Quote:
Originally Posted by Palaaemon
After looking at your posting of the hitting and pitching team statistics there is, from what I can see, a significant offensive increase across the board. Conversely the pitching has seen the effects but not have all felt it equally. There are a few teams and even more individuals I believe that have weathered the storm.
I have not had time to go very deep into the numbers but just by eyeballing it San Antonio is the most dominant offensive team by far. They are ranked thusly :
SJL WPK
----- -----
Hits 1 2
2B 1 2
3B 4t 4t
HR 1 1
Runs 1 1
BB 1 4
SO 5t 12t
SB% 19t 19t
AVG 1 2
OBP 1 2
SLG 1 1
OPS 1 1
Just for your ego Bird, the stats that they are ranked 2nd in the entire league in you are 1st. Don't spend all your points in one place! 
As far as pitching goes Brooklyn looks good! The pitching equivalent of San Antonio. They are ranked thusly :
MGL WPK
------ ------
HA 1 2
RA 1 1
HR 5 9t
BB 3 5
SO 2 5
AVG 1 1
OBP 1 1
SLG 1 1
OPS 1 1
BABIP 1 1
ERA 1 1
We will have to go more in depth once the season is done and the numbers are all in. Also when the time comes try to gather what stats you can from last year to compare (what year was last year based on?).
Have a great rest of the 4th! |
San Antonio is a fascinating team. They have several of the biggest stars in the game. Their young shortstop Bud Lindsay is arguably the best in the WPK at his position and he's only 22. Their 26-year old second baseman Jared Hancock is also top rated at his position. There is no better all-around catcher in the game than 26-year old Erik Buonopane. And Joe Brodeur, at age 22, is a legitimate MVP candidate this year.
That's four five-star players.
Nick Haran, at 31, remains a gifted power hitter and has a cannon for an arm in right field. And first baseman Eric Brakeall is on pace for 34 HR's.
If only they had a modicum of pitching and defense. But they don't. And hence, even though they are in 3rd place, they are 13 1/2 games behind the leader, Jacksonville. And 7 1/2 behind Boston. Their ace, Chris Hernandez, is one of the greatest in WPK history but at age 37 he is 7-9 with a 5.24 ERA. Granted, they play in a pretty good hitters park but it's not extreme to the level that San Francisco's Bank of the West Ballpark is in the other direction.
The Brooklyn Aces play in a very good pitcher's park so they do have a built in advantage on that end of things. Their offense should be better than they have been thus far. They have the reigning MGL MVP in center field in Felix Lopez, who started the season on the IL and is hitting an uncharacteristically poor .288/.313/.382. Their left fielder, Jeremy Brigatti, is a force and is having a fine season with a 4.4 WAR at the half-way mark. A few other plus players- shortstop Chris Blackmore, first baseman Danny Salvador, and second baseman Greg Alwardt- are having good but somewhat disappointing seasons.
Although their pitching staff may not be quite as talented as the numbers would indicate, they do have one blossoming star starting pitcher in Aaron McNally. While their starting rotation is ranked #1 in ERA in the MGL, their bullpen is only #7. But they are an excellent defensive team, ranking 1st in Zone Rating, Defensive Efficiency, and errors.
If the Brewers have an advantage it is that we are a well-rounded team, other than the lack of HR power. We are tied for 2nd in runs scored and are 2nd in runs against. We have plus defense and plus base running (1st in the league again at +15.0.) But my main concern is that we can't possibly keep up the team batting average near .300 and if we don't get more power hitting we might not be able to sustain the level of run scoring we have achieved thus far.
Oh, and I forgot to answer the question about the stats modifiers for last season in the WPK. I'm embarrassed to admit that this is something I don't keep track of after the fact. I'm thinking it was 1978. Or maybe 1979. Anyway, fairly confident it was something right around there.