The full statement is below:
As we have progressed through the 2038 campaign, things have not gone completely our way. We have dealt with some injuries to our starting rotation, we have dealt with some salary cap restrictions, and we have dealt with quite a few losses.
The loss of Manuel Orozco for the remainder of the season and potentially the 2039 season, followed by the sudden injury to Carson Stoller put a huge damper on our starting pitching staff. I think anytime you lose 40% of anything, you have to have concern.
We did our best to offset these injuries, but with our team payroll where it was along with the available pitchers, sometimes it’s best to make a move geared more toward the future than an immediate impact.
As for our bullpen, it has been unfortunately a disaster area. While our pitchers have gone out and given their best, we have had some unfortunate leads blown after our starting pitchers have exited the games and while were all frustrated over that, those pitchers are also extremely frustrated.
We have recently made some acquisitions that should attempt to both bolster the bullpen along with giving us some starting pitching depth for next season and beyond incase injuries like these occur again.
We also recently acquired John Hale from Des Moines, who will take over immediate starting catcher duties after the all-star game and make an impact for seasons to come.
Despite a poor record at this point and time, it’s not all bad in Omaha.
Offensively, a few of our players have fallen off a bit from last season, but much of that is uncontrollable and some unluckiness. Case in point, Alonso Olvere has a batting average of nearly .70 points lower than last season. His batting average on balls in play is also nearly 1.00 lower as it currently sits at .231. That is a sure sign that Olvere is doing things well and will return back to his normal self with time.
Another example of a horribly low BABIP for you stat guys is recently acquired Rafael Gonzales. His .215 BABIP has him wishing he had Olvere’s. Don’t get me started on Jake Williams and his .189 BABIP this season.
Let’s just call those 3 guy’s 2038 seasons very unlucky. These guys’ are doing what they should be doing and with a little luck coming their way rather than bad luck, I think we could be much closer to a playoff position.
I also want to point out that not only do we believe in our players, but we currently have 0 pending free agents for the upcoming off-season and only 2 for the 2040 season (Max Hatcher, Bengt De Meza). If you need any more proof that we believe in the players that we have in this organization then look no further than that. We have dished out nearly $200,000,000 in guaranteed contracts to our players over the past 6 months and those are contracts that we intend to run out while those players are wearing a Hawks jersey.
We also want to take a minute to discuss the contract of Hawks manager Quentin RichardsonQuentin Richardson. Quentin has been with the organization since the 2028 season, when he was the hitting coach at Plant City(Now Mankato). He became the full time hitting coach for our BBA Club(Then Indy) in 2031 and was promoted to manager in 2034. He has not only had a winning record each season since 2034, but he has made the playoffs 3 of those 4 seasons. As a side note, the season he missed the playoffs, the club won 88 games.
Quentin is going nowhere. He will not be relieved of his duties. He will not be traded to another team. He is our guy, and our clubs leader and will be until he chooses to retire from the game.
That’s all that needs to be said about it. No further questions will be taken regarding our personnel.
While we clearly wish that this season had gone differently for our organization, one item we are thrilled with is that a down year will not turn into a full on rebuild. We have built the Omaha club to be competitive year in and year out without having the necessary rebuild seasons that some clubs must have as they age.
How do we plan to do this when our guys get older?
We simply are going to draft well and be smart with our money. It all starts from within.
Speaking of the draft, we know some of our draft picks over the past few seasons have not worked out as we had hoped, but I will be the first to tell you that I feel we had a very good draft. We felt strong about the individuals selected and believe that not only will they make an impact on the field, but an impact in the communities as they eventually make their way to Omaha.
As we approach the midway of the 2038 season, I want to send out my heartfelt thank you to all of you who follow our club like a religion, and even those who just catch a sporadic game. We could do it without you.
Thank you for believing us, yesterday, today, and into the future.
Justin Niles
Hawks General Manager
