What Does The Fox Say? The Swamp Foxes’ Strange But True Statistical Feats of 2063 (2063-06)

[woods]

Another Swamp Foxes' season is in the books, and although they don't have much in the way of team success to celebrate, there are at least a few individual achievements that we can turn our focus to. They may not be record book-worthy, but they'll stand as proof that the Swamp Foxes succeeded at something this year.

To start, Joshua Ackland paced the offense with 30 home runs, a career high for the 24-year-old. The third-year player has become a pretty consistent force in the Foxes' lineup, with at least 1.5 WAR and 20 homers in every season since his debut. And there aren't too many 24-year-olds who can match his career WAR (6.5) and home run total (75). In fact, he's joined by only José Bedreddin, Raúl Gallehos, and Javier Aguilar among active players 24 or younger.

Another young outfielder who has burst (with a very generous definition of "burst") onto the scene is António Huerta. And while he also hits some home runs, his calling card is his excellent eye at the plate, taking walks in 15.4% of his plate appearances this season. That number is second-highest in the entire BBA among qualified batters, behind only Yellow Springs' Carlos Hernández (15.6%). On top of that, Huerta sees more pitches (4.97 per plate appearance) than just about anyone else in the BBA, trailing only Rosenblatt's Mark Busse (5.06) in that department.

On the mound, the Swamp Foxes' starting rotation was a constant revolving door this season, but one pitcher was very consistent in a unique way. Rookie Jim Hardesty posted a win-loss record of 12-13, which led the team in wins, as well as losses. It was a truly impressive amount of decisions, especially considering he only made 29 starts. How much do you want to bet he was the only pitcher in the BBA this year who led his team outright in both wins and losses? Of course he was.

In the bullpen, closer Dave Ferrell was lights out this year, with 38 saves and a 2.04 ERA. He's one of only two pitchers in the BBA to reach those numbers, but let me quickly come up with an arbitrary qualifier that would exclude Charm City's Evgeny Partyka — ok, Ferrell is the only pitcher in the BBA with 38 saves, an ERA under 3, and one hold. Take that, Charm City.

(You all don't know what it's like to be in a division with them. This kind of stuff always happens, and you have to find creative ways to keep a positive outlook.)

Ferrell was also part of a bullpen tandem for the Swamp Foxes that was quite prolific in one specific department: collecting Egan Awards. For the majority of the season, the Swamp Foxes' bullpen corps owned nine Egans: Ferrell's two awards (2053 and 2058 FL), David Wade's lone win (2060 JL), Kalaila Cobar's from last year, and five for Todd Stone (2047, 2049, and 2051 FL, 2056 and 2057 JL).

Since 2047, there have been more years that a current member of the Swamp Foxes' bullpen has won an Egan (9) than years they haven't (7). And considering Ferrell should be in the running this year, and Cobar is probably still yet to reach his peak, the trend could continue for years to come.

Finally, we can't talk about achievements without mentioning the storied veteran, Félix Parreno, who Cape Fear acquired in a midseason trade with Des Moines. With the 15 home runs he hit this season, that gives him sixteen straight seasons with at least that many round-trippers. He's obviously the only active BBA player who can claim that, since he's one of a select few who have even been around that long.

Parreno is expected to be back next year to see if he can make it seventeen seasons. And he'll be especially motivated, since he's hunting some career milestones, currently sitting at 490 home runs and 382 stolen bases. With a decent showing, he could join the elusive 500/400 club.

Cape Fear wishes to thank you for sticking around for another year of Swamp Foxes' baseball, and to remind you that I-74 is closed indefinitely, in case any of you are thinking about driving upstate to support Charlotte in the playoffs. It was a freak mudslide or something. Seriously, you don't want to go.

[Graham]

Another successful round of quality of contact development in the lab could make Huerta real dangerous. That and a move to a corner OF spot, but looks like you have a logjam there.

Fun article, lot a research went into that!

[DugoutDesperado]

Really solid numbers from Ackland at the plate to go along with his above average range.

[JRamirez]

yeah, Parreno just stunk in 63. hopefully he can hit over .200 and get some steals, ribbies, and 15++ homers

[Krathan]

This was a fun read.