20Halifax Hawks31 Starting Pitching
SP Sancho Delgado (9/8/7 Ratings)
SP Corey Jackson (8/7/5 Ratings)
SP Colin Julyan (4/8/9 Ratings)
SP Edward Kish (5/8/7 Ratings)
SP Martin Lewis (8/7/7 Ratings)
SP Paul Mckee (4/8/7 Ratings)
A few years ago I thought to myself, how the heck is Sancho Delgado still in Halifax? He has been one of the best starters in the BBA over the past decade and the Hawks have been largely irrelevant for years. Surely contenders have been knocking on the door right? In any event, Delgado is still one of the few true aces in the BBA. Martin Lewis slots in as the #2. Bulldog has had a great fun for the Hawks but will turn 36 later this month. One has to wonder how much longer he can remain effective. Corey Jackson is a nice building block that seems ready to step in to fill Lewis' shoes. 2031 may be a make or break year for the 25 year old. He has yet to find the proper grip on his slider and has been relying on two pitches. Those 2 pitches are elite. Bottom line here is that Jackson needs to learn the slider or get pushed to the pen.
Those are a good enough top 3. The rest of the rotation is a huge question mark though. Kish, McKee, and Julyan are journeymen pitchers for a reason. Nobody wants them. If Halifax wants to contend for the wild card, they need to find something better. A rule 5 or waiver claim would fit nice here. The Hawks do have 4-5 rock solid pitching prospects on the farm. None are ready yet. Hopefully Delgado and Lewis are still effective when they finally are.
Bullpen
RP Celestino Balazes (5/8/8 Ratings)
RP Marvin Decker (6/8/6 Ratings)
RP Jesus Gonzales (7/6/8 Ratings)
RP Lorenzo Lopez (6/7/9 Ratings)
RP Fred Murdock (6/8/8 Ratings)
RP Jaime Osorio (5/8/9 Ratings)
The Hawks bullpen is a conglomeration of players that could be found on the waiver wire at any given moment. One thing I like about this staff is that they throw strikes and keep the ball in the park. This must be a point of emphasis by management. I think this may have been why Halifax did better then most predicted last season. They minimized mistakes. Lopez is really tough on righties and Gonzáles is death to lefties. Outside of those two, the bullpen is very non descript.
Catchers
C Luis Campos (6/4/8/5/5 Ratings)
C Luis Miguel Carrillo (6/6/9/9/7 Ratings)
These two catchers have a lot more in common then just being named Luis C. The two players are near dopplegangers. Carillo is the superior as he has much better bat control and is a lot younger. Both player are offensive minded with tremendous pop. The Hawks could get 45-50 homers from the catchers position. Neither one is skilled at throwing out runners or handling a staff. The only argument here is if you are pro or con catcher defense. If you think catcher defense is irrelevant, then this is a great combo. If you are pro catcher defense.... well.. these are two really good hitting catchers.
Infielders
1B Jesus Gonzales (6/7/7/8/6 Ratings)
1B Stelio Kontos (8/7/8/6/6 Ratings)
2B Manuel Garcia (7/5/1/9/5 Ratings)
2B Ismael Lopez (6/6/4/5/8 Ratings)
3B Wilton Sanders (5/5/8/5/6 Ratings)
SS Esteban Estrada (5/5/6/8/5 Ratings)
SS Juan Flores (4/4/1/6/6 Ratings)
SS Cisco Ortiz (5/6/6/5/5 Ratings)
Stelio Kontos is a serious bat that any team would want in the middle of their order. Country Boy Garcia is a solid bat that Halifax picked up this winter. So offensively this team has some players. Like catching, infield defense could be shaky at best. With range ratings of 1/5/5/6, defensive positioning will be an enormous for this starting infield. To be fair, a lot of this was the product of the old regime. Halifax currently has the 6th best farm system in the BBA and is loaded with pitching a defense potential. This will be a much better team in August then they are in April.
Outfielders
CF Mike Manning (6/6/5/6/5 Ratings)
CF Jorge Martinez (7/7/6/5/8 Ratings)
CF Domenic Wyatt (6/6/10/8/3 Ratings)
RF Thomas Hollis (5/6/7/7/6 Ratings)
RF Edgar Jones (5/6/8/8/4 Ratings)
Domenic 'Legacy' Wyatt raised a lot of eyebrows last season with his 5.2 war. A rare power and speed guy that can play the center field position. Jorge Martinez is a solid veteran placeholder that has always been a steady hand. Edgar Jones will hit a lot of homers in left. He also won't make many errors as the ball will probably stop rolling by the time he gets to it.
Conclusion
The Halifax Hawks have a bright future. Most of their top prospects are still a year away. In some areas it doesn't even look like they are trying to win. Just as you start to say "the t word", you realize they have several really good 30+'ers that are helping them come close to .500. So that definitely isn't the case. My prediction is that they come close to .500 and be better then we think again.
