Deeper Underground - Minor League Report Vol. 2 - 2035 Season Wrap-up

[Underground]

Hey look! We successfully iterated on the Deeper Underground series beyond just the initial post, hooray! In this post we will wrap up the 2035 season through the eyes of our minor leaguers. We'll also touch on our late season call-ups and how they did in their time in the show.

In the first volume of Deeper Underground I touched upon the tricky situation I was in with September call-ups, this being the first year both my AAA and PEBA teams were in playoff hunts. In the end I did not promote anyone just for the sake of it, instead keeping my AAA roster intact for their playoff run. Despite their best season of my tenure they were ultimately knocked out in 7 games in the first round of the playoffs, which ended on September 20th. From there we did decide to call up Troy Rush who was able to squeeze out two starts for me at the end of the year as the 6th man in my rotation, critically allowing Duane Moss extra rest to begin the playoffs. Two others would end up called up late as well - C Mike Roberts and SS Jorge Lopez. RP Gerald Smith and Juan Chavarria were called up earlier in the year and will also be covered.

SP Troy Rush, 25 - as mentioned, Rush was able to make two starts for the Underground this year. His initial start at home against Gloucester was a stellar 6.1 inning affair where he allowed 1 run on just 1 hit, striking out 7. Unfortunately he was unable to follow that effort up the second time out where he was chased after just 2.1 innings having given up 6 runs. So he wrapped up the regular season with 8.2 IP and an ERA of 7.27. Ouch. Rush would however make the playoff roster where he was shipped to the bullpen. His first playoff action saw him earning the save (of all things?) after an inning of work against Kentucky. His other appearances were both in relief of losses. His inaugural PEBA playoffs thus ended with 2.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1 save. Because I was curious I went back and looked, it was in fact not Rush's first ever save. He has 4 total across his playing career, though this was his first since 2031 and also his first at a level above single A. There won't be too many more in his future, either, as he projects to take a spot in the London rotation for 2036.

SS Jorge Lopez, 25 - was called up initially due to an injury to Gilberto Valdez but ultimately stayed on the roster even after he returned due to an injury to Juan Hernandez. Lopez's play earned him a spot on the playoff roster where he was initially named a starter. Lopez has not been an exceptional talent offensively in AAA and that trend continued in the PEBA where he only managed a .207 average in 111 regular season at bats. His OBP was nominally better at .241. Defensively however he kept pace with (or was an improvement over) the other players who played SS this season. In 208.2 innings he had a .969 fielding percentage along with a 4.10RNG and 1.3ZR. He actually had a higher zone rating than 3 time all-leather winner and teammate Juan Hernandez, although Hernandez had a better fielding %. As mentioned Lopez got the start for the Wild Card round against Kentucky but ultimately ceded ground to Gilberto Valdez due to his hot start to the series as a PH. Thus his playoffs ended quite dismally with 12 AB and a .083 average. He did manage one walk and swiped one bag, but overall it was a rough postseason for him. His future with the team is somewhat in question as Bill Jones and Juan Hernandez both opted in to their option years and Valdez is signed through next season, meaning he would at best platoon with Valdez or otherwise be a versatile bench player.

RP Gerald Smith, 23 - suffered a season ending partially torn UCL his inaugural pro season last year in single A ball. Upon his recovery he went straight to AAA and the not long after to the PEBA. A pretty lights out reliever on paper he ultimately was unable to get the trust of our manager Jorge Ornelas and thus only appeared in 10.0 innings during the regular season to pretty middling results. He earned a win in the postseason, but only as a result of his own blown save so we're not sure that counts. He's too good on paper to send back down at this point but the team does need to evaluate his role going forward. With such low stamina he is really a one inning guy but London already has Batstone and Higgins occupying the high pressure duties from the 7th inning onward so Smith finds himself in an awkward spot.

CF Juan Chavarria, 21 - was the real standout performer of the group and was also the biggest surprise. Chavarria is a rarity - an honest to god scouting discovery from the Underground scouting staff who has made his way all the way to the big leagues thanks to elite defense, speed, and personality traits. Following some poor play and injuries from Luis Cervantes the decision was made to call up Chavarria in July. At that point he was batting over .300 in AAA and was generally a terror at that level so it was a logical choice. He would ultimately play in 76 games for the Underground and amass 272ABs. His .243 average doesn't jump off the page, but the .312 OBP sure does, along with the 31 stolen bases. He played the majority of his games in center field where he spent 634 innings and finished out the year with a .996 fldg%, 10.7 ZR, and 5 outfield assists. After a middling 2034 in single A, 2035 was the year of the Chavarria and the 21 year old has earned a permanent spot on the team for 2036.

C Mike Roberts, 23 - the former 19th overall pick was called up alongside Troy Rush to get his first taste of PEBA action at the very end of the season. He was only able to appear in 3 games and was largely inconsequential across 9ABs. He was left off the playoff roster, but is expected to make the Underground roster full time in 2036 as currently Villanueva is the only PEBA catcher under contract. Roberts had a solid season in AAA, hitting .269/.302 and will look to bring his high degree of defense to the team next year.

So that's it for the callup roundup - our next edition will cover the rest of the minor leaguers of note as well as to briefly touch upon the Birmingham Bears season which went all the way to the NAFTA Championship series.