Q & A : The Miracle's Jeff Manship

By Glenn Miller
Fort Myers News-Press

Fort Myers Miracle pitcher Jeff Manship has been one of the best pitchers in minor-league baseball this year. He started the season with the Beloit Snappers of the Midwest League, where he compiled a 7-1 record with a 1.51 earned run average.

That earned him a promotion to the Florida State League and the Miracle. He's 5-2 here with a 2.30 ERA. Combined, Manship is 12-3 with a 1.79 ERA.

Why is the former Notre Dame pitcher so effective?

"He's able to change speeds," Miracle manager Kevin Boles said. "He has quality stuff. There's no doubt about it. He has some fastball sink and his breaking ball, he's able to throw it for a strike late. It fools a lot of hitters. He's very aggressive and holds runners well. Fields his position. He's got a lot things going for him."

One afternoon last week Manship, 22, sat on a bench outside the Miracle clubhouse to discuss various topics.

You attended Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio, Texas. What did you learn about the president?

What did I learn about Ronald Reagan himself? Not really much about him. I know he was an actor before becoming president. Honestly, that's about it. Republican obviously but all the schools down in San Antonio are Republican. I went to Barbara Bush Middle School, too.

What's the difference between the low A Midwest League and high A FSL?

You can definitely tell the hitters are better and they basically wait for a certain pitch and if you make a mistake they're more prone to hit it a lot harder than the guys down here. You can get away with a little more down in Beloit. And here you got to be a little bit more careful and each level you go up you got to be even more careful. I heard Double-A is day and night compared to here, too.

On July 23, you struck out 12 in seven innings against the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Were things clicking that game?

I definitely felt my curveball. I was throwing that for strikes and I was keeping the guys off balance and I could throw it on any count pretty much that I wanted to and I had a lot of sink on my fastball. I'd say that was my best start so far here.

How is the heat here compared to San Antonio?

It's a lot more humid here, and the heat gets to me a little bit more. This is the most I've ever sweated in my life. San Antonio's really hot but a little more of a dry heat. When you're here, your hand is constantly wet.