Written by Tomasz Kamien

04/02/2017: Trenton, NJ – Well Hitmen fans, it is that time of year again. The busy off season and spring training are behind us and we find ourselves waiting for another season opener, which this year will be against division rival Manchester in a couple of days. The Hitmen made only a few yet important decisions in the offseason after losing to Bakersfield in the Championships. To begin was the extensions dealt out to all our youth; Tessier, Encarn, Miranda, Jones, and Kaminka. Probably the most important move was the extension handed out to starting pitcher Roberto Rodríguez keeping him in New Jersey for another 4 years. The hope is that he can give us unhittable innings on the mound like he flexed during the playoffs last season rather than the paltry numbers he put up after his trade and adjustment to the IL. There were a couple more big deals and acquisitions which we will get to shortly however. We also cannot overlook that we did lose plenty of reserve talent to the free agent market, but the team believes they have capable new comers taking over in the back up roles. So without further delay let’s get into this year’s roster!

Starting Pitching

Bryant Duncan – No one will question that Duncan struggled a bit while on the mound as a starter last season, but after giving us two stud seasons as a starter management would be silly not to give the flamethrower another try as a starter. Duncan did manage to calm his nerves and fall back into his overpowering pace last year once he was transitioned back into relief work but with the need for dominating pitching, the staff hopes Duncan can adjust once more.  Especially with youngster Danny ‘Livewire’ Hendricks spending April on the disabled list with a strained shoulder.

Shunsuke ‘Cookie’ Takayama – The other big arm signing for the Hitmen of the offseason, Cookie will be bringing his superstar arm to the states for the first time in his career with a 3-year deal worth just shy of $40 million. Cookie is a desperately needed lefty in the rotation, and while he will be turning 36 later this month he has shown no signs of wear yet. Most importantly though is that Cookie brings championship experience to a fairly young team. A 6-time All-Star, 2-time Gurabukin Award winner, 3-time Sawamura Award winner, Cookie helped lead the Shin Seiki Evas to a Neo-Tokyo Cup victory back in 2013.  

Francisco Encarn – Was 2016 Encarn’s break out year? With a team leading 17-4 record and a solid 3.65 ERA, one would think it’s a step in the right direction at least for the 27 year old. When Encarn was drafted back in 2011, many scouts had high hopes for the youngster claiming he would one day be the ace in the rotation for years to come. While he hasn’t quiet lived up to those standards just yet, he is starting to prove why so many scouts were so high of him. Hopefully he can build on last year’s success as the Hitmen will need it if they plan to reach the Championships again and fight off an ever strengthening Pan-Atlantic division.

Roberto Rodríguez – RR struggled out of the gate after the big time trade with Palm Springs last July. But he came alive and really began to scare the competition once the playoffs began, going 3-1 in 5 starts with a 1.83 ERA while seemingly taking the team on his back and winning one huge game after another for them. But to really be worth the cost of his extension, the team will need RR of the playoffs rather than the RR of the regular season. A 4-6 record with an ugly 5.06 ERA in 15 starts for the Hitmen is not going to cut it. The former Palm Springs ace will need to come out aggressive to start the year.

José ‘Twinkle Toes’ Cruz – The bottom of the rotation does not get any easier for the competition when they have to face Twinkle Toes on the mound. Cruz has shown no signs of slowing down since finally being brought up in 2014 after an injury opened up a spot in the rotation and he has only gotten better each season. Cruz is already a fan favorite and one of the better known names in the club house, probably because of his hilarious nickname, Twinkle Toes, but lately it’s his play that has him standing out and he hopes to make it three straight trips to the All-Star game this year.    

Bullpen

Douglas Bonsink – Losing his starting rotation position after a paltry 2015, the young Bonsink spent last season down in AAA Jersey City (now Clifton) trying to recapture some of that fire that made him a solid bottom of the rotation inning eater for the Hitmen. As luck would have it, a spring training injury is giving him that chance in the bigs again as he will start the season in the long reliever and mop up role. Regardless though, after the departure of many of the team’s backups and relievers in the off season, Bonsink will probably see a lot of time this season as Rainmaker and Sato are probably at least another season away from being ready.

Travis Hanson – Hanson has been nothing short of superb since coming over from Reno after the 2012 season. Hanson has also taken over the primary setup role with the move of Duncan to the rotation. During his time with the Hitmen, Hanson has gone 10-7 with 9 saves and averaged about a 2.73 ERA over 177 games and 201innings without receiving much recognition when it comes to All-Star appearances. His numbers did spike however a bit this past season as he saw more time on the mound, hopefully something that will be remedied with the arrival of a few more veteran arms to the bullpen.

Peter ‘Fury’ Kaminka – The youngest arm on the squad, Fury has been in the bigs since he was 22. Although after a spectacular rookie showing in 2014, Fury hasn’t been more than an mediocre arm in the pen since. Pitching Coach Kumanosuke Nii attributes it to growing pains and settling in to his role in the bigs, but as the team looks to win a championship Fury will be under careful scrutiny this season as is evident of his pedestrian extension of 2-years at $1,825,000.  

Ángel ‘Melanoma’ Mesquit – 2016 was a tough year for the veteran Melanoma who posted some of his career worst numbers for the only team he’s ever played for. While some scouts will chalk it up to just a rough year for the aging veteran, some fans are already beginning to whisper that it is a sign of things to come. Melanoma is signed through 2018 so it will be interesting to see how the next two years play out for the 7-year veteran from Santa Rosa, beginning with what some rumors say will be a reduced role this season.

Shiro Shimizu – Another very large name coming out of the LRS, Shiro was acquired from New Orleans in a trade that was highly questionable for the Hitmen when considering the ridiculous contract that comes with him. When San Antonio signed him back before the 2016 season, the $52,200,000 4-year deal made Shiro one of the richest relievers in the league. After a combined 8 All-Star appearances though one wonders if the cost was worth it. Some things to note however is that the Hitmen do have an out in 2019 to avoid paying Shiro another ~$16 million by the way of a team option, and the management has been rumored to be talking about limiting his innings in order to avoid paying him the ballooned bonus of $3.5 million for 85 innings pitched. Despite the move putting the team into a few financial difficulties in the coming 2 years at least, can you really argue with it after Shiro’s impressive carrer? And we cannot put aside the free agency disaster with Carlos Ávila who was brought in for a single year at $5 million, with talks of an extension already in the works only to see Carlos go down for 14 months with a ruptured ulnar collateral ligament. A mishap that saw the team pay him to free up the roster spot and move on before the season even began.

Bernardo ‘Ox’ Valle – Brought in as a seemingly one year rental to bolster the bullpen, Ox is no slouch but like Shiro comes with a hefty contract of $12 million for a single season of work. A strong lefty arm, Ox finishes off the touching up of the bullpen from last season that saw the departure of John Wallace, Greg White, Nelson Ortíz, and Carlos Pérez. A much more expensive but experienced bullpen, without much coming up in the farm system we could see the Hitmen move to more of a free agency focus when it comes to the bullpen for years to come. Although I wouldn’t expect to see the contracts handed out that we see on some of our acquisitions this year, they could end up paying a lot for trading away all their young promising arms in the past.

Cary ‘Checkmate’ Bond – A regular fan favorite of the Hitmen, Bond will look to continue his mission to become one of the league’s best closers, while some argue he already is up there as one of the more reliable ones. Despite putting up some of his best numbers this past season Bond missed the All-Star game for a second straight season, something he has mentioned he hopes to remedy this year.  He has told reporters that setting goals such as this are what helps him keep his edge, that and just keeping the fans of New Jersey excited every time he comes out on the mound with his recognizable James Bond theme music.

Infield

C Enrique Encarnación – Enrique will begin the season as the starting catcher for the Hitmen in light of the sprained ankle suffered by Jesús Téllez this spring. While not being as lethal of a bat in the lineup, Enrique is a plus defender behind the plate and has become very comfortable with the team’s pitching staff in his backup role. With his promising spring, some believe there will not be much of a drop off in the catcher position with Téllez out, except for maybe in the home run department. In the mean time, backing up Enrique will be rookie catcher Rafael Pérez who has been impressive in his time in the minors. Many believe that eventually Pérez will take over as the main backup to Téllez.

1B Dean Bailey – Despite rumors and speculation that Bailey has been and is being shopped by the Hitmen, he will once again take over duties as the big bat at first base. Although most won’t argue that Bailey has not lived up to the hype that made him a stand out bat in Tempe and a big part of the 2012 championship season as a rookie, some fans still mutter about the trade and that the team should have kept Parkinson who has flourished in the move, Bailey has put up solid numbers in his time in New Jersey.  While hindsight is always 20/20, the move made sense to get a big bat with playoff experience in the lineup and Bailey was just that, putting up impressive numbers in the 2016 playoffs before stumbling this past season. Locked up for the next four seasons, I don’t see Bailey going anywhere soon so fans better get used to him while we wait for him to post his break out year for the Hitmen.

2B Mario ‘Mad Hatter’ Tessier – The Mad Hatter, as teammates refer to Tessier nowadays, is still the lethal heart of one of the league’s best offenses. While his power numbers are still down and leaving you wanting after a 20 HR 2012 season, Tessier posted new career and team bests with a .342 average. The kid can just plain hit and that is all that is expected of him in the two spot in the lineup, to get on base for our power hitters. Now some teammates will jokingly tell you that Tessier’s nickname stems from a fetish for the Alice in Wonderlandcharacter, but those that really know Tessier might let slip that he just hates anyone touching his hat as he tries to hide his early signs of male pattern baldness.  

3B Carlos Miranda – Miranda posted solid numbers last season while giving us a solid defender at third. Some fans even argue that his better glove and consistent bat would make him a better option at first base. Adding fuel to the Bailey trade speculation, but it is not unfounded. His RBI numbers would probably be higher if he was placed in a higher spot in the lineup, he is a more natural fit at first than he is at third, and you can’t argue with the production for his price. Adding more fuel to the trade speculation is the impressive spring by rookie utility bat, shortstop Edward ‘Bucket’ Buckner. Many want to see Miranda take over at first, then shifting Tessier back to his more natural third while opening up second for a surer glove in Bucket.

SS Lawrence ‘Man of Steal‘ Jones – Jones retains his position at short stop and the top of the order for the foreseeable future. Manager Luis Rodríguez has been on record many times saying just how much he wants the Man of Steal’s speed at the top of the lineup. While Jones’s bat might be on the decline, the club staff believes it is just Jones’s over thinking every at bat and worrying more about what bags he is going to steal before even getting on base first. He has become more patient since his emergence back in 2013 so his on base percentage has not suffered as much as his average, but when you are a All-Leather candidate each year and are capable of stealing 50-60 bags a year, you will have no trouble finding work in this league. The fact that Jones only received a 2-year extension at $3.75 million have some believing that upper management are already making plans for other options, possibly a hot rookie bat.

On The Horizon

3B Terry ‘Lump Lump’ Lovell – A product of last year’s draft class, 22^nd pick overall, Lovell has made every effort to excel through the minors to get to the bigs as soon as humanly possible. Averaging .326 in college, Lovell did not lose a step in his transition as he started off in AA Camden and instantly went to work starting 65 games while batting an impressive .358. While his bat seems near ready, his glove leaves much to be desired so while he polishes his swing against the better talent in AAA he will probably be making a trip to play some winter ball in the coming offseason to get more work on his defensive abilities. His powerful arm projects him to probably play third in the long run, once again adding fuel to the trade rumors of Bailey. I also inquired this spring how Lovell got the nickname “LumpLump” and Terry said that one time when he was up to bat as a Dragon, the opposing catcher asked him if he wanted one lump or two. Not sure what he meant he quickly realized the situation as a fastball came whistling past his ear. Lovell tends to crowd the plate which does not make many opposing pitchers happy. In a 162 game average, he would average about 15 hit by pitches a year… ouch.

Outfield

LF Javier Soto – Patrolling left will be stand out slugger Javier Soto’s duty again this year.   Last season was a record breaking season for the young star, while batting an impressive .332 he broke team records for hits with 214, total bases with 363, and runs batted in with 124, while also falling just shy of beating several other team records. He was well on his way to becoming only the second Hitmen to ever win a Royal Raker honor, but in this too he fell just short to Connecticut’sRonald Lowry. While a very deserving hitter himself, many fans were outraged by the news of the crowning as well as Soto, although he has done a good job of hiding his feelings about it otherwise. Hopefully it will be fuel to put up even bigger numbers this season for the Hitmen.

CF Ieyoshi Ishikawa – Ishikawa himself had an impressive season at the plate last season, showing an amazing improvement over his rookie year in 2015 and battling with Soto for votes for the Royal Raker. While being bounced around between right and center last season, center is solely his this year after the acquisition of another right fielder and departure of Shou-chien Jung in the offseason. Ishikawa is a near perfect player in many fans minds as he can hit for average and can get on base with patience, has a solid glove while roaming any part of the outfield, and even has enough power to make pitchers think twice. Along with Tessier, he is a huge part of the middle of the lineup threat that makes up one of the best offenses in the league.

RF Patrick Williams – The big offseason bat acquisition for the Hitmen this season is a homegrown rookie coming over from Crystal Lake. The original plan was to find a new center fielder to keep Ishikawa in his more natural corner outfield position, however when none could be found “Plan B” went into effect, find a cost controlled lethal bat. Williams is just that, a lethal bat that tore apart the college pitchers and continued to impress in the minor leagues while with Crystal Lake. More impressive was the show Williams put on this spring as he batted .328 and launched 7 home runs in the short work of 24 games. Whether he can keep this pace throughout a full season in the bigs is yet to be seen, but you can’t argue that he is an exciting prospect to keep an eye on.   

Lots of expectations come with the new coming season when you come off an early exit from the Championship round. If you want to stay on top you have to make the shrewd and correct moves to fill your holes and needs while keeping finances in mind. Whether the staff made the right choices, we will let the season play out to decide that.