The Sheffield Mountain Hares: A Year in Review (2058 Edition)
The Hares finished 83- 78 - 1, finishing 7th in the European Division. Their highest position, and most wins in their short history.
Of the 68 teams in the European, Africa and Asia, here’s how the the Sheffield Mountain Hares’ teams stats compare:
We can see that in general, the offense was somewhat below average, while the pitching was well above average, with most stats between 10th and 20th in the conference. Of the 4 main starters that the team finished the season with, 3 had an ERA+ of 113 or above (161 in Herzog’s case) and only one was below average with an ERA+ of 97, Giobbe Marinello. Above average doesn’t count for much in this league though, and you want to be in the top 10 of the conference to be making a realistic push for the playoffs.
As such, fans will be optimistically hoping the rotation gets plugged with a real star over the off-season. While the offense looks the most concerning on the surface, particularly with the likely departure of superstar Willie Perez through free agency, the team does have some of the league’s top prospects coming through the system which will bolster their lineup over the coming years. Top prospect Eskinder Ali is expected to get promoted next year, for which there is widespread excitement. Rob Graham was superb once he came up last season, and if that continues the Hares will be hoping to improve on this season’s subpar offensive performance.
Sheffield Mountain Hares Player Awards
Team Pitcher of the Year - Alois Herzog
This was no contest really, the 25 year-old Austrian Alois Herzog was super strong, particularly in the second half of the year. Over the season he was the only pitcher on the team to end up with an ERA below 4, and his ERA+ was a superb 161, showing just how good he was compared to the league as a whole. The whole Hares starting rotation got a WAR of 2.8 or above for the season, showing general steadiness, but Herzog managed to rack up 4.8. His ERA of 3.21, and WHIP of 1.21 both led the team. Fans will be hoping he continues the form he showed in his 3rd season next year.
Team Most Valuable Player - Willie Perez
Though Kolya Saetgaliev was a strong contender for this award as well, Willie ends up winning out due to the amount of entertaining moments he gave to Sheffield’s fans, while absolutely crushing a whole heap of the team’s single-season offensive records. To name a few, he now holds the team’s single-season batting average (.308), home runs (50, previously 28!), and OPS (.996) records. Though Saetgaliev is ranked second in all those now, having also beaten the previous records, he is some way behind Perez.
Perez’ WAR was the highest in the lineup, with 3.6 (Saetgaliev had 3), but that was quite impressive when you consider how much of a liability he is on defense nowadays, which is where Saetgaliev is the much more rounded player. It’s also worth mentioning that Rob Graham, in only 76 games, had a WAR of 2.4, and had he started the season and played in that vein from game 1, this award would undoubtedly be his. I’m excited to see what he can put together next season in his full-season debut. One has to imagine many of Perez’ records (particularly that home runs one) will stand for quite a while, the excitement, pizzaz, and personality he has brought to Kingfisher Park this season won’t be forgotten in a hurry, even if we’re unlikely to see him don the Hares teal jerseys again.
Team Golden Glove
Centre-fielder Jason Portman’s offensive numbers (lowly .209 average for example) are unlikely to impress anyone, but he was the team’s best defender this year, racking up a Zone Rating of 12.1, with his fair share of home run steals and athletic theatrics at centre-field. Second baseman Rob Graham, shortstop Mario Maldonado and catcher Adam Koehler deserve a mention too, all of which were among the conference’s better defenders at their position. The former two would have been contending for this award for sure, had they played more games, but having played at least 50 less than Portman, it’s hard to pass him over for this award. I’m not sure fans will be sad to see Portman replaced by someone more offensively proficient next season, but he very much deserves this nod, and they’ll be hoping he sticks around as a defensive specialist at the very least.