Since the in-season trade of Jim Fleming late in 2058 the Nashville Bluebirds have seen very little transaction activity. The team is essentially running things back and you can’t blame them—it’s a roster that won 119 games and scored 891 runs while only allowing 587 runs. They were a historically dominant team with no weaknesses. Lets run thru the lineup and pitching staff to see what we should expect for 2059.
Batters (2058 WAR)
C Jesus Rodriguez (3.0)
1B Wafid Bishr (5.9)
2B Colby Triska (2.1)
SS Brooks Eliot (4.7)
3B Jorge Cano (4.6)
LF Juan Rivera (5.3)
CF Crissy Tingle (3.9)
RF Alfonso Gonzalez (8.0)
DH Majd bin Nawaf (4.4)
What could go wrong? Some of Nashville’s 2058 success can be attributed to the durability of their core. This starting group accounted for 83% of the team’s ABs last season. Two of them will be 40 years old. Thankfully, a mega team like the Bluebirds has more depth than the average team.
Which bench player is most important? Finding starting caliber middle infielders is a challenge around the league right now, so what a luxury it is to have the 24 year-old Jose Ramos hanging around. Ramos could play any position on the field if Nashville gave him reps in the outfield. He hasn’t hit for power but he has a career .318 OBP and is still improving.
Which prospect could help? Powerful 23 year-old first baseman De-shi Kuo is fully developed and OPS’d a 1.000 at AAA. All he needs is his big break.
Who could actually improve? This is an easy one too. Colby Triska fell from a 4.8 WAR in 2057 to “only” 2.4 WAR in 2058. The 26 year-old should still have his best baseball ahead of him. I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t surpass his .331 OBP from last season.
Who is most likely to regress? Honestly, none of these guys truly overperformed. The statistician in me says 8 WAR seasons are difficult to repeat so maybe Gonzalez? Wafid Bishr went relatively quiet for a couple years. Or maybe one of the 40 year-olds? But all these guys can really play.
Pitchers (2058 WAR)
SP Billy Kelly (4.6)
SP Barney Lindsay (4.5)
SP Mark Lolololo (4.4)
SP Eric Stevens (3.7)
SP Steven Clayton (1.8)
RP David Molina (2.6)
RP Quirke Roddis (2.3)
RP Giustino Modica (1.0)
Who is the ace of the rotation? For my money it’s already Mark 'Bender' Lolololo. He’s left-handed, has the best single pitch of the group, and was the most effective at avoiding the home run. At only 23 years old he’s only getting better.
What other reliever could step up? Bryant St. John has already received small amounts of playing time across four BBA seasons but I think this year he should be a member of the Nashville bullpen from Opening Day. His ratings are good across the board and he’s got the kind of makeup other players want to be around. When he’s played he’s performed to a 3.48 ERA across 67.1 career innings.
Which prospect could help? The other reliever I wanted to highlight above was soon-to-be 25 year-old Seung-jin Cho. Cho only threw 6.2 innings last year but he didn’t allow a run. His splitter still needs some development but he already looks like one of Nashville’s eight best relievers.
Who could improve? Eric Stevens has an argument for best ratings on the staff and the game agrees by awarding him an 80 OVR rating. Having improved from 2.5 to 3.0 to 3.6 WAR the last three seasons I think this is the year the flamethrower finally puts it all together and dominates.
Who is most likely to regress? Left-handed veteran Billy Kelly is susceptible to the long ball, especially against right-handed hitters. He’s been on an every other year trend for a while now and I’ll wager this is another year with an ERA over 4.
Kurt’s prediction: 104-58. Some injuries and regression to the mean results in this team “only” winning 104 games and running away with their division.
