2059.02: San Fernando Annual Performance Review - Pitchers

[BaseClogger]

11/7/2058


After reviewing the 2058 performance of the position players on the San Fernando Bears below is my follow-up focused on pitching. I'm going to have to get creative to figure out the formatting this one as I can't shamelessly steal it from Bob.


1st Starter:

+0.4 WAR from prior season. Very little change year-over-year.

Arnold Cantrell remained the ace in San Fernando and accrued even more WAR than the season prior despite his ERA increasing from 3.64 to 4.20. He made the same number of starts but threw 20 more innings thanks to my former managers' liberal pitch count during the first half of the season. Cantrell's calling card remains his durability and stamina. He'll return in 2059 at his $12M salary.

2nd Starter:

+0.5 WAR from prior season. We replaced one veteran with another via free agency.

Ruben bin Majid al Din replaced Dan Small by throwing nearly 50 more innings with an ERA of 3.77 compared to Small's 4.23. The only thing he couldn't replace was the fact Small threw from the left-side. bin Majid al Din is set to take a pay cut from $7.5M in 2058 to $6M in 2059.

3rd Starter:

-0.2 WAR from prior season. A long-term injury is the story here.

San Fernando draftee Alexander Swanson had similar peripherals to the year before but a lower BABIP allowed him to lower his ERA from 4.77 to 4.15. Unfortunately, he suffered a 10-month injury in his 31st start of the season and therefore will miss a majority of 2059. He's estimated to make $3.4 in his second-to-last year of arbitration.

4th Starter:

-0.7 WAR from prior season. A mediocre pitcher takes a step back from what may have been his career year.

Fernando Ferretti, age 28, has been consistent if unspectacular in the San Fernando rotation for four seasons now. Every year his production has fallen in the 1.7-2.6 WAR range, this time settling at 1.9. His 4.52 ERA is effective enough to keep giving him starts as long as the price tag remains low. 2059 will be his final arbitration year and he's estimated to bring home a $3M salary.

26 year-old Candrata Parmar made two spot starts to fill out this rotation spot and was not particularly effective. Since he still needs further development he'd be a prime candidate for the development lab if he had better makeup.

5th Starter:

+0.6 WAR from prior season. What was a committee in 2057 was held down by one pitcher in 2058.

Morgan Tomsett made 31 starts with a 4.68 ERA despite similar peripherals to his debut season. What he provided was stability thanks to his durable injury rating. He's a borderline starting pitcher who needs to fill out some of his development or he might have to go to the bullpen. He's under contract for the league minimum in 2059.

Keith Mays made 5 starts with a 4.12 ERA after returning from injury midseason.

Bullpen:

+0.6 WAR from prior season. Another middle-of-the-road bullpen on the cheap for Kurt Imber's San Fernando Bears.

Jim Achbar had a 1.58 ERA and led the team with 20 saves. He'll return with an inexpensive arbitration contract.

Rolf Reinhardt was the second most effective reliever until he was traded with Sammy McNeill to Long Beach where I expect his arm to fall off if they pick up his team option.

Richard Bullock remained a stabilizing influence on the pitching staff as a whole, giving them a lefty in the bullpen who can spot start. He signed an extension to continue making $1.5M in 2059.

26 year-olds Perry Wallace and Bob Butler are the relievers of the future in San Fernando. Home runs allowed and and playing time limited their WAR output respectively in 2058. Wallace will go thru arbitration for the first time while Butler makes the league minimum next season.


Summary:

Not a lot of change to the rotation and small investments in the bullpen yielded a slightly improved pitching performance for San Fernando in 2058. We lacked the depth of frontline starting pitchers or lockdown relievers to threaten opposing lineups in the postseason but I've gotten pretty good at limiting the negative WAR disasters. All in all, there wasn't much to complain about considering the impact our home ballpark has on our pitching staff.

Performance Improvement Plan:

I don't foresee much change again in the rotation. Keith Mays and Candrata Parmar will absorb the vacancy left by the Alexander Swanson injury until he is hopefully able to return next July. Most of my available funds will be needed to patch holes on the position player side although I should splurge on a couple of relievers this offseason. The other lurking factor is how soon I might want to debut 2058 1st round draft pick Rick Marriott who might be my third best starting pitcher right now.