9-News - 48.010: Season Preview – Infield

GM: Rob McMonigal

Moderator: Trebro

User avatar
RonCo
GB: JL Frontier Division Director
Posts: 19815
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:48 pm
Has thanked: 1982 times
Been thanked: 2902 times

9-News - 48.010: Season Preview – Infield

Post by RonCo » Wed Sep 01, 2021 2:20 pm

Off Topic
Image


Can the Nine Keep Opponents Under Their Thum?

March 31, 2048: Fool’s Gulch, AZ – Second Base: I suppose it came as no great surprise when Dong-po Thum opted into his $16M salary this year. Yes, that means he’s under-paid—now. But it also means he’s unlocked those two $31M achievements he’ll be due in 2049 and 2050. One wonders if the Nine would have almost preferred he opt out. Probably not.

Thum lost out on a Sawyer Silk Award in a close race last year, and was probably not helped by a lack of hometown voting. That said he’s been on record in the past as saying he wasn’t a Silk kind of hitter—and they he’d be completely content with being a perennial third-place vote getter in the award. If that’s the case, he’s a very happy guy, having finished third in Silk voting three times, and second twice (to go with second in the Gillstrom voting in his rookie season).

At fault, we suppose is that so much of his value comes from his glove, with which he has won a total of six Zimmers—split between second base and third. I should do some work in the Great Unified History Database in the sky to see who else has won Zimmers at multiple positions, but I’d guess the list is short. In that light, though, there has been some discussion of whether the Nine might play Thum at shortstop this year in hopes that he’d win the award at that position—and maybe slide him over to first later in his career to focus on one there. I think Thum could pull it off.

Bottom line: Dude made 9.1 WAR last year, hitting .365/.431/981. He hit 39 doubles, 13 triples, and 14 homers. That represented his third 9-WAR season. He’s 30 years old, and at present sits #31 for All-Time triples, #59 in All-Time steals, and getting ready to hit the list for doubles. As far as the Nine are concerned, another 9.5 WAR season will see him pull even and pass Lucas McNeill for the top WAR gatherer in team history.

Did we note he’s 30 years old?

At this rate, to be clear, we may well be seeing one of those top-tier Hall of Fame careers being played out—a case marred only by the Nine’s pathetic fixture of focusing on division titles rather than swinging for the big fences of a Monty Brewster championship.

Thum will return to play second base for the Nine this year. And the next two. That much we can definitely report.


Shortstop: Last year, rookie Elvan Masûkî was pretty much what everyone suspected he was—and we’re not sure that’s a good thing. In the field he was certainly up for the job of replacing fan favorite Luis Pená, dropping a 105 Zone Rating and at least competing for a Zimmer award. The bat, however, was a horrific .176 average that pulled the glovework down so far that he registered a sub-replacement -0.4 WAR. Theoretically the guy can hit right-handed pitching a little, but you couldn’t tell it by his .535 OPS against them.

He was only 20 years old, however, and the team seems content to let his skills play out a bit more. As long as the pitchers love him, he’ll probably get playing time. That being said, don’t be surprised to see him sit against some tougher lefties. I say that because the team recently announced they will keep 22-year-old rookie infielder Dian Sartika on the roster to handle utility duties. While Sartika has focused on third base, he at least has a chance against left-handed pitching, and can probably grow into handling the defensive responsibilities of either second or short. We’ll see what happens. Wouldn’t surprise us to see Sartika play second at times, and slide Thum over to short defensively.

One wonders what role second year infielder John Weber will play. He DHed part of 2047, so expect to see that again. He's an odd bird. A "professional hitter," but one without great power (.287/.352/.387, .9 WAR in 181 AB ), and one that comes with a glove that can almost handle second base. A ave of guys are coming along behind him, so there's a reasonable chance he might get overtaken and/or traded.


Third Base: Don’t look now, but Derek Cumming has been slowly developing into a pretty workable third baseman. Yeah, his defense is still a bit sub-par (-4 ZR), but the bat is coming around, and as a true switch hitter that’s hard to beat. He turned 1.5 WAR last year, and insiders suggest 2048 should be better. He’s 24, now, and scouts are looking for a bit more power to come in before they declare victory, but if that happens perhaps the sting of seeing Blaine Tyler tearing up the Johnson Frontier division will be a bit undone.

That he can add runs with his feet (56 steals in 70 tries) is a value.

Bottom line: I like Cumming at third (say that out of context three times, will you?), especially with the addition of Sartika to the roster to take over in close games as a defensive replacement.


First Base: Since I didn’t write about the team as much as I usually do last year, no one realized the impact of rookie 1st-baseman Wilbur Lewis—nor the impact of the late-season oblique strain he suffered. Lewis took nearly 400 plate appearances and dropped 20 homers and 1.6 WAR at first base as a semi-platoon with Robert Chenoweth (who also dropped 20 bombs in his 333 plate appearances). Between the two, first base was a tough out. Then Lewis got hurt in late September and missed the playoffs, and perhaps not-so oddly, our offense sputtered.

Of course, Chenoweth should have been good enough to manage this himself. You’d think that to look at him, anyway. But he’s a guy who suggests the power of the platoon advantage. Against RHP he’s a 102 OPS+ kind of player. League average or a touch better. Put a lefty on the mound, though , and you’re cooking with gas, as the 136 career OPS+ would say.

Lewis can’t hit a major league lefty to save his mother, but put a right-hander on the mound at you’ve got your standard-issue 139 OPS+ hitter.

The good news is that Lewis and Chenoweth are back.


Catcher: At one point the team was apparently looking to trade LHB Jesús Rodriguez. I’m not sure why. Or at least I’m not sure why you would do that now. Rodríguez and Bruce McKinley together make arguably the best combination of defense and offense behind the plate across any team in the league. The issue this season, as always, is to find balance for the two when it comes to playing time.

Rodríguez registered 2.8 WAR last year. McKinley added 1.6. Per my limited ability to do high-order addition, that’s 4.2 WAR for the catcher slot—and that’s without adding any value from the framing or whatever the hell OOTP does.

The team has a couple guys coming up through the ranks who could be major players in the catching role, but with both players sitting at under 28 years old, and both under contract for the next couple years, one wonders if those might become trade chips.


OVERALL GRADE

There could be better infields in the league, but this one is pretty good. Thum, of course, is Thum. Simply his presence makes the pack solid. But catcher is also elite, and first base is sneaky solid. Shortstop is elite defensively, which helps, and if the team can manufacture some match-up magic the bat there could be workmanlike. Given that Cumming is developing at third, well, it’s a solid group.

Let’s call it a B+, with room for growth by October.
GM: Bikini Krill
Nothing Matters But the Pacific Pennant
Roster

scottsdale_joe
Ex-GM
Posts: 3407
Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2010 12:55 pm
Location: scottsdale, az
Has thanked: 68 times
Been thanked: 121 times

Re: 9-News - 48.010: Season Preview – Infield

Post by scottsdale_joe » Wed Sep 01, 2021 2:56 pm

RonCo wrote:
Wed Sep 01, 2021 2:20 pm
At fault, we suppose is that so much of his value comes from his glove, with which he has won a total of six Zimmers—split between second base and third. I should do some work in the Great Unified History Database in the sky to see who else has won Zimmers at multiple positions
Well, with very little work I found Oliver Queen who won Zimmers at 2B, SS, & 3B, two of them while with YS9.
And I remember Vancouver's Matt Brunson won a Zimmer at SS and at 3B back in the 2000's.
Joe - GM UMEBA CAIRO PHARAOHS (2047-xxxx); Vancouver Mounties (1996-2009; 2035-2036); Halifax Hawks (2023-2026)Image LINKS:ImageImageImageImageImage

User avatar
mragland
BBA GM
Posts: 640
Joined: Sat Mar 13, 2021 7:14 pm
Location: Fayetteville, AR
Has thanked: 39 times
Been thanked: 374 times

Re: 9-News - 48.010: Season Preview – Infield

Post by mragland » Wed Sep 01, 2021 4:14 pm

Chenoweth is a puzzle.
Morris Ragland
President, Baseball Ops, Beirut Cedars (8/25/46 - 10/23/47)
President, Baseball Ops, Valencia Stars (10/24/47 - present)
925-891 Lifetime Record
2048 Caleca Winner

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." - W. Churchill

User avatar
RonCo
GB: JL Frontier Division Director
Posts: 19815
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:48 pm
Has thanked: 1982 times
Been thanked: 2902 times

Re: 9-News - 48.010: Season Preview – Infield

Post by RonCo » Wed Sep 01, 2021 4:57 pm

mragland wrote:
Wed Sep 01, 2021 4:14 pm
Chenoweth is a puzzle.
Yes, he kind of is. I've tried him full time a few bits and pieces, but he's just meh.
GM: Bikini Krill
Nothing Matters But the Pacific Pennant
Roster

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic

Return to “Yellow Springs Nine”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests