August 10, 2007

Tucker is pitching right in at Jupiter
Southern California has produced more than its share of major league players. In this space, we'll take a look at how Southland players are faring in the minors. This week: the Class-A Florida State
By Bob Cuomo, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Ryan Tucker, a hard-throwing right-hander from Temple City High, is a member of a rather unique fraternity of sorts at Jupiter.

As compensation for the departure of type A free-agent pitchers Carl Pavano and Armando Benitez after the 2004 season, the Florida Marlins received four additional high picks in the 2005 draft besides their own at No. 16, giving them five of the first 44 selections. And they used them all on pitchers.

Tucker, the 34th overall pick, is part of a Hammerheads starting rotation comprised entirely of first and supplemental-round draft choices. The others are right-hander Chris Volstad (16th overall pick in 2005), left-hander Aaron Thompson (22nd in 2005), right-hander Jacob Marceaux (29th in 2005) and right-hander Brent Sinkbeil (16th in 2006). The Marlins' other 2005 selection, right-hander Sean West (44th overall), was supposed to be with the Hammerheads, but is out for the season after undergoing arm surgery.

Baseball America ranks Tucker as the Marlins' eighth-best prospect (seventh-best pitcher). His fastball, which is usually in the 92-95 mph range, has been clocked at 98 mph and is rated the best in the organization.

Tucker is 5-7 with a 3.75 earned-run average after Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Sarasota Reds. He left trailing, 2-0, after going 5 1/3 innings. He yielded eight hits, walked one and struck out four.

In all, Tucker has made 19 starts. In 108 innings, he has yielded 113 hits, including six homers, walked 34 and struck out 75. Opponents are batting .269 against him.

By far his best outing of the season, and probably his pro career, was on June 14 when he shut out the Palm Beach Cardinals, 4-0. He gave up five hits -- four singles and double, did not walk a batter and struck out five. It was the first time he had pitched more than seven innings in 48 pro starts.

Tucker has also been on the opposite end of an outstanding performance. On July 18, three pitchers combined on a no-hitter as the Tampa Yankees beat the Hammerheads, 3-0. Tucker pitched 6 2/3 innings, yielding eight hits and all three runs while walking one and striking out six.

The Jupiter Hammerheads may have the league's deepest staff, but the pitcher who has the most wins in the league is a member of the Clearwater Threshers.

He's Andrew Carpenter, the Philadelphia Phillies' second-round pick in 2006 from Long Beach State. Carpenter, a right-hander, is 13-5. His 3.27 ERA is fourth-best in the league among pitchers with at least 100 innings. He's also second in the league in innings pitched (132). Opponents are batting only .252 against him.

Carpenter won four consecutive starts from July 14 to July 30. In the 28 innings of those starts, he gave up only 20 and his ERA was 1.93.

One of the wins was a three-hitter to beat the Dunedin Blue Jays, 3-0, on July 19. He retired the first 10 batters he faced and retired 11 of the last 12 batters. He struck out 10 and walked two. It was his first shutout as a pro and also made him the league's first 11-game winner.

Carpenter certainly pitched well enough to win his last start, on Sunday against Tampa. He yielded six hits -- including a homer -- and one run in seven innings and left leading, 2-1, but the Yankees scored four runs in the ninth and won, 5-2.

One of the league's hottest hitters is Sergio Pedroza of the Vero Beach Devil Rays.

Pedroza, a designated hitter/outfielder who was the Dodgers' third-round pick in 2005 from Cal State Fullerton, was acquired by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays -- along with Joel Guzman -- in the trade that sent Julio Lugo to the Dodgers on July 31, 2006.

He has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 15 for 31 (.484) with five home runs and 14 RBIs. That surge has raised his batting average from .269 to .290.

Pedroza, one of 14 Titans drafted in 2005 -- all but five signed -- has 19 homers, 53 RBIs and a .542 slugging percentage. He has recovered quite nicely from a slow start when he batted only .163 without a home run in 47 April at-bats because of a wrist injury and vision problems.

One of Pedroza's teammates at Vero Beach is shortstop Neil Walton, who also was his teammate with the Titans from 2003 to '05. Walton, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' 16th-round pick in 2005, is batting .231 with two homers and 29 RBIs. He also has 12 stolen bases, tops on the club.

"Minor League Spotlight" is a weekly web-exclusive feature that appears Fridays.