The Wisconsin Wire 3.2 - Infield Overview

[elligator]

Turnover has been the watchword of the past two years. But one thing has remained constant throughout, first base. Here is a look at the current face of the franchise, Brock Lee, and the rest of the 1997 Madison infield.

Catcher:
The Wolves expected to be a seller at the trading deadline this past season, but the opportunity to obtain one of the premier catchers in the MBBA could not be passed up. So the Wolves shipped off a bevy of prospects to California for the power hitting Hurley Reyes. Reyes stepped out from the shadows in 1995, posting career best numbers before finally becoming an elite player last season. The stocky catcher sports power from both sides of the plate and is an extremely good fielder. Hashuro "Ball-o-Fat" Dakiki brings an elite glove and a cannon arm to back up Reyes.

1st Base:
Mentioned above as the current face of the franchise, Brock "Bomber" Lee has been a stable presence in a turbulent time. A great young hitter, Lee got off the express train to stardom last season and struggled quite a bit for a hitter as talented as he. Scouts are quick to blame the need to play Lee out of position at 3rd base for half of last season as perhaps a big contributor to his diminished production at the plate. The young first baseman grumbled about the move to third for much of last year and clearly struggled with his defense there as well. This year however, Brock won't have to worry. With Bunjiro firmly entrenched at 3rd base, there is no chance of Lee being forced over to that side of the diamond again. The question is whether Lee relaxes in his now stable role and can regain the form that had him on a track to stardom.

2nd Base:
The one position on the Madison infield with some real questions. The spot is being kept warm for super-prospect Charles "Cricket" Puckett. A 1995 1st round pick, Puckett moved rapidly through the system last year, dominating in both A and AA before getting the call to AAA late in the season. Playing for the AAA Nashville Saints, Puckett seemed to wilt a bit and struggled to make good contact with the ball, although he showed great patience at the plate. The team would like to start Cricket at AAA again to begin 1997, and so 2B will be manned by another 1st baseman playing out of position, Jarvis Murphy. Murphy is a guy the Wolves brass loves. Murphy is an extremely intelligent player and his smarts have helped the lefty become a dominant hitter against right-handed pitching. Murphy has limited power, but the ability to hit well over .300 against RHP. Against lefties however, he struggles a bit in comparison. This relative weakness will lead to a likely platoon at 2B to start the season with very similar player Garry Macon. Macon's defense is notably better than Murphy's, and he hits lefties extremely well. The platoon should yield an OBP in the .370+ range. Together Macon and Murphy should be more than adequate until Puckett is ready to move up to the bigs.

Shortstop:
Breathtaking is one word often used to describe Bopper Kengos. No one knows what his real first name is, but scouts admit that Bopper is a great name for this Louisiana farm boy. The 20 year old has the full package: Scouts don't even know how good he could eventually be, but Bopper is already well on his way to super-stardom. In just 24 games during a mid-season tryout, the then 19-year old Bopper crushed MBBA pitching. Kengos brings incredible hitting ability along with sensational power potential, and combines those with almost flawless defense in the field. The right field foul pole has already been dubbed "Bopper's Corner" and it is often filled with his unfortunately named female fan club, "Bopper's Bimbos". The Wolves management is banking on Kengos and Puckett leading this team for the next decade at least.

3rd Base:
Another new face mid-season last year, Masuichirou Bunjiro is a middle of the order monster manning the 3rd base corner. Bunjiro tore up the MBBA last season to the tune of .321, 32 HR, .383 OBP. His peerless work ethic has made Masuichirou into an elite hitter and the management hopes that he will rub off on Kengos and Puckett. Bunjiro boasts good power to all fields. He is definitely better against LHP, but can sting righties pretty hard as well. His defense is adequate.

Overall Report:
There should be a lot of offense from this infield. And, when Puckett comes ready, this could become one of the elite infields in the MBBA.

[bschr682]

That 2nd base prospect of yours. Good lord is that guy talented. To be honest this league seems to have quite a few supremely talented players and not enough above average players. Its probably nothing that father time won't balance out tho.

[lchronister]

That 2nd base prospect of yours. Good lord is that guy talented. To be honest this league seems to have quite a few supremely talented players and not enough above average players. Its probably nothing that father time won't balance out tho.