2041: Ranking the Heartland Rotations

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2041: Ranking the Heartland Rotations

Post by RonCo » Thu Jan 09, 2020 9:56 am

If pitching is 90% of the game, then it's no surprise to most observers that the heartland division he is considered to be among the best in all of baseball. The Heartland is home to last years Frick Nebraska winter and Carlos Valle, and also of several of the league's youngest stars.

With a month of the season under our belt, lets take a look at things, shall we?

To do this, we’ll run through each team, then do an overall table.

Yellow Springs
NameAgeR/LOVRPOTSTUMOVCON
Carlos Valle27R7075978
Ernesto Ramos26R65701067
Carlos Pineda21L7080968
Luis Colon26R5050775
Tomas Ramirez22R5570767
62698.46.47
Rookies Carlos Pineda and Tomas Ramirez joined what was already considered to be one of the Top rotations in the League. Nebraska winner Carlos Valle and 26-year-old Ernesto Ramos both won 20 games last year and could well have been the best 1-2 combination in the league. Luis Colon was no slouch as a number 3. With all of them under 27 years old the future should be bright in Yellow Springs for many years to come. But today they already stand at the top of the Heartland ranks with an average overall 2 potential slash of 62 in 69.

Chicago
NameAgeR/LOVRPOTSTUMOVCON
Amayas Moelling22L7080888
Luis Gonzalez25R6065867
Pepe Jaramillo30R5555776
Juan Nicto29R5555675
Manuel Pena29R5050666RP
586176.86.4
Don't look now but the Chicago Black Sox rotation has actually turned out to be pretty dang good , which might go a ways toward explaining why Vic Calecas ball club is sitting in 2nd place as of this writing. At 22 years old the lefthanded Amayas Moelling looks to be one of the more exciting young pitchers in the division. Luis Gonzalas has all the earmarks of a solid #2 or #3, and the Sox have veterans Jaramillo and Nicto to stabilize things. It’s all working tto great effect.

This is not a staff that immediately draws your eyes, but somehow it's filled with but it's filled with guys who can actually pitch, and guys who with just a little support will win baseball games.

If there is weakness it might be in the number 5 where bullpen ace Manuel Pena is holding down the fort. Pena is a workable option though, and shows that the ballclub can be a bit inventive. We'll see how long he continues to throw in the role.

At the end of the day, it's fair to wonder how long this collection can keep throwing the kinds of numbers it has put down. But, pretty much anyone who's actually looking under the hood can see why it's dangerous to ignore the Chicago staff today.

Louisville
NameAgeR/LOVRPOTSTUMOVCON
Armando Feliciano21R6080678
Hector Amaral32L6060757
Egbert Behner36R5555668
Stan Palacios21L5055568
Freddy Delgado33R5050758
55606.25.87.8
Armando Sanchez24L6565976DL
If Armando Sanchez was not on the disabled list this would be the 2nd best staff in the Heartland vision. But, alas, Sanchez is on the disabled list. Feat not however, Slugger fans, your general manager worked this offseason to bring in three veteran arms who will serve do buttress Commie Child and Stan Palacios until Sanchez gets back.

It's just money, right?

At the end of the day one of the biggest values this rotation brings to the team is that there are no holes in it. Every one of these pitchers can go out throw down a bunch of zeros on any given day. Match that up with one of the most dangerous offenses in the League, and you can see why Louisville is the defending Frick League Pennant winner.

Bringing Sanchez back will just be adding insult to injury as far as the rest of the league is concerned.

Nashville
NameAgeR/LOVRPOTSTUMOVCON
Eru Likiliki24R6065857
Chin Kim29L5555766
Josh Brown30L5050567
Hyun-sik Chang32R5050657
Ta-beng Hor31R4545567
52536.25.66.8
Elliot Buckland33R5050577DL
The annual Elliot Buckland injury didn't help anything, but the bottom line in Nashville is that this rotation is kind of bland and kind of old. Other than Eru Likiliki, the rest are essentially interchangeable parts with Brown at 30 looking like he's beginning to play out the string and Chang, at 32, filling the role of reliable old inning eater.

Don't get us wrong, though. “Bland” is not “bad.”

The Bluebirds rotation sits in the middle of the division ranks on the power of its stability and reliability. Even #5 Ta-beng Hor, should be able to get a few guys out here and there.

At the end of the day, the biggest issue that Nashville fans should have regarding this rotation is not what it will do for them this year but the fact that it is getting threadbare and that there is not a whole lot coming along behind it General manager Matt Rectenwald is already beginning to look into his bag of tricks for the future. We can't wait to see what he comes up with.

Omaha
NameAgeR/LOVRPOTSTUMOVCON
Timo Dooley21R4570597
Jose Lima24R5555668
Jose Arellano24R6065777
Stephen Clulow28R5055766
Jose Zamora29R4545648
51586.26.47.2
The two Joses, Lima and Arellano, will drive a lot of the engine that is the rotation in Omaha this year, and Steven Clulow is a valuable veteran presence who should be able to eat some innings. But make no mistake that this rotation will go as far as Timo Dooley will take it.

Dooley is a twenty one year old star in the making, who Omaha’s Justin Niles will likely throw into the pit to see what will happen. Omaha has never been afraid to lean heavily on its rotation and we expect no different. At question, however, is whether Dooley is physically ready for the load, and whether we will see him go in the same direction as Carson Stoller before him.

Regardless, these top four are actually a pretty solid set. 29 year old Jose Zamora makes the 5th. The question is how long Zamora will stay with the team, or perhaps better stated, how many starts the 5th in Omaha will actually see.

The finals the final score as far as Omaha is concerned, however, is that this is a solid rotation that can be expected to serve the club well.

Des Moines
NameAgeR/LOVRPOTSTUMOVCON
Don Smith21L6080884
Jing-xiang Sa22R4545825
Juan Garcia22R5560668
Greg Palmer21R5080678
Jose Rivera23R4045566
50626.65.86.2
Tsunesaburo Hashimoto25R4560648ML
Now we come to one of the most exciting young Staffs in the BBA. Everyone has heard pundits jabber on and on about Don Smith, the twenty one year old left handed fireballer that Ed Murphy drafted a couple years back. Smith's injury last year does not seem to have derailed him, which is great news for Kernels fans. But perhaps the most are important news is that Greg Palmer, also drafted the same year as Don Smith, has bumped in the minds of most scouts and could arguably be considered the best prospect on the team hence arguably in the League.

Add to these 2 that Juan Garcia looks to be a solid #3 and you've got the makings of some interesting rotation stew.

Of course Sa and Rivera are interesting but likely not impact pictures. This is fine, however, as Hashimoto still looks like he should be a reasonable #5 and then there's more kids coming up in the near future.

Barring injury, the Des Moines rotation should be a tough act for the next several years, and if they develop, will be raising in this rank shortly.

Twin Cities
NameAgeR/LOVRPOTSTUMOVCON
Jose Perez21L4570876
Ragnar Lothbrok28R5055756
Lucio Mendoza21R4545765
Jerry Coyle30R4545478
Manuel Gonzalez24R4545547
46526.25.86.4
The bottom line in Twin Cities his head veterans Ragnar Lothbrok and Jerry Coyle are most likely simple placeholders who can throw a few professional innings. Don't look for them to be with the team a few years down the line.

The important members to keep your eyes on are the 21 year olds in Jose Perez and Lucio Mendoza Perez is arguably the most important of the pair and is likely to be a long term River Monster. Mendoza looks to be a solid in number of 4 or 5, but that of course depends on some development further down in their organization.

Today , though, this rotation bears all the marks of a rebuilding staff.

Madison
NameAgeR/LOVRPOTSTUMOVCON
Yorikane Miyamoto21L5065866
Axel DeGusti25R4040727Fo
Pedro Saludar25L4040465
Adam Barnard29R4040668Fo
Santiago Perez28R4040635
42456.24.66.2
Juan Trujillo28R55551118DL
Maxim Makin30L4040567DL
The Madison rotation is built of a little bit of spit and polish these days, most likely a remnant of the Chris Wilson era. The brightest spot is Miyamoto who, at 21 years old represents the future of the Wolves. Otherwise the staff can be argued to have only Adam Barnard and a few wishes and prayers. Relatively new GM Mike Simon has taken an approach that throws all hands on deck and relies on heavily on the bullpen. You see this in the use of more classic openers and followers rather than the makeshift cyclone ex-GM Wilson attempted to run.

The bottom line is that the Madison Wolves rotation is thin and hard to rely on today, a fact borne out when 28 year old Juan Trujillo threw out his arm.


OVERALL RANKS (Sorted by Overall)

NameOVRPOTSTUMOVCON
Yellow Springs62698.46.47
Chicago586176.86.4
Louisville55606.25.87.8
Nashville52536.25.66.8
Omaha51586.26.47.2
Des Moines50626.65.86.2
Twin Cities46526.25.86.4
Madison42456.24.66.2
As noted earlier, Yellow Springs stands at the top with the average overall rating of 60 two across their starting 5 pictures. The potential sits at 69 still the top. A couple of interesting teams to note: Louisville, at 55/60 is probably underrated because Armando Sanchez will be back before you know it, and the Des Moines Kernels young staff scores in at 50/62 one of the biggest gaps between current in potential on the chart. The Kernels 62 potential would put them at #2 in the division as it stands right now, And they have some young guys in the organization who do not even make the chart today. Knock on wood for Ed Murphy's ball club.

Perhaps it is also noteworthy that the Madison Wolves score in at 42/45, but are currently sitting near the Top of the Frick League pitching statistics, which some are considering an outlier.

Moving to the right side of the chart, it is of some note that Yellow Springs staff Scores so highly in this stuff categories at 8.4, with no other team higher than A7. With Chicago trailing in the number 2 spot with a 7.0. Des Moines 6.6 registers 3rd. And then there is the Omaha staff which might be considered sneaky good since they are upper 3rd in both movement and control, both of which are geared toward their park.
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Re: 2041: Ranking the Heartland Rotations

Post by niles08 » Thu Jan 09, 2020 10:14 am

Wow, excellent breakdown of pitching the Heartland! I wish we had some higher stuff in Omaha to cause some more swings and misses but I guess it is what it is.
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Re: 2041: Ranking the Heartland Rotations

Post by sjshaw » Thu Jan 09, 2020 11:16 am

Browning might be the best SP of all my guys. He'll be up in July.
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Re: 2041: Ranking the Heartland Rotations

Post by CTBrewCrew » Fri Jan 10, 2020 4:43 pm

Pretty much nailed Madison 100% - Good Stuff
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Re: 2041: Ranking the Heartland Rotations

Post by recte44 » Fri Jan 10, 2020 4:51 pm

I am shocked that Nashville wasn't lower on this list. Pretty happy with the patchwork rotation so far. They only need to give us 4-5 good innings.

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