SPRING TRAINING COMES TO AN END FOR KINGS
Fizzling out after a strong start, the Brooklyn Kings ended the spring schedule with a 10-14 record which left them tied for last place in the FABL with 4 other clubs including Continental Association rival Baltimore. Brooklyn won just 1 of it's final seven games after starting the Grapefruit campaign with a 5-1 record. The Kings now head north to begin the regular season next Tuesday in Montreal, which starts an 8 game road trip.
The final roster moves were made as outfielder Billy Geier and pitcher Bob Brown were sent down to Houston. Brown was the worst of what has turned out to be a very bad group of pitchers. We are going to need to score a lot of runs to get some wins for this group. It's not pretty but here are the spring stats of my staff:
Code:
Name T G GS W-L SV IP HA HR R ER BB K ERA AVG ERA+ FIP WAR
Jackie Marshall R 4 3 0-2 0 13.2 17 1 9 8 6 3 5.27 .315 76 5.03 0
Dick Dover R 7 0 1-1 0 13.1 20 0 13 8 10 7 5.40 .351 74 3.95 0.1
Danny Goff R 4 4 0-1 0 15.1 25 2 17 10 6 4 5.87 .373 68 5.35 0
Cal Williams R 4 4 2-0 0 16 25 1 12 5 6 3 2.81 .357 142 4.58 0.1
Topsy Moran R 4 4 1-2 0 16 23 1 10 9 0 1 5.06 .354 79 3.89 0.2
Buck Blood R 17 0 0-2 4 30 38 0 20 17 13 10 5.10 .342 78 3.93 0.2
Harvey Rodgers R 8 4 2-0 0 23.1 28 3 18 18 7 3 6.94 .301 58 5.51 -0.2
Karl Mallek L 12 2 3-2 1 25 32 1 13 13 15 9 4.68 .327 85 4.44 0.1
The offense is a completely different story. I am confident we will score a lot of runs with this batting order.
Code:
POS Name B G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB SO AVG OBP SLG SB
1 CF Lou Cox R 24 56 10 1 0 0 6 8 6 0 .179 .258 .196 2
2 1B Lou Garman L 22 45 15 3 0 0 6 7 6 4 .333 .415 .400 2
3 RF Doug Lightbody L 22 34 14 1 1 1 6 4 6 0 .412 .500 .588 0
4 LF Bud Rogers L 23 69 23 5 0 3 12 13 7 2 .333 .395 .536 0
5 C Mickey Dowell R 16 51 14 2 0 1 10 6 6 7 .275 .351 .373 0
6 2B Victor Rodding R 19 40 17 5 0 1 11 9 3 0 .425 .465 .625 0
7 3B Rolla Alexander R 24 40 16 3 0 3 6 4 3 1 .400 .442 .700 1
8 SS Lloyd Carter R 22 56 23 2 0 0 4 10 7 1 .411 .476 .446 2
RF Clarence Hall L 24 57 15 5 0 1 9 12 2 1 .263 .300 .404 0
1B Stan Bass R 24 35 12 2 0 1 4 7 7 3 .343 .452 .486 0
CF George T Johnson R 24 44 14 2 1 1 2 10 3 5 .318 .362 .477 0
2B Rip Agee L 21 35 10 1 0 0 6 5 9 4 .286 .422 .314 4
2B Hugh Luckey L 24 36 10 0 0 1 6 4 1 0 .278 .297 .361 1
3B Glenn Mowles R 24 46 9 1 1 0 2 4 9 0 .196 .339 .261 0
C Clay Vega R 16 30 3 0 0 0 3 1 2 2 .100 .156 .100 0
CF Lou Cox had a bad spring but led the Continental Association in hits and stolen bases last year so I am confident he will rebound. First round pick Doug Lightbody outperformed Clarence Hall at the plate and in the outfield so for now Hall is our 4th outfielder despite hitting .352 in 102 games last season. I want more power in the lineup and the thinking is Lightbody may be able to deliver it.
Victor Rodding will still be watched closely at second base. He was among the worst at his position defensively a year ago. Rodding's defense was okay in the spring but his bat was outstanding so I can't replace him even though Rip Agee looks like the better defensive option at second. I am replacing last year's third baseman at least to start the season as Glenn Mowles was terrible in the spring and rookie Rolla Alexander was terrific.
Opening day can't come soon enough but after seeing how badly my pitching blew up the last couple of sims I think it may be a long year. I was optimistic towards a .500 or slightly better finish going into the spring. Now, I am thinking let's just try and avoid last place.
MINOR LEAGUES
The minor league regular seasons all started this week and there was a bunch of good news from there. Here are some brief notes:
AAA HOUSTON - 24 year old Leon Campbell, who went 5-2 in a Brooklyn call-up a year ago, looked good in his first start. The lefthander went 7 and a third, scattering 6 hits and 2 earned runs in a 5-3 win at New Orleans. The only thing keeping him out of main camp this year is he did not have to be on the 40 man roster as he was not Rule V exposed, but if he does well and the guys in Brooklyn struggle I may need to waive someone to make room for him.
Young outfielder Jim Renfroe hit .429 the opening week at Houston. The 23 year old spent most of last season with Class A Omaha. Renfroe is ranked the #15 prospect in the sport and second to only Doug Lightbody in our organization. On the negative side I better keep an eye on 20 year old catcher Joe Cameron, who went hitless in the first four games and struck out 8 times. Cameron played decent defense and threw out 3 would-be base stealers over the opening 4 games but I might have pushed him too far in going from 40 games of A ball a year ago after being taken in the third round out of Chicago high school, straight to AAA. He gets one more sim but I am expecting he will end up in Knoxville soon.
AA KNOXVILLE- The Knights split their 4 games in Mobile to open the season. Bill Smith, a free agent signing out of Dartmouth, went 5-for-15 while calling some good games. The 22 year old is another one of a deep group of catching prospects we have.
A OMAHA - The Cowboys split a 4-game set with Gary and were led by a pair of great pitching performances from recent draft picks. 6th rounder Rube McCormick won his pro debut, going 8 and a third while allowing 2 hits and 1 earned run. McCormick also fanned 8 while walking just 1. He didn't get a decision and we ultimately lost the game but 7th rounder Lyman Weigel had an even more dominating debut. Weigel threw 8 innings of 2 hit ball while striking out 13 and issuing just one free pass. He did give up a pair of earned runs in a 4-2 loss.
My enthusiasm for those outings is dampened slightly when I see Gary used a roster entirely comprised of ghost players. Not sure how much that tarnishes my hurler's performance but it is disappointing with all of the available free agents that teams can't fill out their minor league systems.
B TAMPA - My newest affiliate went 3-0 in their season opening series against Miami. Another catching prospect really impressed as 4th round pick Tom Aiello had a strong sim. The 19 year old had 5 hits in 3 games (.385), including a double, and a pair of rbi's. He also played error free and threw out the only runner who tested his arm. He is only ranked 22nd on my team prospect list but scout Rube Carter is really high on him. My 13th round pick, Tom Goldsborough out of Penn State, pitched a complete game 3 hitter to get his first pro win. Goldsborough fanned 11 and walked 5 in the 9-1 victory over the Miami Sailors.