It happens, you know? Especially when Chappy Ramos is your only pitcher with a .500+ record (unless you count reliever Ken Crawford’s 6-5 record, which me most certainly will not. Crawford posted a 5.53 ERA that season, so that 6-5 represents all that is wrong with the Win (Hallowed be thy James)).
Bottom line, though, when you’re projecting the Seattle Storm, the safe bet has always been to peg them at 85 wins, and just leave the sucker alone. So it’s tempting to do that again. But, you know what? I think that’s wrong. I mean, while no one expects the Spanish Inquisition, all you have to do to see Seattle as a Pacific division champion is look at some of the kids, add in the aging stars in Escobar and Rodriguez, then tap your heels three times and say Pacific Division. Pretty soon you’re flying like Wendy and Peter in Wonderland, which may or may not be like singing Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds while on a trip, which I would almost certainly never have any personal experience with.
I’m pretty sure, anyway.
Bottom line, the Storm have some guys coming up who will snap your head right around.
23-year old Lionnel Crepin wll show up with a vengeance this year, and should be in Seattle’s outfield for a long damned time. Likewise Walter Finch in center. Finch is a guy who will hit a fair bit, but mostly who can make pitchers look really solid when he flashes the glove. His daring on the basepaths is not quite going to be Raiderian, but then whose is? The infield defense will be fair to middling, though that would bump up if Manny Montanez were at second rather than short. The 26 year old hits ‘em far, though…so you can deal with a little rock lining in the glove. Bottom line, if the Escobar/Rodrigues duo can turn in one more big year, this club has the chance to be one of the better offenses in the league.
But this year, there’s more.
That’s right: fans in Seattle who once used the opponent’s at-bats as an excuse to go get a beer and a foot long are going to have to consider planning out their concessions better. [Aside: I hate it when I run out of popcorn in the middle of the movie. I mean, there’s no way I’m getting up when the Wakandan Guard are getting ready to go all in on some stupid ass who thinks these women can’t take their behind down…but sometimes you just need that salty goodness. It’s a real quandary, I say. I feel Seattle fans’ pain. Totally]…the problem is that suddenly Seattle finds itself with a pitching staff.
I mean, a real, full bore set of guys who can throw the ball.
Sure, Alfred Contreras is a guy who has been there, done that, but at 28 he’s ready to lead a real rotation, and now there’s one to lead.
Rookie Ken Walter has four pitches (though one is one of those notorious shadow changeups) and throws 98 MPH heat with a motion so fluid he may never get tired. T-Bone Sanchez is sneaky good, and is coming off a 9-3, 3.41 season that was cut short by a labrum problem. Julio Alicea, at 23, throws five major league pitches and is ready to return for his third season and is looking more solid than ever. But the elusive fifth piece is 26 year-old Gordon Graves, who may well have the best circle change in the game.
Will the pen be any good? Who knows? Predicting bullpens is like trying to pretend you can tell what anyone in the Donald Trump cabinet is thinking. It’s possible to get it right, I suppose, but even if you’re close to accurate it’s all going to change tomorrow anyway. So why bother. But, sure, Velasquez is prime closer material, and Angel Angwin and Jose Perucho are righty/lefty bookends that should get games to him. So, yeah, God willin’ and the creek don’t rise on Injury River, the pen should be solid.
It all adds up to me to say the Storm have enough to take the Pacific division.
So, yeah. You heard it here first.
Introducing the Seattle Storm, your 2034 FLP Division champions.
I think.
