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Spring Training Solidifies Plan
March 31, 2043: Fool’s Gulch, AZ – The Yellow Springs Nine organization entered spring camp with several unanswered questions, not the least of which was whether the club could ever get over the Landis sized clotting that had filled their throats in last season’s Doubleday round.
Who would be the team’s fifth starter, for instance, and what was there to do about Lucas McNeill? What was the bullpen going to look like? Would Arvin Duggan stick in center field to supplant Abdeljlill Sediki?
The answers were revealed today as the team revealed what they expect to be the opening day 27-man roster.
So, hey, let's take a look at the roster and how the time might be divided, shall we?
OUTFIELD
| Vs. RHP | LF | CF | RF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rex Foster | Abdeljilill Sedicki | Ricardo Mendoza |
| Ratings | 10/12/9/6/7 | 6/6/6/4/6 | 9/10/8/4/9 |
| DEF | 6/7/6 | 8/11/7 | 6/5/7 |
| Vs. LHP | LF | CF | RF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Luis Costello | Abdeljilill Sedicki | Bret Powers |
| Ratings | 6/7/8/5/7 | 6/7/6/4/6 | 7/8/7/4/6 |
| DEF | 7/8/7 | 8/11/7 | 5/11/8 |
Rumor has it that 21-year-old Arvin Duggan was the last man out. He was optioned to Indianapolis for a bit more time—specifically in hopes that his stroke against LHP can rise enough to let him be a full time player, as Sediki has been. Will that be May? June? July? No one is sure right now, but the 5-man outfield sports that same LF/RF Platoons of the past season or two, with Sediki holding the fort in center in hopes that he’ll bounce back to his 3 WAR self. Rookie Bret Powers will trade off with Ricardo Mendoza, and Veteran Luis Costello and his $9M contract will pair with Foster.
Opposing clubs would probably prefer to throw left-handed pitching against this grouping, but if they do so, they run into the buzzsaw that is the RHB-centric infield. More on that later.
In that light, though, hitting coach Emilo Rodriguez suggests that Foster may get more reps against LHP early in the season, and that if the experiment is successful, Costello may be moved elsewhere. Regardless, the RHB platoon is probably the better defensive pairing, so look for Powers and Costello to perform as late inning defenders, too.
INFIELD
| Vs. RHP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | UTL/1B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Jesus Rodriguez | Robert Chenoweth | Dong-po Thum | Luis Pena | Blaine Tyler | Lucas McNeill |
| Ratings | 7/7/5/7/6 | 8/8/8/3/5 | 9/8/5/5/9 | 5/6/3/5/7 | 6/7/8/7/4 | 6/7/7/7/6 |
| DEF | 10/9 | 2/5/4/3 | 9/9/12/8 | 10/11/9/11 | 6/8/9/6 | 4/10/4/10 |
| Vs. LHP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | UTL/1B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Bruce McKinley | Robert Chenoweth | Dong-po Thum | Luis Pena | Blaine Tyler | Lucas McNeill |
| Ratings | 5/8/5/6/5 | 9/10/9/4/6 | 10/9/6/6/9 | 5/6/3/5/7 | 6/7/8/7/4 | 5/6/7/6/4 |
| DEF | 10/6 | 2/5/4/3 | 9/9/12/8 | 10/11/9/11 | 6/8/9/6 | 4/10/4/10 |
The platoon at catcher may be the most interesting of the group, with both Rodriguez and McKinley drawing raves from the team’s pitchers. Rodriguez is a solid hitter from the left side of the plate, McKinley should have a little pop from the right side. Both are young players, and should probably be penciled into the roster in these slots for the foreseeable future.
This roster configuration suggests that the classic YS9 platoon splits in the infield are being over-written. This makes some sense in that newcomer Robert Chenoweth has shown he can mash from both sides of the plate, and that Dong-po Thum is … well … Dong-po Thum. He’s moving to second base this year, with means that in his time with the Nine he will have started at short, third, and second. Vegas bookies are now taking lines for the likelihood of a Puckett/Zimmer sweep at his new role—which speaks for the general respect he carries. Not many guys make that kind of move with that kind of success at age 25.
The team has been taking the platoon hit against RHP in order to keep Luis Pena playing shortstop every day for a couple years now. Don’t look for that to change now. The real open question is about Blaine Tyler, who has a sub-par rookie season as he swapped between second and third. The team is hoping settling down at third will help matters.
Of course, the gorilla in the room is Lucas McNeill, who at 36 is now clearly in decline, but who isn’t done. He can still hit RHP, and the suggestion is that he’ll play as a semi-platoon with Chenoweth (getting at bats against tougher RHP) and will step in across the infield as a utility guy for the others. To put it bluntly, as a utility infielder, McNeill can really hit. With younger kids getting ready in the wings, one wonders if they secretly wish McNeill would decide to pack it in and go on tour with his wife.
STARTING ROTATION
| Rotation | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Carlos Valle | Carlos Pineda | Ernesto Ramos | Tomas Ramirez | Josh Henson |
| Handed | R | L | R | R | L |
| Ratings | 8/7/8 | 9/5/8 | 10/6/7 | 7/6/7 | 6/7/9 |
The top four are, of course, not a surprise at all.
Valle returns as a two-time Nebraska winner, and Pineda is getting to the age where his workload can increase enough to seriously contend for the award this year. His success or failure probably depends a lot on whether he can keep the ball in the park. Ramos has proven he can throw lock-down baseball, though still fights consistency, and Ramirez is probably great if the club can keep his workload limited to 150-170 innings.
The team optioned 24-year-old Jose Sanchez to Indianapolis where he’ll likely sit in the Downforce’s rotation rather than throw from the bullpen. This left Henson and Colbert as the two likely candidates, and Henson took the role based on a solid spring progression, and perhaps the fact that he’s a lefty. Scouts also noted a bit of improvement on the overall repertoire.
Bottom line, if Henson has any success at all and if these youngish arms stay healthy, the Nine should be in pretty good shape.
TOP OF THE BULLPEN
| Bullpen | CL/Stop | SU/Stop | SU/Stop | High Lev | High Lev |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Curt Phillips | Angel Hernandez | Tiernan O'Macken | Sergio Perez | Roberto Ramirez |
| Handed | R | L | L | R | R |
| Ratings | 11/6/6 | 12/5/7 | 12/6/6 | 9/6/7 | 8/6/10 |
These five all return from last year. Look for them to reprise their roles, and given their ages and off-seasons, to reprise their performance. On the other hand, they are pitchers, so who knows?
The team moved their usage strategy over the year in 2042, slowly de-emphasizing Phillips’s role as the closer into more of a three-headed approach by the end mostly by increasing the presence of Hernandez. This worked well. He’s a brilliant lefty, perhaps better even than O’Macken, who had gotten a bulk of the left-handed work in higher leverage moments.
Perez had a bit of a bout with injuries that limited him to 49 innings last year, but Ramirez picked him up just fine. Expect the two to soak up higher leverage innings prior to the 7th.
Ultimately, there’s no real drama here.
BULLPEN
| Bullpen | Spec/Low Lev | Spec/Low Lev | Spec/Low Lev |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Armando Duarte | Ernesto Martas | Al Colbert |
| Handed | R | L | R |
| Ratings | 9/5/9 | 4/9/9 | 7/8/10 |
Duarte comes with a live arm, but considerable injury risk. When he was able to pitch, he served well despite a tendency to give up a long ball or two. At 22, he’s still a solid young pitcher. Martas and Colbert are new arrivals, replacing Jean Kattenburg and Roberto Fernandez—two guys who pitched well for the team last season, but were optioned to Indianapolis with Sanchez. It’s nice to have that kind of injury depth. Look for them both to pitch with the Nine this year, too. Alberto Contreras will likely be around, too.
Bottom line, the Nine bullpen is going to be an option wire carousel in 2043.