ERA. He allowed 6 HR, 17 BB and struck out 79. He showed his ability to bounce back after being pushed somewhat in his first year in American baseball. That earned him the promotion to high A ball with the Storm.

Hernandez has a low 90’s fastball with a plus changeup and a curveball. He is a strike thrower and has late tail on his fastball for swing and miss ability.

His stats so far this season show his progress. In 6 games, 17.2 IP he is 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA, allowing 7 runs and 5 earned runs with 2 BB and 19 SO. He is bound to have some rough outings but, on a team that has had a lot of those already this season, he has been a shining spot and bears watching through the season.