1973 Recap: Montreal had yet to put up a .500 or even mediocre season in 4 tries going into 1973 but they'd at least been riding a small upward trend, going from "maybe the worst team ever" levels in 1969 to merely bad in 1971 and 1972. In 72, in fact, they even managed to finish ahead of the hapless Mets.
Well, so much for moving forward, as the Expos won 2 fewer games in 1973 than they had in 72 in spite of getting to play 6 more of them. Montreal's hitting was up to the task or at least league avearge but the pitching staff allowed a league worst 765 runs scored to put them right back into the NL East cellar and they only escaped holding the worst record in the National League as a whole because of the horrible performance by the Dodgers. It was just wall-to-wall bad for les Expos - 5-13 in April, 9-14 in May, and pretty much ensconsed in last place by the time they had to play a league-record 32 games in July (12-20, which, in spite of the 20 losses isn't even that bad). They actually finished the season 30-29 but I would not be fooled by the "dead cat bounce".
1974 Outlook: Offensively the Expos have a few interesting pieces who haven't come into their own yet but should any day now. Their pitching is another matter. Their best pitcher DJ Fletcher tore his labrum at the end of September and might not be back in time for spring training. They do have 4 prospects in the BNN top 100 - yay! - but they're all position players - boo! This is a team who stands to get worse before they get better. I was about to type "a lot worse" except I don't think you can get a lot worse... I should point out though that even though he didn't qualify for the write-up, this team also includes MY DAD Richard Craven. I'm told that he might have gotten some kind of spooky injection going into 1974 on account of he is my dad and I can do what I want.
Jose Agudo
SP No. 13
RR, 6'1" 179 lbs.
Born 1945-04-04
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 EUG AAA | 4 | 7 | 0 | 3.98 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 101.2 | 84 | 51 | 45 | 64 | 65 |
| 1971 PEN AAA | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4.19 | 13 | 13 | 1 | 92.1 | 70 | 48 | 43 | 67 | 56 |
| 1971 PHI MLB | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.49 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.0 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 4 |
| 1971 MON MLB | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12.46 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13.0 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 5 |
| 1972 PEN AAA | 17 | 10 | 0 | 4.11 | 29 | 29 | 10 | 220.2 | 205 | 107 | 101 | 107 | 174 |
| 1972 MON MLB | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.91 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 37.0 | 32 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 18 |
| 1973 PEN AAA | 8 | 8 | 0 | 3.63 | 22 | 22 | 7 | 158.2 | 151 | 69 | 64 | 54 | 127 |
| 1973 MON MLB | 5 | 7 | 0 | 3.60 | 13 | 13 | 1 | 85.0 | 76 | 37 | 34 | 42 | 50 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Agudo seems like a perfect example of a AAAA pitcher: every time he gets sent down to Peninsula (or Eugene if we want to go back to 1971 and the Phillies organization) he looks like a guy, but you call him and and... meh. Agudo did put up a decent ERA but it's a little misleading. In spite of a really fast fastball, which even at that is pretty straight, Agudo just doesn't win a lot of strikeouts at the major league level and instead has to rely on hitting parts of the plate. He's just not very good at that.
The nominally good season means Agudo will get another chance at cracking the rotation in 1974. He's now coming off a torn labrum injury which will make it harder. You'd also think that maybe a move to the bullpen is the best long-term idea; imagine an Expos pen with all of these hard-throwing arms...
Jake Cari
SP No. 18
RR, 6'0" 189 lbs.
Born 1944-09-16
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 ATL MLB | 11 | 12 | 0 | 3.55 | 29 | 29 | 3 | 197.1 | 200 | 88 | 78 | 71 | 105 |
| 1972 RIC AAA | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4.42 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 38.2 | 39 | 19 | 19 | 12 | 34 |
| 1972 ATL MLB | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2.15 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 117.0 | 89 | 30 | 28 | 37 | 77 |
| 1973 MON MLB | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4.01 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 40.1 | 40 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 29 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
The Expos and torn labrums, name a more iconic duo. Montreal acquired Cari in a late offseason trade for their own "ace" Frank Evans (11-15, 3.40) and less than a month after they brought him in Cari pulled up lame with that labrum injury (that's in the back, right?) and missed basically the entire season. He did return in September, albeit with some shaky control, but the fact that he was able to pitch at all was the best news.
When Cari is available he throws 4 pitches, the best of which is a curveball that shoots straight down due to his over-the-top pitching angle. He doesn't throw particularly fast but good news, Expos fans, the 90ish reading on the radar gun in September wasn't any slower than we've seen in the past. He's got decent but not great stamina. Really, his game overall just screams mid-rotation starter. That feels like not enough for Evans following his 14-win 1972 season but if he can do it for a full season - something he's managed to do basically one time in his career - Montreal will be ecstatic.
Phil Collins
3B/IF No. 4
RR, 6'2" 190 lbs.
Born 1950-03-21
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 WPB A | .217 | 5 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
| 1971 QUE AA | .263 | 67 | 255 | 37 | 67 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 34 | 69 | 12 |
| 1971 PEN AAA | .263 | 5 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 1972 WPB A | .270 | 20 | 74 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 3 | 29 | 2 |
| 1972 QUE AA | .266 | 70 | 263 | 32 | 70 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 41 | 59 | 5 |
| 1973 PEN AAA | .320 | 33 | 122 | 30 | 39 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 21 | 16 | 40 | 2 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .332 | 81 | 307 | 53 | 102 | 21 | 0 | 14 | 50 | 46 | 58 | 6 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
It's hard to believe that Phil Collins was ever 23 years old but here he is. The drummer for the rock band Genesis flew into the major leagues after a grand total of just 38 games in AAA and continued his hot hitting all year long. The only thing that could slow him down was a broken finger he suffered on a tricky hop off a seam in the turf at Le Stade Olympique. To his credit, lots of players lose their mojo when they miss a month and a half with an injury that makes it hard to lift a bat at all; Collins just picked up right where he left off.
Is Collins a legit .300 hitter? That's the $64,000 question. He's definitely a good one who added power to his game for the first time in 1973. He's also a wizard - some may say he has an invisible touch - at coaxing walks off of opposing pitchers and with the newfound slugging that should only improve with time. One thing that might cut into his average is his tendency to pull anything and everything he comes into contact with. Defenses were already beginning to play him to left field late in the year and he 'only' hit .300 in September as a result. Really, though, he responded to a lot of the defensive shading by hitting the ball over everyone: 11 of his 14 major league HRs came after August 1st. He's an adequate defender at both 2nd and 3rd although a scattershot arm means that he's probably never going to be a Gold Glove contender.
Collins is the real deal as a singer, songwriter, and now a third baseman.
Norman Engelman
C No. 17
RR, 6'0" 207 lbs.
Born 1943-12-20
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 TOL AAA | .258 | 115 | 364 | 47 | 94 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 49 | 59 | 70 | 0 |
| 1972 MON MLB | .249 | 122 | 390 | 33 | 97 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 34 | 44 | 86 | 0 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .226 | 109 | 354 | 29 | 80 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 48 | 90 | 1 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Should the Expos front office be rewarded for finding such a diamond in the rough as Engelman, or should they be buried for having to start this guy for 2 straight seasons? Engelman was a Rule V pick out of the Tigers organization in the winter of 1971. He's been the Expos primary catcher ever since. He strikes out too much, has no power, and his one major-league hitting skill, an ability to coax a walk from the bottom of the lineup, really isn't worth all of that. He's solid defensively because, like, there's no way he'd be in the league, even for this team, if he wasn't. At that, his biggest liability is a below average arm that saw him only throw out 27.3% of opposing base-stealers.
It sure feels like this will be the year Engelman hands the job off to one of Montreal's younger options at the position. It kind of seemed that way last year too but it never materialized. Catching is hard.
D.J. Fletcher
SP No. 6
RR, 6'6" 201 lbs.
Born 1948-01-21
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 MON MLB | 12 | 11 | 0 | 2.90 | 32 | 32 | 7 | 232.2 | 197 | 89 | 75 | 72 | 139 |
| 1972 MON MLB | 10 | 15 | 0 | 3.68 | 30 | 30 | 5 | 212.2 | 185 | 93 | 87 | 96 | 107 |
| 1973 MON MLB | 12 | 12 | 0 | 3.38 | 31 | 31 | 5 | 207.1 | 205 | 91 | 78 | 65 | 118 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Fletcher is not exactly a true ace but more of the best the Expos have right now. He's pitched 3+ years in the majors and, really, when it comes down to it, posting a record only 4 games below .500 with the lowly Expos (38-42) is saying something. He turned in another pretty workmanlike, solid year in 1973, albeit one that was marred a bit by the torn labrum he suffered at the end of September. Fletcher will likely still be rehabbing going into spring training but - fingers crossed - he should be good to go by Opening Day.
Fletcher has only okay stuff, with a fastball that doesn't break 90 and a decent change of pace as his out pitch. It's easy to see why the Astros let him go for so little, although I should point out that he was legitimately on prospect lists before the 1970 trade that brought him into Montreal. When everything is clicking he paints the corners well. Last year he did a good job of not missing off the plate or too far over it. Fletcher will also keep the ball down pretty well: last year 55% of his outs in play were of the groundball type and he only gave up 11 HRs as well. Stamina has been and will continue to be an issue for him and last season he actually averaged just under 100 pitches per start (99).
Fletcher is... fine. He's best suited as a middle of the rotation guy instead of the staff "ace" but it's not really his fault that 5 years in, he's the best the Expos have to offer.
Hector Giron
SP/MR No. 10
SR, 5'11" 168 lbs.
Born 1941-05-16
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 BAL MLB | 12 | 15 | 0 | 4.05 | 32 | 31 | 7 | 217.2 | 243 | 111 | 98 | 51 | 99 |
| 1972 BAL MLB | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4.52 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 53.2 | 52 | 29 | 27 | 19 | 24 |
| 1973 BAL MLB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.14 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 15.2 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 1973 MON MLB | 7 | 9 | 1 | 3.97 | 32 | 19 | 5 | 147.1 | 171 | 76 | 65 | 54 | 59 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
The O's had no more use for Giron, who was in the process of transitioning from a mid-rotation starter to a middle reliever in his early 30s, so they sold him off to the Expos last May. The Expos really seem to like older players with no future. In any case, Giron mostly started with his new team and was mostly not super effective, with a 4.04 ERA in that role and a K/BB ratio of only 53/47. Giron throws everything but the kitchen sink out there and does do a mostly good job of missing outside of the strike zone when he does miss, which unfortunately is pretty often nowadays. Few hitters are fooled by his pitch assortment anymore so he does have to pretty much live on the corners.
The Expos are probably best suited to use a guy like this, should they use him at all, in middle relief. That would also require the Expos to actually have the pitching to put in the rotation, which... it doesn't really look like they have that at the moment. Expect this guy to start again.
Jeff Graton
LR/SP No. 33
RR, 5'9" 190 lbs.
Born 1939-10-14
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 HOU MLB | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4.03 | 46 | 8 | 2 | 109.1 | 114 | 56 | 49 | 45 | 64 |
| 1972 MON MLB | 8 | 11 | 0 | 4.17 | 39 | 20 | 4 | 163.2 | 169 | 79 | 76 | 39 | 73 |
| 1973 PEN AAA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1973 MON MLB | 2 | 13 | 0 | 4.11 | 31 | 12 | 2 | 100.2 | 113 | 64 | 46 | 26 | 54 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Graton will always have a place in my heart as the top starter for the 1969 Seattle Pilots. However he also had a 1973 season that might just signal the end of the line. Graton started the year in the rotation but was entirely ineffective in April and May - 1-7 overall with ERAs of 4.88 and 5.82 - and although he got better in June the run support didn't come with it and by the time he was demoted to long relief he carried a 2-10, 4.11 record. A brief demotion to AAA Peninsula followed and although Graton did get called back up in September, he, like a lot of players on this team, wilted in September to the tun of a 0-2, 6.75 record.
Graton was never a particularly hard thrower and at 33 years of age - he turns 34 on October 14 - his stuff barely breaks a pane of glass. Even when he was leading the Pilots in innings pitched he barely had a positive K/BB ratio at 85/78. Last year he put up a 2-1 rate there, the best of his career, but it came with allowing 19 HRs in just 100.2 IPs as hitters teed off on him in the first 3 months of the year. His home field did him no favors: 1-5, 4.40. At this point in his career though he's going to need to take what he can get.
Graton's career may already be over with. It was a nice little run from a guy who once went 4-23 in one season in the minor leagues.
Ernesto Hernandez
MR No. 5
RR, 6'2" 196 lbs.
Born 1944-08-30
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 MON MLB | 5 | 13 | 22 | 3.66 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 105.2 | 95 | 45 | 43 | 41 | 61 |
| 1972 MON MLB | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2.32 | 39 | 9 | 0 | 100.2 | 69 | 28 | 26 | 28 | 72 |
| 1973 MON MLB | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4.81 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 67.1 | 77 | 40 | 36 | 16 | 50 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Relief pitchers can be soooooo volatile. Ernesto Hernandez put up an excellent 1972 but then at least according to ERA he was terrible last year. A closer look though indicates that his peripherals were practically unchanged from one year to the next, he stranded runners at the same rates as in 1972, and he really didn't even melt down all that much. Mostly last year was a combination of having a couple of outings where he got completely bombed combined with a weird inability - I guess not that weird; this is the Expos - of his teammates to catch baseballs behind him. When things were clicking, as in June (1-0, 2.19), Hernandez was as good as ever. When they weren't, as in that looooong month of July (0-2, 9.24, 20 hits allowed in 12.2 IP) he was not.
Undoubtedly the Expos will be looking at Hernandez with a more skeptical eye going into 1974. Is that fair to him? Absolutely not. Is it baseball? Yes.
Brian Hunter
IF No. 12
RR, 6'2" 198 lbs.
Born 1939-11-25
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MON MLB | .198 | 31 | 96 | 9 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| 1972 PEN AAA | .397 | 26 | 58 | 12 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 2 |
| 1972 MON MLB | .325 | 26 | 80 | 9 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .261 | 75 | 180 | 13 | 47 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 25 | 3 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
A .325 showing in limited playing time in 1972 pushed Hunter into a larger role with the Expos where he spent time at all four infield positions and also made 26 appearances as the team's main right-handed pinch hitter. He was never going to hit over .300 again but all in all, even an empty .260 average was pretty okay for the 33 year old who's been with the ballclub since being selected off of Philadelphia's roster in the 1968 expansion draft. Hunter isn't any threat to hit for power and rarely walks but when you need a base hit against a left-handed pitcher there are worse guys to turn to. He could also theoretically work as a pinch-runner and surely would if the author remembered to use pinch-runners more often.
Hunter is now 33 and isn't getting any younger, but as for now he's carved out a niche for himself.
Mike Johnston
SP No. 14
RR, 6'4" 200 lbs.
Born 1936-08-09
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 IND AAA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.20 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 19.2 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 9 |
| 1971 CIN MLB | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3.52 | 18 | 12 | 1 | 92.0 | 95 | 36 | 36 | 51 | 55 |
| 1972 CIN MLB | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4.87 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 48.0 | 47 | 28 | 26 | 13 | 31 |
| 1972 MON MLB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.99 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 1973 MON MLB | 9 | 13 | 0 | 4.35 | 32 | 29 | 4 | 200.1 | 210 | 116 | 97 | 80 | 115 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
The Expos breathed new life into Mike Johnston's career last year, signing him juuuust before the season ended. The 7-hitter he threw in his only start did not, unfortunately, turn out to be a sign of things to come, but Johnston did give Montreal innings and a veteran presence.
Johnston still has much of the low to mid 90s velocity he had when he was in the Cardinals' rotation in the 60s and helped them to win 4 World Series. He's never had particularly great stuff and needs to hit the corners in order to survive. He was off and on with that last year. I should note that in one respect 1973 was a really great season for him: the 29 starts were his highest since his salad days with the Cards - since 1967 Johnston had never been able to pitch more than 18 times in any given season, but last year he lasted the entire year without injury as the Expos made a point to not use him too much. The overall stats are marred a little bit by a September spent spot starting and filling in in long relief: he had a 5.13 ERA that month, including 5.79 in 3 relief appearances. Relief isn't really a great place for the aging junkballer to be.
I'd be absolutely shocked if Johnston lasted the whole year in 1974 and the Expos may not consider that they actually need him for all of that either. He was a pretty good player with some stretches of greatness in his prime. At this point, rounding out the back of the worst rotation in the league seems about right for him.
Paul Kahl
RF No. 21
RR, 5'11" 169 lbs.
Born 1944-04-16
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 HAW AAA | .000 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1971 SD MLB | .273 | 34 | 33 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| 1972 MON MLB | .247 | 130 | 457 | 65 | 113 | 19 | 7 | 11 | 44 | 52 | 76 | 11 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .268 | 148 | 585 | 65 | 157 | 22 | 6 | 17 | 72 | 57 | 92 | 11 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Paul Kahl has had a rough time of it. When I started handling this entire league in 1969 he was one of those unicorn pitcher/outfielders that really didn't exist in the real-life 1960s, so I made him choose (well okay he is not a real person so I chose for him). Following a couple of very average years as a pitcher with the Cardinals and then the Padres, he signed a contract with the Expos and elected to play outfield full time. The transition has worked out pretty well for him.
Kahl does a little bit of everything on offense: he's got good power, can hit line drives into the gaps with some regularity, and will steal the occasional base as well... although last year he was just 11/24 on steals so he may find his foot nailed to the bag more in 1974. He does strike out a bit more than you'd like and a bit more than you'd expect given his compact swing; if he could cut down on those he could be a really fine top of the order hitter. The Expos mostly hit him 3rd or 4th because they lacked a really great option there - the two men on the team who finished ahead of Kahl in homeruns are better suited for lower down in the batting order due to both of their tendencies to never, ever walk. Kahl had a really nice year in the field and is coming off of winning the Gold Glove for his play in RF in 1972 so there's a great chance that there's going to be some repeat action going on there.
Paul Kahl at this point in his career is mostly a "set it and forget it" guy. At 29 years of age and still producing as well as ever, there's a solid chance he'll continue to be a major contributor to this team when they're ready to contend in 2-3 years.
Kenny Loggins
CL No. 23
LR, 5'10" 184 lbs.
Born 1948-08-19
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 QUE AA | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.35 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 1971 PEN AAA | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2.99 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 42.0 | 30 | 16 | 14 | 25 | 42 |
| 1971 MON MLB | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.70 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 25.2 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 18 |
| 1972 MON MLB | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2.67 | 46 | 9 | 1 | 124.1 | 92 | 38 | 37 | 55 | 74 |
| 1973 MON MLB | 6 | 6 | 25 | 2.07 | 73 | 0 | 0 | 95.1 | 83 | 29 | 22 | 50 | 77 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
The DANGER ZONE is pretty much the lone bright spot on this entire pitching staff and also a personal test of my own gutsiness: how often and for how long can I pitch a pure reliever? This is the time period where teams went a bit crazy with it: Mike Marshall IRL pitched more than 100 games and 200(!) IP in relief one year. I feel like I max out at around here: 70+ games, 100 or so IPs. Clearly I need to push harder, because Loggins was super good in the time that he did play.
Kenny Loggins throws a 2 seam fastball that climbs into the mid to upper 90s and a 12 to 6 curveball that murders hitters when it stays in the zone and sometimes when it doesn't. He just straight up did not allow HRs last year, literally just the 1 the entire season. He's got control issues otherwise but that's to be expected with his stuff. In 1972 he started 9 games and that might turn out to be his career starts total: Loggins is far, far better suited for relief.
The sky is the limit for this 25 year old pop singer. DANGER ZONE
Anton Mendoza
CF No. 34
RL, 5'11" 179 lbs.
Born 1945-08-02
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MON MLB | .288 | 103 | 386 | 41 | 111 | 17 | 4 | 7 | 40 | 14 | 29 | 4 |
| 1972 MON MLB | .216 | 114 | 408 | 31 | 88 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 24 | 26 | 40 | 5 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .266 | 108 | 425 | 45 | 113 | 19 | 6 | 3 | 34 | 13 | 39 | 7 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
1973 might go down for the Expos as the year where a bunch of their early expansion-era guys ceded turf to the next generation of guys who might one day lead this team into contention. Anton Mendoza was another victim of this trend. Even though he rebounded nicely from a very bad 1972 season at the plate, Mendoza still had the issue of just not being physically fast enough to play center field combined with not being anywhere near a good enough hitter to stick around in the corners. Mendoza's a smart, heady player but baseball IQ can only carry you so far when your physical speed is average at best. He does, to his credit, catch what he gets to. At the plate he really needs to hit in the .290s to provide positive value to the team as he doesn't draw walks and only rarely finds the gaps on balls in play.
Anton Mendoza probably has a few years left as a 4th or 5th outfielder but it's hard to project much more from him. He just turned 28 last month and already his center field defense has degraded to the point of unplayability, and, frankly, the Expos have better options (well, one better option in particular).
Willie Morales
1B No. 15
LL, 6'2" 199 lbs.
Born 1944-02-06
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MON MLB | .268 | 142 | 533 | 62 | 143 | 32 | 1 | 27 | 89 | 34 | 94 | 0 |
| 1972 MON MLB | .242 | 138 | 505 | 56 | 122 | 17 | 1 | 17 | 58 | 33 | 76 | 1 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .237 | 143 | 482 | 60 | 114 | 14 | 2 | 21 | 64 | 38 | 93 | 4 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Morales saw his power rebound a little bit last year but his batting average tumbled for the 2nd straight year and at this point it's fair to say that he has major issues with major league breaking pitches. He's one of those guys where you're like man if you could just take out the bad months, he'd be fine. Morales stunk in May (.173, 1, 8) and June (.207, 2, 5).
Of course, with guys like this the long slumps are as much a part of the game as the homerun binges are. Morales is a dead pull hitter who will hit a high inside fastball a country mile if you're dumb enough to toss one into him. If you throw him a slider that comes out looking like a meaty high-inside fastball, he will swing and miss at it like he was in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. The question of whether or not pitchers really fear him or not is kind of a moot point since Morales gets into stretches where he swings and often misses at everything anywhere near the strike zone. Last year he had only 30 unintentional walks and ended with an OBP under .300 (.295). Defensively he's a very good first baseman, so good that he won the Gold Glove in 1971 and is a contender for it this year.
Morales seems like he ought to be a platoon bat at best. He had 102 at-bats vs LHPs and was really, really bad: .167/2/10 with just 2 walks. With Montreal he's asked to fill a bigger role than he probably ought to.
Willie Ortega
LF/1B No. 9
RL, 6'4" 201 lbs.
Born 1943-12-28
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 PEN AAA | .209 | 67 | 177 | 17 | 37 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 6 | 26 | 0 |
| 1971 MON MLB | .171 | 27 | 76 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 0 |
| 1972 PEN AAA | .307 | 50 | 163 | 23 | 50 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 33 | 4 | 29 | 0 |
| 1972 MON MLB | .265 | 51 | 147 | 18 | 39 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 21 | 6 | 18 | 0 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .241 | 134 | 489 | 59 | 118 | 14 | 0 | 21 | 74 | 9 | 53 | 1 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Willie Ortega had a breakout season for the Expos, leading the team in both HRs and RBIs. That said, he did play less often in the second half - from August onwards he had just 16 starts - because he's a bit older than the overall youth movement. That probably isn't a good trend going into 1974 for him. Ortega has a very aggressive approach at the plate and will swing at just about anything near the strike zone. You can just see NL pitching adjusting to this over time and not giving him stuff too far over the plate in the future but for 73 at least he got plenty of chances. Ortega had just 7 unintentional walks all year and a .256 OBP. That's not great and you can see why he never broke out of AAA with stats like that. As a defender, he's a guy who stays in games because of his bat. Nobody will ever accuse Ortega of being a Gold Glover, let's just leave it at that.
Ortega is a guy who's looking for a payday. It feels like he's probably not going to get it. He's an interesting guy to have on your team but there are just too many holes in his game to entrust a lot of PAs to.
Steve Perry
C No. 28 RR, 5'11" 196 lbs. Born 1949-01-24
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 WPB A | .292 | 28 | 96 | 8 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 1 |
| 1971 QUE AA | .203 | 22 | 74 | 9 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 0 |
| 1972 QUE AA | .227 | 97 | 220 | 26 | 50 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 26 | 20 | 28 | 1 |
| 1973 PEN AAA | .290 | 108 | 369 | 41 | 107 | 29 | 0 | 9 | 60 | 50 | 53 | 0 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .205 | 22 | 78 | 5 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Perry, a 4th round pick in 1970, has never been a particularly highly rated prospect in the Expos' organization but he turned in the kind of season at AAA Peninsula last year that turned heads. Yeah, he was overwhelmed by big league pitching. The rock star - Perry sings for a band called "Journey" in his free time, and I will never not confuse them with Foreigner - showed some good contact ability plus a knack for getting on base. Perry loves to sidle right up to the side of the plate and that led to him reaching base 10 times via hit by pitch at the AAA level last year. It's not the best way, necessarily, of getting on, but it works, I guess. He's pretty average defensively and come on, he's a catcher if you were even asking about his speed.
Perry will get every chance there is to get to take the starting job in spring training. Will he take advantage? I don't have a crystal ball.
Richard Pulido
MR No. 31
RL, 5'12" 195 lbs.
Born 1945-08-08
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 DEN AAA | 7 | 5 | 1 | 3.16 | 21 | 13 | 3 | 108.0 | 94 | 44 | 38 | 35 | 36 |
| 1971 TEX MLB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.37 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 16.0 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| 1972 DEN AAA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.43 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| 1972 TOL AAA | 11 | 5 | 0 | 2.71 | 20 | 20 | 5 | 149.0 | 131 | 48 | 45 | 32 | 85 |
| 1972 DET MLB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 1973 MON MLB | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3.17 | 58 | 2 | 1 | 82.1 | 82 | 31 | 29 | 25 | 39 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Hey, not every late-20s Expos non-prospect has big, game-breaking issues. Montreal picked up Pulido over the offseason in exchange for a similarly troubled former prospect Armany Pinkney (2-1, 2.91 at AAA Toledo) and, since Pulido moved to the team that needed pitching much more desperately, he was dropped straight into a middle relief role that he managed to cover all season long. Pulido did a good, solid job as the Expos' situational left-hander. LOOGYs don't exist in this era but he was a solid... LOIGY? I've probably used that before. Pulido actually had good enough stuff to pitch an extra inning when needed and his platoon splits, to be honest, were about even.
There's no reason why Pulido can't continue in this particular role for some time to come. Maybe he'll even be a trade chip for some nice prospect coming in from a team who needs a good reliever much more than the Expos do.
Erik Schnipke
MR/SP No. 36
LR, 5'11" 200 lbs.
Born 1942-10-19
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 NYM MLB | 6 | 5 | 0 | 3.42 | 35 | 7 | 0 | 84.0 | 80 | 33 | 32 | 35 | 66 |
| 1972 MON MLB | 4 | 6 | 23 | 2.94 | 67 | 0 | 0 | 97.2 | 63 | 36 | 32 | 46 | 70 |
| 1973 MON MLB | 3 | 7 | 0 | 4.71 | 37 | 12 | 2 | 105.0 | 116 | 69 | 55 | 71 | 67 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Schnipe looked pretty good as the Expos' stopper in 1972 but it all fell apart pretty, pretty quickly in 1973. After 4 pretty awful relief appearances - 4 ER in 4.2 IP on 9 hits, including a blown save - he found himself on the DL with a strained elbow and when he came back the lone bright spot on this team, Kenny "Danger Zone" Loggins had taken his spot. From there Montreal did what they could with him. A trip to the rotation from late May to mid-July did not go well - Schnipke was 3-6, 4.52 - and although he looked back on form with a 2.16 August, the lack of regular time got to him and he was just plain terrible in September - 5 appearances, 3 IP, 10 hits 5 ER. It was all in all a tough year for the now-30 year old.
Schnipe throws 4 pitches for strikes, his best of which is a pretty solid curveball. He's got the stamina at least to start although last year he lacked the kind of consistency you need from a starter. He doesn't really have the kind of velo you normally want from your closer anyway so maybe middle relief would be better... although as noted, Schnipke seems to require regular playing time to really excel and middle relief in the early 70s is not going to get you there. His K rate has been going down over each of the last 4 years now. Not the greatest trend!
Where does Schnipke go in 1974? He wasn't very good but neither were a lot of Expos and he at least has a history of doing better.
Allen Scurry
CF No. 30
RR, 6'1" 204 lbs.
Born 1945-11-30
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 KC MLB | .242 | 131 | 425 | 54 | 103 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 57 | 66 | 68 | 7 |
| 1972 KC MLB | .222 | 76 | 176 | 20 | 39 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 26 | 26 | 4 |
| 1973 PEN AAA | .259 | 21 | 81 | 6 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| 1973 OMA AAA | .222 | 23 | 81 | 7 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 11 | 0 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .175 | 24 | 80 | 5 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 0 |
| 1973 KC MLB | .224 | 18 | 49 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Montreal purchased Scurry from the Royals in July and, after a stint at AAA Peninsula, called him up to provide adequate outfield defense when Arsene Wegner wasn't available or had been pulled for a pinch-hitter. Scurry's a .229 career hitter and not a fantastic fielder by any stretch so even this proved to be a bit larger role than he truly deserved. To make matters worse, Scurry carried the reputation for being a clubhouse lawyer in Kansas City along with him to Canada and did not make a lot of friends in the locker room.
Scurry seems a great bet to begin the season either at Peninsula or released from the roster entirely. At 27 he seems just about out of big league chances.
Victor Serna
3B No. 26
RR, 5'10" 184 lbs.
Born 1940-10-18
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 PHI MLB | .200 | 142 | 509 | 66 | 102 | 19 | 3 | 22 | 71 | 73 | 115 | 4 |
| 1972 EUG AAA | .142 | 36 | 120 | 13 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 2 |
| 1972 PHI MLB | .189 | 47 | 127 | 13 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 15 | 28 | 4 |
| 1973 PEN AAA | .200 | 6 | 20 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .318 | 31 | 110 | 18 | 35 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 26 | 17 | 27 | 2 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
In a previous life, Victor Serna was the 3rd baseman for the Phillies from 1966 to 1971. He was always an all-or-nothing kind of guy and in his last two seasons with Philadelphia his swings and misses became problematic. Philadelphia finally cut ties with him after a rough 1972 season that saw him not only lose his starting job but get demoted to the minor leagues for a while. Montreal snapped him up, intending to use him as their third baseman until prospects were ready... but the prospects got ready much earlier than they thought they'd be and in spite of what was looking like a decent comeback season Serna was demoted to AAA Peninsula in mid-May and rarely used before a late September call back to the major leagues.
Serna surely still has value left, even if he's unlikely to hit even within a hundred points of the .318 average he put up last year. He's played a grand total of one game at first base in his career but he's a good enough fielder overall that he could surely pick the position up quickly enough to be a platoon mate for Willy Morales. In the meantime he can still pick it at both 2nd and 3rd. He's a decent clubhouse guy although ideally you want to give him a set role as he doesn't react to change well. I don't think Serna's major league career is over just yet.
Matt Shaver
SP No. 16
RR, 5'11" 187 lbs.
Born 1945-01-04
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 TID AAA | 7 | 16 | 0 | 4.69 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 197.1 | 172 | 111 | 103 | 172 | 125 |
| 1972 PEN AAA | 12 | 11 | 0 | 5.38 | 29 | 29 | 1 | 189.0 | 190 | 122 | 113 | 123 | 172 |
| 1973 PEN AAA | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2.27 | 15 | 15 | 1 | 103.0 | 88 | 32 | 26 | 41 | 94 |
| 1973 MON MLB | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4.46 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 88.2 | 80 | 48 | 44 | 55 | 56 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Matt Shaver is the kind of nondescript AAA starter promoted into the rotation that you expect to see from first year expansion teams but not so much 5th year ones. I guess it should be noted that he had a monster start at AAA Peninsula that included 8.2 Ks per 9 innings, but whatever hope the Expos had that Shaver had suddenly turned a corner turned out to be for naught.
Shaver throws a nice forkball and a good 2-seamer that conspire, especially when he's pitching in relief, to keep the ball inside of the park. Last year he was a loooot worse in relief (8.44 ERA coming out of the bullpen - yuck!) but that was due to his real issue, control. If anything, the Matt Shaver you see today is significantly improved as a pitcher (as opposed to a thrower) than 2 years ago when he walked 7.8 men per 9 innings in AAA Tidewater while in the Mets organization. He still walks way too many guys. The wild stuff is kind of exactly what you'd want in a short reliever and perhaps at 28 it's time to make a transition like that - on the other hand, ain't no way he's supplanting the DANGER ZONE at that spot.
If you could handle platooning better, Shaver's a guy who absolutely shuts down right-handed hitting, holding them to a 223/308/346 triple slash and yeah, not even walking *that* many guys. You just can't avoid lefties in this era though and so Shaver's compromised.
Harry Turtledove
OF/1B No. 47
LR, 6'0" 197 lbs.
Born 1949-06-15
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 WPB A | .282 | 64 | 238 | 21 | 67 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 29 | 31 | 43 | 2 |
| 1971 QUE AA | .306 | 12 | 49 | 5 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| 1972 QUE AA | .302 | 59 | 199 | 22 | 60 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 31 | 25 | 2 |
| 1972 PEN AAA | .331 | 77 | 275 | 49 | 91 | 16 | 3 | 9 | 44 | 42 | 37 | 0 |
| 1973 PEN AAA | .322 | 65 | 239 | 38 | 77 | 18 | 0 | 9 | 26 | 29 | 34 | 0 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .273 | 76 | 264 | 35 | 72 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 48 | 34 | 32 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Montreal has aggressively promoted Harry Turtledove, who was a 4th round draft pick in 1971, and so far he hasn't shied away from the support. The speculative fiction author hit for power for the first time in his young pro career, a nice add. He displaced Willie Ortega in left in the second half of the season; no offense to Ortega but Turtledove has a much more well-rounded game.
Scouts do think that 12 HRs is about the extent of Turtledove's power potential. He doesn't appear to be a guy who's going to lead the league in average either, although he had approximately one full season in AAA Peninsula between getting sent up from AA Quebec in 1972 and getting promoted to the majors where he hit well over .300, so maybe the scouts are wrong about that. Turtledove does have good plate discipline and strike zone recognition, but he's neither hawkish enough at avoiding Ks nor fast enough to beat out hits to ever be a .300 man... so the scouts say. He's a good solid corner outfielder, good enough to maybe even play center in a pinch if somebody got hurt or something.
Despite the fast track to the majors, there's nothing really about Harry Turtledove's game that screams superstar in the making. He ought to be pretty decent and doesn't have the kind of hype surrounding him that would make fans disappointed about this.
Omar Villegas
C No. 32
RR, 6'2" 200 lbs.
Born 1948-09-04
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 QUE AA | .279 | 17 | 61 | 9 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| 1971 PEN AAA | .236 | 58 | 195 | 27 | 46 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 28 | 37 | 33 | 0 |
| 1971 MON MLB | .190 | 37 | 79 | 11 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 24 | 0 |
| 1972 QUE AA | .294 | 31 | 102 | 12 | 30 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 1 |
| 1972 PEN AAA | .270 | 88 | 311 | 41 | 84 | 19 | 2 | 12 | 51 | 38 | 63 | 0 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .210 | 49 | 119 | 13 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 21 | 25 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
If Casey Stengel existed in this league he'd tell you that Omar Villegas is a 25 year old kid who's got a great chance to be 35 in ten years. I'll add to that that backup catching being what it is, I wouldn't be super surprised if he's still playing somewhere at that point. Villegas put together a good year in 1972 between Quebec and Peninsula to earn a backup job and even got some platoon PT during the summer. He didn't hit for quite as much power as he'd displayed in the minors. Scouts do like his ability to foul off pitches that aren't to his liking; this generates a good number of walks and if it still means that he strikes out too much, you can rest assured a little bit knowing that Villegas wouldn't be beating out too terribly many infield singles anyway. He's a shade better than Norman Engelman defensively in all aspects of the game.
I suspect Villegas will be supplanted by Steve Perry, although Perry didn't exactly wow anyone with his own big league showing last year. He's certainly in the mix.
Danny Waters
2B/3B No. 1
LR, 5'10" 194 lbs.
Born 1946-01-26
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 NYM MLB | .224 | 92 | 254 | 34 | 57 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 25 | 34 | 56 | 1 |
| 1972 PEN AAA | .302 | 20 | 63 | 10 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 6 | 13 | 0 |
| 1972 MON MLB | .187 | 72 | 171 | 22 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 21 | 38 | 2 |
| 1973 PEN AAA | .272 | 46 | 151 | 23 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 35 | 17 | 39 | 1 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .250 | 72 | 180 | 25 | 45 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 29 | 35 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Danny Waters, aka "Mister Nice Guy", is sometimes too nice for his own good. Back in 1970 - 4 years ago now - he looked like he was going to be the next big thing for the Mets as he posted a .295 average with good gap power in 36 games. Since then major league success has been fleeting as Waters, it seems, has been too willing to just take what is given to him rather than excite with a more aggressive approach. On the plus side of that it does get him on base a good amount; on the minus side the passivity has cut into his average so that he's now carrying just a .234 career mark.
1973 saw Waters play significant time at both 2nd and 3rd base. He can also play left field as well as shortstop in a pinch or first base, although you'd want him to hit a whole lot better than he does to do that with any regularity. Even though the lefty hitter was mostly used in a platoon role he managed to hit same-handed hitters better than righties (.286 vs .243, granted that small sample size abounds). Overall, Waters turned in a solid season, but is it too late in his career for him to turn that into a starting job?
Hudson Watts
2B/SS No. 27
RR, 5'10" 185 lbs.
Born 1947-05-17
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 PEN AAA | .293 | 26 | 99 | 10 | 29 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 9 | 4 |
| 1971 MON MLB | .230 | 51 | 174 | 14 | 40 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 16 | 34 | 6 |
| 1972 PEN AAA | .302 | 16 | 53 | 6 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 3 |
| 1972 MON MLB | .257 | 123 | 471 | 61 | 121 | 23 | 3 | 11 | 48 | 63 | 60 | 11 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .287 | 98 | 338 | 63 | 97 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 34 | 50 | 54 | 15 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Hudson Watts missed the last month of the year with a hamstring injury, which was too bad for the Expos because he was on pace to completely avoid the classic sophomore slump. As it stands, in 150 fewer at-bats in his second season, Watts still managed to set career highs in triples, runs scored, and steals, and also hit 30 points higher than he did in 1972 to boot. That was enough for the 26 year old to represent Montreal in the All-Star Game for the second time in 2 years.
It's hard to believe that people are actually a little disappointed by Watts' play so far in his career. I guess that's what happens when you're the first overall pick (as he was in 1970); if you aren't one of the top few players in the league, some think you're a bust. A more realistic assessment shows that he's a stud, one of the best second basemen in baseball and the protoypical 2-hole hitter. He's got an easy swing that generates lots of line drives. Last year he chose to swing for the fences quite as often; the result was fewer homers but more singles and doubles (at least on a per at-bat basis). Watts has got solid bat control and enough speed to keep pitching honest when the middle part of the order comes to bat. He can sometimes commit some unforced errors in the field but otherwise is a solid defender. The one thing he doesn't really do that a #2 guy should do is bunt well; he did lay down 2 sacrifice hits but it's not a forte of his.
Watts is less of a clubhouse leader and more of a guy who sits in the locker room and fulfills his role. If the Expos do climb into contention or even average-ness over the next few years, Hudson will be a big part of why.
Arsene Wegner
CF No. 19
RR, 5'11" 180 lbs.
Born 1949-10-10
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 VIS A | .217 | 6 | 23 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| 1971 PB A | .242 | 41 | 161 | 17 | 39 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 11 | 31 | 11 |
| 1971 MEM AA | .193 | 34 | 119 | 14 | 23 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 23 | 7 |
| 1972 QUE AA | .297 | 44 | 158 | 26 | 47 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 24 | 21 | 16 | 7 |
| 1972 PEN AAA | .242 | 85 | 351 | 62 | 85 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 40 | 29 | 66 | 15 |
| 1972 MON MLB | .235 | 13 | 51 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 1 |
| 1973 PEN AAA | .271 | 106 | 409 | 56 | 111 | 21 | 6 | 8 | 41 | 31 | 59 | 11 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .243 | 43 | 181 | 21 | 44 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 11 | 29 | 2 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Is it too early to project stardom on this 24 year old soccer enthusiast? The raw offensive numbers don't jump out at you but they don't reveal the true threat of Wegner, which is that he is an absolutely fantastic, as in this guy should win multiple Gold Gloves, defensive centerfielder. Few players have the kind of range afield that Wegner does. There are men who have the equal in terms of arm strength (although Arsenal Arsenal did kill 10 baserunners in AAA before getting the call) and guys who make more of their skillsets - maybe - but when it's all said and done Wegner could be remembered as one of the best to play the game.
Offensively he's... fine. I'm reminded of Texas Rangers CF Norm Hodge: when you save as many runs as he does in the field, you don't necessarily need to put up gaudy offensive numbers to make your mark. Nevertheless Wegner had 49 extra-base hits between AAA and the major leagues and that's nothing to sneeze at. It'd be really ideal if he improved his pitch recognition skills and walked a little bit more, but even at that Wegner, shall we say, supplemented his on-base abilities by leaning into pitches and getting hit by them 12 times last year. He stole 35 bases in college - sure, yeah, college, he totally played baseball in college - but hasn't seen his obvious speed translate to being a plus-plus baserunner in the pros. At 24, that's probably not going to happen.
Wegner's a guy you really should just install at one spot and leave. Fortunately for him and for Montreal, it should be pretty easy to stick him in CF every day and bat... well, I guess that's the question there. You probably don't want to hit him at the top of the order but you don't really want to be thinking about pinch-hitting for him a lot either. Where to bat this guy?
George Yarbor
SS No. 7
SR, 5'11" 200 lbs.
Born 1946-06-05
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MON MLB | .249 | 124 | 438 | 51 | 109 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 41 | 48 | 70 | 7 |
| 1972 MON MLB | .227 | 110 | 365 | 38 | 83 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 29 | 39 | 57 | 6 |
| 1973 MON MLB | .243 | 147 | 519 | 50 | 126 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 37 | 48 | 96 | 3 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
The fact that Yarbor has been the Expos' starting shortstop in every season but the first is less of a testament to his talent and more to how hard it is to find a good shortstop who can do everything you need. Yarbor was a 2nd round draft pick by the Braves in 1968 who then came over to the Expos in a minor league transaction in the expansion year. He was called up to the major league roster by the end of the season and has basically stuck around with the club since then in spite of not actually doing anything all that well.
Yarbor batted 7th and 8th for most of the season but just on the basis of playing every day accumulated anough games played to finish 8th in the NL in strikeouts. He just doesn't hit well enough to overcome that and the team was lucky that he even hit .243. He combines that average, such as it is, with a pretty low walk rate - 5 of those 48 walks were intentional and he OBPed only .309 on the season - and not a lot of hard liners to the gaps at all. Defensively his arm is better suited for second base but the Expos already have a stud at that position in Hudson Watts and frankly this bat can barely justify shortstop as it is. Speaking of which, though, scouts graded him as one of the worst in the league, a step above the guys who are there purely for their bat like Jeremy Taylor of the Cubs and Tony Shannon of the Phillies but several steps behind the mediocre ones like Houston's Masanori Hattori.
The Expos saw a bit of 23 year old Barbadian politician Owen Arthur (.250, 1, 7 and .293, 5, 44 at AAA Peninsula) in September. They liked what they saw enough to let him compete in spring training for the job. Will this finally be the end of the line for Yarbor? Tune in and find out!