2054/2055 Season - December
2054 #1 Draft Pick
Auckland had this year’s number 1 draft pick, and they went with 19 y/o pitcher Ethan ‘Boot’ Quine. Quine projected to have a plus fastball, a good slider and a decent changeup, all of which he’d throw with good control and with fizz. The high schooler was said to have a good work ethic, above-average intelligence, but wasn’t an outspoken guy in the clubhouse. His high school coaches said he was the type who’d leave straight after practice, and only stuck around in the sheds after a game long enough to have a shower. The Metros assigned him to their rookie-ball team.
A quick look at how the previous 4 #1 draft picks were doing:
2053, Calvin Hodnett: Played most of 2053 in Perth’s A-ball team, hitting .286/.325/.400, with 4HR. Started 2054 in AA-ball, where he seemed to struggle, but had just been moved up to AAA.
2052, Quentin Welch: Number 1 in Perth’s rotation, which said more about Perth than Welch’s current abilities. He still had plenty of development to go, and a few of the game’s analysts wondered if getting regularly shelled in the majors was good for him or not. So far this year he was 2-8, with a 4.80 ERA, 5.09 FIP, and 1.49 WHIP, having struck out 46 in 84.1IP, while walking 34.
2051, Josh Gladstone: Had a decent season in the bigs last year, and was doing even better so far this season, hitting .303/.402/.517, with 6HR, from 44 games. Perth were playing him in CF, where he was plain awful, his ZR -12.5 so far, but the Heat didn’t have many other options.
2050, Zachariah Pond: Won the AAA HotY award in 2053, going 21-6 on the season, with a 2.70 ERA, 3.65 FIP, and 1.24 WHIP. Looked likely to make the Darwin pen in ST before suffering a partially torn labrum. He was due back soon, though probably a rehab stint, at least, awaited.
Notable Performances
2 Dec: Kununurra continued to charge ahead in 2054. Today it was 24 y/o Blair Norris leading the way. 2052’s 2nd-overall draft pick allowed just 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 6, to help the Pioneers beat up on Hobart 7-0.
4 Dec: Christos Goddard was a guy most teams would have coming out of the bullpen. He possessed a very good fastball and slider and a poor changeup that he really could only get away with throwing every couple of innings. He also had trouble finding the zone sometimes, but Perth lacked depth and Goddard found himself as their #3 starter this season. Today he repaid the Heat’s faith in him, conceding just 6 hits and walking only 1 as Perth shutout Cairns 2-0. Goddard fanned 4 for his 6th win of the year.
7 Dec: Jorge Diaz snared PotW, hitting .370/.393/.963, with 5HR.
7 Dec: Dean Brewster went 5-6, 2 doubles included, to help Sydney get up over Brisbane 9-6.
10 Dec: Wei-liang Chang had his best stuff on show, allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk to help Darwin shut out Cairns 4-0.
12 Dec: Vince Hudswell always promised lots of power. All the scouts drooled over his swing, but even though he’d hit at least 22HRs each of his last 4 seasons, topping out at 31, that wasn’t nearly the amount of times he should be clearing the fence. He had a good day today, though, going yard 3 times versus the Fury, all of them solo affairs. His second shot was one of the biggest HRs the AUNZBL had ever seen, traveling a massive 538 feet, landing on the roof of a shop across the road from the stadium!
13 Dec: Canberra got themselves 20 base hits, but only beat Cairns by 5 runs, 9-4. However, amongst that, 2 hitters recorded 5 hits. The first was Willem Baldwin, who hit 2 doubles and a HR in 5-6 night...
13 Dec: ...The second was Mike Pickford, who was 5-5, all singles.
14 Dec: Ismael Aguirre grabbed another PotW with a .500/.556/1.031 performance. He had 5 doubles and 4HRs in his 16 hits, scoring 11 runs, driving in 16 runners and drawing 4 walks.
17 Dec: Jose Aguilar tamed the Crocs today, giving up just 4 hits and walking none. Hobart won 4-0, Aguilar fanning 5 in the shutout.
18 Dec: Jacob Blanksby was very much playing in Aguirre’s shadows nowadays, rather than getting most of the headlines as he had before. But he didn’t mind at all, saying he actually preferred not to be in the limelight. Today he hit in his 20th straight game, going 2-4 in a 7-5 victory over Central Coast. This was the first time Blanksby had recorded a 20-game hit streak.
21 Dec: Andre England was yet to be sidelined by injury this season, and even said he “was trying to be a little less reckless when fielding” his position. He picked up PotW with a gargantuan .640/.655/.920 effort, 7 doubles in his 16-25.
21 Dec: Blanksby’s hit streak ended at 21 games.
22 Dec: Lindsay Colson had already bashed his 400th homer this season, and today he made it to 2500 hits in Wellington’s 9-1 thrashing of Christchurch. He was 3-4 on the night, hit 2499 a 2-run jack, hit 3000 an rbi-single.
26 Dec: Jorge Diaz crushed 2 out of the park today, giving him 24 for the year. More significantly, this marked the 5th consecutive game he’d homered, and all eyes were on him to see if he could equal the all-time streak of 6 games.
27 Dec: Diaz collected 3 hits in tonight’s game, but all singles. However, the next morning he was awarded PotW, having hit .500/.545/1.133 over the last 7 days, including 6HRs.
Notable Injuries
4 Dec: Sydney’s cleanup man Stefan Lock (.254/.288/.480, 14HR), 3rd in the league in RBI (54), wouldn’t play until at least March. He’d torn his hamstring.
19 Dec: Bert Arnott (.298/.371/.436, 6HR) had a sprained thumb, and would be MIA from Central Coast’s lineup for a month, if not more.
31 Dec: Larry Nelms (.278/.311/.389, 3HR) gave everybody at today’s presser a big thumbs-down. On the eve of the All Star Game, Nelms tore a ligament in his thumb and would have to sit out tomorrow’s festivities. He’d have to sit out a fair few of Hobart's games too, and likely wouldn’t be back until the end of January.
Notable Trades/Signings
2054 All Stars
The NZ & Overseas All Stars had an embarrassment of riches at 1B, with Willem Baldwin and Patrick Maggs unlucky to miss out, and there being no place for milestone man Ashley Snijders. They also had a shortage of talent in the closing role this year, with only 1 closer deemed good enough to make the cut.
Australian All Stars
SP Eddie Rayner - CAN - 13-1, 2.52 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 0.97 WHIP
SP Lance Ralston - BRI - 9-2, 1.38 ERA, 2.75 FIP, 1.08 WHIP
SP Nathan Beckett - CHR - 11-3, 2.91 ERA, 2.99 FIP, 1.12 WHIP
SP Blair Wurfel - CAN - 6-2, 3.34 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 1.24 WHIP
SP Angelo Farriss - CHR - 8-5, 3.42 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 1.16 WHIP
SP Brad King - DAR - 8-5, 3.07 ERA, 4.01 FIP, 1.13 WHIP
SP Matt Juhl - CEN - 8-3, 3.48 ERA, 4.07 FIP, 1.33 WHIP
MR Logan Bowlby - NEW - 4-0, 3 sv, 1.23 ERA, 2.09 FIP, 1.14 WHIP
MR Axel Frawley - SYD - 2-1, 2.04 ERA, 3.17 FIP, 0.99 WHIP
CL Caspar Buffey - CEN - 3-2, 25 sv, 1.34 ERA, 2.23 FIP, 0.82 WHIP
CL Robert Bywaters - NEW - 3-2, 17 sv, 2.25 ERA, 2.20 FIP, 0.94 WHIP
CL Alastair Butcher - MEL - 2-2, 21 sv, 2.39 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 1.09 WHIP
C Jacob Blanksby - CAN - .330/.425/.535, 11HR
C Zachary Woollett - SYD - .313/.389/.566, 15HR
1B Kane Pond - AUC - .336/.387/.596, 21HR
1B Joshua Angwin - CAI - .301/.331/.534, 21HR
1B Justin Auger - CEN - .280/.373/.482, 15HR
2B Vince Hudswell - BRI - .293/.364/.556, 20HR
2B Rhett Vader - CAN - .313/.467/.419, 3HR
3B Vinnie Webber - SYD - .316/.398/.395, 0HR
3B Andre England - NEW - .311/.372/.376, 1HR
SS Aaron Kay - WEL - .271/.337/.405, 8HR
LF John Foreman - BRI - .328/.396/.624, 22HR
LF Alan Sneddon - DAR - .286/.458/.369, 2HR
CF Sean Carr - NEW - .350/.392/.526, 9HR
CF Damon Liao - CAI - .328/.379/.479, 9HR
RF Martin Boston - CAN - .362/.405/.476, 2HR
RF Arthur Lee - KUN - .281/.346/.551, 25HR
NZ & Overseas All Stars
SP Edwin Kerr - ADE - 10-1, 2.15 ERA, 3.59 FIP, 1.02 WHIP
SP Bruno Budd - DAR - 10-4, 3.36 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 1.08 WHIP
SP Dan Pankhurst - CEN - 8-4, 3.69 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 1.20 WHIP
SP Marcos Gallo - BRI - 9-5, 4.21 ERA, 3.29 FIP, 1.25 WHIP
SP Tim Sverdloff - CAI - 5-7, 3.88 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 1.42 WHIP
SP Damian Flemming - KUN - 6-5, 4.55 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 1.42 WHIP
SP Clint Aitcheson - BRI - 5-6, 3.22 ERA, 3.43 FIP, 1.14 WHIP
SP Vicente Velez - NEW - 5-8, 5.72 ERA, 3.69 FIP, 1.54 WHIP
MR Jorge Valdez - KUN - 2-2, 2 sv, 3.33 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 1.25 WHIP
MR Baden Vanderven - CHR - 3-1, 2 sv, 1.74 ERA, 3.01 FIP, 1.14 WHIP
MR Jim Wills - DAR - 2-0, 2 sv, 1.42 ERA, 3.11 FIP, 1.11 WHIP
CL Rupert Mansfield - DAR - 3-2, 18 sv, 2.27 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 0.84 WHIP
C Vern Bull - MEL - .295/.425/.549, 18HR
C Yin-ti Zhuo - KUN - .258/.395/.419, 7HR
1B Ismael Aguirre - CAN - .358/.420/.676, 29HR
1B Marcos Lopez - CHR - .330/.390/.530, 15HR
1B Arthur Fingleson - WEL - .290/.348/.558, 20HR
1B Jorge Diaz - KUN - .300/.341/.548, 24HR
2B Yong-jun Chu - WHA - .309/.338/.452, 9HR
3B Martin Valentin - WEL - .298/.356/.464, 13HR
3B Tommy Hillson - CAN - .266/.337/.457, 12HR
SS Carlos Aguilar - .261/.315/.322, 1HR
LF Jayden Pye - CHR - .304/.400/.554, 16HR
LF Angelo Wells - CAI - .302/.324/.428, 7HR
CF Hal Burrows - DAR - .279/.357/.449, 6HR
CF Jean-Louis Villard - WEL - .273/.337/.450, 13HR
RF Manuel Alou - CEN - .295/.364/.483, 15HR
RF Larry Nelms - HOB - .284/.319/.399, 3HR
Month Awards
Rookie of the Month: 24 y/o Adrian Stuart broke up John Foreman’s winning run, snaring the 3rd RotM award. He hit .346/.378/.519 over the month, going 36-104, with 19 runs, 2 doubles, 2 triples, 4HR, 20RBI, 5BB, and 8SB.
Hurler of the Month: There was no room in the NZ & Overseas All Stars squad for December’s HotM winner. Angelo Spear went 5-0 for Canberra, conceding a 2.63 ERA, 4.18 FIP, and 0.98 WHIP. He struck out 26 in 41.0 innings and the general consensus among the stats heads was that his offense was making him (and the rest of the Canberra rotation) look pretty good.
Slugger of the Month: Ismael Aguirre just kept on rolling on. He was even better in December than November, hitting .386/.432/.724, 49-127, with 28 runs, 13 doubles, 10HR, 31RBI, and 11 walks. The leaderboards were plastered with Aguirre’s image, the league’s favourite import at the head of the following categories: BA, HR, RBI (82), SLG, OPS, wOBA (.485), hits (131), runs (76), ISO (.312), XBH (55), TB (244), and WAR (6.3). Could he keep up this pace and earn the league’s first batter's Triple Crown? If anybody had the all-round hitting skills to do so, it was Aguirre.
Media Watch
Ashley Snijders: Snijders was a bit better in December than he had been in November. He hit .245/.333/.434, with 5HRs, meaning he ‘only’ needed another 19HR to make it to 600.
Allan Spear: Spear had made the Blue Sox rotation as their #5 starter, and while he was having a pretty awful year (5-10, 6.51 ERA, 4.40 FIP, 1.61 WHIP), it was fair to say he wasn’t getting a lot of support from his defense. Even so, the 5 wins he’d notched up had taken him to 198 career Ws, meaning he only needed 2 more to become the 2nd pitcher ever to 200 wins. With a career ERA and FIP both over 4, the talkback lines were hot and heavy with folks arguing whether, if he made 200, he deserved to get into the Hall. When asked about that himself during the month, Spear quipped, “Do they even allow pitchers in?” Of the 9 inductees so far, Phil McLaren (207 wins) was the only pitcher.
Other Notes
Coastal Division: Despite their injury woes the Venom (18-11) gritted their way through the month, driving past the Diggers (13-16) to hold a 2-game advantage heading into the 2nd half of the season.
East-west Division: Kununurra (15-14) held their heads above water in a division where nobody quite seemed able to pull away, and at the end of the month were 3 games ahead of Newcastle (12-17) and Central Coast (16-13). Brisbane (11-18) had the 2nd-most HRs of any team, but only the 12th-best BA and a bullpen that seemed to explode at almost every opportunity, meaning the usual powerhouse was struggling at the bottom of the division, 6 games back from the leaders and 4 games below .500.
NZ Division: The Fury (20-9) continued their climb, finishing the month at the top of the division. Auckland (14-15) settled 3 games back, while Whangarei (18-11) forged their way to .500, 4 games behind. Meanwhile, Christchurch (10-19), who’d jointly led the division at the beginning of the month, slumped badly, finishing December 6 games below .500 and 7 games off the pace.
Southern Division: Canberra (18-11) had the best record in baseball, nobody else in their division above .500.
Wildcard: Darwin had a comfortable 3-game lead in the top wildcard slot, with Auckland, Central Coast and Newcastle all locked up in the 2nd slot. Whangarei was a further game back.
#
Canberra’s Rhett Vader (.309/.464/.412, 3HR) had the OBP lead, even though he’d only managed 267PA.
Alan Sneddon (.290/.460/.380, 3HR from 397PA) had an extra 130PA and was just 4 points back on the OBP ladder. He’d drawn 91 walks so far, way more than anybody else, and 4 more than he had hits. He’d also surged into the steals lead, with 32, 7 more than 2nd-place.
Central Coast’s Rory Budd (.283/.356/.483, 10HR) didn’t make the All Star Game, though he led the league in doubles, with 27.
Christos Hutchinson (.299/.348/.375, 0HR) also didn’t make the All Star Game. He had hit the most triples of anybody, with 6 so far. The 112 career triples Hutchinson had placed him atop the career triples board, 37 ahead of the next best active player.
Eddie Rayner (14-1, 2.44 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 0.98 WHIP) joked to reporters during the month, “I could throw underarm out there and my offense would probably still score enough to get me wins.” While that wasn’t entirely true, Rayner was jagging some wins he probably wouldn’t if he was on another team. He led the league in that category, and also in WHIP and innings pitched (140.1).
Nathan Beckett (11-3, 2.91 ERA, 2.99 FIP, 1.12 WHIP) struck out 11 batters on 2 separate occasions in December, ensuring he held the strikeout lead come the end of the month. He’d fanned 127. He also had the best pitcher’s WAR, with 3.5.
Lance Ralston (9-2, 1.57 ERA, 2.98 FIP, 1.07 WHIP) had the best ERA, FIP, H/9 (6.84), and OAVG (.210) of all qualified pitchers.
Caspar Buffey’s 25 saves saw him atop that category.
Standings, Jan 1