Warhounds at the All Star Break
Aug 11, 2018 14:53:33 GMT -5
Rich - Former GM, Texas Rangers, and 5 more like this
Post by Mac_Yankees GM on Aug 11, 2018 14:53:33 GMT -5
In certainly looks like the for the 3rd straight year that NL South is going to be a 3 team melee that goes down to the final week of the season. The break finds the Warhounds 4.5 games back and looking up the Nats and Braves.
So what's gone right so far?
Most of the Starting Rotation- Mario Colon has comeback strong from a lousy 2046 and just earned a spot on the All-Star team with 1 10-2 3.13 record. Bryan Smith and Howard Nichols have backed him up nicely with era's around 3.80
John Howe & Patrick Bennett- Howe has been a great addition leading the team in all of the triple crown categories and Patrick Bennett is another strong comeback player, improving from a disapointing .246 11 homer season last year to a solid .316 15 homer mark at the All-Star break.
Jen-Kan Hu- One of the quietest stars in the league. Hu plays good defense at short and is .313 with a .358 obp and is on pace for a career high in doubles and stolen bases.
So why aren't the Warhounds in first place?
The back of the Rotation- Ki-Nam Im while not awful is a certainly not earning his $14m contract. Woody Richardson, Luis Negron and Maximo Caraballo have all been giving chances to earn the 5th spot in the rotation and no one has seized the opportunity.
Jose Jimenez- Stop me if you have heard this story before- Player signs a long term extension and then proceeds to decline in all categories. At 29 Jimenez should be in the prime of his career, but instead he is trending for career lows in homeruns, rbis, batting average and on base percentage.
Jose Garza- Another player in the prime of his career at 28 who just signed an extension and his performance drops. Offensively Garza is still a decent table setter, but I am most concerned by the deterioration of his range in centerfield. His zone range has gone from +14.2, +6.2 and +8.2 the last season to an alarming +1.6 this season.
I am still very hopeful that that we will earn a playoff spot and am excited to take on the first place Nationals for 4 games coming out of the break.
So what's gone right so far?
Most of the Starting Rotation- Mario Colon has comeback strong from a lousy 2046 and just earned a spot on the All-Star team with 1 10-2 3.13 record. Bryan Smith and Howard Nichols have backed him up nicely with era's around 3.80
John Howe & Patrick Bennett- Howe has been a great addition leading the team in all of the triple crown categories and Patrick Bennett is another strong comeback player, improving from a disapointing .246 11 homer season last year to a solid .316 15 homer mark at the All-Star break.
Jen-Kan Hu- One of the quietest stars in the league. Hu plays good defense at short and is .313 with a .358 obp and is on pace for a career high in doubles and stolen bases.
So why aren't the Warhounds in first place?
The back of the Rotation- Ki-Nam Im while not awful is a certainly not earning his $14m contract. Woody Richardson, Luis Negron and Maximo Caraballo have all been giving chances to earn the 5th spot in the rotation and no one has seized the opportunity.
Jose Jimenez- Stop me if you have heard this story before- Player signs a long term extension and then proceeds to decline in all categories. At 29 Jimenez should be in the prime of his career, but instead he is trending for career lows in homeruns, rbis, batting average and on base percentage.
Jose Garza- Another player in the prime of his career at 28 who just signed an extension and his performance drops. Offensively Garza is still a decent table setter, but I am most concerned by the deterioration of his range in centerfield. His zone range has gone from +14.2, +6.2 and +8.2 the last season to an alarming +1.6 this season.
I am still very hopeful that that we will earn a playoff spot and am excited to take on the first place Nationals for 4 games coming out of the break.