Season 19 Preview - AL East

Edham’s team no longer lives in the dark ages. The team that was once the league doormat, is now a powerhouse that came within one game of winning their first world series. The Thunder is basically the same group of guys and for them to return to the big stage it will take the same level of effort and to stay healthy.

Bbartel is no longer "winging" it, and has put together another solid club this season. The big Red machine features Rijo, Fossum, and returning MVP Mitch Gleason. Their defense is solid, and the pitching staff just got that much better with the call up of super rookie Valezquez. If not for the loss of free agent starter, Wally Holt, this team would be even better. Expect them to come on strong and to give Trenton a run for their money. Not in the division race, but when they meet again in the playoffs.

The PawSox, now under ownership of nosi for the 3^rd year, are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Trenton and Rochester are both turning into juggernauts. That leaves the PawSox floundering trying to find their identity. Eventually they will have to make a decision…rebuild or start spending. Staying in between is a guarantee for either a third or last place finish.

Some say that Jose has a stealth rebuild going on. That’s partially true. It appears that he is making his defense better while maintaining a good pitching staff focused more on the bullpen. The Cats are going with a four man rotation, but really only two are of good quality. Their FIP will take a hit with the group of pitchers they do have, since defense can only help so much.They won't contend this season, but the Rock Cats have always found a way to land on their feet.

Season 19 Preview - NL East

Alcheez had to be the sickest man in the MiLB last year. Losing a tiebreak instead of getting the chance to fight it out with the Indians, the Bats were on the outside looking in.

The Bats finished in the middle for both runs scored and runs allowed. With another year under their belt, super stars Ubaldo Diaz and Bill White are just plain scary. The pitching staff is mediocre, but with the offense that much improved (and Jepsen on the way) expect AL to ride into the playoffs.

Next season is when the young pitching prospects arrive in force. Louisville will be a force for several years.

Jpg and his band of Indigenous Peoples of Indiana slipped into the playoffs last year only to get swept by Memphis. But they had a good time spending  $120 million to get there (3^rd highest in the league). What was troubling about the Indians was their defense and pitching FIP. Team FIP was not great, 4.40, but and they gave up 4.68 runs per game (23^rd in the league.)

In the off season they kept pretty much the same group of pitchers except picking up Alfonseca. They also added a little bit of defense, but not enough to really improve that much on their runs allowed. Offensively, this team got tremendously better by going after Grover Singleton. He isn’t a slugger in the classical sense, but that’s not what is needed in Indy. He will be a doubles machine that can steal some bases and play a little defense. A marked improvement. I’m not sure if they will meet their expectations of getting into the playoffs, but they should get close. If Louisville falters they will sneak in. Again.

Dhyatt spent money to get some offense from Lawrence and Delahanty. But the other fill in’s do more to hurt the team. The defense is in bad shape, and the pitching staff isn’t good. Frankly, I’m not sure what the identity of this team is supposed to be. They should be in a full rebuild after finishing last in runs scored and second to last in runs allowed. Their FIP is 28^th, yet payroll last year was $75 million.

 

My old buddy dilo continues his rebuilding project in Norfolk. So far he has done amazingly well. Flores, Aparicio, Nunez, and Jimenez are a year older and better. The team is a solid defensive team; and with solid pitching FIP should get better.

What makes a good FIP pitcher? Great control, velocity, and groundball ratings (low walk rate, high number of k’s, and low number of HR).

Richards = good all around; Trevino = bad in all areas; Salazar = decent control; Mujica = bad in all areas; Franco = only lacking velocity. As you can see…Only one really good FIP pitcher (Richards), two okay fip pitchers (Franco/Salazar), and two really bad FIP pitchers (Trevino/Mujica). How can this team get better? Maybe one more bat that can still play defense, and replace Franco/Salazar with pitchers that will be better suited to the kind of defense that has been built. Knowing dilo he has a plan and I'm curious to see where the club goes from here. I suspect the Tide will come rolling in sometime REAL soon.