Despite babying him with low pitch counts and skipping starts whenever possible, in the most recent sim we learned the devastating news that starting pitcher Rick Marriott tore his UCL and will be injured for the next 12-13 months. He'll join fellow starting pitcher Ielemia Faletose in the trainer's room.
Still only 23 years old, Marriott has already thrown 413 innings at the BBA level with a 4.25 ERA. The theme of his first two seasons with the Bears was underperforming his FIP by about a run of ERA but that flipped on its head in 2061. The groundball specialist had a similar FIP to his overall career number but carried an excellent 2.73 ERA this season. This result was all the more surprising in the context of his Stuff-Movement-Control ratings lumping from 6-7-7 to 5-6-6 over the 2060-2061 offseason.
The 19th overall selection in the 2058 BBA amateur draft can currently claim the top spot on that draft class’s leaderboard in career WAR. He’ll surely be surpassed by other young phenoms like Juan Serna, Jose Barrera, and Cesar Franco while he’s injured.
It’s all but guaranteed that he’ll be replaced on the active roster by recent acquisition Dhrtatman Seshadri but his spot in the rotation could go to any of Jerry Richards, Richard Bullock, and Seshadri himself. Richards has the best recent track record of success and Seshadri has the most upside but Bullock was promised the opportunity to start games in his most recent contract extension. Stay tuned.