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FuzzyRussianHat · 01-10-2026, 07:52 AM

Raghid “No Neck” Yazdani – Closer – Gujranwala Grasshoppers – 68.5% Ninth Ballot

Raghid Yazdani was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed closer from Karachi, Pakistan. Yazdani had otherworldly stuff despite peaking in the 94-96 mph range along with good movement and average control. His one-two was fastball/slider and they looked exactly identical out of his hands until it was too late for most hitters. Even by reliever standards, his stamina was subpar, but he mostly stayed healthy in his 13-year career.

Yazdani was an excellent defensive pitcher and average at holding runners. His baseball IQ was top notch and his work ethic was tireless, allowing him to excel as a closer. Yazdani was picked 43^rd in the second round of the 2012 ABF Draft by Gujranwala. He was a full-timer right away with promising results, moving into the closer role by his third season with the Grasshoppers.

From 2016-18, Yazdani won three consecutive Reliever of the Year awards, twice posting a sub-one ERA. His 2017 campaign was an all-timer with an 0.64 WAR over 84.2 innings, 188 Ks, and 7.5 WAR. That is the WAR record for an ABF ROTY winner and one of only 16 seasons in world history of 7.5 WAR or better by a ROTY winner. 2018 has his career high 48 saves, his only time leading in saves. From 6/25/17 to 4/4/19, Yazdani had an incredible 68-save streak. He also tossed 15.2 consecutive no-hit innings from 7/15/16 to 8/4/16.

They weren’t easy to come by despite his dominance, as the Grasshoppers were generally in the 70s win range. 2018 saw an 88-74 record, their first winning season since 2006. However, Gujranwala fell back to 75-89 the next year. Yazdani opted for free agency after that heading towards age 30. With the Grasshoppers, he had 209 saves and 288 shutdowns, a 1.57 ERA, 560.2 innings, 1108 strikeouts, 154 walks, 195 ERA+, 36 FIP-, and 29.1 WAR.

Yazdani left Pakistan for Afghanistan on a four-year, $20,280,000 deal with Kabul. He still regularly returned home for the World Baseball Championship, where he occasionally was a starter. One of those starts in 2019 was a 20 strikeout, three walk no-hitter against Hungary. He was third in 2019’s Best Pitcher voting and second in 2020, posting 29 scoreless innings between the efforts with 54 strikeouts. Pakistan notably finished second in 2021 and had a division title in 2020.

Overall from 2014-23 in the WBC, Yazdani had a 1.21 ERA over 104.1 innings, 12-2 record, 1 save, 205 strikeouts, 294 ERA+, 25 FIP-, and 5.8 WAR. Among all pitchers with 100+ WBC innings, Yazdani ranks 3^rd in ERA, 6^th in opponent’s OPS (.412), 23^rd in K/9 (17.68), 11^th in H/9 (3.54), and his .121/.197/.215 triple slash ranks 13^th/14^th/4^th.

Yazdani was second in Reliever of the Year voting in both 2020 and 2022 for Kabul and again had a sub-one ERA in 2020. The Black Knights were a struggling expansion team from 2009 and showed some life with 84 wins in 2019-20, but they dropped back to the bottom in the 2020s. Saves again were hard to come by for Yazdani, who remained dominant. In June 2022, he notably struck out 17 consecutive batters.

In three years for Kabul, Yazdani had 81 saves and 106 shutdowns, 1.14 ERA, 229.2 innings, 490 strikeouts, 375 ERA+, 20 FIP-, and 15.8 WAR. After the 2022 season, the Black Knights traded him to Faisalabad for SP prospect Halawani Ahmad. The Fire gave Yazdani a three-year, $19,500,000 extension prior to his debut there. He was finally on a contender, as Faisalabad had won the ABF title in 2021 and been the East League runner-up in 2022.

Yazdani won his fourth Reliever of the Year in 2023 and is one of four in ABF history to win the honor four times. That year saw a 0.66 ERA over 81.1 innings and immediate dominance. Yazdani had 63 straight scoreless appearances from 4/26/23 through 4/2/24. Faisalabad won the division for the fifth straight year at 94-68, but lost the ELCS to Bishkek. Yazdani made only one playoff appearance with 0.2 scoreless innings, as he suffered elbow tendinitis that kept him out.

In early 2024, Yazdani suffered a forearm strain keeping him out almost season with only 14 total innings. He did toss three scoreless innings in his lone playoff appearance as Faisalabad against lost the ELCS to Bishkek. The injury absolutely cratered his velocity and he wasn’t a flamethrower to begin win. Yazdani couldn’t get above the upper 80s in 2025 and was limited to only 8.2 innings all year. He retired that winter at age 35, finishing the Faisalabad tenure with 37 saves, 1.12 ERA, 104 innings, 166 strikeouts, 313 ERA+, 38 FIP-, and 5.2 WAR.

Yazdani ended with 327 saves and 440 shutdowns, a 69-44 record, 1.41 ERA, 894.1 innings, 1764 strikeouts, 239 walks, 235 ERA+, 32 FIP-, and 50.1 WAR. He ranks 4^th in saves and 51^st in WAR among all ABF pitchers. He doesn’t meet the 1000 innings to qualify on the rate stat leaderboards, but his ERA, opponents OPS (.440), WHIP (0.76), K/9 (17.75), and H/9 (4.41) would each be league records by a healthy margin if he was included.

He ranks very highly amongst the world leaderboards for relievers, ranking 11^th in ERA, 42^nd in strikeouts, 44^th in WAR, 7^th in ERA+, 13^th in FIP-, and 8^th in opponents OPS. By any metric, Yazdani was one of the most dominant and efficient relief pitchers in the history of the game. But he didn’t have many saves, which is what many Hall of Fame voters hyper-fixated on when evaluating closers. The Asian Baseball Federation had also been less closer-friendly than other leagues in prior ballots with only two prior inductees.

Yazdani also had the misfortune of playing almost exclusively on bad teams, thus many of his accolades were under-covered by media and fans. He debuted on the 2031 ballot at 53.1% and never dropped below 50%, but he only broke 60% once in his first eight ballots. A quieter 2039 ballot finally allowed Yazdani to get a bump up to 68.5%, just crossing the 66% threshold in his penultimate chance.

Saleh Naimatullah – Pitcher/First Base – Peshawar Predators – 66.8% First Ballot

Saleh Naimatullah was a 6’1’’, 195 pound left-handed pitcher and first baseman from Lahore, Pakistan. On the mound, he had absurdly good stuff at his peak with some scouts rating it an 11/10. Naimatullah also had excellent movement on his pitches, but the downside was mediocre control. His arsenal was a 96-98 mph fastball along with a curveball and changeup. In his prime, few knew how to change speeds better.

Along with the control issues though, Naimatullah’s stamina was below average for a starting pitcher. When you add the wear-and-tear of being a two-way guy, Naimatullah had to deal with multiple major injuries that limited his pitching career. He was strong at holding runners, but otherwise had below average defensive metrics pitching. Naimatullah was a first baseman when playing the field and was a lackluster defender there as well.

At the plate, Naimatullah had impressive power despite not being a huge guy with 37 home runs and 27 doubles per his 162 game average. The downside was unremarkable contract ratings and a terrible 34.1% strikeout rate. When he hit the ball though, he hit the crap out of it. He graded excellently overall facing right-handed pitching (.896 OPS, 156 wRC+) but had weak marks facing lefties (.674 OPS, 95 wRC+). Naimatullah was better than most at drawing walks and his baserunning ability was average, although his speed was putrid.

Scouts weren’t quite sure what to make of Naimatullah as a teenager, as he clearly had raw potential in either role. He was considered selfish by some for insisting on being a two-way player. Peshawar picked him out of high school in the third round of the 2017 ABF Draft; 64^th overall. He spent three full years in their academy before debuting in a limited role in 2021 with 91 at-bats, five starts, and seven relief appearances. Naimatullah was made a full-time two-way starter in 2022 and won a Silver Slugger as a pitcher, hitting 35 home runs.

In 2023, Naimatullah on the mound led the East League in WAR (7.4) and FIP- (58) while also posting 32 homers, 154 wRC+, and 3.4 WAR at the plate. He won another Slugger, but surprisingly wasn’t a finalist for the top awards. Naimatullah was underappreciated at times playing for a struggling Peshawar club which had a playoff drought back to 1993. They would finally string together winning seasons from 2025 through 2031, but didn’t break the drought until 2027.

Hamstring strains limited Naimatullah in both 2024-25, but the latter he led in pitching WAR (7.7) and FIP- (51) for the second time. From this point, Naimatullah didn’t start quite as often in the field and focused more on his pitching. In 2026, he only started 42 games at the plate and played 95, but he had his career-best 7.8 WAR and a 1.67 ERA on the mound. This ranked as the 38^th-best qualifying ERA in ABF history, earning a third place in Pitcher of the Year voting. Peshawar gave Naimatullah a six-year, $110,400,000 extension in April 2027.

Naimatullah took second in 2027’s Pitcher of the Year and MVP voting with his best combined WAR season of 12.3. He led all pitchers with 329 strikeouts and a 0.81WHIP while posting 6.9 WAR and a 2.06 ERA in 200.2 innings. In 105 games at the plate, he smacked 35 homers with a 1.042 OPS, 210 wRC+, and 5.4 WAR. Peshawar’s playoff drought ended as a 98-64 wild card and they made the ELCS, but lost a seven-game classic to Hyderabad. Naimatullah had mixed results in his playoff debut with a 3.52 ERA in two starts and .717 OPS.

It was his playoff debut, but he had seen some World Baseball Championship play for Pakistan. Naimatullah participated in nine WBCs from 2023-35 mostly as a pitcher with a 2.49 ERA over 79.2 innings, 137 strikeouts, 145 ERA+, and 3.2 WAR. He only had 27 plate appearances with six hits and three homers. Naimatullah sadly missed out on the 2029 World Championship win for Pakistan due to injuries.

2028 was the big one for Naimatullah, a torn flexor tendon in his elbow in May that knocked him out ten months. Peshawar again made the ELCS without him and again was thwarted by the Horned Frogs. With worries about future arm injuries, Naimatullah was done as the ace for the rest of the Predators career, limited to a smattering of relief appearances from 2029-32. He was still quite effective in that role, but Peshawar’s coaches opted to try him full-time at first base.

In 2029, Naimatullah had 48 home runs, 122 RBI, 105 runs, .958 OPS, 185 wRC+, and 5.9 WAR as a full-time 1B. Peshawar went 99-63 and again encountered Hyderabad in the ELCS, this time upsetting the 110-win Horned Frogs by a 4-3 margin. That denied Hyderabad’s four-peat bid and was the first Predators pennant since 1992. They would fall 4-1 in the ABF Championship to Baku, who was just starting their historic dynasty run. Naimatullah had a .838 OPS, 153 wRC+, 0.6 WAR, and 6 homers in the playoff run and was MVP of the ELCS.

Naimatullah was a capable starter the next three years, but his high strikeout rate limited him to the 2-3 WAR range. Peshawar made the ELSC once more in 2030 and were defeated by Lahore with Naimatullah struggling to -0.2 WAR in the playoffs. The Predators dropped to 85-77 in 2031 and it looked like a rebuild could be in order. With one year left on Naimatullah’s deal, he was traded in the offseason to Ankara for three prospects and a draft pick.

With Peshawar on the mound, Naimatullah had an 84-45 record, 36 saves, 2.57 ERA, 1290 innings, 1864 strikeouts, 317 walks, 138 ERA+, 63 FIP-, and 42.5 WAR. At the plate, he had 1349 games and 1022 starts with 939 hits, 612 runs, 239 doubles, 295 homers, 707 RBI, .244/.320/.542 slash, 152 wRC+, and 31.1 WAR. The Predators would later retire his #24 uniform for his efforts.

The Alouettes had finished 101-61 the prior year and hoped Naimatullah could put them over the top. Much to his chagrin, Ankara didn’t want him pitching at all or playing the field. The 34-year old Naimatullah started 127 games as a designated hitter with 46 home runs, 90 RBI, .900 OPS, 138 wRC+, and 3.1 WAR. He missed the final weeks of the season to a sprained ankle. Ankara missed the playoffs at 86-76 and left for free agency at age 35.

It was important to him to return to the mound full-time, both because he loved pitching and because he was convinced he could still do it at an elite level if given the chance. He got that chance in Major League Baseball, but had the culture shock of moving to Alaska on a two-year, $15,600,000 deal with Anchorage. His bet on himself paid in the short-term, stunning MLB by winning Pitcher of the Year in his debut season.

Naimatullah won the American Association’s ERA title at 2.09 and led with 25 quality starts, striking out 219 in 250.1 innings with a 21-5 record and 7.7 WAR. This ranks as a top 100 qualifying ERA in MLB’s century-plus history. He also had 303 plate appearances with 28 homers, .846 OPS, 119 wRC+, and 1.7 WAR offensively. Anchorage finished 90-72, missing a wild card by three wins.

However, the concern for his longevity that the Peshawar coaches had if Naimatullah returned to pitching full-time also proved correct. He missed much of spring 2035 to elbow inflammation, then suffered a torn labrum in late July that knocked him out 12 months. The Avalanche were still optimistic that Naimatullah could come back and contribute, giving him a two-year, $56,800,000 extension in the winter.

Naimatullah made it back in late 2036 for eight starts with a 3.71 ERA and 1.5 WAR, although he was abysmal at the plate going 3-41 with -0.6 WAR. Anchorage won their first-ever division title at 93-69, but were ousted in the second round. Naimatullah was 5-10 in the playoffs and had a 3.45 ERA in 15.2 innings. That would prove the last hurrah in Alaska as he developed bone chips in his elbow in 2037 that kept him out basically the entire season.

With Anchorage, Naimatullah had a 36-9 record, 2.49 ERA, 422.2 innings, 352 strikeouts, 158 walks, 171 ERA+, 71 FIP-, and 12.6 WAR. At the plate in 145 games and 97 starts, he had 77 hits, 67 urns, 36 homers, 76 RBI, .197/.284/.508 slash, 107 wRC, and 1.6 WAR. He attempted an MLB comeback in 2038 with Milwaukee, making one relief appearance and 42 plate appearances. Naimatullah retired that winter at age 40.

For his combined pro career, Naimatullah had a 121-54 record and 36 saves, 2.55 ERA, 1714 innings, 2217 strikeouts, 475 walks, 159/236 quality starts, 20 complete games, 8 shutouts, 145 ERA+, 65 FIP-, and 55.2 WAR. Naimatullah’s ERA+ just misses the top 50 among the world’s Hall of Famers and retired locks, showing how impressive he was when healthy. At the plate, Naimatullah had 1665 games, 1247 starts, 1135 hits, 759 runs, 275 doubles, 380 homers, 880 RBI, 485 walks, 1810 strikeouts, .239/.315/.544 slash, 146 wRC+, and 35.8 WAR. His combined 91.0 WAR is 29^th all-time among two-way players.

His candidacy for the Asian Baseball Federation’s HOF was trickier since the voters would put little or no stock in his MLB stats. His pitching stats with Peshawar were the full numbers and although he is 83^rd in pitching WAR, he misses the top 100 for other stats. Naimatullah did have 341 homers, 1050 hits, 686 runs, 263 doubles, .866 OPS, 150 wRC+, and 34.2 WAR at the plate and he ranks 77^th in homers. His .548 slugging is 60^th among batters with 3000+ plate appearances and his .866 OPS is 84^th. That was powered purely by his power considering his subpar batting average.

If you’re looking just at counting stats, Naimatullah obviously didn’t come close to the benchmarks expected by a pure batter or pure pitcher. But on top of being top 100 for OPS, his ERA was 46^th among pitchers with 1000+ innings. Naimatullah’s .569 opponent’s OPS was 25^th and his .202/.257/.313 triple slash was 27^th/51^st/18^th. He was also 25^th in H/9 (6.52), 10^th in K/9 (13.00), and 52^nd in WHIP (0.97).

Voters really weren’t sure how to evaluate Naimatullah, but in any case he was one of the more unique talents in ABF’s history. He did notably help Peshawar end their playoff drought and win a pennant, accomplishments that won over some of the fence-sitters. Naimatullah received 66.8% to barely cross the 66% threshold for a first ballot nod to cap off a three-man 2039 class.

01-10-2026, 07:52 AM	#2662
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 3,230	2039 ABF Hall of Fame (Part 2) Raghid “No Neck” Yazdani – Closer – Gujranwala Grasshoppers – 68.5% Ninth Ballot Raghid Yazdani was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed closer from Karachi, Pakistan. Yazdani had otherworldly stuff despite peaking in the 94-96 mph range along with good movement and average control. His one-two was fastball/slider and they looked exactly identical out of his hands until it was too late for most hitters. Even by reliever standards, his stamina was subpar, but he mostly stayed healthy in his 13-year career. Yazdani was an excellent defensive pitcher and average at holding runners. His baseball IQ was top notch and his work ethic was tireless, allowing him to excel as a closer. Yazdani was picked 43^rd in the second round of the 2012 ABF Draft by Gujranwala. He was a full-timer right away with promising results, moving into the closer role by his third season with the Grasshoppers. From 2016-18, Yazdani won three consecutive Reliever of the Year awards, twice posting a sub-one ERA. His 2017 campaign was an all-timer with an 0.64 WAR over 84.2 innings, 188 Ks, and 7.5 WAR. That is the WAR record for an ABF ROTY winner and one of only 16 seasons in world history of 7.5 WAR or better by a ROTY winner. 2018 has his career high 48 saves, his only time leading in saves. From 6/25/17 to 4/4/19, Yazdani had an incredible 68-save streak. He also tossed 15.2 consecutive no-hit innings from 7/15/16 to 8/4/16. They weren’t easy to come by despite his dominance, as the Grasshoppers were generally in the 70s win range. 2018 saw an 88-74 record, their first winning season since 2006. However, Gujranwala fell back to 75-89 the next year. Yazdani opted for free agency after that heading towards age 30. With the Grasshoppers, he had 209 saves and 288 shutdowns, a 1.57 ERA, 560.2 innings, 1108 strikeouts, 154 walks, 195 ERA+, 36 FIP-, and 29.1 WAR. Yazdani left Pakistan for Afghanistan on a four-year, $20,280,000 deal with Kabul. He still regularly returned home for the World Baseball Championship, where he occasionally was a starter. One of those starts in 2019 was a 20 strikeout, three walk no-hitter against Hungary. He was third in 2019’s Best Pitcher voting and second in 2020, posting 29 scoreless innings between the efforts with 54 strikeouts. Pakistan notably finished second in 2021 and had a division title in 2020. Overall from 2014-23 in the WBC, Yazdani had a 1.21 ERA over 104.1 innings, 12-2 record, 1 save, 205 strikeouts, 294 ERA+, 25 FIP-, and 5.8 WAR. Among all pitchers with 100+ WBC innings, Yazdani ranks 3^rd in ERA, 6^th in opponent’s OPS (.412), 23^rd in K/9 (17.68), 11^th in H/9 (3.54), and his .121/.197/.215 triple slash ranks 13^th/14^th/4^th. Yazdani was second in Reliever of the Year voting in both 2020 and 2022 for Kabul and again had a sub-one ERA in 2020. The Black Knights were a struggling expansion team from 2009 and showed some life with 84 wins in 2019-20, but they dropped back to the bottom in the 2020s. Saves again were hard to come by for Yazdani, who remained dominant. In June 2022, he notably struck out 17 consecutive batters. In three years for Kabul, Yazdani had 81 saves and 106 shutdowns, 1.14 ERA, 229.2 innings, 490 strikeouts, 375 ERA+, 20 FIP-, and 15.8 WAR. After the 2022 season, the Black Knights traded him to Faisalabad for SP prospect Halawani Ahmad. The Fire gave Yazdani a three-year, $19,500,000 extension prior to his debut there. He was finally on a contender, as Faisalabad had won the ABF title in 2021 and been the East League runner-up in 2022. Yazdani won his fourth Reliever of the Year in 2023 and is one of four in ABF history to win the honor four times. That year saw a 0.66 ERA over 81.1 innings and immediate dominance. Yazdani had 63 straight scoreless appearances from 4/26/23 through 4/2/24. Faisalabad won the division for the fifth straight year at 94-68, but lost the ELCS to Bishkek. Yazdani made only one playoff appearance with 0.2 scoreless innings, as he suffered elbow tendinitis that kept him out. In early 2024, Yazdani suffered a forearm strain keeping him out almost season with only 14 total innings. He did toss three scoreless innings in his lone playoff appearance as Faisalabad against lost the ELCS to Bishkek. The injury absolutely cratered his velocity and he wasn’t a flamethrower to begin win. Yazdani couldn’t get above the upper 80s in 2025 and was limited to only 8.2 innings all year. He retired that winter at age 35, finishing the Faisalabad tenure with 37 saves, 1.12 ERA, 104 innings, 166 strikeouts, 313 ERA+, 38 FIP-, and 5.2 WAR. Yazdani ended with 327 saves and 440 shutdowns, a 69-44 record, 1.41 ERA, 894.1 innings, 1764 strikeouts, 239 walks, 235 ERA+, 32 FIP-, and 50.1 WAR. He ranks 4^th in saves and 51^st in WAR among all ABF pitchers. He doesn’t meet the 1000 innings to qualify on the rate stat leaderboards, but his ERA, opponents OPS (.440), WHIP (0.76), K/9 (17.75), and H/9 (4.41) would each be league records by a healthy margin if he was included. He ranks very highly amongst the world leaderboards for relievers, ranking 11^th in ERA, 42^nd in strikeouts, 44^th in WAR, 7^th in ERA+, 13^th in FIP-, and 8^th in opponents OPS. By any metric, Yazdani was one of the most dominant and efficient relief pitchers in the history of the game. But he didn’t have many saves, which is what many Hall of Fame voters hyper-fixated on when evaluating closers. The Asian Baseball Federation had also been less closer-friendly than other leagues in prior ballots with only two prior inductees. Yazdani also had the misfortune of playing almost exclusively on bad teams, thus many of his accolades were under-covered by media and fans. He debuted on the 2031 ballot at 53.1% and never dropped below 50%, but he only broke 60% once in his first eight ballots. A quieter 2039 ballot finally allowed Yazdani to get a bump up to 68.5%, just crossing the 66% threshold in his penultimate chance. Saleh Naimatullah – Pitcher/First Base – Peshawar Predators – 66.8% First Ballot Saleh Naimatullah was a 6’1’’, 195 pound left-handed pitcher and first baseman from Lahore, Pakistan. On the mound, he had absurdly good stuff at his peak with some scouts rating it an 11/10. Naimatullah also had excellent movement on his pitches, but the downside was mediocre control. His arsenal was a 96-98 mph fastball along with a curveball and changeup. In his prime, few knew how to change speeds better. Along with the control issues though, Naimatullah’s stamina was below average for a starting pitcher. When you add the wear-and-tear of being a two-way guy, Naimatullah had to deal with multiple major injuries that limited his pitching career. He was strong at holding runners, but otherwise had below average defensive metrics pitching. Naimatullah was a first baseman when playing the field and was a lackluster defender there as well. At the plate, Naimatullah had impressive power despite not being a huge guy with 37 home runs and 27 doubles per his 162 game average. The downside was unremarkable contract ratings and a terrible 34.1% strikeout rate. When he hit the ball though, he hit the crap out of it. He graded excellently overall facing right-handed pitching (.896 OPS, 156 wRC+) but had weak marks facing lefties (.674 OPS, 95 wRC+). Naimatullah was better than most at drawing walks and his baserunning ability was average, although his speed was putrid. Scouts weren’t quite sure what to make of Naimatullah as a teenager, as he clearly had raw potential in either role. He was considered selfish by some for insisting on being a two-way player. Peshawar picked him out of high school in the third round of the 2017 ABF Draft; 64^th overall. He spent three full years in their academy before debuting in a limited role in 2021 with 91 at-bats, five starts, and seven relief appearances. Naimatullah was made a full-time two-way starter in 2022 and won a Silver Slugger as a pitcher, hitting 35 home runs. In 2023, Naimatullah on the mound led the East League in WAR (7.4) and FIP- (58) while also posting 32 homers, 154 wRC+, and 3.4 WAR at the plate. He won another Slugger, but surprisingly wasn’t a finalist for the top awards. Naimatullah was underappreciated at times playing for a struggling Peshawar club which had a playoff drought back to 1993. They would finally string together winning seasons from 2025 through 2031, but didn’t break the drought until 2027. Hamstring strains limited Naimatullah in both 2024-25, but the latter he led in pitching WAR (7.7) and FIP- (51) for the second time. From this point, Naimatullah didn’t start quite as often in the field and focused more on his pitching. In 2026, he only started 42 games at the plate and played 95, but he had his career-best 7.8 WAR and a 1.67 ERA on the mound. This ranked as the 38^th-best qualifying ERA in ABF history, earning a third place in Pitcher of the Year voting. Peshawar gave Naimatullah a six-year, $110,400,000 extension in April 2027. Naimatullah took second in 2027’s Pitcher of the Year and MVP voting with his best combined WAR season of 12.3. He led all pitchers with 329 strikeouts and a 0.81WHIP while posting 6.9 WAR and a 2.06 ERA in 200.2 innings. In 105 games at the plate, he smacked 35 homers with a 1.042 OPS, 210 wRC+, and 5.4 WAR. Peshawar’s playoff drought ended as a 98-64 wild card and they made the ELCS, but lost a seven-game classic to Hyderabad. Naimatullah had mixed results in his playoff debut with a 3.52 ERA in two starts and .717 OPS. It was his playoff debut, but he had seen some World Baseball Championship play for Pakistan. Naimatullah participated in nine WBCs from 2023-35 mostly as a pitcher with a 2.49 ERA over 79.2 innings, 137 strikeouts, 145 ERA+, and 3.2 WAR. He only had 27 plate appearances with six hits and three homers. Naimatullah sadly missed out on the 2029 World Championship win for Pakistan due to injuries. 2028 was the big one for Naimatullah, a torn flexor tendon in his elbow in May that knocked him out ten months. Peshawar again made the ELCS without him and again was thwarted by the Horned Frogs. With worries about future arm injuries, Naimatullah was done as the ace for the rest of the Predators career, limited to a smattering of relief appearances from 2029-32. He was still quite effective in that role, but Peshawar’s coaches opted to try him full-time at first base. In 2029, Naimatullah had 48 home runs, 122 RBI, 105 runs, .958 OPS, 185 wRC+, and 5.9 WAR as a full-time 1B. Peshawar went 99-63 and again encountered Hyderabad in the ELCS, this time upsetting the 110-win Horned Frogs by a 4-3 margin. That denied Hyderabad’s four-peat bid and was the first Predators pennant since 1992. They would fall 4-1 in the ABF Championship to Baku, who was just starting their historic dynasty run. Naimatullah had a .838 OPS, 153 wRC+, 0.6 WAR, and 6 homers in the playoff run and was MVP of the ELCS. Naimatullah was a capable starter the next three years, but his high strikeout rate limited him to the 2-3 WAR range. Peshawar made the ELSC once more in 2030 and were defeated by Lahore with Naimatullah struggling to -0.2 WAR in the playoffs. The Predators dropped to 85-77 in 2031 and it looked like a rebuild could be in order. With one year left on Naimatullah’s deal, he was traded in the offseason to Ankara for three prospects and a draft pick. With Peshawar on the mound, Naimatullah had an 84-45 record, 36 saves, 2.57 ERA, 1290 innings, 1864 strikeouts, 317 walks, 138 ERA+, 63 FIP-, and 42.5 WAR. At the plate, he had 1349 games and 1022 starts with 939 hits, 612 runs, 239 doubles, 295 homers, 707 RBI, .244/.320/.542 slash, 152 wRC+, and 31.1 WAR. The Predators would later retire his #24 uniform for his efforts. The Alouettes had finished 101-61 the prior year and hoped Naimatullah could put them over the top. Much to his chagrin, Ankara didn’t want him pitching at all or playing the field. The 34-year old Naimatullah started 127 games as a designated hitter with 46 home runs, 90 RBI, .900 OPS, 138 wRC+, and 3.1 WAR. He missed the final weeks of the season to a sprained ankle. Ankara missed the playoffs at 86-76 and left for free agency at age 35. It was important to him to return to the mound full-time, both because he loved pitching and because he was convinced he could still do it at an elite level if given the chance. He got that chance in Major League Baseball, but had the culture shock of moving to Alaska on a two-year, $15,600,000 deal with Anchorage. His bet on himself paid in the short-term, stunning MLB by winning Pitcher of the Year in his debut season. Naimatullah won the American Association’s ERA title at 2.09 and led with 25 quality starts, striking out 219 in 250.1 innings with a 21-5 record and 7.7 WAR. This ranks as a top 100 qualifying ERA in MLB’s century-plus history. He also had 303 plate appearances with 28 homers, .846 OPS, 119 wRC+, and 1.7 WAR offensively. Anchorage finished 90-72, missing a wild card by three wins. However, the concern for his longevity that the Peshawar coaches had if Naimatullah returned to pitching full-time also proved correct. He missed much of spring 2035 to elbow inflammation, then suffered a torn labrum in late July that knocked him out 12 months. The Avalanche were still optimistic that Naimatullah could come back and contribute, giving him a two-year, $56,800,000 extension in the winter. Naimatullah made it back in late 2036 for eight starts with a 3.71 ERA and 1.5 WAR, although he was abysmal at the plate going 3-41 with -0.6 WAR. Anchorage won their first-ever division title at 93-69, but were ousted in the second round. Naimatullah was 5-10 in the playoffs and had a 3.45 ERA in 15.2 innings. That would prove the last hurrah in Alaska as he developed bone chips in his elbow in 2037 that kept him out basically the entire season. With Anchorage, Naimatullah had a 36-9 record, 2.49 ERA, 422.2 innings, 352 strikeouts, 158 walks, 171 ERA+, 71 FIP-, and 12.6 WAR. At the plate in 145 games and 97 starts, he had 77 hits, 67 urns, 36 homers, 76 RBI, .197/.284/.508 slash, 107 wRC, and 1.6 WAR. He attempted an MLB comeback in 2038 with Milwaukee, making one relief appearance and 42 plate appearances. Naimatullah retired that winter at age 40. For his combined pro career, Naimatullah had a 121-54 record and 36 saves, 2.55 ERA, 1714 innings, 2217 strikeouts, 475 walks, 159/236 quality starts, 20 complete games, 8 shutouts, 145 ERA+, 65 FIP-, and 55.2 WAR. Naimatullah’s ERA+ just misses the top 50 among the world’s Hall of Famers and retired locks, showing how impressive he was when healthy. At the plate, Naimatullah had 1665 games, 1247 starts, 1135 hits, 759 runs, 275 doubles, 380 homers, 880 RBI, 485 walks, 1810 strikeouts, .239/.315/.544 slash, 146 wRC+, and 35.8 WAR. His combined 91.0 WAR is 29^th all-time among two-way players. His candidacy for the Asian Baseball Federation’s HOF was trickier since the voters would put little or no stock in his MLB stats. His pitching stats with Peshawar were the full numbers and although he is 83^rd in pitching WAR, he misses the top 100 for other stats. Naimatullah did have 341 homers, 1050 hits, 686 runs, 263 doubles, .866 OPS, 150 wRC+, and 34.2 WAR at the plate and he ranks 77^th in homers. His .548 slugging is 60^th among batters with 3000+ plate appearances and his .866 OPS is 84^th. That was powered purely by his power considering his subpar batting average. If you’re looking just at counting stats, Naimatullah obviously didn’t come close to the benchmarks expected by a pure batter or pure pitcher. But on top of being top 100 for OPS, his ERA was 46^th among pitchers with 1000+ innings. Naimatullah’s .569 opponent’s OPS was 25^th and his .202/.257/.313 triple slash was 27^th/51^st/18^th. He was also 25^th in H/9 (6.52), 10^th in K/9 (13.00), and 52^nd in WHIP (0.97). Voters really weren’t sure how to evaluate Naimatullah, but in any case he was one of the more unique talents in ABF’s history. He did notably help Peshawar end their playoff drought and win a pennant, accomplishments that won over some of the fence-sitters. Naimatullah received 66.8% to barely cross the 66% threshold for a first ballot nod to cap off a three-man 2039 class. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports The Level Playing Field: Alternate MLB History From 1884-Onward Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)