[dinosauryoshi]

Sheffield Mountain Hares Team Preview (2059 Season)


Lineup

Catcher - Adam Koehler - The 25 year old is one of the division’s best defensive catchers and can more than hold his own on offense with an OPS+ of 128 last season. He has some pop with 18 home runs last season, but he’s more of a god-eye guy.

First Base - Abdul-Karim bin Jameel - his superb 2057 season, where he was an all-star, had everyone excited. Last year was largely disappointing however as he finished the season with an OPS only slightly above average, and a low WAR of 1.1. The 35 year old Afghan has a good eye, and can hit for great contact when he’s on form, but are his best days behind him? 2048 all-star Santiago Padilla (OFF-SEASON ADDITION) fits the recent pattern of veterans signed on one-year contracts by Carson Reynolds. The first-baseman is 37s old, and nowhere near the stock of Willie Perez from last season, but he does still have plenty of pop in him, as shown by his 41 home runs last season. His fielding is marginally better than Perez’ was, but that’s not saying much, and so many predict him to be a DH in times of need.

Second Base - Rob Graham - The 22 year old Australian is one of the league’s top prospects and was superb in the second half of the season for the Hares after he was promoted, racking up 2.4 WAR in just over 75 games, where he also hit for 15 home runs. People are expecting his power to make a leap in his sophomore season, which would make him a formidable player, when combined with his good defensive skills.

Third Base - Werner Schilegger (OFF-SEASON ADDITION) - The Hares acquired Schilegger in a trade for prospects Lang-fan Wan and Sean Charles. The 30-year old Austrian is 6’4 and uses his range for very good contact, and is a plus defender. He’s unlikely to set the league alight, but will be a solid addition to the lineup. He’s coming off a down year last year where he had a poor OPS+ of 90.

Shortstop - Ilyas Muraguri (OFF-SEASON ADDITION) - No one’s expecting Muraguri to be the long-term solution, who was signed as a free-agent in the offseason as a backup. He’s a plus defender at shortstop, but unlikely to be much of a threat on offense, where he posted a very low OPS+ of 38 last year for the Blue Sox.

Left-field - Leftfield is arguably the Hares’ most packed position, with Sergio Rutz, Kolya Saetgaliev and top prospect Eskinder Ali all having it listed as their main position. Chances are Rutz will end up at right-field, as the most capable of the three at that position. Rutz had a blistering start to last season but tailed off after a mid-season injury. He’ll be hoping to show the great defensive capabilities he has as well as his pop and great eye at the plate all-season long this time. Saetgaliev was the runner up for the team’s MVP last year, and is just one of those players who is solid at everything, while having no particular thing you’d call him superb at. The Belarussian is a fan favourite for his work-ethic and clear, but quiet, love for the fans. We’ve said plenty about Ali, who is one of the league’s top prospects. A rare two-way player, he’s a stronger batter than he is a pitcher, but very proficient at both, and if he can bump up his eye and contact skills, he’ll surely end up being one of the league’s best hitters. The question is when will Carson Reynolds promote him and give him a chance in the WBL? Those close to the team suggest not quite yet, but likely this season.

Right-field - As above, we’ll likely see Rutz lining up here, but if not the Hares also have the very capable Jesus Morales at the position. Morales, like Saetgaliev is solid at everything, but is more of an athlete on the bases, the Colombian racked up an OPS+ of 128 last season, with 10 home-runs.

Centre-field - Fans are generally disappointed that more effort hasn’t been made to get a replacement for Jason Portman at the position, who despite being a very good defender, has let the side down with some very below average hitting. He’s likely to return as the starter in 2059, but there are general calls for Reynolds to give Jeff McBurrows another shot. McBurrows has been generally disappointing since his blistering start as a rookie in 2055, but his glove is only very slightly worse than Portman’s, and there’s no doubt his offensive ceiling is considerably higher, even if his hyper-aggressiveness at the plate can get him in trouble.

Rotation

Alois Herzog - the Hares starter comfortably beat out the rest of the rotation for the team’s pitcher of the year award last season, and he’ll be the team’s ace this season. The 25 year old throws a mean fastball, and is just a reliable starter, with good control and a selection of usable pitches.

Mototomi Motoyanagi - The next 4 rotation spots could be in any order really, but odds are Motoyanagi will be the number 2 pick. A 3.7 WAR season like last year’s would be just fine. If he could only sort out his command, he’d be a very good pitcher, but as long as it remains his achilles heel he’ll be a boom or bust type of player.

Yushua bin Saqr - The 29 year old Algerian is the holder of most Hares career pitching records (e.g 41 wins, 501 strikeouts) had a great 4.2 WAR season last year, his best since 2055. His stuff is unspectacular, but his control makes him ever-reliable.

Giobbe Marinello - The 35 year old Italian is likely approaching the end of his career, and was the one member of the rotation to have a below average ERA for the Hares last season. He has 6 serviceable pitches, but has been plagued by inconsistency.

Isaac Saville (OFF-SEASON ADDITION) - He had an ERA+ of 94 in his 32 games last season for the Philadelphia Ruffed Grouse, and is untested as a season-long starter. The 31 year old English lefty has got a bunch of great pitches, and generally good control, but just hasn’t got it to work too spectacularly at the WBL level. Maybe this will be the season that changes? Fans will certainly be hoping so considering his 16.8m salary.

Bullpen

The bullpen that had the 30th lowest ERA of the 64 EAA teams last year is largely unchanged. Tekle-Marian Lekimeju leads the pen, the 27 year old has great stuff, but a tendency to go wild. The 23 year old Spanish closer Rey Ochoa will be hoping to build on the decent season heh ad last year.

Pre-season predictions

The Hares went from being predicted 6th before the pre-season, to being predicted 16th (77-85) today, on the day before the start of the season. This was largely due to it being made clear that the team would not be promoting some of their top prospects (primarily Eskinder Ali) for game 1 of the season. Carson Reynolds has said although the team will “play hard, as we always do, I’m not necessarily expecting us to challenge for the playoffs this season. Our planned trajectory has us doing that once we have more of the many great prospects we have in the team established in our WBL squad, I’d say that will be in 2-3 years.”

I’m looking forward to seeing how things go, and whether we make any more trades as the season progresses. I still feel our pitching rotation is in need of some plugging, and don’t see any of the prospects moving the needle on that side.