2056.16 Lessman Swabs the Decks of the 2056 Cat Island Pirates

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Lessman Swabs the Decks of the 2056 Cat Island Pirates

Editor's note: Our amazing, award-winning farm reporter, Nes Lessman, wrote some amazing work about the Yellow Springs Nine 2056 minor league seasons, the first in which the organization under GM Rob McMonigal reached that achievement. Unfortunately, they got lost in our offices until recently and are presented here for our readers to see just how good Lessman is at evaluating talent.

Cat Island had a great 2056, led by some solid stars with potential for great things, if all goes well. Let's climb aboard the Pirates' ship and see what find!

Heroes:

Starters:

Hans Shwarzacher. 22. This is the #2 overall pick of 2056. Of course he's going to be a hero, or else McMonigal would be run out of town on a rail. And Ohio has a lot of railroads. 9-1 with one save (because he was pulled from the rotation to keep his innings down), 2.00 ERA, .2 HR/9. 1.15 WHIP. 4.5 WAR. The kid has superstar written all over him. He'll move to A-ball without question. McMonigal grabbed one of the best players in a relatively weak draft and he's ticketed to be on a BBA roster around 2059 or so, alongside quite a few of the other young stars.

Tyler Rodriguez. 22. A second round pick in 2054, Rodriguez also went 9-1 but missed out on the save. He even had a matching 2.00 ERA and a better whip, .99! What a rotation combo to have. His WAR was lower at 2.9 and his BB/9 of 3.1 isn't ideal. Control is his weak suit. But if he can use his solid stuff and movement, Rodriguez could enter the conversation. As it is, he's likely to enter A-ball in 2057.

Paco Velasquz. 19. McMonigal prides himself on his scouting of the lower ends of the draft and here we find a 20th round selection from 2054 going 5-3 in his first chance to be a full-time starting pitcher in the organization, good for a 2.1 WAR. He also kept his WHIP strong, at 1.02 and almost no homers, with a rating of .6/9 there. Let's be honest here, a pitcher with middling stuff and almost no movement on his pitches probably can't make it. Especially since scouts dislike his changeup and his fastball is only moderately fast. But like other kids I've featured here, he's working his ass off to get somewhere, and I'd love to see that continue.

Position Players:

IF Kentaro Muto. 22. Drafted in the 8th round in 2055, Muto doesn't talk much but quietly starred on the field with a 3.2 WAR, higher than anyone else on the team who picked up a bat. He actually walked more times than he struck out (33 to 27), a rare feat for any player at any level with significant playing time. Muto's OPS was 1.057 and he had a 5.67 range at second base. Muto will likely get a chance to see what he can do in a full season in 2057. He's probably blocked long-term and could be a trade chip.

3B Hilel Bahir. 22. The fifth round pick in 2055 continues to be solid, if not spectacular. A 1.9 WAR on the season with an OPS of .864, it's his .328 average and OBP of .419 that gets him into the conversation, providing a different type of hitting value from the hot corner, where homers tend to be more of a priority. That could hurt him, but his 5.8 range at third is extremely high, meaning his glove, along with a slap-hitting bat, could get him a long-term look as the team views ways to replace Dong-po Thum to the best of its ability. He'll probably also be in Silver Springs when the season begins.

Zeroes:

C John Donahue. 19. It's probably unfair to label a player drafted in the 16th round in 2054 as a zero, when he's clearly organizational filler. But he batted .151 in 41 games, truly forming a black hole in the line up, good for -1.5 WAR. He'll be replaced as soon as McMonigal can find a better option. Shouldn't be hard to do.

OF Polat Haydaroglu. 22. Another international scouting discovery that isn't panning out, this one from 2051. Fortunately, he didn't cost Bo anything except air fare. While the BBA level scouts like him, to some degree, projecting him as a reserve figure, his defense is so bad (negative 2.1 ZR) that he ended up with a WAR of -.2 despite batting .279. He might get promoted as depth, but this looks like the end of the road for him, as he power so low even the Mad Popes think he should try increasing his muscle mass.