Blowing in the Wind 2058.6: Toil and Trouble and Six Games Back In The Wildcard

[aaronweiner]

With the amount of turmoil that's gone on in the Bold City this season, you'd think the team was on pace to lose 125 games and fold. Jacksonville has waived some of their better players, traded their cleanup hitter, had four or five new starters and traded one of the top five pitchers in baseball. However, Jacksonville continues to hang around in the wild card race, and while six games back is a long way at this point in the season, the fact that they're near .500 is a testament to the professionalism and the talent in the Jacksonville franchise.

"Yes, it's been kind of an up and down season, but we're still hanging around in August," said second baseman Daniel Pepper, one of the few players still in his starting role since Opening Day. "We're doing our best out here, but it's hard to deal."

Jacksonville has hung around largely on the efforts of their pitching staff, which has been one of the best in the Johnson League this year. Perennial Steve Nebraska Award candidate Bob Anderson has been awesome; the team is reportedly in negotiations with Anderson to keep him in Jacksonville. Rookies Si-dao Yong and John Jensen have combined for a stunning 14-5 record this year and an ERA under four. Juan Marroquin, likely in his last year with the franchise, has pitched like the star he is and should cash in on his performance in two months, and veterans like Gavrilovich Mastinsky and Hayden Bennion have been solid for the team in rotation roles.

"Most of those guys are going to be back, and we're excited to see what our pitching staff can do next year with a fresh start and hopefully a better offense surrounding them," said pitching coach Julio Chacon. "Some run support next year and we might be back in the playoffs."

Chacon has a point, because the offense has been frustrating in the 2058 season for Jacksonville. Pepper is one of the problems; Father Time has apparently caught up with him, though the future Hall of Famer has still played like a starter this year. Pablo Lara has had a good year, surprisingly leading the team with 17 home runs, easily on pace to best his career mark of 18 HR, but he is just one of three Hurricanes with double digit homers. In fact, the only player who is currently qualifying with a batting average above .250 is first baseman Erik Wignes, a 37-year old pending free agent.

"Our offense has been a little bit messy this year, but that's why we've been trying some new things," said GM Aaron Weiner. "We've had a lot of young players called up this year and we're pretty excited about them."

Other than Pepe Aragon, who has 10 homers in 287 at bats at third base, the rookie with the most exposure this year has been centerfielder Bae Pae, a fan favorite out of South Korea with a .350 OBP, well above league average. Roy O'Donnell, a mid-season callup, has shown signs of being a potential top-ten offensive catcher, something the team envisioned when they drafted him in the first round three years ago. Last year's second round pick, shortstop Don Colbert, has struggled putting either the bat or the glove on the baseball since being called up in July, but has drawn 26 walks in 140 plate appearances and sports an OBP of .362, which would rank as the highest on the team. All of these players are likely to be Opening Day starters in 2059.

"Listen, if we ran those four guys out there, three of them have OBPs above .340 this year. As rookies," Weiner said. "This group might only get better with time, and what we really need is some guys who can really knock them in."

Those might be on the way, and the first of them might have arrived already: Hamdan Nuh has been called up to replace the waived Pedro Hozven. Steve Holcombe and Shu-yaan Zheng might not be far behind them. It might not be long until the whole lineup, in fact, has turned over.

"We've got a lot of work to do, but we're ready to do it," Weiner said. "Let's see how the plan comes together."

https://statspl.us/brewster/reports/new ... eam_3.html

[BaseClogger]

Not sure how much Marroquin is going to cash in—didn’t he just clear waivers?

[aaronweiner]

Not sure how much Marroquin is going to cash in—didn’t he just clear waivers?

I dunno. If nobody else is paying the guy I'm gonna - though probably a little creatively.