, especially following his 8 inning, 0 ER, 3 Hit debut for the Hawks, the return on Clulow should not be completely cast-off. In his first start for AAA Montgomery, the 23yo lefty Miroslav Tomanek, in just his third start in 32 appearances in 2034, got the win after going 7.1 innings. Tomanek, giving up only 6 hits and 3 earned runs, looked strong. GM Golden was quoted as saying, "It's part of the plan. Miro's going to get stretched out. We see him as a starter moving forward. When he develops that change-up of his, even if half of what that potential is, he'll easily make you forget about Stephen Clulow."
Combine Tomanek's potential with the longer-term potential of 19yo RP Aleixo Urgeses and you start to see what GM Golden was thinking in that Clulow trade. Even though Urgeses was thrown in as a spot-start for the Class A Santa Barbara Tiger Sharks, where he earned the win after a 5.1 inning, 3 earned run night, he projects to hit the BBA as a Bullpen addition in the future. Before coming to the Goats organization, Urgeses had seen action in 35 games going 4-4 with 19 saves. GM Golden pointed out that "While his 36 Ks to just 6 BBs will catch your eye, his 4.26 ERA makes you look at numbers a little more. When he develops that fastball and slider a little more, that .350 BABIP will come down to more reasonable levels." Asked to comment further, Golden gasped, "He's 19. He shaves about once every two weeks. He's a smart kid and wants to learn. You'll all learn soon enough - I'm not worried about Aleixo's future."
Even without Clulow, if GM Golden proves to be right on the future of these two players then it wont be long before people in Nashville are cheering Stephen Clulow for being the player that jumped-started the Goats into the playoffs.