The Brewster

TRADE REAPS REWARDS

June 30, 2043: Yellow Springs – Despite a tough week, the Yellow Springs baseball club still sits at 54-27 and holds a solid lead in the always harsh Heartland division. Thanks, in no small measure, to a pair of unsung heroes in Ernesto Martas and Bret Powers—two acquisitions made out of division rival Omaha’s minor league system.

“It’s always dangerous to trade pitching,” said Nine broadcast voice Melissa Lester, “You can see that in the way the loss of Carlos Pineda has made the rotation look unsteady But for now it seems to have worked out all right.”

The deal in question sent starting pitchers In-sung Yi and Juan Garcia and reliever Raul Luna to the (then) Hawks. Yi has been a solid, but not spectacular member of the Omaha staff for a couple years. Garcia, now with Loserville, had a rough rookie season, but has settled down to be a streaky-good starter. Luna has registered 55 saves with Omaha, but has been bombastic in every sense of the word. What you see is not always what you get with him. Regardless, all three have had moments. Meanwhile, Powers and Martas spent a season in Indianapolis before arriving, a situation that made fans a shade angsty.

2043 has them happier, though.

Martas has proven to be a fun little junkballer who has appeared in 14 games, throwing nearly 19 innings of 1.45 ERA ball. He’s 3-0 with a save tacked on. Opponent’s BABIP is a lowly .208. The FIP stands at an eye-popping 2.65.

“We’re trying to be careful with Ernesto,” said manager Sam Brewington. “He’s still a kid (22), and he’s got the injury history that seems to come along with kids out of the Omaha system. So we’re trying to pick our spots and keep him healthy, but he’s the kind of guy that can really twist hitters up in knots when he’s on. Not as overpowering as some of the guys we’ve got blowing heat every day, but just as hard to manage.”

The club is hoping he’ll spend a year or two as an understudy, and then slide into the heavier usage roles currently occupied by Tiernan O’Macken and Angel Hernandez.

Powers has a bit of a different profile. At 6’5”, 205, he’s got an athletic frame and with a Hollywood look to go with the Hollywood name, well, there’s an aura around him. If you look at his overall stats (.229/.382/.330) you could walk away unimpressed, but if you’re in the manager’s seat, apparently you know better.

“You’d love bigger numbers overall,” Brewington said, pulling out a report on his phone. “But to me his real numbers are .282/.316/.394.” Which are his numbers against left-handed pitching.

Brewington went on to explain that Power’s numbers are down overall because the team is using him as both a platoon bat and a defensive replacement. “When he goes into games late it’s because we’re already winning. So a lot of those at bats against RHP aren’t as impactful if he doesn’t come through.” Which makes a little sense, we suppose.

That said, the team is expecting Powers, who is also 22 in this rookie season, to get acquainted to the pace of the big league over time. “There’s no rush to them, it seems,” said Lester as she analyzed Power’s swing. “You can see he’s got the ability tied up inside him. It’s just a matter of time until everything comes together—then watch out.”

Regardless, it is true that the club has benefited from his play against lefties—a situation that poses problems for opponents. The team’s balanced attack leaves their record at identical .667 rates against both right handers and lefties, and Power is one of the reasons why.

“In the end it was probably a good trade,” Lester said. “The three pitchers the team gave up are probably going to go on to perfectly good careers, but the Nine was dealing from depth, and at a pint you probably have to move those guys and then just hope the injury bug doesn’t wipe out the rotation anytime soon. It’s pretty clear that Martas and Power fit the club’s needs pretty well.”