2034 Twin Cities River Monsters Preview

[bigmike13]

Coming off of the first ever playoff appearance for Twin Cites, there are high expectations as the River Monsters faithful prepare for the coming season.

Additions: 1B Hunter Eisenhower, DH Stelio Kontos
Losses: DH Antonio Sanchez,

Starting Lineup: The Monsters have a solid mix of experience and youth, power and speed, and solid defense up and down this lineup. Twin Cities saw an increase in Team Runs scored, Hits, HR's and BA while the Team Strikeouts went down, thats a good recipe for success.

C: Ignacio Marrero/Gerald Gonzales
1B: Duane Whitley, Jr.Hunter Eisenhower/Jack Bates
2B: Xue-qin Man
SS: Mark Wareham/Dennis Giguere
3B: Chris Limon
LF: Ray Cooper/Oliver Ruiz
CF: Jayden Harsnett
RF: Mark Sturdivant
DH: Stellio Kontos

C – Marrero & Gonzales return as the two headed River Monster behind the plate for TC. Marrero is a superior defensive catcher with Gonzales more of an offensive backstop. Both will see plenty of action.

1B – Last years starter, Duane Whitley Jr, returns after a solid seasonat 1B for TC. Whitley gave TC a .276 BA with 19 HR and 72 RBI's, not too shabby. Jack Bates got in 150 AB's last season and did a good job with his limited playing time, but the Monsters signed aging veteran Hunter Eisenhower during the offseason. Not sure if Hunter was signed as an insurance policy or if the Monsters are seriously looking at him for AB's in 2034 but I doubt it bears watching

2B – Xue-qin Man is probably one of the most exciting young players in the entire EBA universe. An all around player who can contribute with his bat, his glove and his legs. A solid foundation piece for Twin Cities. If he can repeat his 2033 season that produced a 6.9 WAR the Monsters will be smiling all the way back to the playoffs.

3B – Chris Limon continues his dominance at the hot corner in TC. He has improved every year since his debut in 2029 and will again be a steady force.

SS – While 2B Man is making the fans in TC giddy, SS Mark Wareham has them unable to contain themselves. Wareham isn't quite the stud with the bat Man is, but is no less important to this River Monsters squad. Wareham has solidified himself as the TC field general and carries himself like a far older veteran. Dennis Giguere returns as the super sub.

LF – Ray Cooper has established himself as the big bopper on this team and lives up to the reputation. His 36 HR's, 128 RBI's and .309 BA won him a Charles Puckett Golden Bat Award and a 3rd pace finish in the Sawyer Silk voting. AT 24 he is just scratching the surface of what should be a great career.

CF – Jayden Harsnett will never win a batting title, but he can be a productive player on this squad while others carry the burden. He just needs to stay healthy as he spent almost 15 weeks on the DL last year.

RF – Veteran Mark Sturdivant took control in hi s first full season in TC, after his trade from Vancouver in 2032, and rewarded the fans with a fireworks display from home plate. 162 H, 26 HR, 97 RBI, 77 Runs and a .277 BA. I'll take that shit all day long.

DH –TC went out and replaced Antonio Sanchez with the signing of Stelio Kontos. Kontos needs to put his disaster of a 2033 season behind him and focus on his new team. If Kontos can find his way back to 2032 when he hit 30 Hr with 95 RBI's this will be a steal for TC.

Rotation: The TC starting five can compete with any team in the BBA. They dropped their R/G to 4.6, dropped their BOB's and lowered their team ERA a whole 1/2 a Run.

SP: Chris Kelly
SP: Travis Arnold
SP: Josh Brown
SP: Reese Rayner
SP: Jessie Stewart

Kelly, Arnold, Rayner and Stewart are double digit winners form 2033 and are all good, solid arms that would be welcome on any other BBA team. The front office is hoping that youngster Josh Brown can solidify his spot in the rotation after an 8 game screen test at the end of last season. Manager Jared Brown would really like to have a Lefty in the rotation but Brown has had an erratic spring and may need a little more seasoning in AAA. If they do decide to send Brown down, they could turn to Carlino Omobino but he is not fairing that well this spring himself.


Bullpen: Twin Cities had one of the better pens in baseball last year, one of the reasons they won 90 Games, and it returns mainly intact giving the Monsters management reason to breath easy heading into the last innings.

CL: Felix Alvarado is coming off of a career. He had a career best ERA of 2.42, Career high in Saves with 38, and a career high WAR at 1.6. He did just turn 30 but there has been no signs of a lump this spring and should be another great stopper.

RP: Jerry Coyle, Juan Suarez, Alphonse Salvarani, Juan Jose Elizando, Joost Breakwell, Gonzalo Delgado, Tristao Moita are all solid, trustworthy arms in the pen and can be mixed and matched throughout the season for maximum effect.


2034 Prediction
The River Monsters lost almost nothing from last season's 90 Win playoff team, and what they did lose was replaced by a, potentially, equal player. Twin City is playoffs bound again barring an injury bug infestation.

99-63, 2nd FL Heartland

[Spiccoli]

Oh man... That's some tough predictions to live up to. The game's Preseason predictions seemed to agree. But there's Yellow Springs, Louisville and Madison to contend with. And Omaha seems ready to cause trouble too.

Thanks for the write up. I took a chance on Kontos/Eisenhower to replace Antonio Sanchez. I didn't mean to sign both, so one may need to go.

I think the key to the season be...

Can Kelly move into the dominant starter #1 role?
Can Josh Brown be a solid contributor as a #2 or #3?

Unfortunately, both might be a season away.

If the answers to the questions are yes... then I have a good feeling about the team's chances.

Anyway, thanks again.

[RonCo]

The thing I love most about this preview is the idea that 99 wins only gets you second in the Heartland.

[felipe]

that's a given...any team will have to top 100 wins to beat out the Sluggers for first place

[RonCo]

I know you meant "for second place," but it's early in the morning, and we all know what that means in Louisville.

[felipe]

good competition for Louisville B here...I see them at 84 wins for the year