2034-12: Talons so far: The Bad

[jiminyhopkins]

Continuing our 100 games update, here are a few things that have not gone right so far.

THE BAD

1. Injuries to key players: Yeah, every team goes through this, but it's still frustrating for a team that looks to finally be finding its footing in the JLS Division. After a stretch of encouraging starts in late May and early June, Ignacio Rodriguez once again missed significant time with an injury; a recurrence of his spring training elbow inflammation kept him out for nearly 7 weeks before his return on July 18. Young SS Tu fu Yong also has missed time recently, with a month long stint on the DL this month and a two week stretch in April putting a dent in his breakout season as one of the best young SS in the league.

2. An unfortunate trade: Early last offseason, the Talons traded LF Desiderius Kirshbaum to Madison for SP Marcos Villegas. At the time, it might have made sense, Kirsh was in his final arb year and it was felt that Villegas would give Phoenix some much needed rotation depth. But the trade has backfired, as some had predicted. After a great April that saw Villegas throw 35 innings in 6 starts with a 3.60 ERA, he has done nothing but regress back to his (pretty bad) career norms and has been demoted to the bullpen. Meanwhile, Kirshbaum has been great for the Wolves, hitting .294 with 41 steals and near flawless defense.

3. Lack of rotation depth: Outside of the top three starters, the Talons have a rotation depth problem. right now the 4 and 5 starters are career reliver Rob Snyder and youngster Alexandre Renard, who rarely throws more than 80 or 90 pitches due to low endurance. The club has gotten lucky so far, as both have actually done pretty well, but there is literally no one behind them to take over if and when needed. Phoenix even signed 36 year old BBA veteran Cap Morgan in a desperation move, but he has been below average in AAA and did not fare well (7.20 ERA) in his one start for the big club. What's worse, pitching prospects Cesar Aguilar and Nate Horswill are nowhere near the majors by any stretch of the imagination.

Think thats bad? What 'til you see the UGLY!

[udlb58]

woof, that contract...