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Rookie Hurler Surpasses High Expectations
Loan Duval—who is now 23 years old, but was 22 at the time—only received his ticket to Yellow Springs as a result of Carlos Valle’s unfortunate knee issue, but to say he took advantage of that opportunity is an understatement of immense proportions. In 27 starts, the rookie hurler went 14-6, sported a 2.29 ERA and a 3.02 FIP (74 FIP-). He struck out 150 hitters in his 170+ innings, walking only 29.
In this case, the “that” of note was the 2.29 ERA, which represents the third best season of any YS9 starter, behind only Marcus Conley’s 2.22 and 2.28, which were set in the wildcat pre-modern era days of the BBA (1979 and 1978).
No wonder some fans are buzzing that Duval is a top contender for the season's Rookie of the Year award.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing what Loan can do with a full season,” said manager Alberto Sanchez. “We knew his fastball and slider would play in this league, but his changeup really caught me by surprise, to be honest. It’s a good pitch. If he keeps it up, we could be seeing the third coming of LaLoosh and Valle.”
Unfortunately however, Duval exhibited a similar propensity as the others Sanchez mentioned, pitching in two post-season games the Nine lost.
The more things change, it seems, the more they stay the same.