2055.07: Midseason Review

[BaseClogger]

6/30/2055

CATCHING
I've stuck with a healthy mix of yeseteryear okays in Felipe Delgado and Rainer Scheffer to mediocre results. Their defense is an upgrade for me and there is reason to believe Delgado's BABIP and Scheffer's power output could improve.


INFIELD
I dumped Aaron Harding and Stepan Shabrov for Murray Healey and Kevin Corbett over the course of the first half. Healey's played great and Corbett still intrigues me as a young shortstop.

Two of the longest tenured Bears, Tyler Ober and Marcello Custello, are having slightly dissapointing seasons. Rule 5 pick Rashad bin Hadad has been just effective enough on a team like the Bears for me to want to retain him long-term. Jeremy Webb is a ratings mirage and will likely have his team option bought out at the end of the campaign.

Tsyoshi Kobayashi is the Frick League starting 3B in the all-star game and a top trade candidate.


OUTFIELD
Don Moore is batting .355 and has 23 doubles as my left-handed DH. Jim Young hit his 19th home run on May 31st and has gone cold since. He reminds me of Bill Cole of the San Antonio Outlaws last season. He's in AAA now but I expect the much younger, 24 year-old Young can avoid a similar fate.

Chris Thomas was brought in as the splashy free agent signing and hasn't lived up to the hype. Jose Leyva was this year's answer to "who plays center field now?" and has been replacement-level.

Oscar Lewis is the pleasant surprise. He's hitting .290/.329/.452 and can play any of the three outfield positions.


STARTING ROTATION
Following the Spring injury to Candrata Parmar and the May injury to Perry Wallace, the youth movement has slowed down in the Bears' rotation. The youngsters remaining are former top prospect Alexander Swanson and former rule 5 pick Fernando Ferretti. Swanson's run hot and cold but leads the rotation in WAR, while Ferretti hasn't been very good but is second in WAR--an indictment of the quality of this rotation.

On the veteran side of things, Zach Davis still stinks but has pitched just well enough to justify a rotation spot for the rest of the season (there aren't any better options in AAA either). Shea Valance continues to play as more of a fifth starter than an ace despite the large free agent contract he received, although at least he tends to keep his team in the game with his contact-oriented approach.

Dan Small recently returned from injury and is probably the Bears' best hope for a starting pitcher to breakout. Unfortunately, he's just as likely to get injured.


BULLPEN
As is tradition in San Fernando at this point, my bullpen is full of mediocre arms who xFIP between 3.67 and 4.66. I'm using Kinzo Iwamoto as my stopper to maximize my innings, while my most effective reliever has been Slawomir Trzcinski. I'm pleased to have five lefties available.

[Dington]

Kobayashi was gonna be my fallback option after losing out on Mendoza. Finances got screwed and had to trade for Brickell who hasn’t been great. Good pickup.

[RonCo]

Always liked Trzcinski.

[Trebro]

Always liked Trzcinski.

He simply couldn't justify his salary demand so away he went as is my custom. he's found new life with the bears