Starting shortstop Pedro Gongora, 29, says he's in the best condition of his life after excelling in strength training at the Des Moines D-lab this offseason. Gongora missed a couple weeks last year and six weeks in '60 for the Kernels. A key part of the team, "Gone Go", as he's known around the club, saw his contact rating slip to 3 (ouch!), and the fight is on to see whether the nine-year veteran infielder will get above the Mendoza (aka Gongora) Line in 2062. He retains the starting job at short, after an 8.0 ZR last season, when he also showed a little offense success with 14 home runs and 45 rbis from the number nine spot in the batting order. He does have an 8 eye rating (9 potential), which helped him surface above a .300 OBP last year.
Oh, per reports, he went from "somewhat fragile" to "normal bordering on fragile." Sounds great!
Spelling Gone Go this season will be utility-guy extraordinaire, Dennis Armitage, 5/5/5, who came over in the Hector Cano, Jr. trade. Armitage has a 1.9 WAR in 207 games (170 starts) for Des Moines. He is rated at 2b-3b-ss and all three OF positions. Late last season he worked on his SS skills, and while not the greatest, he'll continue to work on them this spring. He will also back up Dan Morris in center.
