[Thunder]

Year 3/2022
70-92, sixth, 30 GB

Still last, but a big step toward respectability, though two wins below projection.

International Free Agent catcher Shohei “Ogre” Kurihara hits .163 in May and I wonder what I have done. But Ogre is a near-beast after that and hits .267 with 22 HR, 82 RBI, a 105 OPS+ and wins AL ROY. A bit of an overspend perhaps, but I had the worst catching in the league. Now I don’t.

Hitting
1B Dennis Mack, 24, blossoms with a .325-33-108/+4.3 WAR season. As mentioned, Will Barrera, 21, came up to fill 3B nicely (.299-9 HR/+2.2 WAR in 90 games). Rule 5 pick-up Mal Van Dam was decent (.267-14 HR) but a little sub-par in CF (-3 ZR) and is gone when he wants a big multi-year deal. Still a long way to go, but we improve from 637 runs scored to 656.

Pitching
Jose Gonzalez (9-10, 3.77) and Tom Massey (10-12, 3.38) are solid on top, but Bryan Kelly (1-7, 6.49) has an injury-plagued season and takes a big step back. ERA drops from 4.84 to 4.48 (or maybe 4.50, my index page and team stats have two different numbers). Runs allowed drops from 830-775.

Defense
RF Ron Palmer (+21.1 ZR) and LF Luis Gonzalez (+14.5) win Gold Gloves. The middle infield is weak with 2B Jim Stevenson (-2.8) and SS Bruce Wilson (-3.4).