The 2033 San Antonio Outlaws' Season PreviewSan Antonio Fans are hoping the frenetic finish to the end of the 2032 regular season wasn't the peak of the Outlaws recent success (93 Wins - 2nd Place Southern Division). However, a 1st Round Playoff sweep will definitely remove the gloss of an otherwise great season for them. Off season plans would seem to indicate a Franchise looking to reload, however, the Baseball Gods had other plans for the Outlaws with two key injuries to the starting lineup seriously impacting plans for the 2033 season.
Reliable starter, John Wick, is in the middle of his 13 month recovery from an injury he sustained in the closing moments of the 2032 (elbow tendon). While not the staff ace, Wick was putting up excellent numbers (1.01 WHIP, .270 BABIP & 4.7WAR) and more importantly was a quality start machine 64% of the time.
While the front office was adapting to this situation, the Outlaws took a 2nd body blow in Spring Training, this time losing 34 year old Veteran Ace, Nelson Ramirez to the exact injury as Wick. The severity of the injury threatens not only the Outlaw 2033 season, but also the 2034 season and Ramirez's career, considering the recent nagging issues plaguing his pitching arm. Early indications are that "Slider" may not return until 2-3 months into the 2034 season, which is also his final contract year.
While most teams might crater from losing two key starters from the rotation, the Outlaws still have the talent to stay competitive.
On paper, Juan Jose Ornelas physical stats may not seem elite (7/7/8), however he put up a masterful 2032 season, racking up 19 wins with a 3.82 ERA. Juan Jose is an ironman, leading the league in innings pitched in 2031 with 241, following that up with 219 innings pitched in 2032.
Elliot Buckland's rookie year was a little rough in 2032 (5-9 4.33 ERA), but he appears poised to emerge this season. He's a well rounded pitcher (8/8/8) with several pitches to pull from. He's possibly going to be thrust into the #2 starter role, so the Outlaws are counting on Elliot to step up big this year.
San Antonio is expecting Veteran Juan Rodriguez to continue providing quality starts (14-15, 4.43 ERA & 187 IP). However, he may be outmatched if expected to slide into the #3 starter spot. He's currently making $10mil/year and is in his last season of his current contract with San Antonio. Therefore, it's to the team's and his own benefit to make an excellent showing in his contract year.
In the Bullpen, shutdown Closer, Jonathon Bowen returns to anchor the relievers. He was outstanding last season, racking up 47 saves, a pristine 1.63 ERA and unhittable .86 WHIP. Jonathon is a 5 time All Star and earned the 2032 Egan Reliever award.
However, the key for the Outlaws is going to be getting enough games for Bowen to actually save. To help with inevitable extra load for the middle reliever work, San Antonio signed 35 year old Flint Colbert. Prior to 2031, Flint has been reliable in middle relief. However, the Outlaws are taking a chance with Colbert due to the last 2 seasons being severely cut because of injuries.
Other key players in the bullpen are;
Chris Dougherty (4-4, 2.14 ERA, 80 IP)
Roberto Ibarra (4-1, 3.53 ERA, 71 IP)
Cesar Martinez (7-3, 3.20 ERA, 39 IP)
Javier Ortiz (10-2, 2.56 ERA, 59 IP)
All had excellent campaigns in 2032 and will be called upon to exceed those performances if the Outlaws expect to go places this year.
***************************************************************************
On the offensive side of the field, San Antonio had key losses in players, however these were through Trades/Free Agency. Big hitting RF Robert Gowron (40 HR - 101 RBI)l was traded to Havana, while steady 2B John Aguilera bolted for Charm City.
However, San Antonio believes to have upgraded the RF position, bringing in Sparkplug RF Jorge Rodriguez (.322 AVG - 60 SB) to ignite the offense.
However, 2B remains a question and it appears that for the time being there's a Spring Training battle between Javier Alonzo and Alex Ramirez. Either way, it appears to be downgrade from John Aguilera.
Rock solid Catcher, Antonio Tobias provides good offensive production (38 HR's in 186 career games) with average defensive ability behind the plate. He's a bit absent minded at times and difficult to keep motivated. However, there's no question to his ability when he's holding a bat.
Designated Hitter , Brian Whitten was signed from Charm City to replace future Hall of Famer, Little Hurt. Frank Thomas Jr wasn't willing to sign an extension with San Antonio, so Whitten will assume the professional hitter role. Brian has been historically a consistent power hitter (20-24 HRs/year) and Run producer (105-130 RBI's/year), however he fell off that pace significantly in his last year with Charm City (12 HR - 51 RBI). San Antonio is betting on him resuming his previous production.
Power Lefty, 1B Dale Jones will return to 1B. While extremely consistent hitting home runs (33 / 33 / 34), his low batting average puts a cap on his over-all effectiveness. Dale also struggles against lefty pitchers, forcing the manager to often substitute or platoon him.
The Outlaws let CF James Cunningham walk away to Long Beach, appearing to go with Speedster, Miguel Gil, to patrol Centerfield. An excellent defender and base runner, Gil is below average at the plate. Miguel was signed in a trade with Havana and the team believes that a change in scenery and winning atmosphere will jump start his offensive potential. (Sorry Sugar Kings)
At Shortstop, San Antonio also seems to be foregoing offense for a defensive wizard in George "Micheal" Bluth. With some of the the highest defensive ratings in the league (SS-11, Range-11, Glove-11, Arm-10), he'll suck up anything in his zip code. However, he struggles at the plate. Until the foreseeable future, when an upgrade reveals himself, San Antonio will count on Bluth to make their excellent pitching staff that much better. Last season though, the team often turned to Javier Alfonso to provide more offense at the SS position, while not the defensive phenom Bluth is.
Other key offensive players in San Antonio:
IF Rob McNeill (.307 AVG)
OF Juan Fernandez (.320 AVG, 26 2B, 74 RBI's)
******************************************************************************
In summary, San Antonio may have trouble defending it's title as the top Pitching Staff from 2032 with key injuries to Starting Pitching. However, the Outlaws still have the talent in their arms to be top 5. The offense ranked 2nd to last season, batting a .255 AVG (13th) with 681 runs scored (13th). The losses and additions in the batting lineup through free agency doesn't seem to change much in this regard.
The formula for San Antonio's success will continue to be consistent (though not as dominant as last season) starting pitching and just enough offense to hand a lead to the Bullpen, which is one of the elite staffs in the league. There's no reason to believe that a playoff run is not in the cards for the San Antonio Outlaws in 2033.
However, the average age of the best players on the team is 30+, so the team doesn't have time to wait another season for two of their top pitchers to return. The Outlaws time is now and future moves may need to made later in season to bolster the team. In the off chance that the season implodes due to the hits to the starting pitching staff, it may or may not be time for the Outlaws to look to the future and unload some of the big names with big salaries. However, top pitching is tough to come by and it may be difficult to let these guys go in return for future potential in hit or miss young prospects.
