April 2nd, 2017
So now my first full spring training with London is over and a surprising one it was. I was very pleased with the team’s general showing but also pleased with the number of players who came to camp to give 200% and prove to me that a poor 2016 was just an aberration. I had expected that the only real position battle would be Buchanan & Ramsey’s showdown for first base, that turned out to be a bit of a damp squib but other battles were more full-blooded.
Catcher Luis Cruz after spending 2016 at Triple-A Worcester was expected to just make up the numbers at camp with Glen Wallace and his new contract slated for the back-up role. Wallace though looked poor and hit just .067 while Cruz came through with clutch hits, hitting .409 / 480 / .682 with six doubles. The problem that gives me now is that Wallace has the right to refuse demotion while Cruz has options left.
Tuo-Zhuo is back after an injury filled 2016
Paco Shaffer had his first PEBA cup of coffee in 2016 and failed to hit at all, hitting just .163 in his 12 appearances. The outfield was ticketed to be Rule 5 draftee, Garza, Yang who missed most of 2016 with injury and the reliable Dennis Carter with Vélez & Truax backing them up. Tuo-Zhuo Yang came back on fire posting a lead-off average of .426 with an OBP of .542 to book his place, Carter was Carter and got his right field spot while Garza’s .347 with four doubles and a homer was enough to secure the starting left field job. The back-up spots were a different question. Vélez started poorly and only really tried in the final week. His last week’s effort of .429/.467/.786 with two doubles and a homer was great compared to the previous .111/.227/.167 with one double. Truax’s .282 was pretty much where we expected him to be while Shaffer was out of the blocks from the start finishing camp with a .351/.419/.486 slash line and five doubles. I could only keep two from three though.
Scott Morris for the second year running missed a lot of camp with injury, last year it was almost May before he took the field but this year he was back in the final week of camp posting a slash of .409/.519/.455 from his 22 AB’s. Burgos performed as he had done last year when taking Morris’ third base spot while Bailey Rohr was a little away from what we had expected from him. The surprise was Lyndon Hodges who had shown nothing in his brief four-game 2016 cup of coffee. This time round he proved he could handle third as well as short and hit .378/.452/.486. Travis Cruz really disappointed with a .175 average and just one extra-base hit. Morris or Burgos for third? Rohr, Hodges and Cruz for one or maybe two slots.
Joe Buchanan built on last year’s performance with four homers, six doubles and a .255/.293/.582 average line. That showed be he had adjusted to PEBA hitters and was starting to show some plate discipline as well as power. Leonard Ramsey managed a homer, a triple and three doubles at a .311/.311/.489 average. Ramsey has the average up from his 2016 .193 but is not showing his undoubted power while Buchanan has the power and is improving his hitting for average.
The time for talking was done, the roster had to be trimmed for opening day. We were already eating the $7m contract of Mark Lamb, squeezed out of the outfield picture, would we have to eat more money? I just couldn’t keep Cruz over the other candidates for the utility slot(s) so his $1.8m contract was added to the pile of wasted money. That saved Wallace’s job for the time being, I just couldn’t burn his contract as well so we had to option Luis Cruz to Worcester with the promise he’d be back if Wallace didn’t shape up. First base was a real poser, we chose in the end to go with the one with the most upside, Ramsey, but if he can’t hit them long balls as he did in Worcester Buchanan will be back to take his job. We sat a long while looking at the worth of Rohr, Hodges and Burgos as utility men, Morris we agreed just had to have the third base gig if he was fit. Finally it was Hodges that was ticketed for Worcester, he just came up short of the skill set of the other two no matter which way we looked at it.
Leonard, the 2016 GBB AAA AML Outstanding Hitter, will get his PEBA chance in 2017
The rotation panned out just the way it we pencilled it in, Nii, Anderson, Carver, Rosa and Luján. Nii breezed through spring training and Carver showed the benefits of winter ball whilst Luján was rocky in places but still shows signs of a breakout season. Bedell is still slightly wild even after a spell in winter ball but we all feel another year in the long relief role will really help him. Chad Fountain, Juan Pérez and Sergio Días all stood out as ones that will play a big part in London’s future but returned to Worcester, squeezed out by the numbers game. Cates ($3.3m) and Hobbs ($7.5m) are in the final year of big contracts and will probably not receive extensions, Cipriano Pena again showed the form that saw him marginalised in 2016 and will depart after his contract expires. Mora’s control was a bit wilder than last year but he’s still an absolute lock for closer.
All of that leaves us with one cut to make. Thirteen pitchers and thirteen batters on the roster, who gets the final cut? It has to be either Rohr or Burgos if it’s a batter or if it’s a pitcher it would have to be Pina or eating Pena or Cates contract. If only I had 26 spots! We really don’t think we can lose another batter and we’d hate to eat more money so unfortunately Pedro Pina becomes the final passenger on the Worcester flight
Sir John Fowler jr thinks we ought to win it all this year, that would be a good feat, from 81-81 to winning it all. Is it possible? Carver will make a difference, Ramsey and Garza could and having Yang back should but is that enough? Bring on 2017, London is coming …