It’s Baseball Time:

As spring training has come to a close the Tempe Knights have set their major and minor league rosters for the 2021 season. With the smell of freshly cut grass and the sound of batting practice and popping gloves that fill the air, comes hope of improvement in Tempe, Arizona. Some vets will tow the line and some fresh new faces will get their first taste of big league baseball.

Steady as She goes:

The Knights return three stars in 2021. 3 time Bating Champion, 3 time All-Star and Golden Glove winner, Javier Padilla will protect the 3rd base line, All-Star and Golden Glove winner Tony Figueroa will roam the right field grass and All-Star and runner up for the PEBA Shut Down reliever award, Raul Cruz anticipates to shut down hitters from the hill again this season. Both Padilla and Figueroa plan on chasing the batting crown once again. Padilla was in a tense battle with eventual 2020 PEBA batting champion Canton’s Peyton Bishop until a labrum injury sidelined him towards the end of the season. Sportswriters all over the PEBA Universe anticipate those two going at it once again along with a handful of new challengers.

The Rotation:

The starting rotation still is a troublesome spot for the Tempe Knights. With a stingy owner who has no money anyways, the Knights have to look from within their organization for help. To open the season the rotation looks like this: 1. George Lee  2. Bartolo Esquivel – R  3. Kenny Ashley  4.David Barton  5. Bobby Bryant – R.  The Knights have high hopes for rookies Esquivel and Bryant. Bryant is a project who was serving in the bullpen for AAA Chandler last year. Esquivel came over along with P Gerardo Soto on a trade with Connecticut Nutmeggers for All-Star P Clayton Lewis. Tempe hopes he will be the saving grace in that trade as Lewis has prospered and Soto has faltered.

The Pen:

Cruz will be in the closer lock down position with Jose Paz and 2nd year reliever Luis “Digger” Puente setting him up. Aurelio Lopez, Esteban Cuevas, Li-Ben Zhao and rookie Geoff Lawson round out the bullpen. The Knights top brass are excited to see Lawson up in the bigs. The 23 year old still has lots of room to grow and it was very tempting to hold him back another year. But he had a great spring, so it was hard not to let him at least get a taste of the lime light even if it turns out to be a short one. Lawson gave up 4 runs without recording an out in his first spring training appearance. Then he shut down opponents the rest of his spring gigs the compiled of 7.2 innings and 8 appearances.

The Lineup:

The already mentioned Padilla at 3rd and Figueroa at RF are the two main cogs for Tempe this year. Dwight Carver will handle the DH duties again. Newly acquired Juan Maldanado will handle the first corner. It will be nice to have 2 power hitters in the lineup. Up the middle the Knights will have Alfonso Reyna at 2B and rookie Brian Coleman at SS. Coleman is another rookie the Knights have high hopes on. In CF will be Gonzalo Juarez once again and returning in LF will be slugger Norm Bruce. Behind the plate both rookie Brian Barnes and 2nd year man Bob Turley will share duties throughout the season. Last years 2B Steve Scherer will take up the Infield Utility Man role and veteran Eric Springer will do the same in the outfield.

In closing:

As every other team in the PEBA Universe the Knights are looking to improve over last season. Tempe fans will see a mix of their superstars, their ole vets and some fresh new faces with high hopes. The top brass doesn’t have the illusion of getting out of the tough Desert Hills cellar and they know it will be a long road. But hopefully the Tempe Knights have found the beginning of their yellow brick road.