Addicted Users Season 74 NL Preview

 

Addicted Users Season 74 NL Preview

 

NL North

 

Boise Demolition (86-76)

While they made the playoffs, it was a brief appearance.  The second-best batting average in the league is normally a good thing, however, scoring runners once they got on was not.  To compound the issue, the pitching staff struggled and gave up more runs that the team scored so finishing above .500 was an interesting contradiction.

Nothing major was done to change the roster, except the addition of Burks and Montgomery.  They should be good additions that improve the performance of the pitching staff with the hope that the offense can gel better to improve the run production

 

Detroit Tigers (61-101)

A 100 loss season is never a good thing and at first glance the struggles of both the offense and the pitching staff show why it happened.  A team that scores 800 runs has an excellent chance of making the playoffs.  Score only 614 and there is little chance of a playoff appearance, score 614 and allow 794 runs makes the mountain too high to climb.

Management has been patient and seems to have accepted the need to hold the line as prospects continue to develop in the minors.  This will be another long summer in Motown, yet fans should remain hopeful that the pain will end very soon when the time is right.

 

Minnesota Grape Ape (92-70)

The offense is near the top of the league, using a power attack to score enough runs to take home the division title.  The staff was in the top half of the league, had a sub 4.00 ERA, and kept their opponents from scoring to give the thumpers the time to break the big bats out.

This is another team that didn’t change a lot of personnel during the offseason and plans to run the same group out hoping for improvements from the current roster.  There is talent on the farm, but the best players won’t be ready until at least next season.

 

Pittsburgh Ellis D’s (68-94)

The pitching staff leads the way for this team.  The hurlers pulled their weight while limiting opponents to 738 runs scored, however the offense couldn’t convert baserunners thereby dooming Pittsburgh to a sub .500 record.

Last season’s roster returns with only minor alterations.  That means this season’s results should be more of the same.  There is a silver lining though, the team does have ML prospects nearly ready to contribute to the big league club, so the future will be better.

 

NL East

 

Burlington Merchants (76-86)

In a surprise move, ownership was changed twice before the season began so this team has not been shaped in the manner management may have wanted.  The offense needs to find an identity as it didn’t show a lot of power, speed, or ability to get on base.  The pitching staff didn’t put up great numbers, but it did enough to have made a good run at .500.

The additions to the offense look like stopgaps at best and won’t be enough to fix the problems, so adjustments may be necessary in the offseason.  The players added to the pitching staff appear to have a better chance to make a difference this season.  Fortunately, pitching help is being developed in the minors, the prospects to help the offense isn’t as deep.

 

Columbus 1492 (66-96)

Scoring 618 runs and allowing 847 is not a recipe that will get a team into the playoffs.  Therefore, wholesale changes need to be implemented.  Martis was added from the FA market and Sucre was picked up in the Rule 5 draft, so while the number of players added was not huge, the two selected were a good start.

The recent struggles of this franchise brought high draft picks, and those picks appear to have been used wisely.  An influx of homegrown talent should start arriving to the majors very soon and flipped this teams fortunes.

 

 

London Rippers (81-81)

A sub 4.00 ERA is what all teams strive for, unfortunately the offense wasn’t able to hold up their end in the same manner.  So any additions to the pitching would just add to the strength of this team.  Additions to the offense would just narrow the talent gap between the two units.

However, management thought the bullpen needed some extra help and added a few arms.  It was also felt that a strong defensive catcher would also improve and help the staff.  The question becomes how will the offense improve on last season’s performance to make up the distance between London and the playoff teams?  Eventually, that support will come from the farm, but probably not this season.

 

Trenton Thunder (83-79)

The pitching staff was a true strength of this team, however, with 26 blown saves there is a need to find a way to do a better job closing out games.  A tighter handle on this position could have turned this into an elite team.  In addition, some upgrades to the offense would go a long way towards helping improve the Thunder.

With few moves made in the offseason and most of the help in the minors on the pitching side, they will need to rely on the arms to carry this team.  But moving a few arms for a few bats may be a way to shift the offense into a higher gear.

 

NL South

 

Huntington Moon Mammoths (84-78)

200+ HRs, nearly 800 runs scored, and a solid .266 batting average are normally things to indicate a playoff team.  Yet the Mammoths fell short, which places at least some of the blame on the mound with the pitching staff.  A 4.02 ERA is good, however last season that was only a little better than the league average and 19 blown saves didn’t help propel then out of 3^rd place and an early vacation.

Ownership showed a lot of faith in this team’s core as only some minor tinkering was done with the big moves being the acquisition of a SP & RP off the FA market.  Another pitcher was selected from the Rule 5 draft, but he appears to be more of a project.  This may be enough to get them into the hunt or doom them to another early vacation in the Bahamas.

 

Jacksonville Five (86-76)

This North Florida franchise was lucky to finish as well as they did.  Both the offense and pitching staff finished in the middle of the pack.  Having scored only 8 more runs than allowed with almost 80 of those runs unearned, standard thinking would have guessed this team was sub .500 fighting to avoid 100 losses.  So the game management was excellent and got everything from the production they received to keep this team winning only losing out on a playoff trip through a tiebreaker.

A solid bullpen arm was added, and possibly a decent pitching prospect through the Rule 5 draft.  Little else was changed so it will be interesting to see if this team can build on last season’s record or slip back a little.

 

Oklahoma City Scorpions (96-66)

The three-time defending division champs won in a very unusual way.  They had the second-best pitching staff in the league, while having the third worst offense.  A team that holds opponents to a paltry 615 runs scored, doesn’t need a lot of run production.

Little was done to change the roster even with the offensive deficiencies the team feels strong that bringing back the same roster is the best move to go forward with.  But before you shed any tears for a 96-win team, there are more arms on the way, and the farm has some offensive weapons waiting in the wings to reinforce the big league club.

 

Tampa Bay Oranges (63-99)

Allowing over 800 runs puts a huge strain on your offense to score runs.  Scoring less than 650 runs puts a huge strain on a pitching staff.  When both struggle like this in the same season the results won’t be good and they weren’t.

While this team has had prolonged struggles, they have also been stockpiling talent.  There appears to be a couple of holes in their organization that can’t be filled by current MiL players so that leaves two questions: First – When will the troops in the minors be let loose on the NL.  And second – will they try to fill any holes via the trade or FA markets.  Keep your eyes open for future developments.

 

NL West

 

San Francisco Titans (82-80)

The Titans seem to be dialed in with their pitching staff, however, trying to reduce the number of blown saves would be a good strategy.  Adding to the shore up the offense should be a higher priority though as they didn’t show a lot of power, nor did they get on base a lot.

Brinkley was brought in to pump up the bullpen, Bocachica should add a power boost if he can pull the ball more.  There is some talent in the minors, however, big bats are in short supply at this point.

 

Santa Cruz Control (92-70)

The Control brought the top pitching staff in the NL to the party.  They also had a top five offense which makes their 92 wins a bit lower than expected in my opinion, even more so when you add in a team tied for the top defensive slot. 

With few holes to fill, only minor tweaks were made.  This may be because the minors hold some gems that should help improve an already solid team.

 

Tucson Force (107-55)

A team that wins 107 games has few things to fix, yet their closer role could use an upgrade to reduce their 20 blown saves.  The offense is stellar and was in the hunt for 1000 runs scored making the blown saves of little concern until the playoffs.

However, it is rare that a team doesn’t make any moves so it’s not surprising that Tucson added another bat and, albeit not a closer, another bullpen arm. 

 

Vancouver Zephyrs (73-89)

Both the bats and pitching put up average numbers and that landed them an little below average record.  The team has a definite power shortage as it had the fewest homers in the league.  The strength of the pitching staff was in the pen where they converted 51 of 64 save opportunities.  Bring in a few longball threats and some upgrades to the starting rotation should be the focus.

Cortez was the only dip into the free agent pool; he does have 20+ HR power so that helps reduce a weakness.  The farm has some talent but it’s not well stocked so either the team will have to take a slow build approach using the draft or make additional moves in the FA market to help build a team that can compete with the powerhouse from Tucson.