43.04 TWC - Jose Perez is the 3rd TWC Top Prospect Starter to Injury Lump in 3 seasons

[Spiccoli]

At one time, the future was bright in the Twin Cities with the young prospects coming up from the minors. There were both hitter and pitchers ready... the team looked poised to make a run.

Then things started to fall apart on the pitching side...

At one time, Twin Cities had three Top 100 Prospect Starters.

- Liam Thorpe (POT - 70)
- Jose Perez (POT - 70)
- Lucio Mendoza (POT - 60)

They were the highlights of a TWC Future's Spotlight Article in 2041. Article Link.

Then came the injuries.

Liam Thorpe's 2041 season ended almost before it had begun. He went out after his 4th start, tearing his flexor tendon and going out for 10 months. At the time, he was rated as a BBA Top 25 Prospect. He's made it back to the BBA and now looks to be a #4 or #5 starter or Long Reliever.

Next was Lucio Mendoza. After a promising starting in 2041, Mendoza had posted a 1.1 WAR in his rookie season before going out for 14 months with a Torn UCL. He worked hard to come back and reinjured himself during his rehab in 2042, tearing his labrum, going out for 11 months. That ended any BBA prospects and pretty much looks to be career minor league pitcher.

The final nail in TWC's promising future was a loss of Jose Perez as a viable #1/#2 Starter. He was a key piece of the Chris Kelly trade during the 2039 firestorm trade. Peaking as the BBA #40 Prospect, Perez also went out near the end of 2041 with a torn rotator cuff for 7 months. After rehabing his way back, Perez had a solid 2042 season, helping power the River Monsters back to the playoffs for the first time in 5 season. After the dissappointments of Thorpe and Mendoza, Fans and the Front Office were still hopeful for the future. That all ended in April for Perez's 2043 season, tearing his UCL and putting him out for 13 months. All indicators point to Perez's future as a #1 or #2 starter is gone... Hopefully he can return as a back end starter, but the TWC Starting Pitching staff has nothing but back end starters after Chris Kelly.

With the young studs on Offense, it looks to be time to pull the rip cord yet again to get any value they may have and start over.

[RonCo]

Thorpe might be interesting in a stopper role.

[aaronweiner]

Man, that sucks. That doesn't seem right that it happens over and over again to the same franchise.