31 July 2061
Boise, Idaho
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by Stubby Bardenwerper
The Spuds season has slipped into evaluation stage for individual players as far as GM Ben Teague is concerned. That means some early callups and lineup changes:
21yo DH Perry Taylor
(AAA): 49 G, 230 PA, 8 2B, 1 3B, 15 HR, 42 RBI, .370/.470/.656, 1.126 OPS, +2.2 WAR
Perry Taylor has long been anticipated as an ML DH, but while he was at work in Salt Lake City the 1B/DH situation in Boise needed to sort itself out over the course of the season. For the last 4 seasons, including this one, first base has been handled in a platoon with 31yo lefty Pedro 'Pocket Rocket' Hozven and 28yo RHB Tracy 'Jigga' Allison. Teague has been monitoring the development of Allison behind Hozven to see if the younger could prove to hold his own vRHP. Results have been mixed, that is up until this season. Allison has already matched his 91 games played from 2061 as he's been handling full-time 1B duties. He's posted a slash of .347/.396/.531, .927 OPS, 29 2B, 12 3B, 4 HR, 27 RBI, 47 SB, and +3.3 WAR, which is the highest on the team in 2062. Hozven hasn't suffered for the most part manning the DH role full-time booking a .281/.343/.512 slash, .855 OPS, 25 2B, 1 3B, 16 HR, 55 RBI, and +1.3 WAR.
But Hozven has required close monitoring as he has a team option of $5.67m for the 2063 season. He is in his prime and there's no reason to expect regression. But every bit of salary saved in the upcoming offseason can be used where it's desperately needed...pitching. So Allison's development has been very welcomed. But what of Hozven's production at DH? That's where Teague has been keeping a close eye on the young Taylor in AAA. While Hozven managed both vLHP and vRHP early in the season, cracks have begun to show in the lefty's numbers vs the former.
Hozven has a .296/.368/.543 slash versus RHP, but only .234/.253/.416 versus lefties. That opens up a possibility to call up the right-handed Taylor early instead of waiting for the September roster expansion. That should provide Teague with a large enough sample to assess his ability to hold down an everyday role in the ML lineup. The 21yo has posted a 1.031 OPS versus lefties and 1.154 against RHP, so he's shown the ability to handle both matchups.
Taylor may initially share time at DH with 2B Ryan Geauxinue who has just been freed up from full-time duties at second base and does contribute at a very high level offensively. But, and especially since Geauxinue will not be returning in 2063, Teague wants to see Taylor take on the role full-time. He'll be given every opportunity over the last 2 months of the season to prove his worth.