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June 2, 2043: Yellow Springs – A scan of the Frick League leader boards shows a pair of Sluggers lead the league in WAR. Then you might note three Madison Wolves up there. Twin Cities has one, San Fernando, Hawaii, and Sacramento follow with one apiece. What you won’t see is any hitter from Yellow Springs. And, yet, the division-leading Nine lead the entire Frick in offensive WAR. In fact, their 13.88 offensive WAR leads all of baseball.
Robert Chenoweth, the splendid rookie first baseman, leads the team at 2.1 WAR built on a .351/.394/.682 slash that features 17 doubles and 10 homers. Second year DH Javier Rodriguez seems to have found his stroke, and registers in at 1.0 WAR after being named the league’s Player of the Week yesterday. Rodriguez has drilled 15 homers and posted a 1.026 OPS so far. Outfielder Rex Foster sits at 1.7 WAR. He’s clubbed 14 homers and 10 doubles in these two months. Only then do you come to Dong-po Thum, the team’s PR darling. Thum had a horrendous April, but has bounced back in May to now sit at 1.5 WAR that includes the usual scattering of extra base hits to go with 20 stolen bases achieved with an 80% success ratio.
“We’ve always been built that way,” said manager Sam Brewington. “I like that about our team. We want to be able to put pressure on the opponent every at bat.”
Which the Nine has been doing. The catcher combo of Jesus Rodriguez and Bruce McKinley has been more the solid and brilliant defensively. Ricardo Mendoza has been a bookend to best-buddy Foster, and the RHB platoon mates of Luis Costello and Bret Powers have been just as devastating against lefty pitching—their WAR totals would be stronger, but are hampered by the rarity of left handers.
Of course, it is of some interest that the bottom of the list is when Hall of Fame candidate Lucas McNeill sits. McNeill has clubbed 6 homers in part-time play, but he’s struggled elsewhere and has managed to hang in at replacement level, zero WAR.
“I’ll get something going,” McNeill said. “It’s still fun to be out there, but I want to contribute better so the kids don’t make fun of me.