2043 Jerusalem Hebrew Hammers

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ca13
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2043 Jerusalem Hebrew Hammers

Post by ca13 » Sun Jun 14, 2020 1:02 pm

*Sorry if this is in the wrong spot. Wasn't sure if this should be in the "previews" forum or the "umeba features" forum

So in a recent podcast, Jerusalem was picked to win the Bancroft. Let's see what's so exciting about them (and earn some points for scouting a division rival).

The Hebrew Hammers finished 86-77 last year, needing an extra game to take the wild card spot. The took out division winner Bucharest by taking four of five in the first round before losing in the final to Istanbul (not Constantinople)in six games. The only notable loss from last year's squad is reliever Hector Barajas, who had been a solid bullpen piece for Jerusalem the last couple years. On the new addition side you have SS Rory Wakely and relievers Juan Jose Fuentes and Imad Bin Ibrahim.

Jerusalem tied for the highest scoring offense in the Bancroft last season, and there's no reason to think they won't be proficient at scoring runs this year. Lets see what we have position by position.

Catcher Baden Dutton .287/.334/.467
Dutton is likely one of the best in at his position in the UMEBA, and should improve on the .801 OPS he posted in his first full season.

First Base Leonardo Martinez .287/.340/.570
Martinez lead the Bancroft with 144 RBI last year, but notably his .910 OPS was only good for a 107 OPS+ in the offense heavy environment we find ourselves in.

Second Base Juan Carlos Ortiz .262/.388/.328
Ortiz is an OBP machine, but has little pop and is more of a station to station player. He had a down 2042 but was a nearly 4 win player in 2041. In all likelihood, his true talent is somewhere in between those marks.

Third base Youp Lenoir .291/.370/.510
Lenoir is a solid every day player. Nothing spectacular, just does everything well.

Shortstop Bryan Robson or Rory Wakely?
There doesn't seem to be a true shortstop on the roster. Robson is a super utility with somewhat low infield range. He has a pretty "meh" bat. Wakely has a little more range, but not the arm for short. Wakely also has a bit more pop, at least in a doubles sense. Neither of these guys is very exciting with the bat.

Left Field David Hall .341/.380/.712
Hall added to his UMEBA career leader 201 home runs with a league leading 53 last season. He seems to be exiting his prime years, and it will be interesting to see how long he remains a premier UMEBA talent.

Center Field Jin-Guo Long .273/.381/.417
Long is another one of the career UMEBA leaders. He has speed and solid defense, and is a very good on base man. He's also 30 now, but should continue to be a strong regular.

Right Field Flynn Johnson .287/.339/.559
Johnson is another of the early imports from the BBA. He may not even be the best option on the roster anymore. In fact, there are three right fielders that I'd consider starting over them, but I'm not going to list them because all of them are marginal upgrades at best and I don't want to link the names.

Designated Hitter
Carp, this is probably Johnson or Hall, and one of those right fielders I just mentioned is in the OF in a corner somewhere. Look, they aren't that exciting and I'm still not linking names.

So, this is an offense that lead the league last year. You can see why. Lots of high OBP players. Good pop. Only hole is shortstop. The defense is pretty mediocre, but here's the real rub. UMEBA teams got a 15 mil payroll increase for 2043, and many teams made major upgrades, especially at 1B/Dh and corner OF spots, positions that the BBA seems to just hemorrhage talent from. Those historically have been the strength of this Hebrew Hammer team, and perhaps age and a lack of activity have pulled them back to the pack some. This will be a solid offense. I just wonder if it will lead the league this year.

Pitching
On the pitching side of things, the Hebrew Hammers gave up the most runs in the Bancroft in 2043, which they will need to address if they want to return to the playoffs.

Jose Villareal can throw his hat into the "best pitcher in the UMEBA" race, and that's great for Jerusalem. Few teams have a true number one starter in this weird, no pitching environment. Julio Sanchez and Masahiko Ito are solid enough 2 and 3 options, but you'd probably prefer them to be 3 and 4. Still ,were all beggars in the pitching world it seems. There isn't much after that, and Jerusalem will have to win days 4 and 5 of the rotation in 10-9 games more often than not. The bullpen should help some. There are some solid arms in Brian Soper, Dean Oulton, and above mentioned new additions Fuentes and Ibrahim.

This is a decent staff. You could be a lot worse. I'm going to guess last year's awful finish had more to do with a bad defense, the bullpen blowing leads, and abysmal performances out of the 4 and 5 spots in the rotation than an overall lack of talent. Jerusalem has addressed the bullpen some, so that should help.

Summary/Prediction
If you asked me to describe a team that people think is competitive but about to fall off a cliff, I'll talk about a potent offense that was getting long in the tooth. I'd talk about a team that didn't improve much over the offseason because it felt comfortable with last year's player. I'd talk about one that played mediocre defense. I'd talk about a pitching staff with holes. Sound familiar? I don't really think that's this year's Hammers, but I do wonder if this team's run is nearing an end without an injection of new talent. All the established UMEBA teams will be propped up this year by the likely 100 loss new franchises, and I don't think Jerusalem has quite gotten to the fall off the cliff phase. They're just starting to show some warning signs. I imagine Jerusalem will finish very close to where they did last season. Mid 80's wins, sniffing around the wild card.
Last edited by ca13 on Sun Jun 14, 2020 7:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: 2043 Jerusalem Hebrew Hammers

Post by jleddy » Sun Jun 14, 2020 1:41 pm

Gotta love David Hall.

Nice preview! Now you just gotta beat 'em!
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Re: 2043 Jerusalem Hebrew Hammers

Post by CTBrewCrew » Thu Jun 25, 2020 9:05 pm

Youp is my boy!
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