18 March 2063
Boise, Idaho
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by Tony Toney
Boise GM Ben Teague was incensed last year watching the Spuds allow over 900 runs. "Not ever, ever again!" was the refrain many occupants of the Boise front office reported to have heard repeatedly late in the 2062 season and especially into the offseason. Many speculated that the issue played a role in Teague's health scare, but that seemed to be mostly backroom gossip. But not to be overlooked is that the squad Teague at which Teague aimed his ire just happened to be shedding pitchers and contracts so there was going to conveniently be a lot of cap space to completely restructure the rotation & bullpen. Teague's health concerns took some of his needed effort and attention so it will be interesting to see where the changes/signing that WERE made impact things. So, with 20 days gone in the 2063 Spring Training we'll focus our attention first to the pitching side in assessing progress.
SPUDS OF SPRING TRAINING - PITCHERS HALFWAY MARK
37yo LHP Yoriyuki Ine
12 G, 1-0, 10.2 IP, 0.84 ERA, 4.0 K/BB
Teague had a soft spot for Ine since signing his as a free agent prior to the 2062 season. His splits are ugly but he posted two consecutive years of sub-4.00 ERA work. 2062 was not nice to him, but he is the kind of pitcher who can pick his spots to get hitters to swing & miss while also pitching himself out of trouble if necessary. His ST has been on script with him allowing 7 hits but only one run. It always helps when the GM is rooting for you.
24yo RHP Tim Stops
12 G, 10.0 IP, 0.90 ERA, 2.5 K/BB
Stops has had such bad luck since being selected by Boise as the 16th pick in the 9th round of the 2058 amateur draft. He missed 6 weeks in 2060 and 2061 with elbow inflammation. But that was dwarfed by undergoing Tommy John surgery in the final month of that 2061 campaign. He returned to make 2 appearances at the ML level. If he can stay relatively healthy, he is a potentially dominant pitcher. He could use more movement on his pitches, but when you top 101mph on your fastball you can get away with just shutting an opponent down when needed. His ST has been excellent seeing him make 12 appearances tossing 10 innings of 1-run ball while allowing just 7 hits.
30yo LHP Samir Qasim
10 G, 1-0, 2 SV, 2 SVO, 10.2 IP, 3.38 ERA, 3.0 K/BB
Another update from the Times reported that Qasim has won the closer battle moving Mario Santos to a setup role. He's topped 10 innings, striking out 9 hitters, and navigating 10 hits.
26yo RHP Tariku Jabiri
9 G, 1 SV, 1 SVO, 9.0 IP, 10 K, 3.3 K/BB
There is a natural spotlight on Jabiri in 2063 as the team spent the offseason refocusing his skills to operate out of the bullpen rather than as a starter. Early returns are positive to say the least and he still has potential to grow into his new role and his talent potential.
Of course, there can't be some pleasantries without some cringeworthy stuff...
37yo LHP Juan Guzmán
10 G, 0-1, 0 SV, 3 SVO, 9.1 IP, 7 ER, 16 H, 5 BB, 11 K
Guzmán has been so good, so solid, and so reliable that he's been a fixture in the Boise roster for 4 consecutive seasons making a total of 155 appearances. He has put his nose to the grindstone and provided the Spuds with whatever the team needed. In the last 2 seasons, that meant making half of his appearances as a starter. But he did start to fade late in 2062 and ended with a 5.59 ERA in 132.0 IP. He is resilient, but he's also close to the typical age of regression for a BBA pitcher whether reliever or starter. He's had the most save opps in ST (3) but converted none. As hard as it is to say, Guzmán may not make it out of ST this year.
26yo LHP Dan Boman
4 G, 4 GS, 0-1, 11.2 IP, 17 H, 11 R, 5 BB, 10 K
Given the internal turmoil over the trade to acquire Boman from Nashville in exchange for a prospect, his name will carry an asterisk all season. Will, actually an asterisk and a carat. The asterisk is intended for if he cannot get the job done in Boise and it means it's the staff's responsibility for a deal gone wrong, but the carat indicates a plus performance was due to Teague's selfless dedication to his job that he would accurately assess and execute a trade, with Nashville GM Chad Nason no less, for a superior lefty. Things are leaning towards the asterisk right now as Boman was the only expected starting pitcher to get all scheduled 5-day rest outings.