8 Oct 2048
Jerusalem, Israel
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2048 BATTING REVIEW
The word that comes to mind when looking back on the Hammers' 2048 season is inconsistent. Or erratic. Whatever we want to call it, the ups and downs were there all season leaving GM Ben Teague in "fight or flight" mode from the beginning. This is a team that posted a ridiculous 21-4 record in July that was preceded by 11-16 and followed by a 11-17 August. The team had a losing record every month of 2048 except that 21-4 which boosted them to a 81-81 record (where that month came from is a mystery although it was a month where Teague transitioned to a Saber lineup strategy from a traditional mindset, but if that was the reason why did it not affect the rest of the season? Mystery).
So we start out review on the offense. Here was the final line for the offense in 2047:
2047 Final Team Stats
G 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS wRC+ WAR
1688 273 40 216 798 76 41 478 857 .289 .343 .461 .804 115 +27.9
2048 Final Team Stats
So, Jerusalem topped the league in AVG & HITS. Most all other stats were middling. To be sure, the slide to mediocre can partly be due to batters that were key pieces in 2047 but, for one reason or another, were not retained...
INF Rashardo Menne III
INF Richard Drouin
...and you add the key players who had long stints on the IL. That starts with 2047's Position Player of the Year Adam Backhouse who was injured in June and out for the season...
1B Adam Backhouse
CF Juan López
CF Tyler Pavey
It's safe to say that half a season without Backhouse was the biggest reason for the overall. There's really no way to plan around an injury so Teague will have to find other buttons to push and triggers to pull leading into 2049.