Sticking Points 2034.15: First Round Preview

[aaronweiner]

The Rockville Pikemen waited seven long years of rebuilding, restructuring, big money contracts, and a superb youth infusion to return to the playoffs. Their reward? Las Vegas. Welcome to the show, kids.

"Obviously, if we're going to prove ourselves right away, doing it against Vegas is a good way to go," said Pikemen manager Chet Rouse. "They've only made the playoffs since before some of our players were born I think."

Rouse is only exaggerating a little bit. Other than 2019, the Hustlers have made the playoffs every year since 2017, and the Pikemen's youngest player, Chip Puckett, was born in 2016. Puckett is also likely to be the starter at shortstop after hitting .383 in September.

"We're young, and hungry, and ready," said Puckett. "We know who those guys are, but we're good too, and we're ready to do some work."

The Hustlers, of course, are full of big names: Ridder, Sandcastle, Romero, Brewer. However, Rockville has star power of its own. Let's begin with the top two starters, both former #1 overall draft picks, Arthur Dempster and Enrique Gomez. The latter is already a household name amongst BBA fans, as the veteran righty has won two Steve Nebraskas and could be considered for his third this year, as he won the JL ERA title and finished with 17 wins. Standing in Gomez' way is Dempster, who led the JL in strikeouts, second in wins, fourth in ERA and was considered by far and away the top pitcher in the league using advanced metrics.

"We're where we are today because of the development of Arthur Dempster and the willingness of the front office to open up the pocketbooks and pay for Enrique," said Rouse. "We might have still made the playoffs without Enrique, but we sure wouldn't be a 99-win team."

With two top starters and an excellent bullpen, Rockville is built for the playoffs even if you overlooked their offense, but don't sleep on the Pikemen's bats. After all, Rockville finished second in the league in offense, with the #1 and #2 players in batting average in Dusty Rhodes and 19 year old catcher Francisco Flores.

"We're excited to be in the playoffs, and we're coming to play," said Rhodes. "You can count on it."

[RonCo]

Gomez could well have won the Frick Nebraska last year, and probably really should get the nod this year...though Dempster gets more ink, I suppose. Toss up.

[bschr682]

I went with Gomez

[aaronweiner]

It really is a toss-up. Which is just plain fun.

[recte44]

We were only 2-6 vs. Rockville this year.

[bcslouck]

We were only 2-6 vs. Rockville this year.

Better than what we did against them.

[aaronweiner]

My toughest playoff opponents were Jacksonville (6-7) and Montreal (also 6-7). Didn't check run differential.