Pitching
How much gas does Dave Lee have left in the tank? He’s about to turn 35 years old, but still managed a 4.08 ERA last season. He may not be as dominant as he once was, but he’s still a solid pitcher and will be a mainstay in the rotation. Bodt Picto was signed to give the team a little more oomph in the rotation, but hitters like to give a little oomph off his fastball. An extreme flyball pitcher with 5 movement will be scary in the #heartland. Manuel Garcia may be one of the best under-the-radar signing this winter. They have control over him for the next three years and Garcia has shown he can pitch with the best of them after 5 successful years in Nashville. Gertrudes and Bugbie fill out the rest of the rotation, which is greatly improved from last year’s edition. Gerald Rogers will be the first in line for saves, but he won’t have a ton of help in the bullpen with Byron Radcliffe[url] out for seven weeks. [url=https://stat ... se Newsome is a ‘here it is – hit it’ type of pitcher. To be effective, he has to repeat his success of keeping the ball in the field Last year he had 1.3 HR/9, but averaged 2.2 HR/9 the previous two seasons.
Infield
Gone is J-Rod, and Hak-joon Yi is essentially gone, too. After becoming half the player he was, Yi was signed to a one year deal to prove he still deserves a spot on the roster. Parker Davenport is another aged catcher, but everyone is ready for some Yeong Kok. He has a chance to squirt into the Opening Day roster. It will be hard and fans are excited for him to come. Burhan Tahir has become a staple of the Nine’s offense and will once again slot into 1B. You can expect a .300 season out of him. Dong-po Thum is still kicking around and will play the hot corner, but he can slide to 2B, too, as the Nine don’t really have emerging candidates at either position. But at this stage of his career, 3B seems the likeliest scenario. Hector Vazquez was signed to be the team’s SS, but don’t expect greatness.
Outfield
Arvin Duggan was the big signing this offense needed. Well, maybe what the defense needed. A little bit of both. Duggan got the big bucks to return to YS9 and play CF once again. The corners will be Devayana Koganti and Nazeeh Ragheeb. The latter is another .300 candidate while the former relies on the longball. Not terrible players, but not your ideal starting COFers where you usually find more offensive production.
Designated Hitter
Nobody is more excited for Yeong Kok than Ballbinder Palmready. Another spot where you would hope for more offensive production, but it seems the best they can do right now. The Nine have a lot of payroll flexibility so I expect a big late signing to fill the void.
This team seems much better than last year’s after some nice signings, however their star players are getting OLD. There isn’t much to say about their farm system behind them, so the Nine are in trouble. The Nine win 69 games this season because, why not…
