Spring Training just finished and regular season games will start being played once again on Thursday. We finished 8-16, good for second to last tied with the Cannons. I'm not worried, as most of the games I didn't use starters. Maybe I should be a little worried as we lost four of our last five when I started to use a few more of my actual players. We stayed healthy, which is really all that matters, as every sim I cross my fingers hoping that Russ Combs doesn't find a 30th reason to miss time (88% of the times it's a sore back or other back related ailment...) or one of my aces decides to throw out his arm trying to strike out someone who's never going to get past AA in a game that doesn't matter.
Of course, that is not an attack on Spring Training. In fact, I actually love Spring Training. I love getting a chance to see all my young guys face better competition and give my established guys some time at new positions. It's early, but I think by the end of the year Tom Taylor is a more then capable center fielder and a lot of that is because he gets stress free innings now. I'm really not looking forward to Bill Ashbaugh and Russ Combs as my double play combo, but it's nice knowing that they didn't make an error every game and still kind of did things. It also allows me time to think of how to assemble a 23 man combination that maximizes are utility (in this case, wins) to get ring #2. Here are the 23 lucky players who will start the season on the active roster:
Okay, so maybe I can't quite make up my mind...
There's still a decision for the 23rd spot. I will be carrying five relievers, and I'm not entirely sure which five they are. The locks are Chick Meehan and Bill Kline. The rest are Claude Purvis, Herb Lowman, Ace McSherry, and Dan Grossman. Four guys fighting for three spots. Really hoping I can move one of them, but for now, I'll cover the rest of the roster.
Well, first let's preview the Opening Day lineup for our opener hosting the Wolves on the 18th:
CF Tom Taylor
3B John Kincaid
C Mike Taylor
RF Doc Love
1B Lou Kelly
LF Bobby Sprague
2B Bill Ashbaugh
SS Russ Combs
SP Tommy Wilcox
Rest of the Roster:
SP Dick Leudtke
SP Dick Lyons
SP Max Wilder
SP Jim Crawford
ST Chick Meehan
RP Bill Kline
C Claude Ramsey
2B Slim Bloom
SS Arnold Bower
CF Cy Bryant
RF Bert Harrison
So how does this compare to last year?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ayaghmour2
Here's the 23-Man Roster for 1933:
SP Jim Crawford
SP Dick Leudtke
SP Dick Lyons
SP Tommy Wilcox
SP Max Wilder
RP Bill Kline
RP Chick Meehan
RP Claude Purvis
RP Norm Stewart
C Claude Ramsey
C Mike Taylor
1B Bill Ashbaugh
1B Phil Vaughan
2B Harry Simmons
2B Russ Combs
3B John Kincaid
SS Slim Bloom
SS Arnold Bower
LF Bobby Sprague
CF Cy Bryant
CF Bob McCarty
RF Mike Smith
RF Tom Taylor
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A few notable names are missing. Phil Vaughan, Mike Smith, Bob McCarty, and Harry Simmons have made multiple opening day rosters and they are now down in the minors. A lot of positions have changes as well, and at least one (if not two) pen arms changed with Stewart starting the season in AAA with goals to start.
And not only does the lineup look much different then last year, we'll have a few new names in the lineup. Lou Kelly and Doc Love replaced Arnold Bower and Cy Bryant who will now function as bench pieces. I will be trying to get Bryant some time and hopefully he'll be at least content with a 4ish day a week role. I expect to run a 12 player rotation with Bert Harrison functioning solely as a lefty power bat off the bench. Bloom and Bower will help fill in around the infield to keep Combs healthy and the defense passable when needed while the best defensive outfielder in baseball Cy Bryant can fill in wherever he is needed.
While the lineup is fluid, I don't really expect that to be the same with the rotation. More or less, we will run the same five in the same order, with the only exception being Tommy Wilcox gets to skip starts. He actually suffered his first ever injury, a dead arm in his last spring start. It cost him 4 days, but he's already healthy. It's always impressive when a pitcher has the same amount of injuries as Pitcher of the Year awards. It'd be awesome to see him win another, but I don't expect him to match last year's numbers. Our defense isn't going to be nearly as good, but I think the extra offense will more then offset it.
Since the minor league season has just begun, I can also do a minor league report. La Crosse is the only team to play, and they're just 3-10. While the overall performance hasn't been great, that doesn't mean it has all been bad. A former 2nd Round Pick back in 1931, John Hartz has gotten off to an excellent to the season. In his 2 starts he's got a 1.64 ERA (267 ERA+), 1.09 WHIP, 4 walks, and 8 strikeouts in 11 innings. Last year Hartz started the season in San Jose, but he didn't do very well. He was just 7-12 with a 5.79 ERA (77 ERA+), 1.75 WHIP, 57 walks, and 32 strikeouts in 164.2 innings pitched. With San Jose's season not starting until the 26th, I'm leaving Hartz down here to build his confidence back up. This also helps protect some of my younger arms.
One of our top prospects took a huge hit, as Walker Pearce will miss the next three months. Taken in the 2nd Rounder the year after Hartz, Pearce was just two starts into his second pro season. He was diagnosed with bone chips in his elbow, which hopefully has no lasting effects I'm hoping it's his right one, as the left elbow is really important. The 19-year-old is the current 77th best prospect in baseball and projects to be a future middle of the rotation arm. Pearce added a mile on his sinker in the offseason and the lefty generally does a good job generating groundballs. His defense let him down in his first start, with just 1 of the 7 runs earned and then in start 2 he left after just an inning. He'll return in time to start again this year, but we have to hope for a setback free recovery.
To end with some good news, last year's 1st Rounder and our top prospect Billy Hunter has absolutely raked to start the season. He's hitting .442/.467/.674 (192 OPS+) with 2 homers, a steal, and 6 RBI's in just 45 trips to the plate. The defense hasn't been good, as he's made 10 errors already, but I'm hoping he'll be able to clean this up. I don't need another Russ Combs shortstop, and Hunter is projected to be a much better defender. I'm hoping it's just inexperience, as he is just 19 and he has a lot of time to grow. I didn't really plan on starting him in San Jose, but if he keeps hitting like this I'll have to promote him once their season starts.