As we approach the end of the 1981 regular season in the WPK, let's take a quick look at the Denver Brewers team over a few posts.
Starting with the pitching staff.
Here is the current starting rotation:
Not much needs to be said about
Jim Atwell except that he is one of the top aces in the game at this stage of his career. He is the reigning MGL Pitcher of the Year and should be in strong contention again this year. And of course, in his most recent start he threw a Perfect Game!
Atwell is 4th in wins in the MGL and 7th in ERA, but he leads in WAR by quite a bit and is second in rWAR by just a slim margin behind Baltimore ace Sako Zakian.
Atwell is the only qualifying pitcher with a WHIP under 1 (0.90), he has the best FIP (2.37, just barely ahead of teammate
Sadahige Kawasaki, who has a 2.38), he has the best K to BB rate in the MGL and is second in K/9 and 1st in BB/9. He also has the best win percentage in the MGL.
Atwell is under team control (just entered his arbitration years) through 1984.
Veteran
Sadahige Kawasaki, the lone member of the staff who did not come up through the Brewers system after having been drafted (Kawasaki was signed as a free agent out of Japan prior to the 1975 season), is a 2-time MGL Pitcher of the Year but is having a frustrating 1981. His FIP and FIP- (66) indicate that he has pitched much better than his baseball card stats would indicate. He hardly ever allows the long ball (0.2 HR/9- he's allowed just 4 HR's in 29 starts this year) and has great control but his stuff is just a bit above average at age 33. He remains a very fine pitcher but does appear to be slightly in decline and
Atwell has clearly taken over as the #1 in this rotation.
Sadahige is under contract through the 1987 season.
Bryant Cox was selected in the 7th round of the 1975 amateur draft, two rounds after his staff mate
Jim Atwell. And both have far exceeded their draft placement. Cox is an extreme groundball pitcher who has a very strong infield behind him and this has likely helped his BABIP (.262) to stay very low. Like
Kawasaki, he has excellent movement but his control is just a bit above average. Still, with an elite slider, excellent 94-96 mph fastball, and well above average sinker, his stuff plays up and his 1.13 WHIP is his career best thus far.
Cox is a strong middle of the rotation arm, though he is not exactly an innings eater with unimpressive stamina.
Cox is a steal though at league minimum and isn't arbitration eligible until the end of next season and is under team control through 1986.
If anyone is going to challenge
Atwell for the top spot in the rotation in the near future it is
Eric Maisch, the top prospect for the Brewers and currently the #3 prospect in all of the WPK.
Maisch will be turning 22 soon and in his second go-round with the club (he started 4 games after a September 1st call-up in 1980 with a 5.18 ERA) he is looking anything but over-matched. While not a hard thrower (91-93 mph) with his elite level changeup, excellent curveball, and way above average fastball, he is projected to have some of the best stuff in the league before long to go along with still developing but potentially elite control. His 2.69 FIP and 74 FIP- seem to indicate that he has been even better than his raw numbers would suggest and it may not be long before he joins
Atwell to form a great dual ace situation at the top of the rotation. And the young man is under team control through the 1988 season.
Lefty
Austin Bond was last year's surprise as he went 19-6 as a true rookie. He lost more than a month of playing time this summer due to a chronic back soreness (he is considered durable) which complicated his sophomore year, but he remains a valuable and well-liked (Sparkplug) back end of the rotation arm and is the lone left-hander in the current rotation. There is little that stands out about
Bond as a pitcher (not counting his great work ethic, high intelligence, and great adaptability) but also few holes in his game. As he approaches his 25th birthday there is still a little room for growth and on many staffs he would be at least a #3 if not a solid #2 but with the Denver depth in starting pitching, he likely remains a #4 or 5 while in Brewers purple. He is under team control through 1986.
The bullpen:
Veteran closer
Tim Shore is not the best reliever of his generation (that would be the now retired future HOF'er Jamel McNeil) but he is at this point of WPK history the career saves leader with 337 (McNeil is 2nd at 280). And while
Shore has had a few rough outings this season, especially in the early going, he continues to rack up the saves and has mostly anchored the strong Brewers bullpen quite well. He is signed through next season (though the team has an option on the final year of his contract) and it is unclear how much longer he will be a member of the Brewers but for the time being he is mostly rock solid.
Left-hander
Rand Pinti is a fan favorite, has great stamina out of the 'pen, induces groundball outs with the best of them, and is basically a 1-pitch pitcher (nasty sinker.) This year it has served him well but with a .248 BABIP it is hard to say how sustainable that is. Then again, his 2.86 FIP and 79 FIP- might indicate that his success isn't completely unfounded. Perhaps best of all, his handedness splits aren't that extreme and he is no pushover for right-handed batters.
Pinti is under team control through 1986.
Walter Hackler, on the other hand, has severe splits issues, as this right-handed flame throwing sidearmer can be hit hard by left-handed batters. Still, if you need a strikeout and especially with a tough right-handed batter at the plate, this is the guy you want to call in from the 'pen. He has entered his arbitration years and is under team control just through 1983.
Left-handed 22-year old
Chris Hawley came over to the club in an off-season trade with Charlotte (which sent slugging outfielder Eric Hammock to the Sting and also netted the Brewers defensive specialist shortstop
Shawn York).
Hawley was considered more of an after-thought, a depth piece, but he has surprised and been consistently very fine this season. He is durable, has an excellent slider, induces groundballs, and has great stamina. His control is expected to be his calling card going forward with just above average stuff and movement. He is under team control through 1987.
Brandon Veach joined the Brewers organization as a minor leaguer in a trade with Pittsburgh back in 1976 and slowly worked his way up the ladder. He is another multi-inning arm with an excellent slider and a groundball profile. He has a great work ethic but questionable baseball mind. He is durable and dependable. Nothing special, but a valuable arm in middle relief. He remains in team control through 1985.
Ben Flynn is the team captain and a veteran two-way player with perhaps the best power bat on the club. He's never proven to be much of a pitcher and he is mostly used in blow-outs at this point while also subbing at first base for
Brett Taranto on occasion. He is the bat you bring off the bench in the late innings when you need someone to hit the longball.
Ben is signed through 1984, when he will be 34 years old.
If there is a likely replacement for
Tim Shore's role as the team closer it is 23-year old
Paul Johnson, who was a Rule 5 draft pick in the offseason prior to the 1980 season. With good stamina,
Johnson may be even more suited to a stopper role in the future. He is durable, he has an elite slider and a very good sinker, he possesses great baseball knowledge and is known to be a very loyal teammate, and as a former 2-way player he can even hit a bit. (He is the emergency catcher for the club, with excellent catcher ability but no experience and a surprisingly weak arm behind the plate.)
Johnson is under team control through 1986 and is likely to be a mainstay in the Brewers bullpen long after that.
Taylor Blair and
Terry Dubiel are starting pitchers who have made their way back-and-forth from Denver to AAA Chester during the course of the season, and whenever given a chance at the big league level have done very well. On most teams these two would already be established members of the rotation (they are both in their mid-20's). Likely before long they will get that opportunity in other organizations. The biggest question is whether the Brewers will find a way to use
Dubiel in the rotation on a regular basis given that they have almost no left-handed pitching prospects in the pitching-rich system. He is considered the better pitcher of these two, is durable and has good stamina. On the other hand,
Blair, who is also durable, has a far better reputation for his makeup, with a strong work ethic and great loyalty and low greed.
The Denver Brewers farm system is considered the 7th best in the WPK and this is almost exclusively on the basis of pitching prospects. This year's first round draft pick,
Mike Costa, has moved up the system quickly and is basically big league ready right now, though there are some in the organization who question whether his movement and control will play at the WPK level (his stuff is nasty!) and there are a handful of other starting pitching prospects in the farm system who look to be future mid-rotation starters at least and perhaps even better than that. The Brewers have been pretty horrible at developing relievers but with so many talented arms coming up it is certainly possible that some will end up in the Denver 'pen eventually.