There was more hooting and hollering in the Hustlers' War Room than has been heard in maybe a decade when they called Huber's name here. Many in the room were pushing for him with the 27th pick, but the Hustlers gambled (correctly) that they would be able to grab both Sweetworld and Huber if they did it in that order. So here's Huber, a 16 year old lefty whose residency in Puerto Rico allowed him to play in the International Finishing Academy and made him eligible for this draft. "We have extremely high hopes for Shawn based on his ceiling," Rectenwald explained. "We feel like he could be the next Paul Hogan for this franchise." Strong words indeed. "Those are big shoes to fill," Huber sheepishly said. "I'll just try to do the best I can, I'm just a regular kid who loves to play baseball." Classic boom or bust pick.
Shawn Huber (10/6/7 Talents) was unbelievable as the Legends' closer. Check out these numbers: 4-0, 6 SV, 13 G, 17.1 IP, 2.08 ERA, 0.52 WHIP (not a typo), 1 BB, 28 K. Insane.
1. Gonzalo Fajardo (6/7/8 Talents) , LHP (5-1, 7 GS, 3.06 ERA, 1.09 WHIP)- Don't tell Fajardo he can't pitch.
2. Shawn Huber (10/6/7 Talents) , LHP (1-2, 15 G, 10 SV, 2.70 ERA, 1.44 WHIP)- He's getting closer and closer to the big leagues daily. Maybe he's the answer to all the Hustlers' bullpen issues?
3. Hyun-sik Chang (8/7/7 Talents) , RHP (4-0, 6 GS, 3.82 ERA, 1.25 WHIP)- So very, very close to being big league ready. Like Huber to the bullpen, he could be the saving grace of the Hustlers' rotation very soon.
Huber is a control bump away from getting the call to the big leagues. Only 19 years old, the Canadian lefty has been promoted aggressively and has responded well to the challenge.
Las Vegas Hustlers: Placed CL Shawn Huber on the 40-man roster.
Las Vegas Hustlers: Purchased the contract of RP Shawn Huber from Triple A Milwaukee.
Recte explained the callup, amid injuries to the pitching staff:
Tony Henry (10/7/5 Ratings) was the Hustlers' closer and pitching well when he went down with an injury midway through last season. In the meantime, the Hustlers acquired Hiroyuki Rin (10/7/9 Ratings) to serve as closer and Joey Budding (9/9/7 Ratings) to be their primary setup man. Henry's recovery didn't go extremely well as Hustlers' scouts now view him as a shell of himself not even a year later. Ultimately, the Hustlers chose to go with the upside of uber-prospect Shawn Huber (10/7/7 Ratings) rather than retain Henry. He was designated for assignment and now awaits his ultimate fate.
He has 77 relief appearances in 2032, worked 87 innings and struck out 105. Rin has posted 36 saves with a 2.79 ERA and a 12-6 record, making him a top contender for the JL Egan Award this season.
In his absence, the Hustlers will look to two young arms to step up in the late innings. Shawn Huber will move up to the closer role. In his rookie season thus far he's pitched in 69 games, saving 8, with a 2.51 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Another rookie, Augate Balun, will become the primary setup man after posting other-worldly numbers in his first 12 games as a big leaguer (0.49 ERA, 0.87 WHIP). "It's a lot of pressure to put onto two rookies, but these are two very special rookies and we feel like they are up for the challenge," said a confident Hustlers pitching coach Christopher Stoller.
Augate Balun (10/7/6 Ratings), 21
Mingo Boone (6/7/9 Ratings), 40
Rafael Cruz (8/6/7 Ratings), 29
Shawn Huber (10/7/7 Ratings), 21
Hiroyuki Rin (10/7/9 Ratings), 27 (CL)
Eric Trujillo (9/7/6 Ratings), 28 (DL)
Rin is a top-flight closer, and Huber broke out in '32 as a top shelf setup man. Balun had an out-of-this-world debut and looks to be an excellent setup parter with Huber, giving opposing teams fits from each side of the mound.
July 21, 2033
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If the Las Vegas Hustlers have a lead by the seventh inning, there's a good chance they'll get to the ninth with one still intact. Two youngsters have made sure of that, and turned a huge question mark for this years team into a huge exclamation mark.
Righty Augate Balun (10/7/7 Ratings, 4 - 1, 1.98 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 34 K) (above, left) and lefty Shawn Huber (10/7/7 Ratings, 5 - 0, 1.46 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 43 K) (above, right) have combined to become a dominant, and downright "nasty" bridge to closer Hiroyuki Rin (10/7/9 Ratings, 2 - 3, 4.20 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 52 K) this year. "These two guys can barely buy a drink legally, but they sure can pitch," exclaimed pitching coach Christopher Stoller. "I know Skip has no fear going with these guys in a pinch anymore."
Let's start with Huber. After breaking in with a cup of coffee in late 2031, he spent the whole year with the Hustlers last year, appearing in 69 games with a 4-3 record and 8 saves to go with a 2.51 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 86 strikeouts in 61 innings.
This year, he's been even better. The biggest difference has been his ability to limit the longball, with just one allowed in 37 innings compared to 10 in 61 innings last year.
Balun was a rapid riser through the system. Just signed as an international free agent in 2030, he made it all the way to the big leagues in September of last year (12 G, 18.1 IP, 0.49 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 23 K). This year he's moved into a high leverage setup role, and has continued to shine (22 G,
Post by recte44 » Tue Apr 03, 2018 2:16 pm
At 37-39, the Las Vegas Hustlers are in unfamiliar territory as they come to the end of June. "Losing is not an option for this club," said manager Riley Hinson. "It absolutely cannot and will not continue."
There is room for optimism. The Hustlers are, in fact, the third best team in the Johnson League if you look at Pyth. Record at 43-33. They are -6 in Pyth Differential, the largest deficit in the league. "We've blown a lot of games that we shouldn't have, we haven't been good in close games, and then we'll win by 10 or more runs," Hinson explained. "It's frustrating to say the least."
At the top of the frustrating category has been veteran reliever Hiroyuki Rin (2 - 6, 7.13 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 23 K) , who has lost six games himself (almost singlehandedly accountable for the Pyth differential). Rin has been outspoken about wanting to be the closer, despite his struggles. "I have always been the closer, I should be the closer," Rin said, outraged. "In my opinion closers aren't usually putting up ERA's in the 7's," retorted a clearly frustrated Hinson. "Meanwhile I have a kid in Shawn Huber (5 - 2, 1.65 ERA, 0.70 WHIP, 37 K) who is probably the most dominant reliever in the league right now, is Rin saying that he doesn't deserve the job," a bewildered Hinson asked no one in particular.
Pitching coach Christopher Stoller had this to say regarding Huber finishing 3rd in the Egan Voting: "It's a complete travesty. There's far too much emphasis on saves now, are folks really that lazy that they can't take a look at the whole picture? Huber was easily the most dominant reliever in our league this year. I know I'm more upset about it than he is, he just wants to do his job and help the team. We'll get 'em next year."
May 13, 2038
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After a dominant Spring Training (6 G, 10.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 15 K, 0.87 ERA) the excitement level in Las Vegas was high regarding Wayne Muirhead. When he was acquired from Omaha in April 2036 (for Hirotada Miura and Maximo Trevino) the Hustlers thought they were adding a second dominant lefty in addition to Shawn Huber to their vaunted bullpen. Instead, Muirhead has been a huge disappointment and source of frustration.
2036: 35 G, 42.2 IP, 6.33 ERA, 1.45 WHIP
2037: 38 G, 36.1 IP, 5.45 ERA, 1.46 WHIP
"We just couldn't quite put our finger on what was wrong with him," pitching coach and BBA Hall of Famer Christopher Stoller said. "Maybe we shouldn't have goofed around with him starting a few games here and there, maybe we shouldn't have sent him down the couple of times we did. At the end of last year when we sat down with Wayne to go over his offseason plan we told him straight up that 2038 was going to be enormously important for him. You can call it a make or break year or last chance or whatever you want. But he knew. And I'll give him all the credit, he came in looking like a different pitcher in Spring and it's carried over to the season."
Take away two games, in fact, and his already good numbers (3.52 ERA, 1.11 WHIP in 15.1 IP) look even better. Of course you could do this with any pitcher but in the case of Muirhead his FIP for the season is 1.30 so that means there has been some bad luck along the way.
4/28/38 vs NSH (L)
1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
4/13/38 vs RCK
1.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
Without those two games:
13 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 17 K, 1.44 ERA
Another big step forward this season? He's shutting down RHP:
6-34, 1 2B, 4 BB, 10 K, OPP SLASH: .176/.263/.206/.469 -
that's even BETTER than against lefties.
"I'm throwing loose, and simply not overthinking things," Muirhead said. "I have to give a lot of credit to Antonio Robles and Robinson Lopez who have been calling great pitches for me."
It's still early in the season, but manager Edward Allen made a big statement showing how much faith they have in Muirhead. "It's not the 'Big 3' anymore," Allen said, referring to Huber, Javier Garcia and Augate Balun . "Now we've got the 'Four Horsemen'."
"They took pretty much everything, completely cased the place," said the 27-year-old grimly. "I'm not sure if it was someone who knew I was a pro ballplayer or just a random thing, but it feel terrible either way."
Thankfully, Huber said, his family wasn't home during the incident.
"We can replace possessions, but no one was hurt, that's the main thing."
Marcus Forryan said morale around the clubhouse is low, but they are trying to band together to help Huber through the situation.
"We're all bummed out, but happy he's OK and hopefully they can catch the guy who did this," he said.
Las Vegas Hustlers closer Shawn Huber's home in Las Vegas was robbed recently and he said thus far local police don't have any suspects or leads.
"They said they are investigating, but nothing to report right now," Huber said. "I can't believe the guy is probably going to get away with it."
Huber said the support of his teammates has been fantastic and they all simply want to move on and focus on baseball
Still only 27 years old and his legend continues to grow. Recently signed an extension and it looks like he'll be in Vegas for years to come. The only questions at the end of his career will be whether he's passed Hogan as the best reliever in Hustlers history, and whether or not he's a Hall of Famer. 3rd in Saves, 8th in Games (and counting).
What We Said: Drafted CL Shawn Huber (10/7/7 Talents) in the 2028 first-year player draft (Supplemental Round 1, Pick 2, 30th overall pick).
There was more hooting and hollering in the Hustlers' War Room than has been heard in maybe a decade when they called Huber's name here. Many in the room were pushing for him with the 27th pick, but the Hustlers gambled (correctly) that they would be able to grab both Sweetworld and Huber if they did it in that order. So here's Huber, a 16 year old lefty whose residency in Puerto Rico allowed him to play in the International Finishing Academy and made him eligible for this draft. "We have extremely high hopes for Shawn based on his ceiling," Rectenwald explained. "We feel like he could be the next Paul Hogan for this franchise." Strong words indeed. "Those are big shoes to fill," Huber sheepishly said. "I'll just try to do the best I can, I'm just a regular kid who loves to play baseball." Classic boom or bust pick.
The Bottom Line: The hooting and hollering was justified. Better than Hogan. BOOM BOOM BOOM.
Former GM @jleddy put out a sweet feature entitled:
Dr. Shawn Huber or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Relief Ace
In the beginning of 2041, @bschr682 brought up this BOLD question:
Goldie: "He has been amazing. Over 300 innings between the last 2 seasons and over 400 K's in those innings!"
GM: "Exactly. Obviously its come at the sacrifice of his save numbers. I would imagine he will get no love from awards voters based on that fact alone but I'm going to ask a serious question here. Is Huber better than Jason Egan?"
Soik: "That's pretty much blasphemy to even suggest that. Wait didn't you oversee the final few years of Egan's career?"
Gm: "Exactly! So who better to throw out some opinions concerning these two? Lets be honest. Egan was incredible. He pitched for nearly 20 years and still kept that career ERA under 3. That's nuts. He won 119 games and never made a single start! His 753 saves reign supreme among all relievers and I highly doubt that record will ever be broken. I'm not up here suggesting we change the reliever of the year award name *cough* yet *cough*. Excuse me. I'm just trying to throw Huber into some historical context now that the season is in the books."
Goldie: "Well Egan did throw over 1400 innings over his career. Huber has a long way to go to catch that."
GM: "Does he really? Huber is already closing in on 900 and he is only 29. Egan pitched til he was 42! Is it crazy to think Huber can go 4 more years at the pace he is on? Maybe or maybe not. That's all it would take to catch Egan. Assuming he doesn't fall off a cliff or get hurt, I'm putting money on Huber amassing more innings than Egan had. What will the counting stats look like at that point? I'm not sure but if you believe in WAR Huber is already better..."
The Nebraska Case for Shawn Huber
@bschr682 first brings up the topic of Huber's uncertain future in Vegas in 2042:
GM: "Yes there have been talks. Details cannot be released at this time. Just know that we love what Huber brings to the team and would be thrilled if he stayed with the team throughout the duration of his career. Keep your eyes peeled on that transaction log folks. Now if you'll excuse me. I have some calls to make."
The Las Vegas Hustlers have finished a deal with All Star-caliber closer Shawn Huber that will extend his stay in Las Vegas at least 4 years and will pay out $46,000,000.
So far this season, Huber has put up these stats: 21 relief appearances, 1 save, 37.1 IP, 52 strikeouts, and 2.17 ERA. His won-lost record is 3-1, and the opposition is hitting .178 against him.
GM: "Wow look at you waxing poetic. There have actually been 0 official offers for Huber. If someone comes calling we obviously have to do our due diligence and listen but we are more than happy to keep Huber here and have him help us win as many games as possible. In all honesty there is still a real shot at the playoffs this year yet if we play our cards right. Speaking of cards, I have a social engagement to attend. I'm sure we will chat soon."
Post by Rubaboo » Wed May 20, 2020 9:39 pm
Tension. Angst. Hope. Exhilaration.
Game 162 versus the Las Vegas Hustlers has all of us riding on a rollercoaster of emotion. All the other games of the 2042 regular season are finished. We know the situation - Win, and we're in. It's that simple. We know it, they know it. The players, fans, mascots, bat boys, vendors. Everyone knows it. All eyes are on us.
It's a tight game. Vegas scores 4 in the top of the 4th, we get 3 back in the bottom. We tie it up in the 6th, Vegas gets one to go up 5-4 in the 7th and escape the inning still ahead. Gerard Wagner comes on and keeps the top of the Hustlers' order off the board in the 8th. Hustlers 5, Aztecs 4. You can feel the tension in the room as we watch Vegas uber-reliever Shawn Huber stride to the mound in the bottom of the 8th. Huber starts the inning by rudely sending Jose Ayala back the dugout on a 5 pitch strikeout. Second batter of the inning is the $20 Million Man, Hsin Mei. Mei is content to let Huber pick around the corners and takes a 5 pitch walk. As Mei trots to first base, Juan Rocha begins the walk from the on-deck circle to the plate. Juan Rocha. Juan 'minus 2.5 WAR' Rocha.
Rocha takes a couple of warm up swings and digs in. Huber's first offering is off the plate, Rocha stands with his bat on his shoulder. Ball 1. Huber's second pitch is in there, Rocha, still standing with his bat on his shoulder, watches strike 1. 1-1. The nerves in the box are slowly fraying. I hear someone mutter something wondering if Rocha is awake in there. I sit and watch, transfixed. Huber winds and fires pitch 3 of the at bat. Rocha finally bestirs himself and takes a cut at it. The smack of the bat, followed by the heavy silence as we all watch the ball is something I'll never forget. That brief moment is frozen in a Wonder World-esque diorama in my mind for all eternity. As the world returns to normal speed, Rocha's ball carries on and on into the heavy Mexico City evening air before landing 418 feet from where it started in the seats behind right center field.
Pandemonium erupts. All the angst about the poor play the last few weeks, all the anger, all the worry about the offseason if we miss another playoff this season, forgotten for an instant. An instant of pure, unadulterated joy. The stadium erupts into a cacophony of noise and frenzied movement. In the owner's box food and drinks are flying, people are screaming and jumping, high fiving and hugging. The euphoria of the moment lasts through most of Rocha's trot around the bases, then the realization hits us in the box - we still have a game to finish. As Rocha gets mobbed and congratulated by his teammates in the dugout, the mood in the box sobers enough that we can all regain our seats. The fans stay on their feet, living in the moment a bit longer. Huber retires the next two batters, Isworth and Flores, without much fanfare and we go to the 9th inning up by a run. We've struggled to hold on to late leads this season, and as the defensive replacements take their positions on the field a small sense of foreboding settles into our group. Wagner gets Bartolo Ortiz to fly out in two pitches. Next up is Jim Ashford. He rips a 1-0 offering right up second base for a single. With a man on, into the box strides Zach Reid. He watches a first pitch ball, then takes a called strike and another ball. He takes a cut at the 2-1 pitch and hits a sharp grounder right to Dashiell Faireborn. Faireborn flips to Rovilson Cereza, who steps on second and fires the ball to Ayala waiting at first. Double play, game over. The pandemonium begins anew. As the owner's box again erupts into insanity around me, I can't help but just sit.
There's a part of me that can't believe what I'm watching. We made the playoffs. After all the hand-wringing and all the press conferences and all the votes of confidence. All the self-doubt about the moves I made and decided not to. We made it. We did it. I'm not even sure what I'm feeling. Validation? Relief? Excitement? Some mix of all three, no doubt. I snap back to reality as a hand slaps me hard on the back. "Fuck, look excited will you?" a voice shouts above the din at me. I couldn't tell you where it came from but I stand up and begin to join in the celebration. 2042 was a rollercoaster but we made it to the end and we're where we want to be. Bring on the playoffs!
GET IT HERE!
Finally, the day came in 2044 when Recte traded Huber in a major deal with Twin Cities, which ultimately ended up being the spark of the new Hustlers Dynasty:
Las Vegas/Twin Cities
@jleddy commented on this acquisition in the "Heartland Heat Check":
Twin Cities/Sacramento
Recte and the Hustlers brought back Huber for the 2050 season:
Friday, November 4th , 2050
RP Shawn Huber has failed to meet the vesting criteria in his contract.
Retired #27 in honor of Shawn Huber.
CL Shawn Huber retired from professional baseball.