2023 Tucson Cactus Preview

[indiansfan]

Tucson Cactus 2023 Preview

Sorry for the lateness of this. Got busy this week.

2022 Record 73-89, improved from 2021 65-97

Additions: 2B Andre Wellington (7/8/8/4/5 Talents), CF Barry Allen (6/7/4/5/5 Talents)

Subtractions: Nobody from ML Roster

Lineup:

C - Timmy Tim (6/7/6/7/6 Talents) - The veteran backstop is in his 2nd season in the sun. He will give the team great defense and provide an average bat. This is an area where Tucson has no real depth and nothing special down on the farm. Tim’s glove will help the young pitching staff, hopefully he stays healthy.

1B - Martin Ramos (6/4/7/7/7 Talents), Raul Guerrero (8/6/5/6/6 Talents) - The team started the season with a platoon here. Ramos provides some power against righties and was an All Star last season. Last season he hit.282 with 28 homers. I wouldn’t expect anything more, but for a rebuilding team he will get the job done for now. Guerrero has underperformed in his first 2 seasons. He should be hitting for .300 instead of in the .240s. With Clarence Brown (9/6/7/5/7 Talents) hurt I would assume he will be playing some 3B to fill in.

2B - Andre Wellington (7/8/8/4/5 Talents) - A great glove and 20+ HR power is a nice combo at 2B. Now we need to see if the EBA import holds up as so many have faltered. At $10 mil per year it would be nice to see him hit .260 or better and 25 dingers to go with the glove. Probably still a bit high on the contract, but a rebuilding team has to spend the money in Rule 6.

3B - Clarence Brown (9/6/7/5/7 Talents) - A great fielding first baseman, he is playing 3B because of the depth of bats at 1B. This guy is good for 20 HR and a .300 BA every year. Maybe next year he can move back to 1B if Ryan Savaikie, Jr. (7/6/4/7/7 Talents) is ready to take over 3B. While he is out I would expect Guerrero to shift over. Calling up vet Tomas Lopez (7/4/6/5/8 Talents) could also be the solution. I think the Cactus would be stronger finding a spot for Lopez on the bench longterm. Savaikie might see some action this year, but probably needs a year at AAA.

SS - Paco Feliz (5/7/6/4/6 Talents) - SS is a black hole. The team is starting Feliz who is a 6 glove that should improve with more experience. He will probably never be more than a .220 hitter. They also have Reynaldo Marsh (5/7/3/5/5 Talents) who has a much better glove but even less bat. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Jorge Gonzales (6/6/4/4/5 Talents) come up from AAA, he has the glove and maybe a better bat

LF - Francois Fremont (6/6/6/10/6 Talents) - An EBA import on a great contract who really came through last year. Fremont has .400 OBA potential along with 20+ HR power. He along with Brown are the team’s most reliable bats. Should give the team a good leadoff guy for many years.

CF - Barry Allen (6/7/4/5/5 Talents) - If he is your starter you have a desperate need here. Allen has a good glove, but his bat has limited him to a platoon or bench outfielder throughout his career. Helps with the D but definitely a stopgap for a team that isn’t playoff bound.

RF - Brian Sutherland (5/7/9/4/5 Talents), Nathan Grimes (6/6/7/6/5 Talents) - Sutherland is a young power hitter that hit 30 HR for Tucson last year. Strictly a platoon against righties, but 30 homers, even with a low average is outstanding for a platoon. Grimes has a better glove and speed and will bat against lefties.

DH - William McIntyre (8/7/6/7/7 Talents) - Good contact hitter averaging about .290 per season. Not worth $10 mil with lack of power and would expect this to be his last year in Tucson. Would expect Ramos to be DH next season.

PH - Eddie Macy (8/6/8/3/9 Talents) - I have to mention Lacy because he looks to be a great PH off the bench. Should absolutely destroy lefties both for average and power.

On farm: INF Tomas Lopez (7/4/6/5/8 Talents) - The guy can back up all the infield positions and hit .290 last year. Would be surprised if he isn’t with the big league team sooner rather than later.

This lineup has some pop, but also has some holes at SS and CF. Beyond Savaikie there isn’t much in the farm that will make an impact in the near future. However the team is heading in the right direction and when McIntyres contract runs out at the end of the season should be able to fill some holes in free agency.

Rotation:

Martin Lewis (8/7/6 Talents) - 6th season in the league with ratings that look like a back of the rotation guy. However, the guy puts up better numbers than ratings. ERA 4.00 or under, .500 record with a losing team, low WHIP. Shouldn’t be a #1 starter but is solid.

Jose Cavazos (9/8/6 Talents) - Only 23 and already has 3 full seasons in the MBWBA. A lefty that has ace potential with a bump to his control. Bright future here.

Juan Cruz (7/8/6 Talents) - Mediocre starter. With 6 good pitches might be better to convert to a reliever when Tucson can afford to move him out of the rotation.

Jose Rivera (7/9/7 Talents) - Younger version of Cruz with 5 good pitches. However, better movement makes him a good starter for this team. Should be in the rotation long term.

Tully Crow (9/6/8 Talents) - Lefty with great intangibles that should strike out alot of guys. Probably not ace material with 6 movement, but should be a good one.

For a rebuilding team Tucson has a solid rotation. The 3 youngsters give the team a solid future. With a couple of really promising guys on the farm this team has the nucleus for a rotation that could get the team into the playoffs.

Bullpen:

Closer - Jose Marroquin (7/8/8 Talents) - Well he has 1 really good pitch. However, we his 2nd pitch being rated a 2 I don’t know how he has done so well the past 2 season.

RP - Ismael Martinez (8/7/8 Talents) - This guy has potential but has struggled at the ML level so far.

The rest? It gets pretty ugly with the rest of the guys having low movement or poor control. I would expect to see Brenden Denley (7/7/7 Talents) called up from AAA. He is better than this lot.

I can understand saving the bullpen for last when rebuilding. If Tucson can add another starter next season and move Cruz into the pen it gets alot better. There really wasn’t much in free agency this year that a rebuilding team would have been interested in.

Overall there is a lot to like on this team. There are some solid pieces on offense and Tim is the only one over 30. There are some really good young starting pitchers on this team and more on the way. The team has tried to rebuild through Rule 6 and the draft and has avoided trading the youngsters away to speed up the process. The patience is paying off. If this team played in the JL it would be competing for a playoff spot if not this year, next year. Unfortunately they play in the FLP and there are still 3 better teams ahead of them that they play a bunch of games against. I see a similar year to last season, but a brighter future.

Prediction 76-86

[c-mitch]

Thanks for the write up. I have such a mixed feeling about this team and my constant frustrations with it and being in this division. Very difficult mix. I maybe don't give this league as much attention as I should to make the team successful being as difficult a league as there is. All I can say is it has been almost a decade of losing since I took over here, and I'm beginning to doubt if they will ever come around.