TN 63.06 Identifying the Problems and Fixing the Shredders Pt. 2 The Pitching.

[Chuck V]

AUSTIN, TX In Part 1 we covered the part of the team that had the talent to do better, but was not; the offense. In this part we will look at a part of the team that doesn't have much talent and would likely have more success quitting and joining a kickball team.

So let's look at the pitching.
: OPENS DOOR AND SEES A RAGING RIVER WITH A DUMPSTER LITERALLY ON FIRE FLOATING BY. SHUTS DOOR:
Okay, that was fun.

At now 52-89 there has to be a glaring weakness and that weakness would be correctly identified as the pitching. On a staff of13 pitchers there are maybe two, possibly three solid bets. The rest are carrying around gas cans and matches.
Well, it depends where GM Chuck Valenches wants to sacrifice. He has three holes in the lineup now at SS, CF and C, though Jorge Madrid is hitting well. Don't expect that every season out of the career .226 hitter. The most likely bet is that when Seydar departs a better hitting catcher takes his place. Possibly through the draft, possibly via trade. But that is too many swings and misses to ignore. As for the rest, I have already stated that the subpar years from LF, RF, 1B and DH are being chalked up to aberrations and they should be expected to improve next year. They better, because outside of Hector Hernandez in AAA, there really is not a lot of prospects in the cupboard.

Next, we will look at the pitching.
Let's look at the positive first as that will not take long. Austin has a legit #1 in Harry Bransington. The #6 overall pick in 2062 was up in the big leagues before his first pro season was over and over a season and a half is 12-9 with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. What is evern better is that he is not even finished developing yet, Bransington has room for improvement in developing his pitches, especially the knuckle curve and he could probably use some time in the development lab increasing his stamina, but the Shredders are very happy to have him. At the other end is closer Nelson Middlebrooks, a 2nd round pick in 2059. Middlebrooks is a solid closer that throws 96-98. However he is a sidearm tosser and his ability to get out lefties can be questioned. Middlebrooks has blown nine saves this year, almost double what he blew last year so he bears watching. The big surprise this year has been Mus'ad Amr. A first round pick in 2055, much was expected from Amr. However, year after year of ERA's in the mid fours and mid fives had soured the organization on him a bit. However, he did sign a fairly team friendly extension at under $5,000,000 in the offseason which was enough to keep him around and, at least this season, it has paid off. Amr has a team leading nine wins and a career best 3.89 ERA. He is still prone to giving up the long ball (23 HR allowed) but he could settle into the back of a rotation very comfortably. Unfortunately, in Austin he is the #2 starter, which is a bit out of his depth. Hopefully he can continue to make small improvements and keep his ERA under 4.00, his WHIP under 1.40 and his butt off the IL.

The rest is a disaster. The bullpen has a team ERA of 5.53, worst in the league and deserves it. There is little to like. The lefty specialist are not very special, the long relievers are not long for this league and the setup men couldn't set up a pup tent. Glenn Hargrove was moved to the pen after failing as a starter and when he enters the game his walk on music is the "Theme from Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" by David Bowie. (If you don't know the song, click the link. A great piece of 80's rock)/. Most of this rabble have expiring contracts or will fall off in arbitration. The only contrats outside of Amr still on the books are Hargrove's 15 mil over the next two years and Antonio Baldez who is owed 3.6 mil if the Shredders pick up his team option (NOTE TO READER: THEY WON'T!)

So what to do? Quality pitching is hard to come by in the BBA. It is rarely available in FA without monumental risks, doesn't appear on waivers and is not always readily apparent in the draft. So again? What to do? There are no easy answers. Last year's draft was pretty bereft of top tier pitching. Austin threw the dice anyways on Tony Morales and quickly realized they had made a bad pick. Failing to sign Morales has left the Shredders with possibly two Top 10 picks in the 2064 draft and maybe the crop of pitchers will be improved. That is really the best hope to solve the pitching problems from within. Inside the organization there is not much that can be counted on. Gustavo Brannen, Gilberto Gonzales and Rafael Cochran appear to have some potential, but are still a few years off.

Most likely the Shredders will try and patch together a better bullpen next year in FA, hope somebody develops and look to the draft. In other words, they will likely be screwed in 2064 as well.

Next up we look at the defense.