[ayaghmour2]

It's time for baseball! The Cougars are back in Chicago and are ready to begin another exciting season. Rufus Barrell thinks the Cougars are set for 2nd place, but also that the two through five teams are so close, you could pick names out of a hat to determine the order. The OSA predictions expect an 82-72 finish, ahead of Brooklyn, who is somehow in fifth. I'd take that with a grain of salt, but I'm definitely aiming to crack the 80 win mark and hopefully luck our way into a pennant race. They do expect a lot of Cougars to have top performances, with two hitters and three pitchers. Leo Mitchell is expected to hit .353/.395/.508 with 19 homers and 90 RBIs while John Lawson is expected to hit .328/.379/.479 with 16 homers and 106 RBIs. I'd love those type of performances from them, and OSA also believes our top three in the rotation will rank in the leagues top 10. Still, I don't see reigning Allen Winner Dick Lyons throwing 354.2 innings, but the 3.86 ERA, 68 walks, and 93 strikeouts wouldn't be bad. They expect a few more innings and a slightly lower ERA from Milt Fritz, with 162 walks and 83 strikeouts. Lastly, Harry Parker will also crack 300 innings with a 4.02 ERA, 75 walks, and 142 strikeouts. All of those look like solid numbers, especially since I know we're going to allow more runs then usual this year.

The farm has taken a hit in the rankings, as we dropped to the 11th best system in baseball. The system is led but baseball's 24th and 25th ranked prospects, Ducky Jordan and Chubby Hall, while Juan Pomales (48th) joins them in the top 50 with Solly Skidmore (51st) and Hal Wood (55th) right outside. Nothing else until Del Burns at 102, but in total we have 14 top 200 prospects and 42 top 500 prospects. I'm excited to refill the system with the upcoming draft, but with all the young talent playing an important role in Chicago, it's not the biggest of worries.

We start the season with three games in Chicago, hosting the Foresters to break in Cougars Park. Cleveland has a new GM for this season, but there are a lot of similar faces on the roster. Their top three in the rotation is Dean Astle, Dave Rankin, and Ben Turner, all talented former Cougar pitchers. One new face in the lineup is Ken Vance, who made 59 appearances last season and will takeover for the now retired T.R. Goins. "Rough Rider" is one of the top catchers of all time, finishing with a career .336/.401/.511 (139 OPS+) batting line in 8,880 plate appearances with the Eagles and Foresters. He's hit 486 doubles and 270 homers with 1,456 RBIs while being worth 84.9 wins above replacement. Goins was a two-time Whitney Winner and 4-time All Star who won the 1923 championship with Washington and the 193 one with Cleveland. Last season was the first and only he had a below average OPS+, hitting just .234/.306/.293 (64 OPS+) with 13 doubles, 0 homers, and 25 RBIs in just 251 trips to the plate.

We don't stay home for long, as we fly out to Toronto after the three game set. The Wolves were outstanding last year, led by Fred McCormick and Nick Wallace. They'll need more help if they want to top the Kings, with Larry Vestal the most likely candidate to pick up the slack. Ranked the top left fielder in the game, somehow above my boy Leo Mitchell, but he does have a nice .302/.378/.447 (119 OPS+) career line. In 907 FABL games, he doubled 151 times, tripled 104 times, homered 40 times, and drove in 466 runs. He's had three consecutive 4.5+ WAR seasons, but he has yet to crack 5. They will also look to rely on sophomore right fielder Reginald Westfall, a former Cougar prospect who hit .271/.354/.412 (108 OPS+) with 33 doubles, 5 triples, 8 homers, and 90 RBIs with a nice 62-to-17 walk-to-strikeout ratio. Of course, the pitching is impressive as well, with Allen Award runner up Joe Hancock leading the rotation. After a dominant 8-1 season last year, Bob Walls snuck into the top pitchers predictions and could evolve into a reliable #2. The back three has question marks, but 21-year-old George Garrison seems like a smart bet for a breakout. It will be a tough couple of games to start the season for sure, and we'll need to be at our best to win a few games.