California Crusaders 2023.12 - Stuart Wins RF Cricket

[Ted]

Mark Stuart was the recipient of the 2023 Charles Puckett Golden Bat award for RF. 2023 was his first year in RF after moving over from a career in left. The 27 year suffered a serious power outage for the first two thirds of the year and missed out on an all star selection after making the club for the first time last year. He still compiled a lofty .314 batting average and .386 OBP, although his .410 slugging has the worst of his career. 15 of his 31 extra base hits came in the last two months of the season. Compare that total to 2021 when he had 45 XBH. It's unclear if this power outage is a trend, or simply a different approach as Stuart is now hitting higher in the order and has improved his average and on base ability.

Mark himself noted, "I'm not sure I'm doing anything different on purpose. The power numbers are down, but I still feel like I'm putting a stroke on the ball. I'm disappointed on missing the all-star game. The Cricket is a nice thing though. Pretty cool to be the top offense player at a position, even if it's a new one to me."

California's front office added, "We're excited and happy for Mark. He'll big a big part of our team in 2024 and hopefully for years to come."


Edited: I just started a piece about Jesus Tonche's rookie year, but I've now been writing for 8 straight hours and I'm out of beer. Time for bed.