Pepe Espinosa Not Quite Ready for the Big Leagues

[Sandgnats]

CRYSTAL LAKE HERALD

SPORTS – GNATS NOW
Pepe Espinosa Not Quite Ready for the Big Leagues
Updated: October 25th, 2031 – 6:05 PM

By Howard Heskin, Gnats Beat Writer and ESPN PEBA Correspondent – Twitter @HowardHeskin1

Former Gnats Catcher, Pepe Espinosa was excited to learn he would join the Gnats as Bench Coach for the 2031 season, but things ended up not as he hoped for the 2031 Season. Brought in from retirement to Manage the Mauna Loa Vulcans in 2029, Pepe quickly established himself as a steady-hand in the dug out. Good relationships with the players and strong leadership impressed the organization willing to give the former 3 time All-Star, All Leather Award Winner and Platinum Stick winner a shot at coming on as Bench Coach to replace long time Bench Coach Dan Stephens who moved back to manage AAA Evansville.

"We were just looking for a different kind of spark for 2031 and thought this might be a good move to make given Pepe's ability to make good relationships and knowledge of game strategy" stated GM Ermola at the end of season press conference today. "Joe Matterson thought highly of him and so did Dan (Stephens) so we thought let's give this a chance."

Unfortunately the slow start to the season evolved into a dismissal failure with zone rating and fielding ratings plummeting to a league low and all-time low. As expected pitching followed with stars like Jim MacCowan and Joe Arnold having the worst seasons of their careers after coming of award winning seasons and career best numbers.

"We just needed to bring back a veteran presence to steady the ship" stated Joe Matterson "Dan (Stephens) has been here before and knows our system. This wasn't the time for an experiment as the season unexpectedly devolved. This is not a knock on Pepe, but its just not his time right now. I see a bright future for him in our organization."

With a record of 30-31 Pepe was sent to switch out Management roles in AAA Evansville with Dan Stephens who then lead the Gnats with a record of 58-43 to end the season. Matterson "We use our AAA team as a bench for our PEBA level unit so this was a natural move to make. We all came together as an organization to weather the storm, adjust and finish strong."