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September 19, 2042: Nashville – It wasn’t the most classic of performances but, after a 6-inning outing against the Bluebirds of Nashville and for the second time in three seasons, Carlos Valle has now call himself a 20-game winner. The 29-year-old right-hander struck out only three hitters and allowed seven hits, but he didn’t walk anyone, and allowed only three earned runs.
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“My teammates did the job,” Valle said afterward. “But that’s pitching. You keep your team in the game, and good things happen. I’m not going to lie. It feels good to get that number.”
At 20-6, with a 3.13 ERA and 3.58 FIP (78 FIP-), Valle is now officially one of a handful of pitchers being included in the conversation for the Frick League Nebraska, an award he won in 2040—which also the last time he won 20 games. He has lots of competition, of course. There’s Hawaii’s Alaric Wullenweber (22), the young star who’s been getting more press than Donald Trump on alpha-stroids, and there’s the Louisville trio of Stan Palacios (23), Armando Feliciano (22), and James Browning (21)—all of whom are having sterling seasons. Omaha’s Jose Lima (25) could pull some votes, as could Madison’s Yorikana Miyamoto (22) and Seattle’s Hector Marquez (27)—who also won the award in 2039.
It's been noted the Wullenweber has a bad case of halitosis, and that each of the Louisville pitchers are grimy and slick to the touch, making some speculate they might need to be quarantined at season end as a national health measure. Not that anyone should take these elements into account. Valle, of course, has famously been included in discussions with teammate Ernesto Ramos regarding their efforts to raise millions of dollars to send under-privileged children to both athletic and educational programs--including the donation of a good portion of the $900K that Valle would collect from the Nine as a bonus for winning the award.
Still, voting is expected to be tense.
“It’s too early to talk about that,” Valle said when asked about his chances to win the award. “There’s still a lot of baseball to be played.”
CLIMBING LEADERBOARDS: SANCHEZ NEXT
Of secondary interest, Valle’s 128 career victories slots him in at 6th in franchise, one victory behind current Nine pitching coach Alberto Sanchez, and another behind Emile Yost. He’s scheduled for as many as three more starts before the end of the season, which means that in theory Valle could be the club’s 4th ranked winner in all history by the end of the season.
“I’m thinking Carlos needs some rest,” Sanchez deadpanned when asked about the situation.
If Valle makes those three starts, he’ll finish the season with 39 of them—which would also be a modern-day franchise record.
