By Nes Lessman, for the Yellow Springs Journal
Long-time readers know that I am very wary of the Spartan's manager, Jin-oong An. An is an enigma, with almost no history. He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, he doesn't chew. He barely seems to eat or drink. No one sees him socially. No one has even heard him curse. It's madness, I tell you, and I WILL FIND OUT YOUR SECRET, AN!
What An can't seem to find is a secret to making this team better. Thanks to players moving up to AAA and other players coming up from the really, really bad Tarpons, the Spartans just aren't going to be good for a few years yet, with many of its players being scrap- heap finds, churned in the hopes of finding a good player, like Jesus Ruiz in 2053. Here's the details, if you can stomach them.
Santa Cruz Spartans, 25-34, 4th place, 11.5 games back
Going 11-15 in May basically keeps the Spartans in a holding pattern, which isn't great but isn't as bad as it could have been. Batting average is actually up to 4th in the league, but OPS dropped to 10th where runs scored lives. The batters have a combined WAR of 4.1, good for 13th and are 11th in homers. The pitching remained abysmal, with starter ERA remaining 12th (5.47!), and FIP also 12th (4.67). Strikeouts increased to 2nd in the league, which means the stuff here is good – but no one can harness it. Defense is 15th across the board. Absolutely brutal. There's not a lot to like here, even on an individual level, and a few of the better players are now in AAA, with Tarpons replacing them. Trust me, right now that's not a good thing to write.
Starting Pitching
Ken Plante numbers have changed little. BABIP is .349, ERA is 4.68, WHIP is 1.50, k/9 of 11.8 and bb/9 of 4.5. The latter being a little less than in April is the one positive to hang your hat on. Despite scouts noting he's trying harder, it feels like Plante might be about what he appears to be on the tin – a mid-rotation starter. That's not what GM Rob McMonigal or Nine fans were hoping for, but it seems realistic to me from what I can see right now.
John Jenson might be overmatched at AA right now. He's just 19, so going back to A-ball wouldn't hurt his long-term timeline but the morale hit could be killer. But at the same time, he's killing the Spartans. He's lost his last 5 starts in a row, and hasn't managed to make it 5 innings in any of those, despite hitting 90 pitches twice and 87 on a third occasion. His .360 BABIP isn't helping, but he's got a 5.80ERA (and FIP of 5.11, so it's no the stone hands hurting him). His WHIP is now 1.73. It's as if turning 19 turned him into a new, different and BAD pitcher. We'll see what McMonigal does here. There's precious few true prospects in the system, and he can't afford to get this one wrong.
Luis Abdul-Halim is new to the Spatans, having been promoted as part of the shifting of players after the draft. He's happy to escape Silver Springs, I'm sure, where he played decently. The 2053 second round pick is the first of McMonigal's draftees to make it to AA, and so far, so good. He's 1-0 in 2 starts with a 1.64 ERA in 11.2 innings pitched, K/9 of 6.5 against a bb/9 of 1.7. Abdul-Halim doesn't have anything amazing, but he has 5 decent pitches that he mixes up well and solid, if not spectacular stuff, movement, and control. It's a package that at just 21, appears to be pretty well developed. He's behind Plante and Jenson for now, but could leapfrog them to AAA next year if he continues to play well with the Spartans. His numbers from Short A, A, and now AA are similar, so it's looking quite good that he'll be a serviceable BBA player.
Bullpen
Juan Rivas has only gotten worse in May, with his ERA jumping to 6.59 but his FIP is a much better 4.13, showing that the BABIP of .422 is the main reason why he's got such horrible stats. The bb/9 is down to 4.6 and k/9 is still 10.5. If he can get support behind him, he'll do fine. But the key will be seeing how he plays when he gets to AAA, where the defense is much better. He's still the closer for this team, but might need to move down to middle relief for a bit.
Ali Bin NooriAli Bin Noori is showing his scrap heap status, after blowing up in the past 5 games, zooming his ERA to 5.40. I mentioned "we'll see" and we sure did.
Position Players
Outfielder Timm Meyers is now hitting .332, being one of the few people on this team with a future. His OPS is .869, another bump from April's numbers. However, he wasn't moved yet, because at 22, there's no real rush. Meyers also needs to learn how to play the field better. He's starting more games in the outfield, too, with 10 starts in right and 5 in left. He's not great at the 7 spot, but his work in right has been passable (1.63 range, .4 ZR) and the bat would definitely play if he doesn't embarrass himself. A few more homers would help, with his pace of 14 being okay, but 20 would be better.
Catcher Yeon-hun Kok has faded down to .247, which will hurt his chances to be a backup in the majors, as one typically figures at least 30 points off the AA batting average, or at least it used to be that way. Maybe not so much but I am a bit on the older side.
The Bottom Line
It's going to be a long year for Spartan fans. This team doesn't look like it's going anywhere fast.
