2048.3: Hitting Review

[Rubaboo]

2048 was a disappointing season in Mexico City, of this there can be no doubt. Looking to build on a 2047 that saw them in playoff contention until the final few days of the season, the Aztecs fell on their face out of the gate with an 8-20 April and never made up the ground, floundering to a 78-84 final record. So what went wrong? That is always a complicated question. On the team had a few new faces, as several players from the 2047 roster found their way out before the season started. Haney was brought in in a blockbuster with Valencia. Ryan Geauxinue and Jiong Liu got their rookie seasons under their belts with... mixed results. A brief perusal of season ending results shows an interesting thing though, the old war horses pulled the offense this season. Zalapa had his best season since 2041 and led the offense in WAR with 6.5. Newcomer Haney shook off a poor (by his standards) 2047 to finish with 6.3 WAR. Mark Simpson came in later than 2047 but hit better and ended up with 3.7 WAR in 113 games. Fernando Moreno did Fernando Moreno things. 4 of the 7 Aztec players who posted more than 1 WAR are 29 or older. Why worry about new tricks when the old tricks are still good? Overall, the offense was middle third, but top half in 2048. More than sufficient.

Catchers:
Kyle Baker had a breakout 2047 and spent 2048 on a milk carton. Where did you go, Kyle Baker? He got benched early in the year and then mostly pouted his way to a .188/.244/.343 slash line. Felipe Delgado took full advantage, as evidenced by a .300/.336/.432 slash after he took over the starting role. Jai Porter got some action sparingly and was mostly a disaster, with a .154/.258/.359 slash with only 3 homers in 78 ABs. As a group, disappointing. The front office will need to find some answers here.

First Base/DH:
Mark Simpson, at 39, continues to enjoy his time south of the border. He was better than his outstanding 2047, hitting .240/.385/.508 with 28 dingers in 396 ABs. The dude just won't quit. Keith Kerfoot was pretty meh splitting time at 1B and DH. His .707 OPS won't cut it in the positions he plays. He'll need to get better if he wants to keep playing. Jose Camacho was brought in a week into the season to try to inject a little power and was mostly fine playing in a mostly weak side DH platoon. 113 OPS+ and 10 HRs in 284 ABs. Fine for the RH side of a platoon. As a group, these guys did ok. Kerfoot was poor-ish, but Camacho carried his weight and Simpson carried his and Kerfoot's.

Second Base:
Holy balls, Angel Zalapa was incredible in 2048. .310/.348/.528 with 31 Homers and 102 RBIs will play. To get that on offense and a +10.5 ZR at 2B is almost not fair. Zalapa was our player of the season in 2048 for sure. Hedde Aalbers got 12 starts at 2B while Zalapa was out and 11 at SS throughout the course of the season. He had an OPS+ of 0. Zero. His glove was fine. That is all.

Third Base:
Manny Collazo couldn't keep his form from 2047 rolling but still put up a very respectable 5.1 WAR with a .319/.365/.508 line to go with 47 doubles and 22 homers. His defense wasn't exceptional by any means, evidenced by his -5.5 ZR, but you can stomach it with the offense. He split some time between 3B and 1B again this season and may spend more time at 1B in the future. Overall, pretty good numbers for Collazo. Lucio Martinez has been a reliable-ish backup over his career. He started 27 games this season and his bat was atrocious. .195/.242/.239, good for a 33 OPS+. C'mon man.

Shortstop:
Ryan Geauxinue struggled to adjust to the bigs in his rookie year, especially early on. He picked it up a bit as the season went on but a .282/.321/.314 slash line is pretty disappointing overall. His 76 OPS+ and -0.2 WAR match the feelings around his slash line He was also miserable with the glove with a -8.9 ZR. Hopefully, his glove and power will develop a bit before next season, there's not alot of alternatives here for the Aztecs.

Left Field:
Jiong Liu laid claim to the available starting corner OF spot and struggled out of the gate. Once he adjusted though, his bat ended up coming around as the season wore on. He finished with a .277/.328/.400 line with 24 doubles. He only added 7 home runs but scouts still say his power has come room to come in. He won't turn 21 until January, so the team is pleased with his performance in the strong side of the platoon overall.

Center Field:
Aaron Haney was Aaron Haney. .305/.376/.543, 40 doubles, 10 triples, 28 homers, 40 steals. The guy can do it all with the bat. The glove.... less so. At least in CF. Haney was the guy the Aztecs thought they were getting during the offseason trade with Valencia but he may need to find a corner spot at some point, lest he become a detriment in the field.

Right Field:
Fernando Moreno did Fernando Moreno things. 157 games, .302/.351/.458. 13 HRs, 3.8 WAR, 5.2 ZR in RF. Pretty in line with what he does. Fernando Moreno things.

Player of the season:
Angel Zalapa. Holy balls, please opt in.