4 July 2058
Boise, Idaho
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Spuds Lose Nickerson for Season
SP Jeremy Nickerson
18 G, 18 GS, 10-3, 3.29, 93.0 IP, 1.27 WHIP, +1.0 WAR
Coming into the 2058 season, GM Ben Teague had considered Jeremy Nickerson his likely ace. Righty Dough Eckhoff was in the fold, but though he pitched to a 7-4 record with a 3.44 ERA in 14 starts least season, after being acquired from Bikini Krill for C Jorge Contreras and P Adrián Fox, his season total of 11-12 with a 4.93 ERA and 1.42 WHIP was reason for caution. Nickerson, on the other hand, had gone 4-1 in 8 starts with a 3.20 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. Though he missed the remainder of 2057 with elbow strain in July of that year, Teague was anxious to see what he could do in a full 2058 season.
Nickerson was acquired last season from Nashville, along with P Samir Qasim, P Héctor Fuentes, LF Eduardo Morales, and 1B prospect Nihat Gürler, in exchange for P David Molina and RF Cinema Jones. He teamed with Eckhoff to head up a rotation that has had the #1 starter's ERA in the JL for most of 2058.
This past week, on the 4th facing Charm City at home, Nickerson had complained of some discomfort beginning in the 2nd inning. That inning, in fact, he would walk the bases full before surrendering a grand slam to the Jimmies RF Geoffrey Dodson. He returned for the 3rd frame, but after inducing a ground out to the first hitter he doubled over in pain holding his right shoulder. Nickerson had to leave the game and all the way into the dugout appeared to be noticeably wincing.
The next day, the team announced that he had suffered a torn rotator cuff. It's an injury that generally takes a player at least a year to recover from. That places any possible return for Nickerson after the 2059 All-Star game with the possibility of spending the remainder of the season rehabbing in AAA Salt Lake City.
Boise is in the midst of a tight JL Frontier Division race trailing Calgary by 2 games and they hold one of the last wild card spots. "We have some in-house options to replace Jeremy," said Teague. "But expect us to be busy in the trade market as well. I'm not ruling out any options at this point."
The 24-year-old Nickerson is making league-minimum $500k this season with his first arbitration year coming in 2059.