2063.8 Trying to Steal Wins Without Bandit

[Krathan]

I lost Jacquot Natta for the entire season during the Brewster Series last year. It was a brutal blow that I had to find a way to deal with if I wanted to be able to compete in 2063.

Last season, Bandit put up some fantastic numbers. .300/.368/.546 with 29 HR, 87 RBI, a wRC+ of 146 and 4.5 WAR while playing solid defense at 3B in his 127 games played as a position player. As a pitcher, he started 30 games, going 14-8 with a 3.18 ERA, 79 FIP-, 4.2 WAR, and 4.9 WAR.

That's an awful lot of production to make up, and I wouldn't be able to do it with just one roster spot. I decided to try to add a power hitter by trading for Alfredo Trujillo and a starting pitcher by singing veteran southpaw Logan Hill in free agency. There are obviously other players who will need to step up if I want to have any chance of repeating as Atlantic Division Champions but these two players were specifically acquired to replace Bandit.

We are about halfway through May right now so we are dealing with a fairly small sample size but the early returns have been quite positive.

Cookie Monster currently leading the team with 10 home runs and second on the club with 29 RBI. His 130 wRC+ is not at Bandit's level but he has been a very solid hitter so far.

Hill is having a fantastic start to the campaign. He is tied for the team lead with 5 wins and second in ERA at 2.62. He has 5 quality starts in 7 outings and was one out away from another. His babip is extremely low so there is a strong likelihood that he will regress a bit as the season goes on but he has been an out addition so far.

Last year, we were 5 games under .500 at the end of April with Natta. This year, we ended the season's first month 1 game over .500.

A few other players who have helped the team pull out of an ugly first couple of weeks are rookie 2B/SS Tommy Anderson (.285/.315/.577 with 9 HR and 26 RBI), LF Jorge Trujillo (.340/.366/.625, 9 HR and 34 RBI), and stopper Eduardo Moreno (5-4, 2.88, 2 Sv, and a league leading 70 strikeouts). Bob Anderson has recovered from a slow start to his Charlotte career after being acquired at last year's deadline and is currently 3-2 with a 3.19 ERA and Buwono Mainaky is off to another great start at 2-2 with a 2.38 ERA.

[BaseClogger]

Anderson (Tommy) especially impressed me. I hope you don’t mind I slid him over to shortstop.

[Krathan]

Anderson (Tommy) especially impressed me. I hope you don’t mind I slid him over to shortstop.

I was actually hoping you would do that. That was my plan for him.

[RonCo]

A nice set of moves keeping Charlotte rolling.