If you predicted 72 wins in any of the Talon's last three seasons, you'd have been accurate to within a victory. 72, 71, 73. Regular as clockwork. There is apparently no truth to reports that 29-year-old face of the franchise, Your Mother (34 homers, 104 RBI) has asked for a trade to Toledo.
As is not unusual, the Talons can score a few runs, averaging 5 a game. Their 802 put them pretty much exactly on the mid-pack stripe. This came on the wings of the full arrival of Mas'ud bin Salah al Din, who had a 27-game cup of coffee in 2060, but went to the plate 602 times in 2061, drilling 41 homers and posting a league leading 162 wRC+. 21-year-old ex-first round pick Adrian Tallent also arrived on site, and commenced to hitting to the tune of a .841 OPS, and commenced to running to the tune of 30 steal in 32 attempts.
The kids these days, right? There's more where that came from, too.
Perhaps the most intriguing question is whether the team will let 24-year-old second baseman Fouad bin Bahhshar have a full season at the position. Scouts still swoon, but pragmatists point out a huge number of flaws he still has in his approach to the plate. He's got, in other words, a long way to develop. But even raw he managed a .291/.314/.502 slash. The temptation has to be there. If he could join bin Salah al Din and Tallent to make a young triad of bats, well, maybe that 802 runs would grow exponentially.
That would be good because Phoenix pitching struggled most of last year, and doesn't seem set to do much better in 2062.
Nick Rivers, who is a perfectly nice little pitcher, but who is no ace, seems to be the man in the #1 slot. Antonio Michaels, picked up on waivers from Charm City, might be #2. Or not. If not, maybe it's 23-year-old lefty Javier Duarte, who hasn't really charmed the scouts but who started one game, but threw 10 effective innings all year. The assignment could be a stretch for the kid, but Phoenix needs starters, and Duarte's numbers in the minors say he gets the shot.
The bullpen looks more promising, though.
One assumes that Ernesto Juarez will bring his 98 MPH slider/cutter repertoire to Phoenix fulltime this year. He, of course, dominated in Toledo, and was also lights out in five games in Arizona. He's still developing, but could well end the season as an elite front runner for both the JL Gillstrom Award and the JL Egan Award. Damian Theophanous also had a nice season last year, and at 36, returns for at least one more.
The rest? Well? Hmm. They are bullpen arms. And the scouting projections don't look horrible. But the numbers have not been kind to date to several. Lefty Noori bin Mu'awiyah (30) has been the most consistent of them, appearing in 75 games in 2061, and tossing a respectable. 3.63 ERA. Righthander Jodie Hanna (29) and lefty Filippio Ioriatte (32) threw 102 almost league average innings between them.
So, yes, pitching is an issue in Phoenix.
If the club gets a little magic, perhaps they will be in the mold of Mexico City, bashing more runs than the opponent can. I'm not convinced right now, though. I mean, it's possible. Who can tell? Besides, they brought in Rich Dares in Free Agency. Anything can happen.
< Insert obligatory I Hate Rich Dares comment here >
All I can say for certain is that writing this preview got me a lot of PPT, and for that, Sean, I am grateful.
