May 14, 2050
by Banjo Jackson
Nashville, TN
Armed with the top two prospects in the BBA, the Bluebirds look to compete for several years at the disposal of their farm system. #1 overall prospect, Wafid Bishr, made his BBA three weeks ago and homered against the Hawaii Tropics a few games later. Former blue chip prospect, Steven Clayton, has excelled out of the rotation and bullpen since his arrival last season. It appears next on the could be LHP John Dawson.The top BBA pitching prospect has blown away Rupert Horn Memorial League hitters this season, highlighted by Saturday night’s no-hitter against the Saint Paul Riverhawks. He needed only 108 pitches to finish the game and struck out 12 batters while walking 3. This comes less than a week after striking out 13 batters in 7 IP and allowing just two hits. A month ago Dawson threw another similar gem with 7 IP, 12 Ks, and 1 hit. Although some in the front office would like his control to be a little more fine tuned, many are calling for the southpaw phenom to make the ump to the BBA.
LHP John Dawson
“We’re really excited for Johnny,” said GM Chad Nason. “But he just turned 21 and has a little more developing, which is scary considering how good he already is. There might not be a spot in the rotation with the Bluebirds, but if he keeps this up, we might squeeze him into the bullpen to get him some action.”
Dawson relies heavily on his elite changeup and knucklecurve, but is working to improve his cutter. The soft-throwing southpaw is a nice change of speed that throws off hitters looking for 100 MPH fastballs. He has made great leaps since being draft out of high school in 2047 and Bluebirds fans should be excited to see him in the near future, but Dawson isn’t the only minor league pitcher getting hype.
Tom Simms, who pitched in the Bluebirds bullpen in 2049 after being a Rule 5 pick, pitched a gem of his own just days before Dawson’s no-no. Simms struck out 9 batters and allowed just 1 hit in a shutout last week and Roberto ‘Go-Go’ Diaz pitched his own no-hitter for the Springdale Roosters two weeks ago, striking out 9 batters. While not every prospect cuts it at the next level, Nason has done a good job accumulating arms of quality and quantity, so surely where some may miss, others will pick up the slack and give the Bluebirds solid careers.
