Comeback Player of the Year

[Matt]

If there were an award, and the voting was now, I would have to put a plug in for Lorenzo Vega. After hitting .231 as New Jersey's starting catcher last season, Vega has really put it all back together this season. Presently hitting .342 with 6 hr and 19 rbi. And his VORP is nearly twice that of the player he replaced, Manny Gonzalez, 20.5 to 10.3.

Since it is nearly impossible to follow every player in the league so closely, I wonder if anyone else has a good candidate for a Comeback Player?

[John]

Look to the Sunshine State, my friend:

2B Mark "Ice Cold" Richardson - Admittedly he knocked in 103 last year AND won the All-Leather Award at SS, so he certainly had value. But at the same time he hit just .240/.293/.411 and whiffed 139 times. Well, he's still wiffing, but he's also increased his OPS by 200 points. He's already surpassed his SB total of 11 from last year, and he's only been thrown out twice (as opposed to a hideous 13 last season).

SP Chris Saunders - From a 5.71 ERA and a demotion to AAA to a 1.89 ERA and over double last year's wins. He's striking out more, walking less, and limiting batters to a paltry .188 average. He'd be my top pick for Comeback Player of the Year to this point.

[Alan Ehlers]

he has to pick one from mine and I think I got your beat San Antonio, I would have to pick Chet Collins. After a horrible 2-13 season with an era of 5.69 , he has turned it around to be 5-2 with an ERA of 2.59. Even though Tempe has been slumping lately with a record of 25-39 they are a hundreds time better then last year. He is my comeback player of the year

[Matt]

I would have to disagree with the selections of Saunders and Collins. Both are in just thier second major league season. I don't think sucking as a rookie merits consideration for Comeback awards.
Richardsons case is slightly different, he is in his 5th season. But what makes it tough is that he is just 24 and we have no knowledge of what those first three seasons were like. Did he suck in those first three seasons as well as last year? If so, hard to consider him because of that combined with young age. Or was he a stud who had an off season? That might merit some consideration.

[John]

In that case, I'd definitely say Vega qualifies as a good CPotY candidate. Here are two more that should fit your criteria:

RF Colin Rodmell, Florida (32) - Any way you slice it, Florida has players that have stepped up big time this year. Rodmell suffered a severe arm fracture early last season and missed 3 months. When he returned he wasn't at all the player that he was expected to be. This year he's living up to expectations, improving his average and upping his SLG% while cutting down on the Ks.

SP John "Pep" Roach, Aurora (29) - Roach suffered through a long, difficult season in Yuma last year. This seems to be a case where a change of scenery is working some magic, because Roach has "Pep"-ed up his game since arriving in Aurora. He won the SL Pitcher of the Month Award in April by going 3-0 with a 1.26 ERA, and he was even better in May (2-0, 1.11 ERA).

[Alan Ehlers]

You have a point about being a rookie last year. If we are going to go by a few seasons in the majors then mine would have to be Randy Davis. last year he batted .256 and struckout a ton. This year he is batting .312 and has cut down on his strikeouts. He also has a .388 OBP which leads my team. Hi defense has improved over last year so I would have to nominate him

[Reg]

well I am going have to put in for my own SP Alfredo Pinto or MR David Olivas, both were pitchers who were unwanted by thier previous owners, yet have put together solid seasons for New Orleans...Pinto has even recieved a few all-star votes.

[Duane]

boooo Pinto - Actually we have nothing against Pinto, we simply could not afford him and everyone else on the 40-man so he was traded as part of our salary dumps when we took over in Kentucky

Olivas can %&(*)(*&+_ and #%$%$#%$#@5436 ... is there a 'death-threat' option in OOTP9???