Ju-au Ju has been one of the dominant power hitters in the league over the better part of a decade now and last season he won his first league MVP award.
But after having gotten off to a very poor start this season, today it was announced that the long-time Phoenix right fielder had suffered a torn ACL and may not be ready to play again until early next season. Phoenix is battling to avoid falling into last place and losing Ju almost certainly guarantees that any hopes they might have harbored to contend in 1976 are gone. (Though, let's be honest, if they ever thought they might contend this year they were fooling themselves.)
At this point it appears that former Brewer farm-hand Ramon Lopez will be taking over in right for the Speed Devils. Ramon is a hard working player (Sparkplug) with fine defense and a powerful arm and he will also bring great value on the base paths. But he can never replace Ju's bat in the lineup. While Phoenix has a pretty highly regarded farm system most of their best prospects are pitchers and there is nobody else on the horizon who looks like a good candidate to take over right in the near term.