Valencia Star Gazer: 1998, Vol. #2

[BigRed Mosquito]

Valencia (35-29) is 4 games back in the Pacific and trying to make the push. One move Valencia made to stir things up was moving relief pitcher Wayne Stohlberg into the starting rotation. His first startout had the Stars fans questioning the move, in that start against the Madison Wolves he went 4=1/3 giving up 5 earned with 5 walks and 5 K's. However, in his second start against Calgary he was able to put together a better showing going 7 innings with 7 K's and 2 walks while giving up just 1 earned run. The Stars feel this kid has a short leash and will not hesitate to move him back to the pen if he looks overmatched. The Stars definitely need to get Josh Kellogg back from DL.

Offensively, this has been a pretty mediocre to below average team. Michael Malkowski leads the team with 14 homeruns, 43 RBIs, and his hitting at a team high .327. Keeping pace with Malkowski is Clint Boyette with 12 homeruns, 40 RBIs, and a .301 average. As of late DeMario Davis has begun to heat-up hitting .452 with 3 homeruns in his last 9 games, giving him 11 homeruns for the year and is currently hitting .272 which is above his career average of .267. But a team that shows excitment about the performance of DeMario Davis seems to really being reaching for a optimistic view.

[aaronweiner]

There were serious cap problems in the offseason, but there's no reason why Valencia still shouldn't be competitive.