2032 Montreal Blazers Preview

[bcslouck]

2031

Last season, Montreal made another playoff berth as a Wildcard team. It was the 5th straight playoff appearance for the Blazers, but was a big regression from 2030, going from 104 wins to 87. They managed to beat Charm City 3-1 in the Geoghegan Round, but got swept in the Doubleday by JLA and eventual BBA World Champion Jacksonville. The teams offense was as potent as anyone's, but the pitching was there downfall, amassing a 5.02 ERA.

Acquisitions of Note

Domingo Hernandez
Van Willard

The Blazers were fairly quiet on the acquisition front. Both additions are hopefuls to help out the struggling pitching staff. Hernandez is a vet who may be able to still provide solid innings, though his last few years haven't been the best. Willard has potential to be a solid mid to back end of the rotation SP, but hasn't done it at the ML level. Montreal is hoping a change of scenery will jump start his career.

Losses of Note

Jorge Jiménez

Acquired from Huntsville in-season, he was not very good for the Blazers. He was much more effective as a RP for the former, posting a 2.23 ERA with 37 K's in 44.1 innings. As a SP for Montreal, his ERA jumped to 5.79 with 40 K's in 70 innings.

Lineup

This lineup is among one of the best in the league. Jared Gillstrom anchors this fine tuned machine, and is staying in Montreal for awhile after signing a super team friendly deal. I'm sure just about every team in the league would of paid double for his services. Cisco Guerrero and Ettienne R. LaFitte help man the middle, while Ken Jenkins, Charles Martin, Juan Fernandez, and Jorge Rodriguez provide elite contract skills. Armando Hernandez seems to be keeping 3B warm for Gary Schneider, who will provide another power threat in the lineup. Other role players keep the lineup as balanced as any. 900 runs from this group is an absolute. The question is, can they get to 1000?

Pitching

The rotation has potential to be better this season just based on who they let go and some of these guys being capable of better. They took a guy punch right away as their ace Jorge Stanza tore his labrum and will be out for the foreseeable future. Leon Flores has been very good for them as he enters his prime. They will need him to keep it going this year. Alex Lopez is also capable of more. After those 2, it gets a little shaky. While the last 3 have potential to be solid contributors, their career numbers say other wise. Combined they have a 4.49 ERA over their career's, with that number highly skewed down by Domingo Hernandez. With this offense though, they may only need 4.50 ERA ball from these guys to win the majority of their starts. If the latter 3 can hold their own, the rotation should at least be average this year. If Stanza comes back healthy, they will be a little better down the stretch.

The bullpen looks solid and has some decent options. While young, Matt Hansen looks like a future bullpen stud. Chris Adkins has been solid over his career, though last year was his worst. I think he'll bounce back fine. Luis Flores is another arm who is young, but has the makings of being a solid piece. Closer Dillon Young is similar to Adkins where he's been a pretty good option over his career, but was not good last year. I don't love the rest of the bullpen. Like the rotation though, the bullpen should at least be average.

Defense

Up the middle, Gillstrom losing some range at SS is a concern, but he may be able to put that off for another year or 2 before moving to 3B. Martin has the makings of being a solid 2B and Jenkins in CF should be fine for now, though I think he may be more of a corner OF down the line. Castle has a strong arm but isn't the best defensive catcher. I'm not sure the up the middle defense is much more than average. If Gillstrom stays how he has, that will help. But if he slips some again, the defense may be a concern. The corner OF spots don't look great either, not giving the team much range out there to help Jenkins out. But Hernandez is good at 3B and Guerrero can pick it at 1B. I'm going to say this defense is a little below average and they will hurt the pitching staff this season.

Prediction

Montreal will definitely be competitive going forward. The offense is too good to not to. Even if they have an injury or 2, they offense has enough depth to cover it. The pitching should be a tad of a concern, just because they didn't show much last year. While I do see a bounce back, that may not even help with a defense that won't do them too many favors. I think they can nab a Wild Card again just on offense along. I look at this team and I have a hard seeing them win more than 85 games between their own issues and some improvement within there own division.

[bcslouck]

I hope you guys took the over.

[udlb58]

Hey, they could go 4-16 down the stretch....