The Montreal Minute(47:1): 2046 in Review

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The Montreal Minute(47:1): 2046 in Review

Post by HerbD » Sun May 16, 2021 2:57 pm

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..... Blazers Bounced Early Again .....
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"We thought we would win more than we were predicted to win," said Montreal Blazers GM Herb DeSpain during his offseason press conference. "We didn't think that number would be 98, especially in this division which is always super competitive." For the second consecutive season the Blazers out performed the experts and this time it meant an Atlantic Division title. "This team doesn't have many super stars but it is a true team effort," explained third year starting pitcher Don Jaramillo who led all Montreal pitchers with 4.8 WAR. "If the offense was down one day the pitching would pick them up, if the pitching was down the offense would pick them up, or they were both on. Very seldom were both struggling on the same day."

For the Blazers it was an uphill battle from the jump as 19 year old Arsenio Lambrinos suffered a season ending arm injury in his very first spring training start. "We were counting on Arsenio to be in the rotation," said DeSpain. "When he got hurt we had to scramble to find that fifth guy. We were lucky the top four guys stayed healthy all year." The other four guys including Jaramillo, Dani Garcia, Juan Ruiz, and rookie Davey Penn all started 30+ games and pitched at least 192 innings. Despite the Lambrinos injury and the uncertainty of the fifth starter the Blazers finished fourth in the Johnson League in starters ERA. The bullpen was even better finishing second in the Johnson league in bullpen ERA despite an off year from stopper Carlton Casson who had to get used to sharing the spotlight with former starter In-sung Yi who was moved to the bullpen to make room for Lambrinos. "It took a lot to keep him in the pen after the injury to Arsenio," admitted DeSpain. "That would have been the easy move but we didn't want to jerk Yi around like that. He had spent the entire off season preparing to be a reliever and he had a great year in the bullpen."

It may come as a surprise to most BBA fans but the Montreal offense finished third in the Johnson League with almost 800 runs scored. Much like the pitching, the offense was a combination of a lot of very good, but no really great, seasons. Lineu Aldo is the only guy on the team that would be perceived as having a superstar season. Aldo led teh team in runs score, RBI, hits, doubles, triples, total bases, average, slugging, OPS, and WAR but several other players had break out seasons that helped Montreal to the division title. Joe Bradshaw and Manoell Whanon each posted a 4.4+ WAR while slick fielding Orlando Lopez finally hit enough to justify keeping him in the lineup.
Montreal Blazers(BBA) 2044~2047(353-295, .545 W%)
2045 Wildcard(lost in one round)
2046 Atlantic Champs(lost in one round)

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Re: The Montreal Minute(47:1): 2046 in Review

Post by Dington » Sun May 16, 2021 7:08 pm

I regretted letting go of Lopez in a salary dump a few seasons ago. Great season.
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