https://wbl.dmlco.com/wp Baseball The Way It Never Was Wed, 22 Jul 2020 03:44:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 178681366 https://wbl.dmlco.com/wp/2020/06/19/spring-training-preview-homestead/ Fri, 19 Jun 2020 20:19:08 +0000 https://wbl.dmlco.com/wp/?p=175

The rotation is pretty much set: it would take a stellar spring for the most likely candidates of Carlos Zambrano, John Candelaria, or Bartolo Colon to break through.

• Best laid plans and all that. Billy Pierce and Babe Adams have both been hit hard, with Pierce especially ineffective. So more SPs are being looked at. Zambrano, Carlson, and Francisco Liriano look to be firmly in the mix.
  • Pierce is off to AAA. Carlson has moved into the starting rotation, joining Zambrano, Corey Kluber, Vean Gregg, and Liriano. Barring a collapse, that’s the starting rotation right there. The question for them then becomes whether Brown, Adams, Colon, and Candelaria are better served in long relief in MLB or starting at AAA.

That said, that trio along with Hal Carlson and Ray Brown have a decent shot at a bullpen role, especially if Frank Linzy or Kent Tekulve struggle.

• Linzy has, but Tekulve–along with closer Josh Lindblom and Michael Jackson–have been excellent.
  • Bill Fischer and Will Thompson are struggling at the back end of the bullpen.

The backup 2B job is up for grabs between Jeff Kent and Phil Garner, as is the starter at 3B, between Chris Sabo and Pedro Feliz.

• At 2B, Kent is pushing Davey Johnson for the starting role, while Garner has yet to show anything of note, although his defensive flexibility is useful.
  • Kent has the clear edge at 2B, while Sabo has moved ahead of Feliz.

The biggest mess is in the OF, where Roberto Clemente and Paul Waner are both guaranteed slots and both strongest at RF. How that plays out, with Rick Reichardt, Tom Brown, Pops Stargell, Andrew McCutcheon, and Max Carey all vying for 3 roster spots, will go a long way to determining the opening day lineups.

• While Waner has done well, Clemente has hit poorly enough to throw his starting position in doubt. Brown, Stargell, and McCutcheon are all excelling.

Josh Gibson is out for a few weeks, prompting Homestead to add Hobie Landrith and Blake Swihart to the roster to support Peaches Graham at C.

• Swihart and Graham would make the roster at this point.

Jay Bell hasn’t shown enough to lock down the backup SS role, so Khalil Greene has been recalled from AAA as a possibility.

• Perhaps most surprisingly, right now Honus Wagner and Andy Van Slyke are likely to start at AAA.

	Near Definite	Likely	Possible	Long Shot
Starting Pitchers		Corey Kluber Carlos Zambrano Vean Gregg Francisco Liriano Hal Carlson		John Candelaria Ray Brown Bartolo Colon Babe Adams
Middle Relievers		Daniel Hudson	Bill Fischer Will Thompson	Frank Linzy
Setup		Michael Jackson Kent Tekulve
Closer		Josh Lindblom
C	Josh Gibson	Peaches Graham	Blake Swihart	Hobie Landrith
1B	Mike Epstein			Honus Wagner
2B		Davey Johnson	Jeff Kent	Phil Garner
3B		Chris Sabo	Pedro Feliz	Andy Van Slyke
SS	Arky Vaughan		Jay Bell Khalil Greene
OF	Goose Goslin	Pops Stargell Andrew McCutcheon Tom Brown	Rick Reichardt Paul Waner Roberto Clemente	Max Carey Jack Cust

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