November 8, 2056
by Banjo Jackson
Nashville, TN
There aren’t a whole lot of people who can say they helped change the landscape of the BBA, but former Bluebird, Lorenzo de’ Medici is one of those players. The Italian was selected in the 1st round of the 2034 amateur draft and traded to the Nashville Goats in a blockbuster trade in 2039 and quickly established himself as one of the league’s elite pitchers out of the bullpen. The 40 year old decided to call it quits after 20 seasons and should be a future Hall of Famer.
LHP Lorenzo de’ Medici
de’ Medici was a great weapon out of the bullpen, but it wasn’t until 2043 when he really began to become the most feared pitcher in baseball. That season, de’ Medici threw 169 IP with 8 wins and 19 saves while striking out 330 batters, good for a 17.9 K/9. He also posted a 0.79 WHIP and accrued 6.6 WAR – as a reliever. He would post similar numbers the next two seasons in Nashville, accruing 17 WAR and averaging 17.4 K/9 over the span of 2043-2045. Unfortunately, de’ Medici was a victim of Nashville’s fire sale in 2046 after the team’s poor start, which continues to prove dividends for Nashville.
The southpaw was traded to Portland for LF Hasheem Makin, LF Matt Garrison, and 3B Steve Hooper. Makin has proved to be a valuable BBA player, albeit not for Nashville. He was flipped in a deal with Des Moines that landed the Bluebirds SP Steven Clayton, who is one of the league’s top starting pitchers. That deal with Des Moines also helped net impact veterans to help Nashville with the Monty in 2050. For that reason, the Nashville organization has decided to gift de’ Medici with an honorary championship ring since he was never able to secure one during his playing days. His #11 was also retired during the ceremony.
For his career, de’ Medici had 91 W, 298 SV with a 2.98 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 13.7 K/9. He accumulated 51.6 WAR in his career and helped re-define the relief pitcher role as an innings eater stopper.
