Columbia Fireflies infielders Dash Winningham and Michael Paez will add the Home Run Derby to their All-Star festivites next week at Spirit Communications Park in Columbia, South Carolina.
Winningham and Paez are among eight South Altantic League All-Star that will participate alongside six high schoolers in the derby on June 19.
Each player will get ten outs per round to hit as many home runs as they can. After their ten outs, the participants will have one last “Glow Ball” that is worth three bonus points.
Winningham is tied for second in the league with 11 home runs with ten of them coming in his last 33 games. Paez has six home runs and is tied for the league lead with 20 doubles.
Original Post – June 7
In the middle of what has been an outstanding season for many of the Columbia Fireflies, five players have been named to the Southern Division All Star Team:
RHP Jordan Humphreys
2017 Stats: 8-1, 1.40 ERA, 0.659 WHIP, 11.4 K/9
Humphreys has been the most dominating starter in the Sally League. He leads the league in wins, ERA, WHIP, CG, and SHO. He is also fourth on strikeouts.
RHP Merandy Gonzalez
2017 Stats: 7-1, 1.73 ERA, 0.924 WHIP, 8.8 K/9
The April Sally League Pitcher of the Month is nipping at Humphreys heals over who is the best pitcher in the league. He’s tied atop the league in wins, and he is third in WHIP and ERA.
RHP Max Kuhns
2017 Stats: 1-0, 4 SV, 2.28 ERA, 0.930 WHIP, 13.3 K/9
Kuhns has emerged as a dominant bullpen arm in May, and as a result he has is getting the bulk of closing opportunities.
2017 Stats: .253/.306/.416, 18 R, 10 2B, 7 HR, 38 RBI, SB, 2 CS
After a tough year last year, Winningham has rediscovered his power stroke with the Fireflies. This year, he leads the Sally League in both RBI and best baseball name.
2B Michael Paez
2017 Stats: .305/.398/.537, 30 R, 19 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 35 RBI, 6 SB, 4 CS
The Mets 2016 fourth round pick had taken off this year showing the team the offensive potential that led the team to draft him. His 19 doubles leads the Sally League, and he ranks fifth in total bases.
Conspicuously absent from this list is outfielder Tim Tebow.
However joining these five Fireflies at the All Star Game is their manager Jose Leger. His Fireflies team is 31-25 and three games behind the Red Sox affiliate Greenville Drive.
The Sally League All Star Game will be hosted by the Fireflies at Spirit Communications Park. The game is scheduled to be played Thursday, June 20th at 7:05 PM.
Nice to see these guys doing well and hopefully this means promotions for most of these guys. Winningham is stuck being a 1B barring any long term injuries up top. Too many guys ahead of him: Smith, Alonso, Urena & Mazeika (Both get used at 1B but will likely be called up to AA at some point).