Warhounds Opening Day '56 Preview
Sept 19, 2020 17:39:58 GMT -5
Rich - Former GM, Tim_GiantsGM, and 3 more like this
Post by Mac_Yankees GM on Sept 19, 2020 17:39:58 GMT -5
We are not calling it a rebuild here in Carolina, but rather a retooling. Walt Perez, Pedro Perez and Lorenzo Hernandez are gone, but money saved let us sign Sifaks Ben Hassi and Kong Kuang to extensions and set us for the future.
Starting Pitching- The Warhounds have a pretty solid top 3 with Alfonso Valenzuela, Armando Gonzalez and Jose Reyna. Francisco Ruiz picked up in the off season from the Indians and Rule V draftee Bob Brown fill out the rotation. 24 year old Domingo Silva will open the season in Triple A but will likely debut with the big club sometime this season. The Hounds are very excited by the potential of Jake Teague, Jack Brown, Alberto Gonzales and Pablo Encarnacion-prospects all recently acquired but all at least a season away.
Relief Pitching- Brandon Browning will again close at least to start the season, but the exciting addition here is 23 year old rookie Martin Correa. Correa will debut in the PBL in a setup role. The rest of the bullpen is full of respectable but unspectacular workman like pitchers.
Catchers- With Lorenzo Hernandez gone the Warhounds will go with a platoon of Martin Dominguez and Brett Thompson. Hopefully Orlando Gonzales acquired in the Walt Perez deal will develop into our catcher of the future.
Infield- Sifaks Ben Hassi is locked in at 1st Base. Hassi had a big drop off from his Triple Crown season of '54 but still hit 37 homeruns and knocked in 118 runs. At 29 years old we are expecting many years of productivity. Steady Chris O'Slattery will start at second, while Rookie Orlando Gonzalez won the 3B job. (Yes I do have a lot of players named Gonzalez/Gonzales and two of them are Orlandos') At shortstop we have brought in Fernando Rodriguez to hold down the position until top prospect Michael Campbell is ready to take over.
Outfield- Miguel Angel Andrade , Kenkichi Okada and Kong Kuang are all young with great gloves and solid bats. The key to the Warhounds will be the development of Andrade and if he is able to make the jump from solid player to great player.
Designated Hitter- Jimmy Green moves from 3rd base to full time DH. I am looking for Green to join the league's top homerun bats and provide the Carolina the power is sorely needs.
Outlook- The Warhounds may have lost some star power in the off season, but should be able to improve on last year's 79 win season. If all breaks right Carolina could sneak into the wildcard race.
Starting Pitching- The Warhounds have a pretty solid top 3 with Alfonso Valenzuela, Armando Gonzalez and Jose Reyna. Francisco Ruiz picked up in the off season from the Indians and Rule V draftee Bob Brown fill out the rotation. 24 year old Domingo Silva will open the season in Triple A but will likely debut with the big club sometime this season. The Hounds are very excited by the potential of Jake Teague, Jack Brown, Alberto Gonzales and Pablo Encarnacion-prospects all recently acquired but all at least a season away.
Relief Pitching- Brandon Browning will again close at least to start the season, but the exciting addition here is 23 year old rookie Martin Correa. Correa will debut in the PBL in a setup role. The rest of the bullpen is full of respectable but unspectacular workman like pitchers.
Catchers- With Lorenzo Hernandez gone the Warhounds will go with a platoon of Martin Dominguez and Brett Thompson. Hopefully Orlando Gonzales acquired in the Walt Perez deal will develop into our catcher of the future.
Infield- Sifaks Ben Hassi is locked in at 1st Base. Hassi had a big drop off from his Triple Crown season of '54 but still hit 37 homeruns and knocked in 118 runs. At 29 years old we are expecting many years of productivity. Steady Chris O'Slattery will start at second, while Rookie Orlando Gonzalez won the 3B job. (Yes I do have a lot of players named Gonzalez/Gonzales and two of them are Orlandos') At shortstop we have brought in Fernando Rodriguez to hold down the position until top prospect Michael Campbell is ready to take over.
Outfield- Miguel Angel Andrade , Kenkichi Okada and Kong Kuang are all young with great gloves and solid bats. The key to the Warhounds will be the development of Andrade and if he is able to make the jump from solid player to great player.
Designated Hitter- Jimmy Green moves from 3rd base to full time DH. I am looking for Green to join the league's top homerun bats and provide the Carolina the power is sorely needs.
Outlook- The Warhounds may have lost some star power in the off season, but should be able to improve on last year's 79 win season. If all breaks right Carolina could sneak into the wildcard race.