On June 26, 2037, an unfamiliar face took the mound for the Harpoon in their contest against the Kentucky Thoroughbreds. A wave of surprise fell over the normal crowd of about 34,000 fans as they realized the average-looking player warming up to start the game for Hartford was none other than #1 prospect Aaron Goater. While much noise had been made about his call-up to the majors leagues 4 days prior, for some reason the fact that he would be starting Friday night’s game was kept under wraps until shortly before 1st pitch. Goater proceeded to cruise to the 1st win of his major league career, striking out 7 and allowing only 1 run in 6 innings.
This 1st quality start would set the pace for Hartford rookie Aaron Goater’s 1st month as a big-leaguer. He has been on fire since getting the call-up to the major league squad on June 22, 2037. In five starts, the red-hot righty pitcher has struck out 38 batters while giving up only 25 hits and walks in 32.2 innings pitched. Goater has allowed only 8 earned runs so far, good for a 2.20 ERA. As far as rate stats go, he has 10.47 strikeouts per 9 innings and a WHIP of 0.77. To put those numbers into perspective, if Goater met the innings standards to qualify for rate leaderboards, he would rank 3rd in ERA, 3rd in K/9, and 1st by a wide margin in WHIP.
Unfortunately for Goater, his stellar pitching efforts have not been backed up by his team’s hitting. He is currently sporting a record of 1-2 with 2 no-decisions. Of his 5 starts, 4 of them have been losses by only 1 or 2 runs.
Aaron Goater was drafted #6 overall in the 2037 draft, and he signed with Hartford a day later for a bonus of $2,250,000. Goater shot up the prospect rankings after signing, becoming the #1 prospect in baseball. He spent just a few weeks in the minor leagues, making 2 relief appearances for AAA Lincoln. He quickly became the 1st player from the 2037 draft to make it to the majors, beating out Crystal Lake’s 1st baseman Bai-Luo Ruan (selected one pick after Goater at #7) by 3 weeks.
If Goater keeps up his incredible pace, he could challenge for the Imperial League Wunderkind Award. It would be tough, though; he has his work cut out for him if he wants to catch up to Zak Osmond, James McCoy, his teammate Thibault Dejean, or any of the other stellar rookies this season.
When asked to comment on the hot start to his professional career, Goater simply responded, “I guess it’s been going pretty well.” The man of few runs has also been a man of few words, as reporters have struggled to get much out of him so far.
For Aaron Goater, the future is very bright. He projects to be among the best pitchers in the league for years to come, sure to compete for many Golden Arm Awards. Goater will also be central to the rebuilding efforts of Hartford, spearheading the push in the next couple of seasons to break their now-6 year postseason drought. Only time will tell what happens with this promising young pitcher.
