Return of the Rams

[Y0DA55]

Where Are We Now?
... in the year 2031.

A Little Bit of History
First, let me give you a rundown of where this team was, and where I thought we were headed...

When I last left you in 2024, we finished 76-86, and I thought we were going to break through soon.

I was wrong.

2025 - 67-95
2026 - 70-92

THEN, we broke through.

2027 - 93-69
2028 - 92-70
2029 - 104-58

And we didn't make the playoffs in any of those years (the top two from each division make it, and we were 3rd place each time). It's no question that we play in one of the toughest division in the league. I was disappointed, but I had no reason to believe that we wouldn't continue this...

And then we switched to OOTP9.

2030 - 80-82

I'm not blaming the switch, it's just a coincidence. And, to be fair, other things did happen. Probably the most devistating thing that happened was losing Scott Davis to a career ending injury. He was blossoming into a star.

Age 23: .294 - 12 HR - 88 RBI
Age 24: .287 - 20 HR - 110 RBI
Age 25: .289 - 14 HR - 76 RBI (in a little over 110 games)

He was injured right in the middle of our 100 win season. Our team has yet to recover. We haven't been able to replace his offense.

But we do have an offense, just not enough...

Hitting
When you talk about the offense of the Colorado Rams, you have to start with Dale Couch. If you remember, when we last left, he was our #3 prospect and banging them out of the park in AAA. Since then, he's hit 177 homeruns in only 4 years (31, 38, 56, and 52). He's won the MVP Award (We call it the Bacon Award after former Colorado Ram, Tyson Bacon). At only 27 years old this season, he's the rock in our offense.

So what else do we have? I'll list everyone of consequence...

C - Ross Lange - He never materialized into the catcher I envisioned he would be when I picked him 10th in the draft. He's an average player at best.
C - Bobby Kelly - The 6th overall pick in 2026, he's serviceable. He's not a superstar that I would have liked with the 6th pick, but I envision him being our catcher for the forseeable future.

I don't have any first basemen that I want to play. Scott Davis was my first baseman until one week I needed him to play the outfield (his natural position), and then he goes and has a career ending injury. Boo!

2B - Bates Schatz - This guy has been great recently. You can count on him for 10-15 HRs, 70-80 RBI, and a .300 average every year. I just wish he played more than just second base, because his fielding is not all that good.
2B - Kevin Roldan - A very serviceable backup.
2B/SS - Ethan Murilla - Murilla was a 4th round draft pick back in 2020. He busted out last year, at age 28, as one of our best players. .300-23-83, while playing some great defense at short. I have no idea where he came from, as long as he keeps it up.
SS - James Head - He can play almost all the infield positions (except 3B) and hit for a good average. I just need to find a space for him.
3B - Nightmare Massengill - Yep, he's still around. He's a solid player who I would totally stick at 1st, if I had a 3rd baseman.

CF - Dale Couch - As we've already discussed, he's the best outfielder this team has ever seen.
RF - Gustavo Vizcaino - As expected, this guy can mash. But he's been battling injuries here and there. In his seven seasons, he's missed close to half of the season 3 times. Last season was especially devistating for our offense because he only played 94 games and it was the first full season without Scott Davis.
CF/LF - Eugene Grimes - He's been a good leadoff guy for a while, but is steadily declining. I don't know if the starter job is going to be there for him for much longer.
LF - Ximenes Amaya - Former 4th (last) round pick. He's turned into a very steady backup. He did a very nice job of filling in for Vizcaino when he was hurt last season, but provided only average offense when we needed a LOT of offense.
CF/RF - Charles Hsu - He's been a top prospect for a while. He doesn't have a lot of power, but fields like a dream and eats lightening for breakfast. He has zero experience in the majors, but he's going to be thrown in headfirst this season and will probably start in CF.


Pitching
Depth-wise, we're good. Our bullpen is pretty solid, led by closer Alan Jacobs (who we picked up in the Jacob Perl trade oh so long ago), John Montana (from the Nevada Ward Chee trade), and Josue Canjo (drafted in 2021). Each of them have logged a tremendous amount of innings for us the last couple of years.

Our starting pitching is good. Good, not great. At this point in time, I've got eight guys who I would consider starting.
1) Chip Herold is the number 1 (still). He's been a rock and while not a top tier talent, he's a second tier talent.
2) Menace Pettengill - Shown flashes of brilliance, but I've ultimately been let down by him (even though he's strung together 5 straight 10+ win seasons).
3) Salvatore Perez - The guy is only 30 and has 9 straight 10+ win seasons. I think I got a steal when I traded Jake Kinchen for him).

And two of the next five may see time.
4) Panic Mesick - For the hype he has had, has been a HUGE bust. After his 8th full season, he has 5 10+ win seasons, but I expected so much more from him.
5) Paul Long - He's been driving me nuts recently. It's like he forgot how to pitch.
6) Jeffrey Albin - Picked him up a few years ago in the second round. He won't be anything amazing, but he is definitely a solid arm.
7) Samuel Strawn - A first round pick in 2030. I expect him to really contribute this year. His ceiling is a 2nd or 3rd starter though.
8) Paydirt James - Ah, Paydirt. I've wanted so much more than what we get from him. He hasn't developed like he could have, but he's not a half bad player. He's still young, but he's out for 5 months with an injury. I have no idea if he will ever reach his potential.

I'd love to flip some of this pitching for some hitting, but I've been a bit lazy on that front.


Where We are Headed
Straight into the future. I have no idea how this team will react this year, but this next year will go a long way towards determining whether we will be a playoff contender or whether we will continually be relegated to third place.

We need help on all fronts. We need a front line starter, but no one is willing to trade one. We need more offense, but I am unsure as to where to upgrade.

We have a little bit of depth in the minors, but we don't really have anyone that looks like they are going to be stars.

I guess we'll see when we get there.