[illeracula]

The Pitchers

Pitchers... we only have 14 on the 40-man, we do have one on the DL who will be re-joining the team early in the season. A place where we used to thrive is now a place that we are struggling with. Where did our pitching talent go?

Starters (9):
Miguel Contreras
Paul Brown
Cornell Pearson
Vaughan Griffith
Miguel Angel Gonzalez
Armando Lopez
Jesus Ramirez
Claudio Perez
Carlos Coronado (L) - DL 3-4 months

This years rotation will look a lot like last years rotation, with the exception of Marcos Estrada. With Estrada traded away, he will be replaced with Miguel Angel Gonzalez. Gonzalez has earned the rotation slot with 2 solid Championship round starts. He is only 23 and will fill in the #5 slot very nicely. Contreras, Brown and Pearson are all locked in, then the #4 slot is some-what up for grabs.

Griffith has excelled as a starter when given the chance, winning 17 games in 2020 and 18 last season. He will be the front runner for the #4 slot, deservedly so. Lopez and Ramirez will head back to the pen, with Lopez being the #6 starter if necessary. Lopez had a solid season out of the pen (6-1, 4.09, 3 SV) and Ramirez started off slowly but ended up being relied upon (3-0 3.76, 3 SV) and will be used more often this year.

Claudio Perez spent all of 2023 in the minors, had one September start with the Cav's and it wasn't very pretty. Coronado started 2 games last year, before getting hurt and missing the entire season. He will make some rehab starts, but should be back up with the team near the end of the season.

Relievers (6):
Eric Helton
Jimmy Jones (L)
David Moran (L)
Alberto Sanchez
Luis Martinez
Dalton Whitaker

Most of our relievers are starters, with a few exceptions. This year it will be interesting and some trades will have to be made. The closer role will be given to Luis Martinez, but that still could change. David Moran saved 25 of 26 games last season, and he isn't a "closer" he would rather just play set-up. Martinez and Moran will share closer time.

One thing about Moran not closing it gives me a lefty in the pen (to start the season), and will share the set-up duties with Eric Helton. Helton had a nice season last yer pitching in a team high 54 games, posting a 2.78 ERA.

Alberto Sanchez and Jimmy Jones will be sent down to AAA, and won't be happy about it, but there just isn't space for them right now on the roster, and they are probably the weakest of the 14 pitches.

And finally, Dalton Whitaker. Whitaker is the all-time DBL save's leader with 342, but he has fallen off quite a bit over the past 2 seasons. At 36-yrs old the 757.2 IP and over 12,000 pitches has finally caught up to. He has 3 more years on contract, and could end up being waived at some point this season. Whitaker is the lone Cav that was on the opening day roster in 2013.

We are only going to carry 11 pitchers on the roster, so the cuts should be rather easy, however with the lack of options a trade may need to be made. Ramirez, Perez and/or Coronado are too good just to let walk.

Last year our pitchers gave up 520 runs, the starters had a 2.87 ERA and the bullpen a 3.44 ERA. I think seeing our starters under 3.00 this season would be a HUGE surprise, and I'd like to see our bullpen drop that 3.44 a little bit. MAG has big shoes to fill in the rotation, and I have faith that he will do well, 20 wins? Sub 3.00? Probably not, but he should win 13-15 games. Brown and Contreras will lead the way again. Pearson has been inconsistent over the years, but reliable.

The bullpen is full of questions. We used to have a dominating 'pen, but not anymore. We have a good pen and we should grow on last years success. The big difference last year was acquiring Luna and benching Whitaker. Luna is gone, Whitaker will either be the 11th man or waived, so the bullpen will look different, we will rely on a lot of youth, hopefully they are up for the challenge.

In 2016 we won the title with a team average of .280 and a team ERA of 3.52. That team won 112 games.... this years team will be very similar to that years team, but our division will be a lot tougher. I am ready to get this season started, hopefully these kids are ready to get it going as well. I like the way we are looking so far, still have some holes, still have some questions, but I am pretty sure come September, I will be saying the same thing...