Warehouse Wire 2048.06: The Resurrection of Quinton Lara

[bcslouck]

Drafted back in 2037, Quinton Lara was set to the franchise player behind the dish. He moved quickly through the minors and despite a weak showing in his brief time at AAA, Lara won the starting job out of Spring Training. He proved quickly to be worth the lofty pick, getting selected to the All-Star game and winning the Puckett. All as a rookie, though strangely, not garnering a top 3 Gillstrom finish (EDITORS NOTE: 2040 was a stupid year for rookies. Stupid as in holy shit, there are some heavy hitters. Lara finished 4th.)

While never really having a year like his rookie one, he managed to make the All-Star game and win the Puckett as a catcher 2 of the next 3 seasons. 2044 proved to be his worst year. But he'd shown a down year can happen time to time. He was still a league average batter providing solid defense. So prior to the 2045 season, the team locked up the player dubbed by fans Mr. Jimmie to a 6 year $60,000,000 deal. It guaranteed another 4 years in Charm City. Everyone was excited.

Flash forward to the offseason of 2047. Quinton is coming off the worst year of his career. This one wasn't like 2044. It was his 4th worst season of his career in a row. And this one was awful. -0.5 WAR. .600 OPS (56 OPS+). It was a disaster of a year on top of a disaster of a contract. And there were another two years to go through of this contract. For the fans. The organization. And Quinton Lara. Going into 2048 at age 30, was he really going to turn things around?

Lara went home to ranch in Texas. Realizing his star had fallen a long way, he demanded better from himself. No lavish vacations this offseason. With the Jimmies eliminated from playoff contention, he took the playoffs to take a break from the game just tending to the ranch. The day after the Landis was wrapped up, hitting coach Doug Glover received a phone call from the veteran catcher. According to Glover, Lara simply said "I'm ready to work."

Funded by Lara, Doug spent most of his time on the ranch with the Lara family, working on the once sweet swing of Quinton Lara.

"I was there most of my time this offseason," said Glover. prior to Spring Training "He was relentless. I'd go home for the weekends and had my family come to the ranch for holidays or visits. On Lara's dime too, which I appreciated. He didn't have to do that. But, he was zoned in and we worked a lot. And I think we're gonna see him better this year. In his mind, he has to be."

Quinton looked like his old self this Spring. .281/.349/.544 (.893 OPS). That's prime Quinton Lara numbers. But it's Spring Training. We know that doesn't mean much, especially for a veteran who for the last 4 years, got worse each year. And then he came out and OPS'd .905 in April. And .841 in May. He looked to be back on track. And then June came along, and where he only OPS'd .663. Quinton had been off to hot starts before in the last 4 years. Each time, everyone including himself thinking he was back on track. And everyone was worried that this was the turn. Not Quinton.

After the disappointed of not making the All-Star game, he raked. .974 OPS in July and 1.040 in August. The man was on a tear.

All told, he finish the year with a 4.8 WAR, the best since his rookie campaign. His 138 OPS+ is a career high while his 142 +wRC ties a career high. His .897 OPS is the 3rd best of his career and the first time over .800 since 2043. Despite not having some of the power numbers of other catchers, he looks to have a good chance at winning another Puckett.

After looking like he'd be a lock to hit free agency after 2049 because of the team declining his option, it's possible he leaves on his own accord if he has another year like this. It's really hard to say he's back when he hasn't put up these type of numbers in 5 years. But with the Jimmies looking to get back on track next season, they hope he can replicate once again.