Tropical Tidbits: 39.06 - Mid-season Moves Paying Dividends

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Tropical Tidbits: 39.06 - Mid-season Moves Paying Dividends

Post by udlb58 » Fri Sep 06, 2019 11:03 pm

Late in the month of June, the Hurricanes sat just 4 games over .500 and out of the playoff picture. At the time, the rotation consisted of Zhi-xin Chien, Taisuke Suzuki, Juan Jose Fuentes, Raúl Gerela, and Kelile Chimanga. Victor Bautista was starting in left field and Juan Guerrero was splitting time at catcher. With the season stagnant and on the edge of becoming a huge disappointment, the Jacksonville Hurricanes made a series of moves over the next 8 weeks. Some were viewed as being big moves and some flew under the radar, but all of them helped the Hurricanes secure a playoff spot and propel them to a successful post-season run. Here's a look at the moves and their impact on the 2039 season.

June 10th: Trade for Alejandro Ramírez and move of Fuentes to the bullpen. The regular season impact of this move wouldn't be huge, as Ramirez would get injured after just a few starts and Fuentes would end up back in the rotation. However, this has paid off at the end of the season with Ramirez posting a 1.59 ERA in his September return and a 2.35 ERA and 1 player of the game award in 4 postseason starts.

June 16th: Call up Pepe Castillo (eventual demotion of Andino Bianchi). With an injury to Marcos VIllegas, another bullpen arm was needed, so Simmons called upon the 35 year old lefty. By the time Villegas (and Suzuki) returned from injury, Castillo had a 2.31 ERA over 23.1 IP and it was Bianchi (who had only appeared in 8 games in the first half) headed to AAA. Castillo continued his strong season with a 3.00 ERA over 63 innings (before he allowed more than 11 runs over his final 5 innings).

June 22nd: Donald Harris moved from setup/closer to the rotation, Gerela dropped to long relief and Emergency Starter role. Harris had flirted with a rotation role for years, but was never able to establish himself and he was too valuable as a reliever (4+ WAR over 6 seasons). With the rotation falling to pieces, it was time to throw caution to the wind and give Harris an extended run in the rotation. He repaid the move with a 9-3 record and 3.11 ERA over 19 starts in the 2nd half of the season, plus 2 wins and a 2.33 ERA so far this postseason....Gerela would pitch 16 more innings before being cut in August.

June 30th: Guerrero demoted and Mike Schofield called up. Schofield would have a .253/.320/.437 slash line down the stretch over 100 plate appearances. He hasn't played much in the post-season, but he stabalized a position that was in chaos and even pushed Diaz early in his call-up.

July 22nd: Bautista benched for Juan Ramirez. After 3 solid, consistent seasons, Bautista really struggled in 2039 and was finally sent down to AAA mid-season. Ramirez came up and posted an OPS over .850 as a starter down the stretch and has nearly a 1.000 OPS in the playoffs with a Doubleday Series MVP award.

Aug 18th: Acquired Chris Kelly, Fuentes finally banished to the pen. The highest profile move of the season has definitely paid off. Kelly has an ERA just over 3.50 in his 14 regular season and playoff starts.

This hasn't been the smoothest of seasons, but it just goes to show that you never quite know what moves may help set your team over the edge at the end of the day.
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