Featherheads Ready for Season Opener
Serenity Summers, Sentinel Staff Writer
April 5th, 2009
Well folks, tomorrow is the day everyone has been anxiously waiting for. Opening Day is upon us. As it is with every new season, hope springs eternal. These words cannot be any truer than in Jacksonville.
Tomorrow marks the first regular season game for new owner Drew Streets. The Florida Featherheads will host their division rival, the Kentucky Thoroughbreds.
Streets has already publicly announced that he expects nothing less than a championship this year. An eccentric cruise ship entrepreneur, Streets believes in his heart that it is all or nothing. This is the enthusiasm and attitude he hopes to bring to his team.
Streets intentionally hired GM Kevin Lewis as his balancing counterpart. Even-keeled and patient, Lewis has cautiously informed the fans that Rome was not built in a day.
Now let's take a look at Florida's foundation as they hope build something as great as Rome.
Catcher: Grade C
22-year-old Charles Jeffries returns as Florida's starting signal caller. A respectable catcher, there is nothing too fancy about Jeffries. He brings an average stick with a steady glove.
Jason Fontenot serves as Jeffries' backup. Having no major league experience, the 30-year-old was promoted to the big ball club for his excellent catching skills.
1st Base: Grade B
Tsumemasa Morimoto serves as Florida's undisputed first baseman with the departure of António Coronado. Morimoto is your typical first baseman. He has corner infield plus power, runs as fast as a parked Ferrari and fields decently enough for a first baseman. Although one-dimensional, Morimoto is excellent at what he does, and that is drive in runs. Despite hitting .250 with 155 strikeouts, Morimoto still managed to blast 35 homers and 122 RBI last year.
Ice Cold. Need I say more? Only 25 years old, Mark Richardson seemingly does everything exceptionally well. He can hit. He can run. He drives in runs. He can field. Richardson joined the 30-30 club last year with exactly 30 homeruns and 30 stolen bases. Recently named the captain of the team, Richardson is poised for another strong year. Fantasy owners will be ecstatic to own Richardson this year with him entering his prime years.
3rd Base: Grade C
Similar to the catching position, there is nothing too spectacular here. Domingo Pérez and David Goode will likely share a platoon role. Unfortunately they are both right-handed hitters. So look for manager Jaime Sánchez to go with the hot hand… or rather, the hand who is less cold. Richardson was even playing at third all of Spring Training. So it looks like things are still not settled there.
Shortstop: Grade B
Miguel Soto brings his boom boom bass goodness to Florida. Soto is expected to bat atop of Florida's lineup and set the table for guys like Richardson and Morimoto. Soto also brings added range to the shortstop position. You can count on Soto for a .270 average, 15 dingers, 60 RBI and 100 runs.
Last year's starter Kevin McNeill returns with an undefined role. Sánchez has kicked around the idea of playing Richardson at third while leaving McNeill at second base. Other than that, look for McNeill to be a utility guy. He joins David Goode and Domingo Pérez as a 3-headed utility monster. McNeill is still young enough for Florida faithful to believe there is still some growth possible.
Outfield: Grade B-
Wow, talk about bad luck. Spring Training left three Florida outfielders out with injuries. Felipe Coronado has been battling a blurred vision problem, which has caused him to be the butt of jokes during Spring Training.
Coronado sustained the injury while looking for his contact lenses. Coronado is using contacts for the first time ever in hopes of reducing his strikeout totals. The former Crystal Lake outfielder has fanned 165 times in 173 games total.
According to eyewitnesses, Coronado was on his hands and knees in search of a missing contacts lens prior to a Spring Training game. With a futile search on the ground, he thought it was possibly in his eye. So like any curious George, he looked in the mirror and gave a little poke. Apparently, there was no contact lens in his eye. So at the end of the day, Coronado lost one contact lens along with his dignity.
Fellow outfielders Colin Rodmell and Roberto Aragón join Coronado on the list of hobbled outfielders. Both Rodmell and Coronado should be ready in a few days. Unfortunately the same could not be said for Aragón. Aragón starts the season on the 14-day disabled list with a damaged meniscus in his knee. He is slated to miss 4-5 weeks.
Aside from injuries, the Featherheads have a solid core of outfielders. Taiwanese youngster Kwang-chih Zhu headlines the group. Look for Zhu's lefty bat to improve on last year's number. Despite seeing his batting average rise from .228 to .267 in his second year, Zhu characterized last year as a sophomore slump. Zhu saw his homerun totals decrease from 26 to 18. His RBI totals also dropped from 76 to 68. Now entering his third season, this may be his breakout year.
Aruban outfielder Colin Rodmell joins Zhu as one of Florida's many players with international roots. Rodmell brings a solid bat with good pop. You can expect the 33-year-old veteran to hit around the league average with 30 bombs and 80-90 RBI.
Japanese-born Yoshi Suzuki is a steady player who will not wow you too much. He brings a below average to mediocre bat with some minor pop. Defensively, he grades out as average with plus arm.
Colombian Roberto Aragón anchors the outfield with his superb range and speed. Although his bat is average at best, his defense and speed will be sorely missed for weeks to come. 28-year-old minor leaguer José Lawrence hopes to fill Aragón's void. The two players have similar skill sets and it is hopeful that Lawrence can perform while Aragón is out.
Coronado rounds out the outfield. A Rule 5 draftee, Coronado hopes to make a good impression on his new ballclub with his speed and right field play. Hopefully he will be known more for his on-the-field play than his locker room mishaps.
Starting Pitching: Grade B-
Just like Richardson, the Featherheads are looking for big things out of 21-year-old righty Chris Saunders. Last year was a glimpse of his immense potential. Saunders went 9-4 with a miniscule 1.82 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. Casual baseball fans may not care for a 0.98 WHIP but that's just nasty good.
Héctor Gutiérrez is another youngster hoping for a solid campaign. Last year Gutiérrez had a very respectable 11-7 record with a 3.41 ERA. Scouts do not grade him as anything great but his grit and toughness helps him battle against those batters at the plate.
Following Gutiérrez is Dave Cox. Similar to Gutiérrez, there is nothing much to like about Cox according to scouts. Despite the nay-sayers, Cox did have a decent year last year going 12-10 with a 3.70 ERA.
Rounding out the rotation will be Alfonso Contreras and Franklin Browne. The two of them combined for a record of 4-27! I am not sure who is to blame here. You can blame the pitchers for pitching poorly but you also gotta blame the manager for blinding throwing them out to the lion's den. This is definitely Florida's weak point and GM Lewis will be working hard to improve the situation in the upcoming years if not even this season.
Bullpen: Grade B
This is probably Florida's strength when it comes to pitching. 23-year-old Jesse Powell anchors the backend of the bullpen. Big things are expected from Powell, who will be this year's closer. According to Florida scout Pablo Durango, Powell is one of the top relief pitchers in baseball.
Setting up for Powell will be last year's closer, Ben Ellis. With 42 saves in the last 2 years, Ellis will bring his veteran leadership late in ball games. Joining Ellis in key pitching situations will be southpaw Shigochiyo Hayashi. Hayashi is a solid and versatile lefty who is expected to be used in many different roles, from mid-inning relief to the setup role to spot duty closing.
David Lanfranco, Tanyu Chikafuji, Darwin Craft and Lewis Keys fill out the rest of the bullpen. All these guys are solid relievers who can eat up a lot of innings. Expect them to be put to use if the Featherheads continue to trot out the duo of Contreras and Browne.
As much as Drew Streets want it to be Florida's season, this will not be the year for Florida. Expect it to take at least one or two years before GM Lewis can reshape the team into a contender. Florida will most likely be a middle of the pack team just like last year.
Look for this year to be a transition year. Every player and coach will be heavily scrutinized by Lewis. Next year should be the year where Lewis makes his mark on the team. Actually, this year's draft is where Lewis will start to put a stamp on this team. Lewis was hopeful he could make more of an impact in this year's free agent market but his budget was only big enough to acquire Soto.
Win or lose, we can expect this year to be an exciting year for the Florida Featherheads. You have new management with a new attitude. More importantly, you have young hungry players looking to make a name for themselves and for the city of Jacksonville.