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ayaghmour2 · 11-02-2023, 09:37 PM

I guess this is it, the last week of the Cuban Winter league. It really caught up on me as I thought we still had a few weeks left, and we're once again without baseball. Fortunately for Chicago sports fans, there's still stuff to follow, as the Panthers (23-10, 1st, 3 GA) and Packers (18-20-3, 3rd, 39 PTS) are holding playoff spots and Wildcats fans are still celebrating their 31-0 thrashing of the hated New York Stars, winning their third championship in franchise history. It really made up for 1946 -- a season fans of the Wildcats and Cougars would like to forget. In both baseball and football, the New York Stars crushed Chicagoan's dreams, as the football version throttled the Wildcats 28-0 and the baseball version got to Billy Riley in game 145 to keep the Cougars title droughts extended.

Unfortunately, for the Stallions, they will not be continuing play, but they finished above .500 for the first time (20-19) and finished two games out and in second place. It's a noticeable improvement over last season, and a lot of our players showed plenty of promise. I'm giving out some organizational "awards", going out to some of the players that stood out. A lot of these guys will return to action on March 6th when the big league camp starts back up. They'll have about a month to rest up and prepare, and I cannot wait to get back started. It's been a slow offseason on the baseball front, which might work in our favor. We have a really good team and OSA thinks there are only two positions (RF, 9th; RP, 13th) where one of our players does not rank in the top seven.

Best Pitcher: RHP Zane Kelley
6-2, SV, 79.1 IP, 2.27 ERA (204 ERA+), 1.15 WHIP, 32 BB, 35 K, 1.7 WAR

This was the most obvious choice as Zane Kelley was dominant most of the season. After winning his first six starts, he did lose back-to-back games, allowing 23 hits, 12 runs, and 7 walks. He did finish on a high note with two separate shutout relief outings, and with how excellent he started the season, Kelly still led the CWL in ERA (2.27), rWAR (3.4) and ERA+ (204) in a league high 79.1 innings. He lost the lead in WHIP (1.15) to Samuel Harris (0.99), but still finished second while ranking top five in shutouts (t-1st, 2), WAR (2nd, 1.7), complete games (2nd, 6), FIP (5th, 3.64), and opponent batting average (4th, .208). Of course on the Stallions, he led pretty much every category, and now has positioned himself as a legitimate FABL pitcher. I'm not sure how easy it will be to keep him on the big league roster, but he'll get some starts in the Spring and if he stays hot who knows what's going to happen. The tough part is we already have five starters and I want to see what Eddie Howard could do as well. Even so, Kelley could be a stopper and even make a spot start if we're stuck with double headers. The staff has four openings behind our rotation, and the 23-year-old has given him a jump start on his competition.

Best Hitter: RF Jimmy Hairston
.300/.469/.373 (117 OPS+), 145 PA, 5 2B, HR, 9 RBI, 144 WRC+, 1.2 WAR

Technically this could be best walker, as that's what Jimmy Hairston did best. He walked at a whopping 23.4% clip, best among qualified Cuban Winter League hitters. He led the Stallions with a 144 WRC+ and hit an above average .300/.469/.373 (117 OPS+) while playing plus defense in left field (2.9, 1.010). He walked in nearly every game, drawing 34 in 36, and hit 5 doubles and a homer in 145 trips to the plate. As surprising as this may be, Hairston's always had an outstanding eye, frequently walking over ten percent of the time in the minors. Like Kelley, he's on the 40-man roster and will be in spring camp, but I don't think he's got much of a chance for a bench role. He just turned 24 two weeks ago, and should still be playing every day in the minors. His .268/.365/.424 (100 OPS+) triple slash was exactly league average, but it was nice to see him slug 16 homers. The home run power wasn't to be seen down south, despite the Stallions having an extremely homer friendly stadium. One way or another, I expect him to make his big league debut this season, and he'll have one option left for 1950 as well.

Second Half Star: LF Johnny Peters
.275/.381/.477 (118 OPS+), 184 PA, 10 2B, 7 HR, 28 RBI, 124 WRC+, 1.4 WAR

Johnny Peters hit just .250/.370/.383 (92 OPS+) in 16 December games and an even lower .261/.346/.261 (57 OPS+) in 5 November games. Once the Calendar turned to 1949, Peters was a new hitter, slashing an excellent .300/.402/.629 (160 OPS+) with 6 of his 7 homers, adding on 14 runs, 5 doubles, 12 walks, and 13 RBIs. The outstanding month allowed Peters to finish with a solid .275/.381/.477 (118 OPS+) batting line, and with decent defense out in left (1.4, 1.018) he ended up being worth 1.4 wins above replacement, although almost a full win (0.9) came in his January. I'll admit, I was nervous when he was hitting just .236/.359/.377 as late as January 10th, but now Peters will look to ride the hot streak to a return to the majors. He hit 5-for-20 with a solo homer in his cup of coffee this September, and will look to steal at bats away from some number of Hal Sharp, Leo Mitchell, Luke Berry, Carlos Montes, and Chubby Hall in the Spring. None of them have the upside of the former 3rd Pick, but Dixie Marsh think currently they're all further along then Peters. If he starts the season in Milwaukee, we'll rotate him around all three outfield spots, so if an injury strikes he can be ready to enter anywhere.

Best Cheerleader: LHP Ben Clough

The Santa Clara Stallions did something that no other team did. They just completely neglected their bullpen. The Eagles Dick Greenhalgh (0-0, 21.60) was rocked in two innings, allowing 5 hits, 4 runs, and a walk in just an inning and two thirds. Ben Clough? The guy with a 1.99 ERA (222 ERA+) and 1.15 WHIP with 45 strikeouts in 49.2 innings out of the pen? He didn't get to face a single batter. Every other team used at least one reliever for 10 or more innings while while just two of those seven teams not having each reliever throw double digit innings. So it's not like this was a league wide thing. Manager Fred Spears just decided not to use anyone that wasn't in his rotation. I was really hoping for Clough to get some extra innings as he threw just 12.1 innings after being selected in the 1947 draft. Even with a decent size workload (120 innings), I was hoping for more, as he was starting to emerge as a legit prospect. I do want to give him more starts in the minors, but he's probably best suited for the pen and he could have helped Santa Clara in some of their losses. It's sad he didn't get much out of being selected, but at least he got to bond with his teammates and support them as they recorded the first winning season in the Stallions' short history.

11-02-2023, 09:37 PM	#1254
ayaghmour2 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 3,031	Cuban Winter League: Week 10 I guess this is it, the last week of the Cuban Winter league. It really caught up on me as I thought we still had a few weeks left, and we're once again without baseball. Fortunately for Chicago sports fans, there's still stuff to follow, as the Panthers (23-10, 1st, 3 GA) and Packers (18-20-3, 3rd, 39 PTS) are holding playoff spots and Wildcats fans are still celebrating their 31-0 thrashing of the hated New York Stars, winning their third championship in franchise history. It really made up for 1946 -- a season fans of the Wildcats and Cougars would like to forget. In both baseball and football, the New York Stars crushed Chicagoan's dreams, as the football version throttled the Wildcats 28-0 and the baseball version got to Billy Riley in game 145 to keep the Cougars title droughts extended. Unfortunately, for the Stallions, they will not be continuing play, but they finished above .500 for the first time (20-19) and finished two games out and in second place. It's a noticeable improvement over last season, and a lot of our players showed plenty of promise. I'm giving out some organizational "awards", going out to some of the players that stood out. A lot of these guys will return to action on March 6th when the big league camp starts back up. They'll have about a month to rest up and prepare, and I cannot wait to get back started. It's been a slow offseason on the baseball front, which might work in our favor. We have a really good team and OSA thinks there are only two positions (RF, 9th; RP, 13th) where one of our players does not rank in the top seven. Best Pitcher: RHP Zane Kelley 6-2, SV, 79.1 IP, 2.27 ERA (204 ERA+), 1.15 WHIP, 32 BB, 35 K, 1.7 WAR This was the most obvious choice as Zane Kelley was dominant most of the season. After winning his first six starts, he did lose back-to-back games, allowing 23 hits, 12 runs, and 7 walks. He did finish on a high note with two separate shutout relief outings, and with how excellent he started the season, Kelly still led the CWL in ERA (2.27), rWAR (3.4) and ERA+ (204) in a league high 79.1 innings. He lost the lead in WHIP (1.15) to Samuel Harris (0.99), but still finished second while ranking top five in shutouts (t-1st, 2), WAR (2nd, 1.7), complete games (2nd, 6), FIP (5th, 3.64), and opponent batting average (4th, .208). Of course on the Stallions, he led pretty much every category, and now has positioned himself as a legitimate FABL pitcher. I'm not sure how easy it will be to keep him on the big league roster, but he'll get some starts in the Spring and if he stays hot who knows what's going to happen. The tough part is we already have five starters and I want to see what Eddie Howard could do as well. Even so, Kelley could be a stopper and even make a spot start if we're stuck with double headers. The staff has four openings behind our rotation, and the 23-year-old has given him a jump start on his competition. Best Hitter: RF Jimmy Hairston .300/.469/.373 (117 OPS+), 145 PA, 5 2B, HR, 9 RBI, 144 WRC+, 1.2 WAR Technically this could be best walker, as that's what Jimmy Hairston did best. He walked at a whopping 23.4% clip, best among qualified Cuban Winter League hitters. He led the Stallions with a 144 WRC+ and hit an above average .300/.469/.373 (117 OPS+) while playing plus defense in left field (2.9, 1.010). He walked in nearly every game, drawing 34 in 36, and hit 5 doubles and a homer in 145 trips to the plate. As surprising as this may be, Hairston's always had an outstanding eye, frequently walking over ten percent of the time in the minors. Like Kelley, he's on the 40-man roster and will be in spring camp, but I don't think he's got much of a chance for a bench role. He just turned 24 two weeks ago, and should still be playing every day in the minors. His .268/.365/.424 (100 OPS+) triple slash was exactly league average, but it was nice to see him slug 16 homers. The home run power wasn't to be seen down south, despite the Stallions having an extremely homer friendly stadium. One way or another, I expect him to make his big league debut this season, and he'll have one option left for 1950 as well. Second Half Star: LF Johnny Peters .275/.381/.477 (118 OPS+), 184 PA, 10 2B, 7 HR, 28 RBI, 124 WRC+, 1.4 WAR Johnny Peters hit just .250/.370/.383 (92 OPS+) in 16 December games and an even lower .261/.346/.261 (57 OPS+) in 5 November games. Once the Calendar turned to 1949, Peters was a new hitter, slashing an excellent .300/.402/.629 (160 OPS+) with 6 of his 7 homers, adding on 14 runs, 5 doubles, 12 walks, and 13 RBIs. The outstanding month allowed Peters to finish with a solid .275/.381/.477 (118 OPS+) batting line, and with decent defense out in left (1.4, 1.018) he ended up being worth 1.4 wins above replacement, although almost a full win (0.9) came in his January. I'll admit, I was nervous when he was hitting just .236/.359/.377 as late as January 10th, but now Peters will look to ride the hot streak to a return to the majors. He hit 5-for-20 with a solo homer in his cup of coffee this September, and will look to steal at bats away from some number of Hal Sharp, Leo Mitchell, Luke Berry, Carlos Montes, and Chubby Hall in the Spring. None of them have the upside of the former 3rd Pick, but Dixie Marsh think currently they're all further along then Peters. If he starts the season in Milwaukee, we'll rotate him around all three outfield spots, so if an injury strikes he can be ready to enter anywhere. Best Cheerleader: LHP Ben Clough The Santa Clara Stallions did something that no other team did. They just completely neglected their bullpen. The Eagles Dick Greenhalgh (0-0, 21.60) was rocked in two innings, allowing 5 hits, 4 runs, and a walk in just an inning and two thirds. Ben Clough? The guy with a 1.99 ERA (222 ERA+) and 1.15 WHIP with 45 strikeouts in 49.2 innings out of the pen? He didn't get to face a single batter. Every other team used at least one reliever for 10 or more innings while while just two of those seven teams not having each reliever throw double digit innings. So it's not like this was a league wide thing. Manager Fred Spears just decided not to use anyone that wasn't in his rotation. I was really hoping for Clough to get some extra innings as he threw just 12.1 innings after being selected in the 1947 draft. Even with a decent size workload (120 innings), I was hoping for more, as he was starting to emerge as a legit prospect. I do want to give him more starts in the minors, but he's probably best suited for the pen and he could have helped Santa Clara in some of their losses. It's sad he didn't get much out of being selected, but at least he got to bond with his teammates and support them as they recorded the first winning season in the Stallions' short history.