Starscreams (48.14) Newbold & García are Knocking on the Door, Will the Stars Let Them In?

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Starscreams (48.14) Newbold & García are Knocking on the Door, Will the Stars Let Them In?

Post by mragland » Sun Sep 05, 2021 12:52 pm

Starscreams: A Valencia Stars Baseball Blog

Newbold & García are Knocking on the Door, Will the Stars Let Them In?

4/14/2048
Brianna Robles, Starscreams contributor

Harold Newbold, acquired by the Stars in the Haney/French trade, was sent down to AAA Mars after spring training for some polishing, but he's been shining pretty brightly in his first two starts. The twenty-two year old Australian has thrown fourteen and a third innings, striking out seventeen, walking two, allowing six hits and three earned runs. It doesn't look like there is much more for him to learn at that level.

Coming out of spring, some felt Newbold was ready for the Valencia rotation right away, but his 2047 stats with Mexico City (9.91 ERA, 215 FIP- in thirty-six and a third) might have planted a seed of doubt in the minds of the Stars front office. So Newbold was sent down to Mars to work on, what, exactly, I don't know.

The trouble for Newbold may be the performance of the Stars pitching staff so far this season. It's been good. More on that coming soon. Newbold's likely landing spot will be in the Valencia bullpen (which hasn't quite been up to the same standards as the rotation), where he can get acclimated to BBA hitting in small, controlled doses.

Júlio García, Valencia's first round pick in last year's draft (third overall), did not impress this spring (.691 OPS) and was sent down to AAA to work on his approach and, presumably, his outfield defense. Garcia also hit the ground running in his first two weeks, posting a .350/.395/.725 slash line.

Martin Hemming (206 OPS+ in 45 games for Nashville last season) casts a long shadow, and it touches both the club that passed on him for a different corner outfielder in last year's draft and García, the player Valencia did take. The ceiling on García's production at the plate isn't quite so high as was imagined when he was drafted, and hitting is 98% of his value to the club. This isn't entirely García's fault. I imagine he's doing what he can to make the big league club, but watching Hemming do what he did in Nashville last season and seeing García lump at the same time must have been hard to take for Stars executives.

García's path to the major league lineup appears a bit convoluted. Defensively challenged corner outfielders aren't exactly something the team has a scarcity of, what with Lee Stone in the DH spot, Brent Thompson on the bench, Gene Meade in right field, and Dan Beard recently designated for assignment, but for a team as offensively bleh as the Stars are at the moment (.674 team OPS), García might provide a needed lift as we await the return of Frédérick Brisset.
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Re: Starscreams (48.14) Newbold & García are Knocking on the Door, Will the Stars Let Them In?

Post by Dington » Sun Sep 05, 2021 2:22 pm

If it makes you feel any better, Hemming came back to earth so far this season.
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Re: Starscreams (48.14) Newbold & García are Knocking on the Door, Will the Stars Let Them In?

Post by mragland » Mon Sep 06, 2021 10:07 pm

Dington wrote:
Sun Sep 05, 2021 2:22 pm
If it makes you feel any better, Hemming came back to earth so far this season.
No, not really. It wasn't my pick, to begin with, and I think you did very well grabbing Hemming when you did. Sophomore slump aside, I think he was the better option, and I expect he'll adjust to the league's adjustment to him in time.
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

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