A new home run king in Omaha? (44.20)

[niles08]

Quick without looking, who is the BBA leader in home runs for the 2044 season?

I’d bet one of the last names you’d come up with was Jim Antolin.

Jim Antolin who joined Omaha this off-season by way of trade came into the season with a career tally of just 47 home runs in 4 seasons with Montreal over his first 1,454 plate appearances, good for 3 home runs every 100 times he steps to the plate.

Antolin was brought into Omaha to do one thing, and that one thing being to get on base. Getting on base has been something Omaha has very publicly struggled with since the Niles Era began. The team can hit moonshots, but their often moonshots that drive in just one run as the bases are empty more often than not.

Antolin’s career BB% in the mid teen’s had Omaha foaming from the mouth, despite just a career WAR of 2.6 through those first 1,454 career at bats in Montreal.

Of course, Montreal, where hitters go to die.

Since arriving in Omaha, Antolin has 16 home runs in just 178 plate appearances, nearly triple his previous average. His batting average has increased and his wRC+(which is park neutral) is a mind-boggling 181, nearly double any other season in Antolin’s career.

So with that park adjusted figure, was it all in Antolin’s head? Is it a mindset that Montreal’s park is known to deflate stats or did Antolin, at age 27 figure something out?

Regardless of the reasoning, Antolin just needs to keep on going. He is on pace for 8 WAR, and a un thought of home run total of 65, just one less than the 66 that Emilio Morales hit in 2040. Morales has 8 of the 9 top home run seasons in team history, but if Antolin continues at this pace, Morales may not only see one of the top 10 figures disappear, but he not even be the single season leader at the end of 2044.

[aaronweiner]

So apprently he's figured out how to play baseball. Good for you.