On the Lam, 62.6 - A Man(ning)'s Resurgence

[trmmilwwi]

During the offseason San Antonio decided to bring in free agent starting pitchers Barney Lindsay and Greg Shaw. The team had 3 very young starting pitchers in 24 year olds George White, Cesar Franco and Jorge Casillas. The intent is for the lefties to be the long term core on the mound but some volatility is expected as they all grow into their roles. The vets will hopefully help them stabilize and form a good starting 5. However, that left 10 year veteran Quinton Manning on the outside looking in.

Manning was drafted by the Outlaws with the 7th overall pick in the 2051 amateur draft and spent that year and the next working his way through the minors. The next 3 years he split his time between AAA Austin and the big league club where he seemed destined to be a AAAA type player. He posted 6+ ERAs in San Antonio and sub 4’s in Austin. He was getting some spot starts but wasn’t a large part of the pitching staff on a consistent basis. Then in ’56 he was asked to be the long reliever from the bullpen and stuck with the big league club for several years in that role. Due to salary constraints and the inability for the front office to find a suitable starting pitcher in the free agent market Manning was asked to start games regularly in ’59. He continued as a starter for the Outlaws for 3 full seasons, compiling a 30-33 record over 98 starts. He ate a lot of innings amassing 605 innings pitched over that span.

The team decided to permanently switch Manning back to the bullpen and converted him to a relief pitcher in the offseason. While he has been extremely lucky with the defense behind him, the 31 year old reliever has had a career resurgence in ’62. He has appeared in 18 games as a reliever and has a 2-3 record with 4 saves to go with his 1.87 ERA. He has allowed only 18 hits in 33.2 innings pitched. His 0.86 WHIP and 235 ERA+ are not sustainable but have given the young ballclub a great push in the right direction.