Tampa Bay Fighting Hamsters : mirky (6th season)
Last Season: 44-118 (4th)
Key Additions: NONE
Key Losses: Pat Murphy
Outlook: At first glance it may appear mirky is asleep at the wheel but don’t be fooled by the lack of off season acquisitions. The past several seasons have been spent gathering and developing young talent and it appears they are ready for the big show. Nineteen of the twenty five players on Tampa’s ML roster are 25 and under, with rookie of the year candidate Jeff Simpkins leading the way. The loss of last season’s HR leader, Pat Murphy via trade, shouldn’t have a huge impact on the lineup as this team is still loaded with power at several positions. Felipe Rodriguez could be a future all-star pitcher but the rest of the youngsters have a ways to go. Look for this team to improve but not compete for the division.
San Juan Wizards : patrickm885 (6th season)
Last Season: 81-81 (2nd)
Key Additions: Albert Javier (FA), Dick Jordan (RULE 5)
Key Losses: Timo Kondou (FA), Glenn Minor (FA)
Outlook: After winning the division and making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history during Season 8, the Wizards followed up with a disappointing 81-81 record and a second place finish. Still hopes should remain high in San Juan as large amount of young talent surrounded by some solid vets should have this team competing for the division again. Twenty one year old 2B Brad Terrell leads a slew of young talented hitters that will occupy the middle of a dangerous lineup. Pitching will once again be the biggest problem for the Wizards who lack a true #1 starter. The addition of Albert Javier should improve the team’s bullpen but many holes still remain. Expect San Juan to challenge Charleston for the division title.
El Paso Elephants : cshort13 (1st season)
Last Season: 65-97 (3rd) As the San Antonio Shadow Boxers
Key Additions: Brian Morris (TRADE), Fernando Zapata (WAIVERS), Darwin Meyers (FA)
Key Losses: Kris Richardson (RELEASED), Albert Lane (FA), Hunter Donatello (TRADE), Orel Spradlin (TRADE)
Outlook: First year owner cshort13 takes over a franchise that has seen five different owners and only one winning season. Much work needs to be done after last season’s 65-97 3rd place finish and it appears cshort13 is up to the task. Several moves have already been made letting the Ruth World know this he’s ready to start molding this team into a consistent winner. Player budgets have been cut, down 22 million from last season, with the money going to bringing in young talent for the future. The losses of Kris Richardson and Albert Lane allowed the team to cut payroll but have left the team without a star. Youngster Jimmy Hayes will have to carry this offense on most nights for this team to be successful. Rookie Eugene Wilkins could be a bright spot on a rather average staff. Don’t look for much ML production out of the Elephants this season but the future looks bright!
Charleston Charge : r0b0t (10th season)
Last Season: 83-79, (1st)
Key Additions: Mark Morgan (RULE 5)
Key Losses: Javier Terrero (FA)
Outlook: Don’t fix what isn’t broken. The Charge, lead by owner r0b0t, captured their 8th division title last season and made the playoffs for the 9th strait time. Few changes have been made to this lineup despite tying a franchise worst 83-79 record last season and falling out of the playoffs early once again. Still the Charge should continue to be the team to beat in the NL South. A powerful line up lead by Peter Belinda and the resurgent Alex Belliard will keep opposing pitchers awake at night (that is if imaginary baseball players sleep). Under 30 starters Danny Lennon and Rodrigo Gutierrez should lead a well balance staff into the post season for a 10th strait season. Despite the success in the division Charleston fans have to wonder if this team will ever repeat their Season 1 playoff success…
Monday, August 18, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Update this!
As season 10 approaches it appears season 9 came and went without a single post. Congrats Tacoma on winning its second straight World Series. I will work on an update of some of the career stats but could use some help in keeping this going.
Forthcoming previews:
AL North and East- Briancampos
Thursday, April 17, 2008
The League's Predictions
Who will square off in the Season 8 World Series? Let's see what the owners of Ruth World think heading into the playoffs.
Syracuse Snow Belt (73% picked to win AL)
No surprise here, Syracuse got the bulk of the votes for good reason. The top seed won 111 games through the impressive combination of the AL's most runs scored and least runs allowed. B.J. Karl will miss the playoffs, but I don't see that hurting the Snow Belt too much. Aurilia still leads an incredibly patient offensive attack, and late innings are not a problem as Hitchcock and the bullpen slams the door on teams. After a three-season vacation from the series, Syracuse has to be feeling good about their chances for a fourth trip to the fall classic.
San Francisco Flaxseeds (13.5%)
Like Syracuse, SF has been to the postseason every season and seeks their second WS title. They'll have to get past Philadelphia or Cincinnati in the second round, then probably Syracuse in the ALCS, to get that chance. Sammy Manzanillo has been watching the last 20+ games from the bench, so he should be well rested and ready to return to the 3-hole.
Philadelphia Freedoms (13.5%)
Big Trevor Donovan and crew wants to replace the bad taste left from last season's first round sweep at the hands of San Francisco. They're back in the postseason for the second time in their history after winning the AL East. But the injury bug hit knocking SP Tom Slaughter out for the season, which hurts even more in a short series. (I also want to give credit to desanders for giving an impartial prediction, he's the only owner who picked his team to win the pennant but lose the WS.)
Editor's Pick: Syracuse- this team's stacked. Tops in pitching and hitting, they're primed to make a run at another title.
NL
Tacoma Pixies (50% picked to win NL)
Even scarier than the Pixies' 118 wins is that they actually didn't reach their expected win total (123). As long as you know who stays HIV-free, expect to see him in almost every playoff game. With a 3.07 team ERA, the NL's 2nd best scoring offense, and a record even better on the road, Tacoma's in good shape to reach their third WS in four seasons.
Chicago Boomtown (32%)
The three 20-game winners- Bryant, Walsh and Rando- combined for 921 IP, a 2.60 ERA, and a 75-20 record. They won't have room for error, as they'd likely have to go through the top two offenses in the NL to reach their first WS. But in the back of every Chicago fan's head lies our least favorite four words ... "Wait till next year."
Los Angeles Knights (9%)
Cy Young candidate Luis Johnson leads an impressive Knights club fresh off their second straight WC berth and a 101-win season. The offense is balanced throughout, but they'll really need to click in order to get past a new and improved San Juan team in the first round, Tacoma in the second round, and probably Chicago or St Louis in the NLCS. The pitching is strong enough to carry them if the bats can provide some run support.
St. Louis Armstrongs (9%)
The defending NL Champion Armstrongs are just as strong as last season, led by the top offense in the league and 3-time defending NL MVP Marvin Aurilia. They'll be without their CF and SS for part of the round 2 matchup with Chicago, but that shouldn't affect their potent offense. The top 3 SPs- Springer, Mendez and Franco- can be lethal, and will key how far the team goes as the offense will put up runs.
Editor's Pick: Chicago- sorry, gotta do it. Not just because I'm biased, but also because in a short series all you'll see is the three horsemen. It's tough to beat one of them, moreover all of them.
World Series Winner
So who do we think will take home the title?
Tacoma (42%)
Chicago (26.5%)
Los Angeles (10.5%)
Syracuse (10.5%)
San Francisco (5.25%)
St. Louis (5.25%)
The most common World Series matchup prediction was Tacoma vs. Syracuse (36% chose this matchup), with the Pixies picked as the winner in all but one of those matchups- I wonder who that one was?
Good luck to all the playoff teams, it's time to see who the Nostradamus' of the world are.
*Note that not everyone voted, and percentages were rounded.
ALSyracuse Snow Belt (73% picked to win AL)
No surprise here, Syracuse got the bulk of the votes for good reason. The top seed won 111 games through the impressive combination of the AL's most runs scored and least runs allowed. B.J. Karl will miss the playoffs, but I don't see that hurting the Snow Belt too much. Aurilia still leads an incredibly patient offensive attack, and late innings are not a problem as Hitchcock and the bullpen slams the door on teams. After a three-season vacation from the series, Syracuse has to be feeling good about their chances for a fourth trip to the fall classic.
San Francisco Flaxseeds (13.5%)
Like Syracuse, SF has been to the postseason every season and seeks their second WS title. They'll have to get past Philadelphia or Cincinnati in the second round, then probably Syracuse in the ALCS, to get that chance. Sammy Manzanillo has been watching the last 20+ games from the bench, so he should be well rested and ready to return to the 3-hole.
Philadelphia Freedoms (13.5%)
Big Trevor Donovan and crew wants to replace the bad taste left from last season's first round sweep at the hands of San Francisco. They're back in the postseason for the second time in their history after winning the AL East. But the injury bug hit knocking SP Tom Slaughter out for the season, which hurts even more in a short series. (I also want to give credit to desanders for giving an impartial prediction, he's the only owner who picked his team to win the pennant but lose the WS.)
Editor's Pick: Syracuse- this team's stacked. Tops in pitching and hitting, they're primed to make a run at another title.
NL
Tacoma Pixies (50% picked to win NL)
Even scarier than the Pixies' 118 wins is that they actually didn't reach their expected win total (123). As long as you know who stays HIV-free, expect to see him in almost every playoff game. With a 3.07 team ERA, the NL's 2nd best scoring offense, and a record even better on the road, Tacoma's in good shape to reach their third WS in four seasons.
Chicago Boomtown (32%)
The three 20-game winners- Bryant, Walsh and Rando- combined for 921 IP, a 2.60 ERA, and a 75-20 record. They won't have room for error, as they'd likely have to go through the top two offenses in the NL to reach their first WS. But in the back of every Chicago fan's head lies our least favorite four words ... "Wait till next year."
Los Angeles Knights (9%)
Cy Young candidate Luis Johnson leads an impressive Knights club fresh off their second straight WC berth and a 101-win season. The offense is balanced throughout, but they'll really need to click in order to get past a new and improved San Juan team in the first round, Tacoma in the second round, and probably Chicago or St Louis in the NLCS. The pitching is strong enough to carry them if the bats can provide some run support.
St. Louis Armstrongs (9%)
The defending NL Champion Armstrongs are just as strong as last season, led by the top offense in the league and 3-time defending NL MVP Marvin Aurilia. They'll be without their CF and SS for part of the round 2 matchup with Chicago, but that shouldn't affect their potent offense. The top 3 SPs- Springer, Mendez and Franco- can be lethal, and will key how far the team goes as the offense will put up runs.
Editor's Pick: Chicago- sorry, gotta do it. Not just because I'm biased, but also because in a short series all you'll see is the three horsemen. It's tough to beat one of them, moreover all of them.
World Series Winner
So who do we think will take home the title?
Tacoma (42%)
Chicago (26.5%)
Los Angeles (10.5%)
Syracuse (10.5%)
San Francisco (5.25%)
St. Louis (5.25%)
The most common World Series matchup prediction was Tacoma vs. Syracuse (36% chose this matchup), with the Pixies picked as the winner in all but one of those matchups- I wonder who that one was?
Good luck to all the playoff teams, it's time to see who the Nostradamus' of the world are.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Pitching Staff Analysis
Now that we have 59 regular season games under out belt, I figured it was a good time to take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of each franchise's big league pitching staff. On top of that, I have access to data that isn't easily accessible through the game's UI and wanted to be able to share some of that with the world.
What does it all mean?
The Tacoma Pixies are a breed unto themselves. Their bullpen averages 6.26 IP/G and accounts for 76.3% of its decisions. This, of course, has to do with how the staff is setup to leverage the great Donnie Brown.
The bullpens of two teams in particular are severely hurting their teams' chances. The Tampa Bay Fighting Hamsters and the Seattle Mariners both have bullpen ERAs that are more than 6 runs worse than their rotation. Most of this problem has to do with the fact the average fatigue of their bullpen when entering a game is 53 & 36, respectively.
Aside from those two aspects, the data definitely shows the strengths and weaknesses of each club's pitching staff. Only 9 teams have a better bullpen ERA than their starting rotation. The average rotation goes about 5 2/3 IP per game with an ERA of 4.90. The average bullpen goes about 3 1/3 IP per game with an ERA of 5.60.
Since this was my initial post, it was a learning experience getting tables to format properly. As a result, the analysis was a little weak. Next time around, it will be stronger.
By the way, if you click on the charts, you'll get a more readable format.
Enjoy.
What does it all mean?
The Tacoma Pixies are a breed unto themselves. Their bullpen averages 6.26 IP/G and accounts for 76.3% of its decisions. This, of course, has to do with how the staff is setup to leverage the great Donnie Brown.
The bullpens of two teams in particular are severely hurting their teams' chances. The Tampa Bay Fighting Hamsters and the Seattle Mariners both have bullpen ERAs that are more than 6 runs worse than their rotation. Most of this problem has to do with the fact the average fatigue of their bullpen when entering a game is 53 & 36, respectively.
Aside from those two aspects, the data definitely shows the strengths and weaknesses of each club's pitching staff. Only 9 teams have a better bullpen ERA than their starting rotation. The average rotation goes about 5 2/3 IP per game with an ERA of 4.90. The average bullpen goes about 3 1/3 IP per game with an ERA of 5.60.
Since this was my initial post, it was a learning experience getting tables to format properly. As a result, the analysis was a little weak. Next time around, it will be stronger.
By the way, if you click on the charts, you'll get a more readable format.
Enjoy.
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