San Diego mid-season PR 2035

Hops mid-season review

San Diego needs to go 20-17 to better its 2034 record of 67-95, and that is a tall order. What is clearly a rebuilding effort has been an injury-marred disaster on many counts. Young players brought up too soon, veterans in the tank, pitchers unable to find a strike zone, altogether make for a team that has many fans not even bothering to check box scores.

Positives

The two rule 5 acquisitions, Gohta Yamashiro, 6-9 in 20 starts, 4.56 ERA, and Jimmy Shumaker, 20 appearances and three emergency starts, 0-3, 5.43, have been thrust into prominent roles due to the plethora of arm woes besetting the Hops’ pitching staff (Teves, Pedercini, Givens, Henneberry, Curnew, Uchida, Jurgens, Zuniga, Alejo all with DL time).

Martin Arias, still only 23, is third in the division hitting, at .328. and in the top five in the ABL in hits, doubles and triples. He is a steady fixture atop the Hops’ batting order.

An-Yi Bian, though down from his All-Star ’34 season, still leads the team in HR, and is a great glove at the hot corner. He too is still part of the future at 25.

Akira Kato, the grizzled elder statesman, still has something in the tank, hitting .296 with nearly 300 AB. At 36, he is in the last year of his contract, and will be moving on by all indications.

Jim Phillips, at 31, has finally found the consistency long awaited, and the southpaw leads the staff with a 9-9, 4.41 ERA over his 25 starts.

Negatives

Landon Carmichael is getting his first long look in the big leagues, and is overmatched so far, just shy of the .200 mark. The good news, is his glove is not feeling the effects, as he has only made two errors while showing extraordinary range at SS.

Amad Kuram is fading at catcher, and his .200 hitting means more time for Addy De Zeeuw, who is also showing signs of a career on its backside.

Pitching in general is just plain bad. The rotating cast of assembled arms is simply not getting the job done.

Outlook

Worse than ever, and the cupboard is looking somewhat bare in the minors. Of the eleven top pitching prospects, only Joe Starring has an ERA under four. Hitters are faring not much better, with Sal Marroquin, 1b, having some success in AAA, and Mario Yescas, showing hitting and pop, and may be the RF of the future now in AAA. Reynaldo Canseco is also waiting in the wings in AAA, but he is blocked at the major league level by Bian.

Akira Kato turns two, proving that age isn't always everything