2054 Valencia Stars Preview

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Dington
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2054 Valencia Stars Preview

Post by Dington » Thu Feb 23, 2023 6:24 pm

2054 Valencia Stars Preview


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Pitching

This is usually the time of year I say Carlton Day is going to breakout. Alas, injuries have finally finished him off and the Stars released him. Enter Bill Constable. The southpaw that Carlton Day hoped to become has been signed to a five year $48.8 million deal in the offseason to offset the loss of Day and Brian King, who entered free agency. Ken Arroyo pitched really well in 2053 with a sub-4 ERA for the first time since 2050 and looks to build on that strong season. Mike Alexander regressed last season and thought he was still pitching in Omaha’s bandbox with a 4.88 ERA, but his 4.21 FIP is more desirable. Alexander should continue to be a good #2/3 starter for the Stars in 2054 and keep the ball in the park, something he did well with a 1.0 HR/9. Gerardo Lopez should see more starts on the mound this season. The righty lives off his fastball/knuckle curve combo and throws in a cutter sometimes. He has pitched well out of the bullpen and been a swingman in the past, but will be relied upon to start games this season. Eddie Armstrong round out the rotation and if he repeats his success from 2053, the Stars will be in good hands, though some will say he was the recipient of extraordinary luck. The Stars don’t have much depth outside of those five, so hopefully they can stay healthy or GM Morris Ragland will have to look to the trade market with no cap space.

Closer Martin Román has been good, but not great the past two seasons, but struggled under pressure with a -3.6 WPA over that span. Fernando Villareal and Chung Chan will battle him for the closer role in spring training. If the latter two don’t win the position outright, they will be ready to take over should Roman falter in late games in April.

Infield



Clinton Tyler and Sergei Bobrovsky form a fantastic young platoon behind the plate and both players can hit and call a game. Yodo Sato had his first career bad season in 2053, hitting just .264. That brought his career BA to .321. Prabhu Vogelsang hit over .300 and ha an excellent glove at 2B, so expect him to remain in the lineup, pushing url=https://statspl.us/brewster/reports/new ... 42457.html]Daniel Pepper[/url] to the hot corner. Like Sato, Pepper endured the worst season of his 13 year career after signing a 4 year $62.4 million deal. The Stars certainly hope for more production out of the future Hall of Famer in 2054, which would be dangerous for Frick League foes since they won 92 games with Pepper and Sato having bad years. In the 9 hole will be Quintin Trewartha, who is on the team to strictly prevent the other team from scoring. He won’t add much to the lineup, but brings Zimmer quality defense to the most important position in the defense.


Outfield

Omer Dijkstra headed to free agency after a great year and was quickly replaced by former Bluebirds RF, Martin Hemming on a 5 year $30.5 million deal. Hemming is almost a sure bet to hit .300 with 20 HR. Last year I said Mike Brodt had to get on base 36% of the time – he did one better and got on base 37% of the time. He will be able to add good defense in LF for the Stars, leaving Habeeb bin Ameen to man CF again. The 26 year old accrued 3.7 WAR last season and the Stars will certainly hope for a similar season in 2054.


Designated Hitter

Donald Miller will continue to be a force in the middle of the lineup and should be counted on to hit 30+ homers. The veteran will certainly be someone opposing managers will want to pitch around and hopefully Pepper and Hemming can provide protection.

I predicted 93 wins for the Stars last season and they fell one game short. If Pepper and Sato rebound and Constable replaces King seemingly, I don’t see how the Stars win less than 94 games in 2054. Sacramento should be heavy favorites to win the Pacific, but Valencia is the clear second best team.
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Re: 2054 Valencia Stars Preview

Post by mragland » Sun Feb 26, 2023 6:13 pm

A combination of injuries and more inexplicable cratering could see us dip below 94.
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Re: 2054 Valencia Stars Preview

Post by Dington » Sun Feb 26, 2023 6:18 pm

mragland wrote:
Sun Feb 26, 2023 6:13 pm
A combination of injuries and more inexplicable cratering could see us dip below 94.
Yep. One or two injuries to your starting pitching is gonna hurt.
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