Season 71 National League Preview
NL North
Boise Demolition (114-48, 1st pl)
Top Pitchers: Al Marquez, Ernest Eaton, Galahad Montgomery, & Ted Frascatore
Top Bats: Francisley Fernandez, Tike Marshall, Louie Gonzalez, & Yuniesky Mesa
A team with a 3.24 ERA is hard to find and it was a shock that they didn’t make the WS. All five starters put-up double-digit wins, and the pen was rock solid with Montgomery shutting the door on 28 of 34 save opportunities. At the plate, the top five bats hit over .285, four scored over 100 runs, and all drove in 79 or more runs. Marshall is still a stud as his career starts near the end but how will this team overcome the loss of D’Angelo Rivera. Age & rising salaries are hindering this team yet there should be one or two more opportunities for this group to bring home the trophy.
Prediction: 101-61, 1st pl
Detroit Tigers (70-92, 3rd pl)
Top Pitchers: Benji McPherson, Kohl Goodwin, Ralph Gload, & Rosell Crespo
Top Bats: Hank Dykhoff, Al Morales, Dane Tocci, & Walter Jeffress
A respectable 3.82 ERA didn’t get support from their offense or this team may have finished above .500. Adding an arm to the rotation would be advisable and determining if last season’s above 5 ERA posted by their closer O’Leary might steal a few more wins. The team’s .246 batting average and less than 600 runs scored left little room for error for the pitchers. If this team can’t put things together this year it will be time to blow up a roster that has too many players in their 30’s not putting up superstar numbers.
Prediction: 66-96, 4th pl
Minnesota Grape Apes (98-64, 2nd pl)
Top Pitchers: Darby Cash, Howard O’Brien, Lyle Small, & Tony Moya
Top Bats: Adrian Melton, John Crosby, Marty Walters, & Robert Podsednik
The teams top 10 pitchers are more than capable as their 3.68 ERA attested to. All five starting pitchers won 11 games or more led by O’Brien’s 17. Moya was 46 of 49 in save opportunities yet the rest of the team found a way to blow 14 saves. Getting the ball to Moya more frequently with a lead would seem to be a no brainer. Melton is a stud and drives the offense. A bit more depth with power would help power this team to the top of the division.
Prediction: 99-63, 2nd pl
Pittsburgh Ellis D’s (62-100, 4th pl)
Top Pitchers: Byung-Hyun Tamura, Malachi McKnight, Evan Polo, & Ahmad Priddy
Top Bats: Yoslan Uribe, Davy Nicholson, Yadiel Cornejo, & Julio Altuve
The pitching staff has pieces to work with including 3 decent SP and a solid closer. What they do need are a #1 & #2 for the rotation and a couple more arms in the pen to help transform this into a formidable staff. The offense is also in decent shape but needs an identity. A decision needs to be made to improve the power, OBP, or speed to allow one of these areas to stand out and help produce more runs to enable them to battle the elite in the league.
Prediction: 68-94, 3rd pl
NL East
Atlanta Chatta Hoochees (72-90, 3rd pl)
Top Pitchers: Flash Fox, Doc DeJean, Macier Grandal, Turner Buddie, & Vin Reyes
Top Bats: Hugh Saturria, Chris Cole, Antonio Moore, & Hung-Gu Kimura
This team is in transition as the eight new players added to the roster show. Last season a rare four-man rotation was used. The weakest of those four was not resigned. Closer by committee was also used with four players receiving at least 10 save opportunities. Saturria was the defacto leader of the offense, yet his numbers were not impressive nor was the team .234 average and lack of power (111 HRs). This will be a rough season in Atlanta as this team goes through growing pains and hopes some of these new players are part of the future instead of placeholders.
Prediction: 60-102 4th pl
Columbus 1492 (75-87, 2nd pl)
Top Pitchers: Domingo Hollands, Greg Stutes, Rymer Amaral, & Willie Meek
Top Bats: Nefi Neris, Ricardo Cano, Rocky Stone, & Roger Dupler
The pitching staff was led by the bullpen last season as they threw close to 500 IP. Can they do that again and hold up to the constant usage, or will the rotation start to shoulder their fair share of the innings. Cano led the offense but that isn’t saying much as they could only produce a .249 average and 676 runs scored. Improvements to the SP and the offense are the best hope to get into the playoff hunt. Unfortunately, that isn’t always an easy thing to do and it may take another offseason of FA hunting to kick things into gear.
Prediction: 74-88, 2nd pl
London Rippers (71-91, 4th pl)
Top Pitchers: Elmer Slack, Joel Camilli, Mark K’aaihue, & Yoervis Gimenez
Top Bats: Barry Estes, Jeremy Bradshaw, Clayton Reid, & Radhames Diaz
Gimenez was a big offseason acquisition, however, even after something of a down year he had a hefty price tag so his performance will be key in helping or hamstringing this franchise. Diaz & Estes lead the offense, yet the others have been slow to follow. Without more production from the bats this team will continue to hover close to .500 but never quite getting there.
Prediction: 72-90, 3rd pl
Trenton Thunder (88-74, 1st pl)
Top Pitchers: Cord Perry, Julian Peralta, Kelson Patterson, & Steve Driskill
Top Bats: Del Chavez, Junior Campbell, Benji Olivo, & Yordano Benitez
The move to Trenton aided the pitching staff to the tune of a 3.49 ERA. Six pitchers started at least 14 games, and all were at .500 or above. Callaway did an excellent job in putting away 48 saves. The offense struggled a bit with Campbell and Olivo setting the tone with some help from others yet upgrading the offense would help come playoff time. While the pitching seems solid the bats need to produce more for this team to make a deeper run in the playoffs. The division is theirs to win so they should be focused on accomplishing that while filling their holes to better compete with the NL’s top teams.
Prediction: 90-72, 1st pl
NL South
Huntington clean coal (75-87, 2nd pl)
Top Pitchers: Adrian Stanley, Bailey Kaufman, Christopher Servais, & Shelley Sadler
Top Bats: Charles Ramirez, Stan Charleston, Tim Griffin, & Rico Torres
This is an interesting team. Seven of the returning pitchers did well last season and should allow this team to stay in the playoff race for at least a portion of the season. While Sadler was solid in the closer role (29/33 save opps), the other pitchers given opportunities blew 15 saves. So how the remaining members perform may determine if the clean coals stay in the hunt. At the dish this team performed well as only one player with 250 AB’s hit under .250 which led to a solid .268 average. Likewise, 698 runs scored is more than respectable yet more power might have increased that number increasing the win total. Changes have been made; will this team rise above .500 and into the chase for a division title or playoff spot should be answered quickly.
Prediction: 81-81, 3rd pl
Jacksonville Five (88-74, 1st pl)
Top Pitchers: Dale Evans, Del Sanchez, Simon Gibson, & Tony Guillen
Top Bats: Boone Pagnozzi, Kris O’Neill, Jose Tatis, & Wilfredo Diaz
The pitching staff is the engine that drives this train. Having posted a 3.30 ERA, Sanchez & Evans heading the rotation, with studs like Gibson & Guillen coming out of the pen, this should be the case again. However, losing Zoltan Hernandez will hurt and make them a little vulnerable. There is some solid power in the lineup yet another big bat or two would make this team click especially considering the lack of team speed. More production is needed with a couple of table setters giving the thumpers more opportunities to help the hurlers and allowing them a bit more breathing room. They should be able to hold on to the division title while the gap may be narrowing between them and their division mates.
Prediction: 86-76, 1st pl
Oklahoma City Scorpions (73-89, 3rd pl)
Top Pitchers: Wiki Sardinas, Julio Gonzalez, Daniel Towers, & Yunesky Guzman
Top Bats: Cecil Giansanti, D’Angelo Rivera, Brett Uribe, & Roy Walker
This is a tale of two halves, one very good, one not so good. The pitching staff is very good and contributed a 3.34 ERA. Getting Devin Burkett back will only add to a very good group. Unfortunately, the bats will determine how far or how limited this team is for the coming season. In an effort to elevate their offense, Giansanti & Rivera were brought in the hopes they could dramatically improve the run production. It may be necessary to go shopping in the off season again to finish the rebuilding of the offense, but this seems like a good start.
Prediction: 82-80, 2nd pl
Tampa Bay Oranges (55-107, 4th pl)
Top Pitchers: Carson Holtz, Kazuhiro Kim, Kevin Ruf, & Kory Torres
Top Bats: Kory Kimbrel, Hideo Yang, Saul Alvarez, & Gustavo Chavez
On the mound the team struggled last season. Yet Torres appears to be a good selection for the closer role and the rotation did have four pitchers throwing more than 170 innings. Upgrading the last four spots in the rotation would go a long way towards improving things. When at the dish this team could only muster a .239 team avg, scored less than 600 runs, and struggled to get on base. This team should improve a little over last season but will need to bring in better talent for both the offense and pitching to stay in the race for both the division and a playoff spot.
Prediction: 63-99, 4th pl
NL West
San Francisco Titans (85-77, 3rd pl)
Top Pitchers: Williams Roling, Tim Tessmer, Robert O’Toole, & Kenneth Dilone
Top Bats: Alex Johns, Burke Borowski, Cutter Hagerty, & Neftali Diaz
You have to like a team that has a 4.07 ERA, five SP with 32-33 starts & 200 IP, and that’s exactly what the Titans staff was able to accomplish last season. The bullpen also contributed with four hurlers producing ERA’s under 4.00 including closer O’Toole and his 41 saves. Changes do need to be made to fill the final 3-4 slots in the staff. Hitting also wasn’t a problem, there is nothing wrong with a .265 average and 745 runs scored, yet a bit more power and players that can get on base wouldn’t hurt. This team rolls into the new season with much of the same cast so it will be interesting to see if they can build on last season or take a small step back without having added reinforcements.
Prediction: 86-76, 2nd pl
Santa Cruz Control (89-73, 2nd pl)
Top Pitchers: Apollo Knotts, Sparky Elbert, Candy Carpenter, & Ugueth Ciriaco
Top Bats: Roger Fleming, Peter Takada, Pedro Castillo, & David Unamuno
Last season’s team had a sub 4.00 ERA while using a 4-man rotation for most of the season. The big question is can a team so heavily reliant on the pitching staff do this two years in a row while subbing in a few new arms? A .240 batting average is not good, and it would have been understandable if this team scored far less than 674 runs. Perhaps the oddest thing about this team’s offense is that what appears to be their three most productive hitters had averages between .234-.260. The numbers that their offense produced don’t support a team that won 89 games but that’s what happened. A wildcard berth turned into a deep run in the playoffs culminating in a WS win, that will be difficult to repeat.
Prediction: 85-77, 3rd pl
Tucson Force (91-71, 1st pl)
Top Pitchers: Antonio Hidalgo, Dillon Payton, Geovany Toregas, & Harry Ugueto
Top Bats: Geraldo Carrasquel, Emmanuel Mercado, Daisuke Woo, & David Ross
Any time you have Geovany Toregas leading your staff, things are good, the fact that your team puts up a 3.68 ERA means Toregas isn’t the only hurler that can spin the pill. The Force will be rolling the dice that they can conquer the division with the same staff. With this strong a pitching staff, the offense doesn’t need to set the world on fire. Yet Tucson does have a solid group that produces enough to not hamstring the pitchers and put undue pressure on them. Ross is the only significant addition to the roster and in the world of HBD that can be a dangerous thing for any team.
Prediction: 89-73, 1st pl
Vancouver Zephyrs (85-77, 3rd pl)
Top Pitchers: Al Trinidad, Frank Smith, Kenny Kennedy, & Tito Kingman
Top Bats: Jerad Lowery, Nicholas Guerrero, Lonny Howington, & Stephen Griffin
Is this a situation where the tail is wagging the dog or is it just a really good bullpen outshining the rotation? The NL produced a few teams with sub 4.00 ERA’s last season and this is another one. With the pen pretty well set, the rotation could use an additional arm to help bolster it in its competition with the bullpen for supremacy. As for the offense, there is power, there is speed, yet neither excel. The team batting avg, OBP, & runs scored also did not excel. Getting more players on base and finding a way to push them across the plate will be necessary to move this team up in a very competitive division.
Prediction: 83-79, 4th pl
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