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Originally Posted by Sizeman21
Good read BirdWatcher. Ugh, I want Van Der Heyden on every team I manage. You might see him in the World Series if Pittsburgh gets that far in the playoffs. San Francisco is not making it easy for your team this season, they are keeping a close pace with you. Can't slip up now.
Keep up the good work BW!
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Van der Heyden has been a stud in the making for several years now but boy has he put it all together this year. One thing I have not yet noted is that the great Bud Lindsay, who is nearing 30 and considered wrecked in terms of his injury proneness, has returned from his latest stint on the IL with several of his batting ratings having taken a bit of a hit. He is still a great player and a Gold Glove shortstop, but his days as the Mike Trout of the WPK may be over.
As for the San Francisco Velocity, I had taken a rather deep dive look at all of the teams in the WPK near the end of the 1979 season (not something I reported on) and my feeling at that time was that San Francisco was likely on the verge of being a much better team, possibly the 1980 version of the 1979 Detroit Falcons club. And that has proven to be true. The biggest factor, other than the fact that their best young starting pitcher has another year of development behind him and that they added a few solid veteran arms, was that they are finally letting some of their talented young outfielders play regularly- Cameron Olsen in center field and especially Brian Paul in right- though they still have two other young outfielders at AAA who should probably be on the squad now and instead they keep sending out 32-year old, fragile, and offensively mediocre (though he is a fine fielder) Adam Pester to left field and in the leadoff slot (he is a good OBP guy). They have been slow to embrace the youth movement, and while they have taken some steps forward in that regard, there is room for growth. In some ways an injury to Pester might be the thing they need to force them to bring up Greg Dohman or their top prospect Matt Christensen which would give them an even more potent lineup. (Admittedly, both of these guys have makeup issues, but also enough talent to make them worth the risk.)
I fully expect a good pennant race between our Brewers and San Francisco- with L.A. always having a chance to get back in it too- down the stretch, even if we have opened up a bit of a lead right now.