For the second straight season the Clearwater Threshers won the 1st half division title and clinched a postseason berth. It got a little tight at the end as they had gone 4-10 over the last 2.5 series before last week’s game with Tampa, but then they won 7 in a row to clinch on the road last night. In the last week the team had also lost stars Aidan Miller and George Klassen promoted to Jersey Shore, and so it seemed fitting that in the clinching game the go ahead run was driven in by Jordan Viars who has emerged as a big piece, the scoreless start was begun by 16th round pick Luke Russo who came out of a long slump, and the door was shut by Saul Teran the Threshers closer and the pitcher who closed out the first round of the postseason last year.
The underlying skeleton of the 2024 Threshers is very similar to their 2023 version. The team was loaded with the draft class of the previous year and had starring roles played by a first round pick and a breakout pitching prospect. How the teams accomplished their task was very different. The 2023 version, in sort of a reflection of their star hitter was speed and defense. They grinded out games, ran wild, played good defense, and were never out of it. The 2024 version was a bit more brute force. They had the highest OPS in the league and were tied for the league lead in home runs. They lead the league in walks and runs scored as well. It wasn’t just one star, but Keaton Anthony, Aidan Miller, and Jordan Viars were 1, 2, and 5 in the league in OPS and they got power from players who may have been struggling otherwise.
The pitching side was similar. The 2023 version of this team had Samuel Aldegheri, Jean Cabrera, Estibenzon Jimenez, and a host of fire balling arms and a dominant bullpen. The 2024 version has been less fortunate both with health and high velocity, but much like the offense the pitching was more blunt. The Threshers lead the league in strikeouts with 712 and a 11.2 K/9. Their ERA was 7th in the league at 3.97, but they held opposing batters to the third lowest batting average and held up enough to let the offense do it’s work. The pitching was paced by Mavis Graves who put up a 2.55 ERA and a league leading 77 strikeouts in 53 innings. George Klassen wasn’t at full bore for all of the first 3 months, but when he was on the mound he was the best pitcher in the league. But they got contributions from unheralded guys too. Braydon Tucker, Casey Steward, and Luke Russo all stepped in as unheralded prospects and had good first halves. Much like 2021 3rd round pick Jordan Viars redeemed himself at the plate, 2021 4th round pick Micah Ottenbreit also finally got healthy and had some great starts for the Threshers despite an ERA over 5. The bullpen was full of unheralded arms and redemption stories as Jose Pena Jr. and Jaydenn Estanista bounced back, and Drew Garrett and Saul Teran were dominant strikeout pitchers at the back end.
By the time the postseason rolls around, it is very likely this team will look very different. The early end to the FCL season, coupled with the draft in July will mean that some core parts of the roster will join Miller and Klassen to help get Jersey Shore over the hump after just falling short this week. They will be replaced by the youth FCL team and some fresh faced new members of the organizations. Even if they won’t all be together in Florida come September, they did all get to celebrate last night on a job well done.