2048 Team Awards
By Khepri Quraishi, Egypt Today Sports
December 16, 2048
The Cairo Pharaohs announced team award winners today.
António Ruíz was signed to replace the legendary but somewhat overrated strikeout king Diesel Dave. Ruíz delivered in spades. Aside from being a standout defensive catcher, something that was expected, Tony had a career year at the plate. He hit a lofty .343, fourth best in all of the UMEBA. He didn’t have Dave’s power, but he hit 14 home runs and knocked in 91 in his 129 games. (Dave, by the way, hit 34 home runs for Riyadh but knocked in only 87.) Ruíz posted a nice 4.7 WRA, second best on the Pharaohs.
Chase Walter was signed as a free agent with the idea of using him as a swing man between the rotation and the bullpen. After the utter failure of Drees Geestman as a starter, Walter moved into the rotation fulltime. He was 12-4 on the year with an impressive 3.58 ERA. His changeup is widely regarded as one of the best in baseball.
David Guerra didn’t win the Bancroft Great Glove Award at second base, but that was mainly because he graciously agreed to move to third base when Ron Ritchie went down with a season ending injury in early August. In his 76 games at second base, he recorded at 10.7 zone rating. And he’s adaptable anywhere in the infield.
David Guerra beat out usual winner Freddy Ayala by a nose. Guerra doesn’t attempt to steal often, but when he does, he is usually successful – 30 steals in 32 attempts.
And we have a tie! First baseman Lawrence Blanchard started the year in the minors but was quickly recalled. He didn’t get a lot of starts, but he made his offense felt when needed as a pinch hitter and especially when he began platooning at first base late in the season. He hit .366 for the season. Meanwhile, Ed Cooper was performing valuable duty as backup catcher to António Ruíz. He took over the backup role late in 2047 and hit .381. Everyone figured that was an anomaly, but he scorched opposing pitching again in 2048, hitting .331, while providing solid defense behind the plate.
That’s a wrap.
