17 June 2058
Boise, Idaho
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1B Bastião Fardos
52 G, 13 2B, 10 HR, 35 RBI, .328/.370/.545, 1 SB, +1.9 WAR
We here at the Tuber Times will admit when we made a mistake, and we did in not mentioning a very significant injury suffered by a Spuds star. In a game on the 5th of this month, with Boise hosting the Hurricanes of Jacksonville, 1B Bastião Fardos delivered an RBI single in the 5th inning but came up limping. Backup first baseman Tracy 'Jigga' Allison entered the game and Fardos headed to the locker room. After the game it was announced that the lefty had incurred a case of plantar fascitis and would miss at least 6 weeks.
GM Ben Teague said, "It's good news that it's nothing more serious, but that kind of injury can linger on beyond the player's return. We've just got to focus on getting him rested and back on the field to see if it's a one-time impact."
The Spuds could ill afford to miss Fardos. For a team relying on its offense to at least stay in the top half of the JL in runs scored, backing a defense that is 3rd in allowing them, Boise is exactly that scoring 5.1 runs per game which ranks 8th. Fardos is 4th on the squad in RBI with 35 but he's also a rock at the 3rd spot in the order forcing pitchers to attack LF Sebastian 'Nino' Fradesso and CF Lou Bayou.
The news is also unwelcome thanks to the struggles of once-platoon-mate-now-just-backup Tracy Allison. The righty slashed .289/.338/.371 last season, but has gone cold for much of 2058 going .222/.266/.357 with only 19 RBI and a tidy -0.3 WAR. Worse yet, while Fardos sports a .931 OPS against righties, Allison is a woeful .183/.206/.250 in that regard. So riding out 6 weeks on scrawny, shuffling RHB was just not an option.
The team looked for an internal solution and could find none. With the standings tight at the top of the JL, the Spuds were forced to hit the trade market. They landed on a wonky fix with a left-fielder who could play just enough defense at 1B in Las Vegas' Roosevelt Davis. The lefty had gone .250/.325/.339 vs RHP with 11 RBI in very limited duty. But he destroyed AAA pitching in both 2056 and 2057 so he was forcing Vegas GM Matt Rectenwald's hand in keeping him in a ML backup role.
So the two GMs got together and Teague shipped 19yo LF prospect Diwan bin Badr al Din south (we're talking about Idaho here). Badr al Din signed with Boise out of Kuwait in the 2056 season and has been learning the ropes at rookie-level Mazatlán.
Asked how things will look upon Fardos' return, Teague was quoted as saying, "It's a mystery."