Spitters 2060 Preview

[DRiccio21]

New England fans are happy to see the 50's past us and into 60's with a new decade and hopefully a new outlook on Spitters baseball. The mediocrity of the Spitters franchise stemmed from a period of complacency following the 1942 title run but with some of the players in the system not even alive when that title came, it's time the Spitters wake up and reenter the world of competitive baseball. 2059 saw a team that met average win goals and barely missed out on a playoff birth.

The 2060 team sees much of the same faces with hopes another year of growth can lead to the next step of a playoff birth and closing the gap on the Vice lock as class of the East.


Rotation

Julio Rincon, 29 -- The knuckleballer gives productive innings and when the specialty pitch is working can be unhittable. Finished 2059 with 222 ip and a 1.14 WHIP.

Daniel Clendennon, 36 -- The maligned vet has been cast off to bullpen roles, injured and waived in his time in NE but following a year of recovery from a devastating injury was thrown into a starting role last year and pitched lights out almost every 5th day. He'll get a chance to keep that role in 2060.

Tom Hensley, 29 -- The big righty was solid in 2059 but wasn't able to match his productive 2058 season. He is best suited as a mid-back end rotation guy and thats where he'll be used this year.

Ruben Perez, 27 -- Perez is a former 1st round pick who was sort of lost in the shuffle with the other early picks the Spitters had but has shown to be a solid option in the last few years. Last season he took 27 starts and posted a 4.26 ERA. He's going to be given a chance to see if he can develop this season.

Jim Foster, 25 -- Foster is another 1st round pick, he's yet to put together a solid season but we're hoping he can develop to earn a spot in the rotation and the lofty pick we used on him.

Bullpen -- The Spitters back end was again the strength of the team after a few years of russian roulette in the late innings. Armando Rosado, Don Moore and Jon Marquardt will eat the bulk of the important late innings.



LINEUP

1) Luis Torres, 26, LF -- The face of the franchise, Guns added a gold glove to his 'ho hum' 230 hit/73 sb season. One of the best leadoff guys in the game.

2) Tadiyuki Kobayashi, 25, 2b -- Booker made some strides in 2059 posting slightly more respectable hitting numbers while playing a solid SS. This year he'll slide to 2b as the team tries to improve their IF defense by promoting a SS.

3) Kel Sampson, 24, 1b/DH -- Kel burst onto the scene in 2059 finishing 2nd in the AL rookie of the year race posting a .935 OPS with 28 HR's and 36 2b's in just under 500 ab's. A full slate of AB's in 2060 should see those numbers increase significantly.

4) Oliver Garcia, 31, RF -- The former HR champ regained some form in 2059 with 39 HR's and 101 RBI's. If he can keep that type of production at the plate, he's filling his role nicely.

5) Jiro Morita, 26, C -- The left handed hitting C was given a full diet of AB's in 2059 and it seemed to overwhelm him at times. The team sees alot of promise in his bat and hopes another full season will get him on track to be the dangerous hitter we see him having the potential to be.

6) John Becker, 23, 1b/DH -- Becker was given 350 AB's last season and saw some ups and downs in his rookie campaign. The team isn't worried at all and expects him to be a cornerstone piece of the offense as he's produced consistently at every level. A breakout candidate in 2060.

7) Kevin Bowman/Manuel Rivera, (25/26), CF -- A spring training battle for the CF role will be held between these two. Another option the team has considered would be moving Torres back to CF and promoting a corner OF. For now Bowman and Rivera will be given a chance to earn a job.

8) Elias Foster/Ricardo Rangel (23/26) 3b -- The hot corner is currently a hot mess and the team continues to look for options in free agency/trade market to fill the need.

9) Moromao Iwata, 22, SS -- A defensive option is being thrown to the wolves in an attempt to solidify the interior of the defense. While this is still a fluid situation, the Spitters don't mind giving up 3-4 outs per game if they can save a few with this guy in the field with Kobayashi sliding to 2b. If he hits .190 it would be a miracle.


Bench -- The bench is pretty bare with some backups, but one name to watch is 21 year old Pedro 'Snacks' Flores who has shown a + bat and may sneak into a corner outfield spot at some point this season.


Overall, the Spitters feel like they've improved their defense and have a young and dangerous developing 1-6 in their lineup. If they figure out how to fill a few positions of need at CF/3b the offense should be good enough to win games. The pitching is still lacking the dominant arm to carry a team thru a long season. With capable, young arms, the team is capable of getting hot but not consistent enough to get long winning streaks going. The most important factor for the team this season will be a consistent back end of the rotation and progression of the young bats, along with health.

The outlook for the team is an optimistic 89 win season and sneaking into a wild card spot.

[Wasted Memory]

Good read as usual Dave. Good luck to the Spitters this season. It's going to be a tough road in the AL this season for those WC spots.

[Cnasty]

Sad state of baseball in New England/Boston when the Spitters are the clearly better team of the area.

Make us proud.

[DRWebs]

Great core of young bats (Morita, Sampson, Becker, Kobayashi, Torres) to keep the Spitters in the hunt for years to come. Only a matter of time before Wonder Boy is dealt and closing out games in New England in October

[wdoupis]

Good looking team that should be right in the thick of the playoff race. I think Atlanta and NE can make that division more competitive then people think.

[The_Niddler]

I think Atlanta and NE can make that division more competitive then people think.

I am pulling for both Atlanta and NE.
Always been a fan of NE and I like seeing kdog back and active.