The 2053 season ended in an awful collapse by Portland after the All-Star break that saw the team fail to make the post-season. It was the first time the team failed to make the post-season after 4 consecutive trips to the year end event. But even though the team failed to make it and snapped that streak, the streak of handing out year end awards lives on. Today, the Lumberjacks announced their top rookie from the 2053 season and that was relief pitcher
Orlando Vega.
Vega, a former supplemental round draft pick in 2052, shocked a lot within the Portland organization with his performance last season. Appearing in 73 games a year ago, all as a reliever, Vega posted an 11-7 record with 8 saves. The 11 wins were the 3rd most on the staff behind only starting pitchers Chris Thompson and Steve Warren. Over 101 innings pitched, Vega posted a 3.21 ERA and 1.24 WHIP while compiling a 2.1 WAR.
"Vega had a phenominal season last year" said General Manager Chris Wilson. "We are looking forward to him being a crucial piece to our bullpen for many years to come."
Despite the great season and winning the team's top rookie award, Vega finished 3rd in the Frick League's final voting for the Gillstrom Award given to the league's top rookie. He lost out to the inferior Josh Clark of Madison and Sandro Rodriguez of Louisville. Vega finished in 6th in the final Egan Award voting for the Frick League's top Relief Pitcher in 2053. Again, we're fairly certain some inferior guys finished ahead of Vega in the voting (especially graded by WAR since all 5 guys ahead of Vega in the final vote had a lower WAR).
