10/05/2015: Reno, NV – The Reno front office set what seemed like a reasonable goal of not losing 100 games this season.  Despite their best-laid plans, things fell apart quickly for the Zephyrs.  The team took the first two games of the season opener against their rival Yuma, but the wheels came completely off after that.  The month of April provided Reno with three wins.  Three lousy wins!  The road to 63 wins was derailed from the get-go. By the time the dust settled on the season, the Zephyrs managed to set a franchise record for losses with 124.  Nice job, boys.

It would be easier on the psyche if we could point to injuries as a big reason for the Zephyrs’ woes, but they were quite lucky in that regard.  A few players spent time on the DL, but no one on the 25-man roster spent more than a few weeks on the sidelines due to injury.

Things are so bad for Reno that their ace (Tu-an Sima) posted a 4.79 ERA, almost 50 points worse than the league average, and their best hitter (IF Robert Johnson) had a .735 OPS, just one point above the league average.  These are desperate times for Reno fans.  The path ahead looks dark and hopeless.

2015 Record: 38-124, sixth in Desert Hills. Trailed the division leader by 78 games.

Defining moment: On May 2, the Zephyr lost 13-4 to Yuma.  Several prognosticators picked Reno to be worse than Yuma this season, and they were proven correct.  The torch for the worst team in the Sovereign League has officially been passed to Reno.  Yuma took the season series 13 games to 5.  Reno has been a bad baseball team since the dawn of time, but the fans could always point to their past domination of Yuma as their only saving grace.

What went right: Nothing!  I would bet that Aurora’s Triple-A team (the Thornton FasTrax) could consistently beat the Zephyrs.  Heck, there might even be some Double-A squads that could beat this team.

What went wrong: The offense was horrendous.  They ranked 11^th in runs scored (591). As bad as the offense was, the pitching was much worse.  Not only did they finish last in runs allowed (1006), but the next closest team (Yuma) allowed 49 fewer runs.

Biggest surprise: Third baseman Josh Wetmore hitting 18 home runs in 408 at bats.  Wetmore was a waiver claim via San Antonio back on 12/02/2013.  Reno’s scouting director Santiago Díaz thought he had power potential, but he never really showed anything encouraging until this season.  The big question is whether the 29-year-old is able to sustain his power display over a full season.

FORECAST FOR 2016
Lineup: Juan Monasterio and Robert Johnson are the only two hitters that seem like roster locks next season.  The rest of the offense either sucked beyond human comprehension or is expected to earn more than the team can afford to pay based on their arbitration estimates.

Rotation: Needed badly are #1 and #2 starters who can lead the way.  Tu-an Sima and Chris Grinnell both look like decent mid-rotation arms that would benefit from a strong pair of arms ahead of them but, sadly, there isn’t enough room in the budget to sign even a pair of back-of-the-rotation arms, let alone a pair of top hurlers.

Bullpen: The entire group of bullpen arms is likely to be given their walking papers.  None of them deserve another go-round.  It is highly likely that Reno goes scrapheap-picking towards the end of the free agent period in order to try and catch lightening in a bottle.

Biggest need: Pitching.  General manager Scott Maynor needs to get creative in order to improve his team.  The goal again will be to try to avoid 100 losses.  The only way for that to happen is if several of their high-level prospects develop quickly and contribute in the big leagues.  Unfortunately, there are too many holes to fill and not enough prospects to go around.  All avenues will need to be explored: free agency, trade, waivers, Rule 5, looking under the bed, stealing some DNA from Darryl Lewis (ARL) and attempting to clone him.

Prospect watch: Centerfielder Dale Griffith has spent enough time in the minors and will definitely be in the Zephyrs lineup next season.  Gilbert Murray got a taste of the big leagues as a September call-up and should be back due to his contract status and a lack of better options.  Shortstop Leon Brunelle may also win a job out of spring training if he can hit better than current shortstop Cruz.  Both have the glove to play every day.  The last prospect to keep an eye on is pitcher Jhong-shun Kong.  The 20-year-old right-hander moved through three minor league levels in 2015 and didn’t look overwhelmed.  The need is there for the front office to push him faster than they would like to.

Off-season recommendation: Move to Aurora!