The Omaha Cyclones have won 206 games in the past two years, making them one of the BBA's powerhouses. And yet, neither year led to a Brewster. Will 2055 be the year? Give their placement in the heavily contested Heartland, where only the Yellow Sprigs Nine are already mathematically eliminated from a playoff spot despite the season not starting yet, it will a tough road, especially with a pitching staff that has questions.
Let's take a look…
The Fielders, or "And you get a homer, and you get a homer, and you get a homer…"
Everyone knows the Cyclones like to use extremely high bat speeds to get the ball out of the park, often hitting 100mph on the escape rates. LF Du Wo's 55 HR (to go with an OPS of 1.004 and 125 RBIs) pairs with CF Orlando Ordonez's league-leading 56 HR (and league leading 129 runs, 150 RBIs, .686 slugging, 1.076 OPS and 9.7 WAR) alongside RF Andre Ly's "mere" 25 home runs to form one of the best outfields, if not the best, in the entire BBA. Those three players alone can change the entire course of a game with just a few swings.
So what does GM Niles do? Goes out and signs 3B Luis Mendoza and his 46 home runs and 102 RBIs and his league leading .414 OBP and his 8.1 WAR to make the bomb-hitting rich even richer. The hot corner just got hotter for the already sweltering Cyclones. He's even a great fielder, with a 3.9 zone rating in 2054 after a 5.1 rating in 2053.
The rest of the diamond is pretty solid, too, with 1B Wilson Estrada hitting .320 with 31 HR in 2054 and C Sloth Fratelli knocking 27 balls over the fence (plus one stolen base they're still teasing him about). Starting SS Asher Chuang doesn't hit well, but with all those other sluggers, he doesn't need to. He'll let his 23 zone rating at short speak for him, saving the team runs.
The only question mark is at DH, where it looks to be a platoon between Amid Kasim (.211, 14 HR last year) and Stan Moten (.127 in a very limited sample last year). With all the other sluggers, this might not matter, but I would imagine the Cyclones will keep an eye out for an upgrade.
The Starting Pitching, or Don't Fix What Isn't Broken
Though they weren't all in starting roles in 2054, the Cyclones bring back all internal options for starting pitching in 2055, opting not to get into the free agent market. The staff is led by 18 game winner Takashi Nakamura. That lead the league, as did his 203 strikeouts. A 3.26 ERA and 1.24 whip are both really solid numbers. Given his history, there's no reason, barring injury, he can't do it again. Jose Barron and his 4 pitch arsenal won 14 games, and Timo Dooley won 13. Both are solid, 4.00 ERA/1.30 or so WHIP pitchers, which is really all Omaha needs given their ability to score runs game in and game out. The thing to worry about with Dooley is his low k/9 rate, which keeps slipping (down to 3.4 in 2054), which means he's unlikely to get out of a jam. His pitches are solid but unspectacular and he doesn't feature a true fastball.
The bottom half of the rotation will be held by rookie Felix Camacaro and Mathis Gerard. Camacaro had solid numbers in AAA, with an ERA in the mid-3s and a whip hovering around 1.3. He's struggled a bit in limited BBA action, and again, might be a candidate for replacement if Omaha needs the push. Gerard was a starter for the Nine who did relief work for the Cyclones in 2054, but moves back into the starter role. On the Nine he had to be one of the main men. With Omaha, he can settle in as a 4-5 starter, at which his innings eating (175 innings + as a starter) and roughly 4ish ERA will keep any team in the game and should allow the Cyclones to scoop up victories like they were poorly constructed houses.
The Bullpen, or "Um…"
This is where I am a bit concerned about the Cyclones in terms of being able to reach their full potential. The bullpen looks really weak to me. You have a solid closer in Dave Farrell (32 saves and 5 holds in 2054), but after that it gets tricky.
Juan Santana can eat innings, but he gives up 5bb/9, which can kill a reliever. He did have 9 saves but that 4.84 ERA worries me, especially if he's the second best person coming out of the pen. You'd never want him in a bases juiced situation. While his ERA was better at 3.65, Jose Santos also has a 5bb/9, leading to the same problem. Those are the two most experienced players on the rest of the staff.
After the trio, it's Five Some Dudes who had no BBA experience in 2054, including a rule 5 pick (so long relief only) in Leo Hill, who does look to be a great starter if he can get past this year. The others just don't show minor league results that fill me with confidence.
The Likely to be Wildly Wrong Prediction, or My Time Here Grows Short
This is a team built on its offense, which has been working really well. But I'm a bit concerned about the pitching depth, especially when the team makes it to the playoffs. I see lots of homers going out of the park, but some of them, a bit more than Niles would like, will be from the opposing team.
Prediction: 95-67, Second Place
