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Old 03-10-2019, 04:03 AM   #30
DrTobiasFunke
Minors (Single A)
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 59
The Tucson Sidewinders took the .286 Silver by storm and have captured the top spot in the NC. 96-66 is not bad at all, and even better we took the top spot in a three game series against the next closest team to finish off the season. How did we get there?

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It was not by hitting, that's for sure. You can see the outlines of the strategy, trading HRs for gap power and running the basepaths, but it doesn't look so hot when the bats are cold. Lonnie Smith and Pete Rose combined to be my best bat (114-120 OPS+ respectively) while Hack Wilson hit two home runs in the final two games of the season to finish with 15 (!). Tony Fernandez was a late season addition to the roster to take the RHP burden of Jeff Cirillo at SS, but it looks like the Sidewinders are going to have to rely on defensive to finish out the season.

Thankfully, defense has not been a deficiency, with a great defensive season aiding a good pitching season.

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Wes Ferrell will be in the running for the Cy Young with the ERA crown and 22 wins, while Pete Schourek was good but unlucky (26 quality starts for a 11-15 record). Kerry wood and Bob Ojeda earned their weight in PP and were solid, while I traded between Steib and Ellis for that final starter spot. In relief, it was mostly a story of Vic Raschi having a season for the ages. 5.2 WAR, .183 average against, a simply ridiculous FIP- of 36 over 95 innings. His insane season combined with decent performance of the rest of the starters turned relievers means we're now running a bare bones 5 man pen. I suppose we should be hitting better with that being the case.

Of course, all of this goes out the window now that it's playoff time, good luck to all the other qualifiers out there, unless you're in my league.
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