Notes on 1946-47 All-Braeland Team
Starting Pitcher
Narrowing this down to the two Satchel Paige winners was pretty easy, but how do you dare pass over the Triple Crown winner when selecting the best overall pitcher?
But in all honesty, I felt that RHP
Jesús Chapa earned the nod over LHP
Arthur Bence, despite Bence’s historic achievement. Here are their stats for comparison:
•
Chapa – 34 GS, 16-14, 286.2 IP, 225 HA, 8 HR, 86 R, 68 ER, 68 BB, 138 K, 2.13 ERA, .215 OPP AVG, .264 OPP OBP, .289 OPP SLG, .239 BABIP, 1.02 WHIP, 0.3 HR/9, 2.1 BB/9, 4.3 K/9, 2.0 K/BB, 160 ERA+, 2.46 FIP, 8.2 WAR.
•
Bence – 35 GS, 22-10, 289.1 IP, 240 HA, 14 HR, 71 R, 62 ER, 75 BB, 142 K, 1.93 ERA, .221 OPP AVG, .272 OPP OBP, .308 OPP SLG, .242 BABIP, 1.09 WHIP, 0.4 HR/9, 2.3 BB/9, 4.4 K/9, 1.9 K/BB, 172 ERA+, 2.89 FIP, 5.8 WAR.
Chapa pitched for a lousy team (Sherburn generated only 3.4 R/G, worst in the ULB), so his performance is all the more remarkable in my estimation. But this is one time where no matter who I pick, I feel rotten for passing over the other guy (I thought this was supposed to be fun!)
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Catcher
The same three catchers as last season were under consideration for the All-Braeland team, but again, C
Danny Trowbridge (.343/.434/.504, 16 HR, 80 RBI, 9.1 WAR, .988 fielding %) ran away with this selection. The six-time all-star and two-time Babe Ruth Award winner earned his 6th selection to the Team.
The runners-up featured the Eastern Leagues’ Babe Ruth Award winner in Sheppard, as well as this past season’s All-Star Game MVP in Skidmore:
• Queensland's
Elijah Sheppard (.294/.379/.469, 17 HR, 75 RBI, 69 BB, 7.4 WAR, -1.3 ZR)
• Stratford's
Aaron Skidmore (.285/.417/.437, 16 HR, 87 RBI, 116 BB, 7.5 WAR, +1.9 ZR)
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First Base
This position also saw familiar faces in the running. Although he missed 38 games due to injury, Embro's
Jim Friend (.322/.405/.550, 23 HR, 97 RBI, 64 BB, 5.8 WAR, -2.0 ZR) gets the edge over Brunswick's
Stuart Bentham (.314/.403/.500, 24 HR, 72 RBI, 90 BB, 5.2 WAR, -4.9 ZR) even though Bentham finished ahead of Friend in the Eastern League Babe Ruth Award voting. If Bentham’s defensive metrics were better than Friend’s, it would have swung the vote in his favor in my opinion.
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Second Base
Another tough choice and perhaps sentimentality is clouding my judgment, but I went with Wellington’s 36-year old
Ryley McLarnon (.329/.362/.409, 2 HR, 59 RBI, 29 BB, 4.1 WAR, -3.1 ZR) over Embro’s 25-year old
José Sánchez (.258/.337/.381, 9 HR, 53 RBI, 67 BB, 22 SB, 4.3 WAR, +5.0 ZR). McLarnon has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence the last couple of seasons, but it’s not hard to see the 4-time all-star’s career winding down from here on out. Sánchez was the better defender overall, which exposes me to applying a double-standard (see the 1B selection), but McLarnon is still rated the 2nd overall second baseman in the ULB, behind only Downie’s 24-year old
Robin Duerden (.299/.377/.456, 8 HR, 52 RBI, 44 BB, 3.4 WAR, -0.6 ZR at 2B). But Duerden only played 19 games at 2B verses 89 games at CF last season. So McLarnon gets his due before the young ones take over.
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Third Base
Adam Ashley (.328/.397/.439, 2 HR, 51 RBI, 70 BB, 10 SB, 7.9 WAR, +12.1 ZR) wins his third consecutive selection to the All-Braeland Team. Once again, it was not close. Ashley is rated the top 3B in the ULB and plays like it. For the record, here are a couple of other third basemen who also had fine campaigns, but couldn’t match the awesome Ashley:
• Wellington's 29-year old
Thomas Murphy (.268/.322/.374, 6 HR, 52 RBI, 50 BB, 8 SB, 3.5 WAR, +3.6 ZR)
• Embro's 28-year old
Elliot Tugby (.279/.350/.344, 1 HR, 62 RBI, 51 BB, 5 SB, 3.4 WAR, +12.0 ZR)
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Shortstop
This came down to three familiar names:
• Stratford's
Jake Walker (.336/.441/.453, 5 HR, 63 RBI, 80 BB, 6.2 WAR, -3.0 ZR)
• Balmoral's
Francisco Rodríguez (.324/.371/.456, 3 HR, 59 RBI, 34 BB, 6.1 WAR, +11.6 ZR)
• Cambria's
Wesceslas Jasmin (.292/.356/.386, 1 HR, 40 RBI, 61 BB, 5.6 WAR, +4.4 ZR)
Walker is rated as the No. 1 shortstop in the ULB; Rodríguez No. 2. But I went with Rodríguez in a close one, as his defense was just too good to ignore in a premium defensive position. His offense (in a down year offensively in the ULB overall) was right there with Walker, especially when you consider he missed nearly two months due to a torn thumb ligament.
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Leftfield
25-year old
Carlton Hawking (.335/.422/.482, 13 HR, 73 RBI, 83 BB, 5.4 WAR, -5.3 ZR) is rated as the top leftfielder in the ULB, and he makes his second consecutive appearance on the All-Braeland Team for Wolseley. But there were a couple of other players worth considering as well:
• Pulberry's
Bruno Lapthorne (.280/.328/.382, 9 HR, 62 RBI, 43 BB, 3.4 WAR, +5.4 ZR)
• Brunswick's
Terry Aspden (.322/.413/.484, 8 HR, 63 RBI, 59 BB, 3.4 WAR, -7.9 ZR)
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Centerfield
Embro’s 33-year old
Terence Durney (.340/.416/.484, 9 HR, 70 RBI, 60 BB, 4.5 WAR, -17.9 ZR) is no stranger to the All-Braeland Team, having been selected previously five times. But while his offense remains top shelf (he won the Eastern League batting title), his defense has fallen off a cliff the past two seasons. Thus, Fort Richmond's 25-year old
Dylan Moyne (.264/.324/.414, 14 HR, 61 RBI, 45 BB, 12 SB, 5.4 WAR, +12.6 ZR) earns his first selection to the Team, after coming close last season.
Wellington's 22-year old
Edgardo Barrón (.307/.346/.410, 2 HR, 43 RBI, 29 BB, 4.2 WAR, +8.0 ZR), who won his first Top Fielder Award as well as his first all-star selection, is a player to keep an eye on going forward.
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Rightfield
New faces make up the top candidates in rightfield for the All-Braeland Team this season:
• Queensland's 27-year old
Jilenko Vergara (.309/.388/.498, 17 HR, 70 RBI, 62 BB, 6.1 WAR, +9.6 ZR)
• Pulberry's 28-year old
Jarod Dwyer (.299/.353/.468, 14 HR, 70 RBI, 42 BB, 5.5 WAR, +8.9 ZR)
• Hespeler's 26-year old
Marcus Peyto (.288/.381/.472, 16 HR, 73 RBI, 80 BB, 4.7 WAR, -0.3 ZR)
After being out of commission for nearly 4 months the previous season due to a broken hand, Vergara enjoyed a healthy year and made the most of it, earning his first selection to the All-Braeland Team. He is also the top-rated RF in the ULB. Peyto (rated #2) and Dwyer (#3) also enjoyed fine seasons, but Vergara is the clear-cut choice to me.