Vicente Lamb, Stars Reporter
December 25, 2048
VALENCIA – The Stars would come out of the all-star break three games below .500, but with a puncher's chance at a wild card berth. After posting an even record in July, the club pulled a pratfall in August that saw them rapidly fade from contention. It was a Heartland heavy schedule, 14 games in division and 14 out. Valencia went 5-9 against the Heartland clubs, but could have overcome that with a good showing in intradivisional contests. They did not, and in fact posted an identical 5-9 record against Pacific foes, for an overall August record of 10-18.
The Stars' offensive shortcomings were on full display as the team was shut out five times that month, and was held to just one run eight times. There were too few brights spots in the Stars lineup. Lee Stone continued to play at a high level, putting up a 143 OPS+. Stalwart Frédérick Brisset contributed an OPS+ of 151. The two of them combined for 11 home runs and 25 runs batted in. Call-up Ángel Pérez made the most of his limited action, tallying five hits (including two home runs) and a walk in thirteen plate appearances. Kenan Reis was able to overcome a bummer BABIP of .244 to hit for an OPS+ of 112, and contributed 6 home runs of his own. All other hitters were well below league average in this span.
The rotation was similarly bereft. Greg Jackson had a very good month, earning a 2.75 ERA in his six starts. Newcomer Harold Newbold also performed well (3.12 ERA in six starts). These two accounted for half of the team wins in August. The rest of the rotation was so bad that the Stars' shaky bullpen looked relatively competent by comparison.
After a brutal August, the team's 16-11 September came as a pleasant surprise. We had expected them to just lay down and die, but they didn't, and performances by some of their young players gave fans some hope for the future. The highlight of the month, and perhaps the season, was a home series sweep of the Popes that included an encouraging eight-inning, two-run outing by September call-up Carlton Day in the second game of the series, and an emphatic, three-run, walk-off home run by Lee Stone in the bottom the 10th inning of the third game. Rookie second baseman Yodo Sato, who had struggled in August, went off in the last month of the season, slashing .397/.463/.589 for an OPS+ of 189.
Not much was expected of this team in 2048, but they nevertheless managed to win 78 games (eight wins more than the previous season) and finish third in the division. If they can continue to show improvement, a winning record in 2049 won't be out of the question. Finishing third in the Pacific doesn't mean a whole lot now, but perhaps some day soon that might be good enough for a post-season appearance.