Sam Whiting Looks Sharp as Storm Blank the 66ers

LAKE ELSINORE – For much of the 2025 season, the Lake Elsinore Storm have struggled to prevent runs. They came into Wednesday’s game against Inland Empire with a collective 6.98 ERA that ranked dead-last in minor league baseball by a wide margin. All it took to right the ship was a system veteran. 

Rehabbing right-hander Sam Whiting kept the 66ers off-balance through four innings and Maikel Miralles added five shutout innings behind him as the Storm cruised to an 8-0 win in front of 2,218 at the Lake Elsinore Diamond. 

Whiting got off to a stellar beginning in his first appearance of the year, getting the 66ers to swing early in the count to roll through the fame on just four pitches, and inducing three soft ground balls to end the inning. 

“It was really nice to see Whiting set the tone very nicely,” said Storm manager Brian Burres. “I mean four pitches, three outs in the first inning – it’s always a nice thing to have, but sometimes, you can start getting on a little high from that, but he stayed the course and kept pounding the zone.” 

Whiting continued to record outs, retiring the first eight batters he saw before allowing a single to Inland Empire second baseman Johan Macias. The 24-year-old showed good velocity on his fastball, sitting 92-94 and topping out at 96 mph a few times. His velocity dipped a bit in his final inning but he limited hard contact. Overall, Whiting needed just 49 pitches – 38 for strikes – through four frames. He allowed only one hit and struck out a pair, generating most of his six whiffs in the third inning. 

“[Whiting] established a fastball really early on, and it’s going to be in the zone. They [need] to be ready to swing early and I think that helped him, and then once he got in there, he could mess around with his other pitches a little bit, but he was just consistently attacking hitters.” 

The former UC Santa Barbara righty reached Double-A last year, starting six games with the Missions down the stretch before a sports hernia ended his season. He should be in a position to join their pitching staff next week. 

The Storm broke things open in the fifth as the first eight batters reached base. Colton Vincent and Emil Turbi contributed with RBI singles, but the most exciting play came from center fielder Kasen Wells. With two runners on, Wells lined a pitch into the right-center field gap and was off to the races. Showing no hesitation, Wells motored around second base and ended up at third with a two-run triple to put the game out of reach. 

Wells has been the spark plug of a solid Storm offense out of the leadoff spot. Wells had three hits and drew a walk Wednesday night, and added another pair of stolen bases in the first inning, giving him a league-best 16 this season. He also leads the league with 24 runs scored. 

“[Wells] just knows what his job is. His job is to get on base, and he does a really good job. He’s one of those hitters – he can get into a ball like you saw on the triple late. But he knows that if he gets into a count, he’s not scared to hit with two strikes, put the bat on the ball, and he runs well, so he puts that to work.”

After Whiting departed, Miralles entered the game and delivered his best outing of the season. Miralles showed improved command with his fastball, which sat 93-94, and looked dominant at times. He finished the game, tossing a season-high five innings. He allowed just three hits and two walks, punching out five while generating 11 whiffs. 

“He and Yorman [Bazardo, Storm pitching coach] have been working hard, so it’s been paying dividends. His last outing, he threw well as well. I think he’s starting to hit a good stride for him as far as his trajectory is going the right way.

“Early in the year, he was missing quite a bit. Walks were a problem but his stuff is good; he’s had good stuff. It’s still there. Now that he is in the zone a lot more, he’s going to have a lot more success and be able to go deeper in games.” 

Notes

Luis Patiño will start Sunday, as the former top prospect starts his comeback from Tommy John surgery last March. … Zach Evans had another multi-hit game, raising his average to .348. He drew praise from Burres. “He just finds a lot of barrels. If you watch, it’s not soft contact. Even his last out, he hit a line drive to center field. He does a great job of finding barrels, and as you can see, it’s working out for him.” … Last year’s third-round pick Cobb Hightower was activated to the Storm roster on Wednesday, but didn’t get out of the desert in time to make his professional debut. The North Carolina native will be Lake Elsinore’s primary shortstop and likely hit in the two hole as he settles in.