Game: 7/6 Myrtle Beach Pelicans and Columbia Fireflies

Final: Myrtle Beach Pelicans 11, Columbia Fireflies 3

Summary: The Pelicans had another high powered offensive day with Juan Mora, Kevin Made, Kevin Alcantara, and Ezequiel Pagan all having multi-hit games. Ezequiel Pagan went 3-4 with a home run, two singles, and 4 RBIs. James Triantos tripled.

Tyler Schlaffer had a solid outing going 6 strong innings of 3 run ball (2 earned), striking out 4, walking 2, and giving up 6 hits. Angel Gonzalez threw two innings in relief of no run baseball. Gregori Montano threw the 9th inning, striking out 3 and walking two, while giving up no runs.

Player of the Game: Ezequiel Pagan

Ezequiel Pagan quietly has the highest batting average and OBP on the Pelicans, while just a tick behind Kevin Alcantara in OPS and SLG. During this week’s game of the week, Pagan hit his 7th home run of the season before hitting his 8th later on in the week. Pagan has been a solid contributor to Myrtle Beach almost all season long, but he has really turned it on in June and so far in July. He has obliterated right handed pitching especially. Look out for Pagan to be a platoon type prospect as he works his way up the system. 

Who You Might Have Missed: Gregori Montano’s full season debut

I haven’t heard much about Gregori Montanto since he signed with the Cubs in 2019, but he looked sharp in his full season debut. He had a burly relief pitcher type build and looks to be a fastball/slider type pitcher. His slider looks to be his best weapon. It got a lot of swings of misses, and he seemed comfortable throwing it for a strike. I’m intrigued to see more from the right hander the rest of the season.

Who to Keep an Eye On: Angel Gonzalez

I know I’ve already listed Angel Gonzalez as a guy to keep an eye on, but man he impresses me each and every outing. I really can’t believe the young right hander is only 19 years old. His fastball has a lot of life to it, touching the high 90s at times. Although a third offering is a work in progress, he repeats his easy delivery pretty well, and I could see a third pitch being developed in the future. I wouldn’t be surprised if Angel Gonzalez gets a little bit of the Luis Dever’s treatment. He might throw exclusively out of the bullpen this year, but next year he might get tried out as a starter.

Feature photo of Ezequiel Pagan by Rich Biesterfeld (@biest22)