You wanna crown em…! 2026.1 - Centerfield

[trmmilwwi]

London’s 24 year old centerfielder Aldimar Hoffman was entering the 2025 season coming off of 3 great seasons in a row where he logged WAR totals of 3.2, 3.6 and 2.7 respectively. The front office thought the young player could really have an impact in ’25 and were prepared to give him a proper sendoff, with the MBBA Rule 6 draft looming in the offseason. Well, things don’t usually go as planned.

Hoffman started off with a huge month of April by batting .349 and hitting 3 homeruns to go along with his 16 RBI’s. The team was only 11-10 but the lineup was humming. Hoffman had a .284 average in May with 3 homers and 18 RBI’s. His .900 OPS was best on the team and the Bishops record was 25-23. Then tragedy struck. The team lost Hoffman for the remainder of the season when he strained his hip in a game against Belfast. It meant that fans would likely never see him in a Bishop uniform again.

The team had a rainout June 7th and then played a doubleheader against Belfast June 8th in which the team trotted out defensive whiz Brandon Clayton to replace Hoffman at CF. After a few days of thinking about the best solution the scouts decided to bring 24 year old Francis Rodriguez back to center. Rodriguez responded instantly by batting .385 with 3 homers and 20 RBI’s the remainder of June. He wore down a bit as the season dragged on but Rodriguez still finished 2nd on the team in hits and stolen bases and had the highest batting average on the team at .298 for the season.

While losing Hoffman to the Rule 6 draft will be a huge loss, the team is confident that Rodriguez can step in and provide a great replacement for Hoffman in center.