The Hurricanes season has been a perfect bell curve -- albeit a reverse U. Starting out 10-2, they split the next two weeks, going 6-6 in all, and then went into a death dive over the last two weeks that nicely reversed the first two, going 3-10. Their record now stands at 18-19, 4.5 games behind the Johnson League's Atlantic Division leader, Charlotte.
The explanation for this reversal is quite plain: no offense. The pitching has stood up well, as the Canes stand in the top rank of the League here (even as the team ERA has climbed, the starters have been reasonably good and the bullpen adequate). The defense has been decent; although there have been too many errors defensive efficiency has been around the league average. No, it's the offense that has precipitously declined. The Canes now rank in the bottom quarter of the league in almost all offensive categories. Only three players -- -- outfielders David Simpson and Sawyer Slizz, and catcher Luis Colón -- have an OPS+ above 100, with many of them in the lower double digits.
And all this is despite acquiring veteran outfielder Pedro Huerta last week from Charlotte in exchange for the injured Júlio Uribe, which was supposed to not only fill a big hole in the lineup but deliver quality at bats. Huerta's ABs have been less than exciting: he's batting 13 for 49 so far with the Canes, or .265 with zero HRs and only three RBIs.
Something had to be done. Unfortunately, the Canes have almost no financial room for maneuvering. Signing free agents is out of the question (unless they can swing a trade that exchanges high paid players for much lower salaried guys - the trade for Huerta saved less than 2M and the club's budget deficit is much larger than that). Help from down on the farm is limited, given the lack of impact players at AAA or AA who are ready for the major leagues. Nevertheless, with this route the only option, Jacksonville has just called up first baseman Gary Brooks and third baseman Fudail Kaseem from AAA Gotham, to go with with last week's call up of catcher Dwayne Duce, and optioned hurler Christopher Mead, OF Liam Nilsson and shortstop Dave Davis to Gotham in return.
These are hardly expected to be enough to reverse the team's misfortunes. That can only come from the regulars starting to hit like they did at the opening of the season. No one in Jacksonville is holding their breath on this.
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