Starscreams | Will May Dive Lead to Crash? (53.05)

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Starscreams: A Valencia Stars Baseball Blog

Will May Dive Lead to Crash?

06/01/2053
Brianna Robles, Starscreams contributor

An 11-18 record in the month of May saw the Stars drop from the top of the division all the way out of post season contention. Offensive woes for the team continued, and starting pitching was awful, while the Valencia ball club struggled to win games on the road. It's starting to look like 2050 all over again for the Stars with sudden and unexpected declines in performance from players much more was expected from.

The concern with Daniel Pepper's performance at the plate at the beginning of the year has now turned to full blown worry. His April wRC+ of 50 (not a typo) means that Pepper is, without question, hurting the team at this point. How the Stars front office handles their highest paid player going forward will be interesting to see. The entire Stars infield is a problem area. First baseman Yodo Sato 'contributed' a wRC+ of 52, third baseman Jorge Lugo put up a 54, and shortstop Quintin Trewartha somehow led all infielders at 91. What production the Stars had in May came from the outfield and DH positions. Donald miller has now improved his quality of play from bad to mediocre (wRC+ of 101). Omer Dykstra has continued to shine (wRC+ 146), and center fielder Habib bin Ameen also played at a high level (wRC+ 138).

To compound the team's worries, starting pitching has looked dire. A 5.58 ERA by Valencia starters in May made the difficult task of outscoring Stars' opponents that much harder.

In 2050, the Stars had a fairly solid April (16-12), got very bad in May (11-17), and stayed very bad, losing one-hundred games. So far, 2053 is following the same pattern with a strong April (18-8) and a very bad May (11-18). The Stars find themselves 8 ½ games out of first in the Pacific early in the season. If they can't pull out of what might be a terminal dive, then the team could well go the way of 2050, and Valencia fans are in for a very long season.

[BaseClogger]

I often peruse the better teams around the league to look for ways to get better. Hoping you continue this series and I get a sense of how you handled your team’s ups and downs this past season. You undeniably had a good looking roster on paper.