[G-Force]

Omaha Pioneers
2020 Midseason Report

Western League North
38-53, 4th Place, 14 GB

Last year’s 15-game improvement by Omaha led many to believe they would be contenders this season, despite their falling to Denver down the stretch of 2019. But huge steps backward both on the mound and at the plate have left the Pioneers looking up from the cellar.

The dramatic falloff of David Wright has been a huge blow to the Pioneers offense, never the team’s strong suit to begin with. But his decline, along with the slow development of Stan Musial, has left Willie McCovey shouldering the bulk of the load. Improvement from Mark Grace and the steady bat of Joe Mauer have given a bit of support, but not enough to offset the declines elsewhere.

Pitching, however, is the real problem here. Ace Tom Seaver, coming off a season with a 3.13 ERA, is sporting an ERA near 5.00, and both Kirk McCaskill and Steve Busby have been merely decent - which isn’t good enough. The best starter has been Herb Pennock, whose ERA has declined for the second straight season.

The bottom ranked Omaha bullpen still boasts a decent ERA of 4.31, a sign of the dramatic unexplained difference between the offense-heavy Eastern League and the pitching-strong West.

Manager Bruce Bochy has been forced to go to a three-headed bullpen of Byun-Hyung Kim, Jason Frasor and Tim Belcher - who has posted a 1.17 ERA in relief since being pulled from the rotation. Andy McGaffigan and Jesse Crain have been virtually unpitchable, and soon may be replaced by minor leaguers Al Demaree and/or Gary Bell.