Class-A Advanced
FSL: Stone Crabs Prospects of the Week: 3B Kaleo Johnson and P Tommy Romero
LOD’s picks for top Stone Crabs players from June 17th to June 23rd.
Over the past week, I started our second half coverage of the Florida State League teams with the Charlotte Stone Crabs and after showcasing various games and profiling a few players from the team, we will end the week with what players were standouts for the team.
Kaleo Johnson, 3B
Johnson, a 32nd round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018, has been hitting since he started pro ball last season with the Rays Gulf Coast League team. In 47 games in Florida, Johnson hit .311, with 13 doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 25 RBIs in 167 at bats. He received a taste of playing Low A Ball with the Hudson Valley Renegades and hit .265, with a home run and eight RBIs, through nine games.
This season he started out the year with the Bowling Green Hot Rods and in 60 games he batted .286, with 13 doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 37 RBIs. On June 17th, he was promoted to the Charlotte Stone Crabs and has not stopped hitting.
Now with the Stone Crabs, Johnson is hitting nearly 100 points higher then with the Hot Rods and over his last 10 games he is batting .394 (13 for 33), with seven runs scored, seven RBIs, and three walks.
Over the last week, from dates June 17 to June 23, Johnson is batting .380 (8 for 21), with four runs, scored, three doubles, six RBIs and two walks. He has also hit safely in five of the seven games during the week.
Tommy Romero, P
Romero was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 15th round of the 2017 MLB Amateur draft.
He started his pro career with the Mariners Arizona League team (Rookie) and in 13 relief appearances (2 starts), he posted a 5-1 mark, with a 2.08 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 43.1 innings.
In 2018, he started nine games for the Clinton Lumberjacks (Class-A Full Season) before being a part of a trade that brought him to the Rays organization in exchange for RHP Alex Colome and OF Denard Span.
In 16 starts with the Hot Rods, Romero was 8-1, with a 3.21 ERA, with one complete game shutout, and 77 strikeouts in 84 innings,
This season, the Rays sent Romero to the Stone Crabs and so far in 13 games (10 starts), the Cocoa, Florida native is 5-2, with a 2.01 ERA, and 58 strikeouts in 62.2 innings.
In his last two starts, over the past week, Romero was nearly unhitable, while earning the victory in both. On June 18th, Romero tossed 6.1 innings, allowing just two hits, while striking out four. In his second game of the week, Romero came in relief and tossed 5.1 innings, with three hits, and nine strikeouts, earning his second win of the week.
Honorable Mentions
Offense
Thomas Milone
.444 (8 for 18), 5 R, Double, Triple, 4 RBIs, BB
Pitchers
Shane McClanahan
June 20th – 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 7 K
Joe Ryan
June 19th – 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 9 K
David Conde
David is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Legends On Deck®, as well as a Co-Host on Legends On Deck Podcast. David was a Senior Editor for MetsMerizedOnline.com, MetsMinors.net and Contributor for Hardballchat.com that spanned from 2010 to 2014. David made his MLB Debut as a writer in June 2014, while covering the NY Mets at Citi Field, for MetsmerizedOnline.com. David also coaches baseball for ages 13-15, a Babe Ruth League team in his local community. David's passion is coaching the game he loves to the future Legends of Tomorrow as well as making available a website that people can have fun sharing and reading. David is also passionate about his career as a Mortgage Loan Officer which allows him to help many families reach their dreams of owning a home. Connect with David via his Social Media pages as he loves to chat all about baseball.
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