2057.09 - The Long Beach Independent - Versatility & Depth

[Lane]

DEPTH, VERSATILITY KEEP THE WINS COMING

August 28, 2057
Long Beach, CA

The flight home from Hawai’i is a pleasant one this morning, following a perfect road trip that saw the Surfers win eight games in Valencia, San Fernando, and finally, Honolulu. The atmosphere is jovial, and I decide to take this opportunity to move around the cabin and talk to some players about versatility, and winning as a team.

The 2057 season has been headlined by intense divisional battles with Vancouver and San Fernando, and star acquisitions of Harold Nothard and Carlos Flores. However, flying under the radar, especially in August, has been the depth and versatility of the Surfers’ 40-man roster.

An early June injury to Carlito Brigante resulted in the callup of Greg Clover to take his place in the outfield against left handed pitching. Clover’s success led to the release of Brigante, and his success and unexpected versatility have helped the Surfers maintain their pace.

The biggest injury of the season so far has been to star third baseman Alejandro Córdova on August 10. Since then, despite losing a player who had been worth 3.5 WAR to that point, the team has gone 15-2. Let’s find out how the team has been able to continue finding wins.

The primary fill-in for Córdova has be Ryan Geauxinue, who, unsurprisingly, does an admirable job at the hot corner when sliding over from the keystone. His replacement at second on most days is Randy Stuard, but three other players have logged at least 20 innings there. Top prospect Austin Nolan has gotten some time at the position that he primarily played in the minor leagues, and has done very well, committing zero errors over 45 innings. Utilityman Jim Vineyard has been seeing more innings at second lately, and even the aforementioned Greg Clover has logged 20 innings there. Clover, unlike another outfielder that we’ll mention later on, was not anticipated to be an infielder at the big league level.

That other outfielder is Emílio Reyes, and he was drafted with the idea that he would play all over the diamond for the Surfers. He hasn’t played second this season, but he has logged 20 innings at third, and another nine at shortstop. I asked him about this on the flight: “I’m used to it, been doing it since college. And the Surfers told me that this was the plan, it’s always been a focus for spring training, and I’m happy to put it into practice this year when the team really needs it.”

When Reyes moves into the dirt, that leaves a pretty big hole to fill in the outfield defense. While he is the only Zimmer-quality CF defender on the roster, Clover and Glenn Fox have done well filling in. The Surfers have been able to plane their defensive alignments with the day’s starting pitcher in mind, in order to minimize chance in the outfield for Clover and Fox, or in the infield, for days when DH Terry Cole finds himself at the hot corner.

“Honestly,” says Cole with a laugh, “I never even thought I’d play first in the Brewster. Sure, I played third a lot in the minors, but lots of DH-only types play the field down there. But when [manager Mike] Ellis asked me if I’d be willing to start some games there with Cordova out, I was stoked.”

Cole has logged 75 error-free innings at the hot corner, and even has a +0.7 Zone Rating, for whatever that’s worth. He’s not the quickest on his feet, but he’s got a cannon for an arm and has no problem making the long throws.

It’s been musical chairs around the infield (and outfield) in Long Beach this month, but you’d never know it the way the team keeps racking up the wins. The clubhouse is happy, the fans are packing the stadium, and the lead in the FLP is up to 7 games as the Surfers begin their second to last homestand of the 2057 season tomorrow night.

[BaseClogger]

I wish you had traded Stuard.

[Lane]

I wish you had traded Stuard.

he'd been on the block forever. never really got much interest.

[RonCo]

Having a flexible team like that is a lot of fun.

[Lane]

Having a flexible team like that is a lot of fun.

it really is.

filling out the 7 day lineups for the past couple sims has been a gloriously challenging puzzle.