2035-08: Talons Season Preview - OF/DH

[jiminyhopkins]

Left Field: Domenic Wyatt (5/6/9/8/2 Talents) and Martin Marin (8/8/9/5/8 Talents) will platoon in left field this season. Wyatt, popular power hitter who normally crushes right handed pitching, had a very frustrating season in 2034 as he hit .174/.294/.366 in over 400 at bats. As a fan favorite with a big contract, he isn't going anywhere and will get the majority of the playing time. Marin, the club's 2030 first round pick, will get most of the at bats against lefties in his rookie season.

Center Field: Thad Meyer (8/9/7/5/9 Talents) finished third in last season's rookie of the year balloting, recording a .728 OPS and 2.1 wars. Defensively, he notched a +9.7 zone rating in center field, and his speed saw him steal 47 bases. His ratings have continued to improve, and scouts look for him to hit for more power this year.

Right Field: Bartolo Ortiz (8/9/10/6/8 Talents) was recently prognosticated to have the best season in the Johnson League in 2035, according to the "Preseason Predictions" page on the Baseball News Network. Ortiz hit .324/.388/.590 last year with 39 homers, so it seems like anything is possible for the 21 year old left handed hitter. Anything, that is, except play good defense in right field, but obviously his bat makes up for any deficiencies. And the club already has a pretty good DH.

Designated Hitter: Mario Deortez (8/9/9/6/7 Talents) was worth 3.1 wars last season, not bad considering how much that metric de-values DH's as a whole. Surely the Talons and their fans think that Mario's 43 homers and 102 RBI from a year ago are even more valuable. This 23 year old "Manimal" has the possibility of hitting his 100th career homer by the All Star break, that total coming in just over 400 games.

Outfield Backups: Martin Marin will platoon in left, while Nate Fletcher (5/5/2/8/6 Talents) backs up the other two outfield spots.