Tag: Ted Lyons

Year II Season Preview: Chicago American Giants

On March 27, 2024

Expectations

Championship contention. The offense is just too good not to warrant it, even if moves need to be made in the pitching corps.

Best Case

The offense continues as one of the very best in the league, and enough pitching is found to navigate the postseason.

Worst Case

The fringe of the offense–Freddy Parent, Mike Fiore, whomever is run out there in LF–reverts and the pitching collapses.

Key Questions

How is the rotation going to fall out? Can Ed Walsh handle a fulltime starting role, and can Mark Buehrle and Ben Sheets handle the back end of the rotation?
How long do the American Giants stick with Parent–he’s fine, but his level of play over the second half of the season (after the American Giants picked him up from Ottawa) was below championship.

Trade Bait

There are some pieces in the minors, and this is a team that needs pitching, so there is some potential here.

Roster Evaluation

POS	Elite	Strong	Solid	Meh	Weak	Unknown
C		Fisk		Nilsson
1B	Thomas					Konerko
2B	Collins
3B	Allen
SS				Parent	Jackson
LF/ RF	Jackson	Lewis		~~Mitchell~~	Doyle
CF			Fiore	Torriente		Wells
SP			Nichols Price Walsh	Sheets	Buehrle
End		Minter	Wilhelm	Otsuka		Loes
RP			Lilly			Twitchell

New Addition | ~~Injured~~

Table says it all: if the pitching comes through, this is a championship contender.

Talent Ratings

	WBL	Minors
Raw Power	1B Frank Thomas	OF Rocky Colavito
Batting Eye	2B Eddie Collins	3B Paul Schaal
Contact	OF Joe Jackson	OF Bibb Falk
Running Speed	2B Eddie Collins IF Damian Jackson	OF Mike Cameron
Base Stealing	U Jack Doyle	OF Jack McGeachey
IF Defense	1B Paul Konerko	1B Ruben Amaro Sr
OF Defense	CF Vernon Wells	CF Lance Johnson
Stuff	SP Ed Walsh	RP Bob Ferguson
Control	SP Ben Sheets	RP Bob Bruce
Velocity	RP Akinori Otsuka	RP Alex Reyes

Best In The Minors

Rank	Age	POS	Name
1 (29)	22	OF	Walter Davis
2 (69)	21	OF	Lenny Dykstra
3 (87)	24	P	Jacob deGrom
4 (110)	22	P	Doc Sykes
5 (146)	23	P	Ted Lyons
6 (158)	24	P	Harry Buckner
7 (175)	23	IF	Jorge Orta

Others: None.

The table says it all: this is a weak farm system in need of replenishment.

	Most	Least
Age	OF Steve Braun, 36 P Jamie Moyer, 36	OF Cristóbal Torriente, 18
Height	P David Price, 6’6″	OF Ned Cuthbert, 5’6″
OPS	OF Carson Bigbee, 1.028 (—)	C Tubby Spencer, .499 (—)
HR	OF Carson Bigbee, 42 (—)	2B Danny Murtaugh, 0 (AAA/AA)
SB	2B Eddie Collins, 61 (WBL)	Many with 0
WAR	2B Eddie Collins, 6.5 (WBL)	C Tubby Spencer, -3.2 (—)
W	Tricky Nichols, 15 (WBL)	Lee Meadows, 2 (WBL/AAA/AA)
SV	Rich Garces, 35 (WBL)
ERA	Frank Smith, 3.01 (WBL/AAA)	Lee Meadows, 7.48 (WBL/AAA/AA)
WAR	Joe Lake, 5.7 (WBL/AAA)	Will Smith, -0.9 (—)

Stats are across all levels. 200 PA / 75 IP min. Non WBL leagues indicated by —.

TWIWBL 9.1: AA Roundup

By mknn

On June 26, 2021

In TWIWBL, WBL Minor Leagues

Featured Team: Madison Black Wolf (Chicago)

Chicago‘s AA affiliate in Madison started the year fine, with a 6-5 record after 11 games. Since then, they’ve lost fifteen consecutive games. They are certainly not that bad of a team, as 7 of the defeats have been by a single run. But still, 6-20–and 12 games back after a month–is not good.

No pitcher has more than a single win, with Harry “Green River” Buckner having probably been the best of them, despite a 1-4, 5.63 ERA showing so far. Ted Lyons (1-3, 5.52) and Sean Gallagher (0-3, 5.89) have pitched better than their records as well. Closer Scott Radinsky does have 2 saves and a 1.69 ERA but, as you may expect, has not had many opportunities.

The best offensive performer for the Black Wolf was OF Magglio Ordonez (320/397/660), but he was promoted to AAA Milwaukee. That leaves 20-year old SS/OF Jack Doyle (280/342/500) at the heart of Madison’s lineup. OF Henry Cotto has 7 HRs and 20 RBIs and is slashing 245/286/481. And there’s not a lot else.

Lyons, Gallagher, and Doyle are all under 22, and are currently the brightest prospects on the Black Wolf.

Top AA Performers

Jimmie Foxx (Sacramento/San Francisco) and Joe Rudi (Montgomery/Birmingham) have been the dominant offensive forces at AA, with both recently promoted to AAA. Foxx slashed 358/456/821 with 9 HRs at Sacramento and Rudi 359/400/859 for Montgomery. Atlantic City (Philadelphia)’s Prince Fielder leads AA with 13 HRs, and Fort Worth (Detroit)’s Bill Sweeney is hitting .400. More impressively, Oklahoma City (Kansas City)’s Johnny Bassler is keeping his OBP just shy of .500 at .495.

Of those, none are over the age of 22, and Bassler is only 17, so all should be considered prospects.

On the mound, three starters still have sub-2.00 ERAs: Sacramento (San Francisco)’s Turk Wendell at 2-0, 1.19; Charlotte (Baltimore)’s Dave Smith at 2-0, 1.64; and San Diego (Los Angeles)’s Sean O’Sullivan at 2-0, 1.71. Wendell also has a stellar 0.79 WHIP.

Syracuse (Homestead)’s Vern Law is 5-0 with a 2.97 ERA, but his future may be at 1B and not on the mound–clearly, though, if he keeps this up, he’ll progress as a hurler. Steve Bedrosian (Montgomery/Birmingham) and Mark Williamson (Charlotte/Baltimore) lead AA with 9 saves each.

Awards

AA Pitcher of the Month: Mark Williamson (Charlotte/Baltimore), 2-0, 9 Sv, 0.00 ERA.
AA Batter of the Month: Cy Williams (Albuquerque/House of David), .333, 9 HRs, 31 RBIs.

AA Player of the Week: Willie Crawford (Tulsa/Memphis); Richie Ashburn (Atlantic City/Philadelphia); Harry Stovey (Rochester/Cleveland); Adam Dunn (Nashville/Indianapolis).

Top Prospects

SP: Joe Nuxhall (15, Albuquerque/House of David), 3-0, 2.23 ERA; Larry Dierker (17, Albuquerque/House of David), 3-2, 2.51 ERA; Lew Krausse (21, Troy/New York Gothams), 2-2, 3.08 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 44 K.
RP: Steve Bedrosian (24, Montgomery/Birmingham), 1-0, 9 Sv, 0.00 ERA; Rick Camp (23, Montgomery/Birmingham), 2-1, 4 H, 3.09 ERA.
C: Frankie Hayes (19, Vancouver/Portland), 314/407/771.
1B: Jimmie Foxx (20, Sacramento/San Francisco), 358/456/821.
2B: Wally Backman (22, San Diego/Los Angeles), 337/419/554.
3B: Bill Sweeney (22, Fort Worth/Detroit), 400/467/550.
SS: Bert Campaneris (22, Albuquerque/House of David), 375/432/675.
OF: Joe Kelley (20, Tulsa/Memphis), 323/404/646; Willie Crawford (17, Tulsa/Memphis), 344/447/583, 11 2B, 21 R; Richie Ashburn (21, Atlantic City/Philadelphia), 379/426/544, 39 H, 3 3B.

Bold indicates league leader.

Spring Training Preview: Chicago

By mknn

On June 21, 2020

In 2000 Spring Training, Team News

The last spot in the rotation will probably come down to either Tricky Nichols or Herb Pennock, with Rube Foster, Mark Buehrle, Lee Meadows, and Ted Lyons as outside candidates.
- Ed Walsh and Joe Lake still look like the middle of the rotation, but they need to improve, but none of the above have really made their argument, with Buehrle likely falling out of contention.
  - Ben Sheets, Meadows, Lake, and Foster look set for the rotation. But Frank Smith has been horrible, and Lyons is on his way to AAA. Foster could stumble, and Smith could still pull it out, but any of the others could step up as well for that 5th slot.
The final bullpen slots will be between that group, Victor Cruz, and Wilbur Wood.
- Cruz has struggled, and Wood has impressed, as have Koji Uehara, Fernando Rodney, and Ken Sanders, but nothing is settled in the bullpen behind AJ Minter.
  - Uehara and Akinori Otsuka have been very strong, and Wood is off to AAA. This has the makings of a very fine bullpen.
Carlton Fisk is set at C, but it’s not clear if Hal King, Dave Nilsson, or (less likely) Pop Snyder back him up.
- Snyder was sent down to AAA.
SS is pretty open, with Chico Carrasquel holding a slight edge over Luke Appling and Julio Gotay.
- If any of these could hit a lick, they could seize the role.
Not all of Rocky Colavito, Cristobal Torriente, Avisail Garcia, and Minnie Minoso will make the team, but at least 2 of them should.
- Colavito has struggled mightily, earning a move to AAA. Of this group, Minoso has probably impressed the most.
  - Ah, Spring Training! Minoso is now struggling to make the roster.
Frank Thomas has struggled mightily, allowing both Adrian Gonzalez and Bob Watson to push into the conversation.
- 1B continues to be a muddle: Thomas is hitting better, but both Gonzalez and Jose Abreu are smacking the ball.
With a need for additional bodies to play 2B and 3B (and a real possibility of edging Nellie Fox as the reserve 2B), Chicago recalled Rickie Weeks and Joe Crede from AAA Milwaukee.
- Weeks has moved up in the pecking order, with both Fox and Crede likely to start the season in AAA.

	Near Definite	Likely	Possible	Long Shot
Starting Pitchers	Ben Sheets Joe Lake Lee Meadows	Rube Foster	Ed Walsh Frank Smith Tricky Nichols Herb Pennock Mark Buehrle
Middle Relievers			Victor Cruz
Setup		Akinori Otsuka Koji Uehara Ken Sanders	Fernando Rodney
Closer	AJ Minter
C	Carlton Fisk		Hal King Dave Nilsson
1B		Frank Thomas	Adrian Gonzalez Jose Abreu
2B	Eddie Collins	Rickie Weeks	Nellie Fox
3B		Dick Allen	Robin Ventura	Joe Crede
SS			Chico Carrasquel Luke Appling Julio Gotay
OF	Joe Jackson Mike Fiore	Kevin Mitchell	Duffy Lewis Cristobal Torriente Avisail Garcia Bob Watson	Minnie Minoso