San Diego Hops, a season in review
Sun and sunshine
Deep blue skies
Exquisite sunsets
Intimate ocean
Oh,
That baseball team
The big news for the franchise’s offseason will be the
dedication of the Hop Garden, a combination Team Hall of Fame, and Locally Grown
Hops, in the recess between the fence and stands of left-centerfield. In other
news, the Hops fans are excited by some of the developing players on the major
league roster, and hopes they stay off the DL.
Catcher: þ þ
þ þ ☐
Almost a five/five season, perhaps if “Titan” had been
called up sooner…
This is suddenly a very deep position. Antonio Rojas started
most of the season backed up by Chris Morton who also filled in at DH. The two
combined for 36 home runs and over 100 rbis. The real revelation was the
September call-up of Goldi “Titan” Lebel. In a brief 22 game debut, he not only
hit .300 with gap power, but his defense was truly remarkable, throwing out
five of eight attempted base stealers. Rojas is only 27, Morton 28, Lebel 25,
and next man up, Morgan Cairns who hit .313 at AAA, is 29. Elton Tremwade (22)
and Ekansa Sathiamoorthy (18) provide yet more depth in AA. Many believe the
Hops will move one of the four on the 40-man roster, or move Lebel to shortstop
if Hai-Dong Joe or Joe Frost falter.
First Base: þ
þ þ ☐ ☐
Shannon Chase started 134 games, 114 at 1b, while hitting
.270/22 HR/91 rbi. However his glove was less stellar. Jonathan Barnes started
most of the rest of the time, with only a slight improvement afield, and a
meager .230 bat. Terrence Sepkiechler flashed a great glove, but he is the
primary third baseman, and is not ready at this point in his career to move
across the diamond. None of the minor leaguers, Myers, Gibbs, Cunningham, etc.,
inspire a great deal of hope at first. Chris Morton moved up from the squat and
may be a bridge to the future at the position. With Chase turning 33, and
Barnes 32, they may be on the downside of their careers.
Second Base: þ
þ þ ☐ ☐
Jorge Castillo was a pleasant surprise, hitting .323 with an
OPS of .854 while posting a great zone rating with only four errors. Joe Frost
spend some time at the keystone, but showed he’s lost a step or two, and hit
only .230 though he did knock in 91.
Third Base: þ
þ þ þ ☐
Terrence Sepkiechler is the infield super-star, spending
most of his time on the hot corner with a great slash line of .317/.386/.501 19
hr, 91 rbi. At 27, he’s in his prime, and seemed to have shaken off the injury
bug that diminished his 2020 season. Hai
Dong Joe, Ichizo Sato and Castillo backed him up. Paul Miller shows some
promise in AA.
Shortstop: þ
þ ☐ ☐ ☐
Frost was the primary guy in the six hole, with Joe and Sato
behind him. Gerard Leeder is the shortstop of the future in AA, but he’s only
19, and looked lost at the plate. Takanori Higashi is still in the system, but
like Frost is past his prime.
Outfield: þ þ
þ þ þ
This is the Hops’ strength, and even with Badry Makaev on
the DL most of the season, this is a bright spot. Carlos Avila led the division
in rbis, and was second in HRs while slugging .552: .319/.366/.552 36 hr 134
rbi. He only made one error in 331 chances while showing better range than
anticipated. He was flanked often by league leading hitter, Kyle Reader:
.370/.438/.464 113 runs and 41 steals,
only getting thrown out eight times. He primarily played DH, but in the 62
games he played in the field, he too only made one error. Justin Davis also got
on base over 40% of the time while playing great defense: .318/.412/.458 with
32 doubles. Daniel Lopez fleshed out the group, hitting .316/.381/.503 27 hr
108 rbi. Makaev, in the 85 games he played before he ruptured a tendon in his
finger, performed as well, .321/.384/.495 51 runs 54 rbi. In a brief cameo,
Ricardo Romo showed he’s ready, hitting .354/.386/.446. Tom Cassidy, Dan Savage
and first round choice two years ago, Jejomar Butardo lurk in the minors.
Starting Pitching: þ þ ☐ ☐ ☐
This was the Achilles heel of the San Diego squad. Mal
Tosewell started eight games then went down with a season ending elbow injury.
Tadasuke Kato proved to be the most reliable starter, going 12-9 in his first
full season in the bigs. Kazuhiko Kanno did not progress as hoped, going 11-13
with a 5.71 ERA. Lee Barker was a pleasant surprise, notching an 11-6 record in
his rookie season, but his ERA still soared at 5.91. Jose Lara went 7-3
splitting his time in the rotation and bullpen. Jesus Feliciano looked okay in
part-time duty. Jin-Song Cheung made his debut with mixed results in two
starts. Jared Thornton went backwards, and there are not a whole lot of
candidates to step to the front of the rotation in the minors.
Bullpen: þ þ
þ ☐ ☐
Nat Downs and Ed Downing, after his DL stint, combined for
32 saves to anchor a fairly decent bullpen. Aurelio Mata, Joe Barrett and Henry
McGowan were reliable for the most part, while Luis Sandoval and Ivan Garcia
were hampered by injuries. Others to appear, J.R. Murphy, Lorenzo Pueblo, and
Bob Lortie, did little to soothe the San Diego faithful. Help from the minors
is modest at best, with no real flamethrower in the works.
Overall: þ þ
þ ☐ ☐
The team did improve by 20 victories, going from 59 to 79
wins. The climb to playoffs is still a steep one, and will come at the cost of
either outfield or catching depth.
