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We're Already Down to Two
So
who's winning the Series at The Sac, the Holy Whites or Wiffolution?
Every
gameday is making it more readily apparent that Wiffolution will
be the team to try and dethrone the current league champions, the
most recent of which making people wonder not only IF Wiffolution
will be in the finals but IF Wiffolution will indeed be able to
knock the Whites off their well-deserved seat atop the league.
If
you haven't noticed already, Wiffolution is 8-4 and in first place
within the league. Another stat fact: Casey Sylvester is hitting
.244, worst on the team. Jeff Morrison is hitting .276, second-worst.
Both walked into 2002 with hopes of hitting in the .400 range. In
other words, both are slumping currently. Bigtime. And let me say
it again:
Wiffolution
is 8-4.
Dean
Evans can take a lot of credit for this. The second-year player
is simply on fire, leading the league in hits (26), hitting .400
so far and giving his teammates plenty of opportunities for RBIs.
More importantly though, Dean has proven to have improved immensely
from the mound. His ERA has dropped from 6.13 (2001) to 3.71 as
of Sunday. He has increased velocity and much-improved accuracy.
He keeps the ball down consistently and is learning the art of not
only painting corners, but setting hitters up.
And
let's not forget that while Jeff is trying to find his old stroke,
he's making up for it with a much-improved pitching game that reminds
many of how good he was back in 1999. In 2001 he finished with a
6.18 ERA thanks to 36 BBs and 43 homeruns surrendered. Today his
ERA sits at 2.67, thanks mainly to only 6 walks and 5 homeruns surrendured
in roughly 1/3rd his 2001 innings total. Not unlike Dean, Jeff has
seemed to remember how to keep the ball down and in the strike zone.
The results are obvious.
And
I'll be honest...rookie Hart McKenzie (9.00 ERA) may appear to have
been a bust for Casey, but this is not the case. Mark my words,
so long as he comes out, he's going to make an impact with his arm.
It's simply lethal and it's all a matter of him finding out how
to use it. Now let's think about this team in a few months. Hart
finds out that he throws harder than anybody and has turned it into
pitching success. Jeff and Dean continue to throw at their current
state. Casey continues to hold hitters to a .122 average (or something
remotely low that he's more than capable of). Dean keeps doing what
he's doing at the plate. Hart improves progressively with his hitting
as most rookies do.
On
top of all that, Jeff and Casey break out of their hitting slumps.
Ouch.
Sorry
Horsemen. Nice knowing you, Longballs. Maybe next year, Road Warriors.
It's going to be Wiffolution and the Holy Whites. Let's review why.
Horsemen
(6-3)
The Horsemen are off to a great start, but it's early, and their
roster is full of problems. Joey Creighton is still not back in
his old form from the mound and no one knows when, or IF, he will
be at all in 2002. John Deatrick is off to a promising start from
the mound, but his hitting isn't producing runs. Eric's hitting
is heavily struggling, he has no fundamentals to fall back on (in
other words, don't count on him turning it around) and his pitching
is a 6-run inning waiting to happen. Seth, as I noted before, can
be a Cy-Young candidate, but he's not getting the job done from
the plate. Simply put, the Horsemen have only one power hitter.
Yes, they're off to a promising start, but in this league, you need
at least a bit of firepower in the lineup.
Longballs
(3-6)
This isn't even a team; it's 4 (well...3) guys who are simply trying
to hit as many homeruns as possible. Pre-season, when asked about
his team, the only thing James said was to the like of his team
possibly leading the league in homeruns. No mention of playoffs.
Nothing on wins, or pitching. Just homeruns. And they will hit their
share, but you need to be a team in this league. Joey Holt is scary-good
with a bat in his hand, but he and Derek Byrd will hearken back
to the Dean/Jeff combo from last year in terms of ERA. James is
not a leader, and even if he tried to be, no one would listen to
him. They play like it's homerun derby, but as long as opposing
pitchers don't pitch like it IS homerun derby, no one will be worried
about them.
Road
Warriors (2-7)
It's not surprising to say that the Road Warriors are in a rebuilding
year. With three rookies, and I don't care how good the rookies
are, you're already in a hole. Both Jeff Register and Chris Keefer
were hit a ton in their respective starts and neither even got a
hit in their opening day. Chris showed promise with a simple, not-too-offensive
swing that almost took Carmichael yard, but this isn't a special
kind of promise that will blossom tomorrow. Anthony Sanzone is something
special who will develop into a topnotch hitter, but not quick enough,
and not topnotch enough to lead this team to the playoffs, or a
winning record. Darnell Uhland + Anthony Sanzone + #1 draft pick
in 2003? Like I said, rebuilding year.
So
the Holy Whites have a guaranteed trip to the finals? Pretty much,
even though they're currently in third and seem to have more problems
than necessary getting two guys to show up. Why? It's easy: Scott
Carmichael. You know the Lakers? Pretty dominant, huh? And no one
admits the Lakers have a great team. They honestly only have two
great players. The Holy Whites are not a great team. You can't be
a great team if you only have one regular. But that one player dominates
like no other. That's not to say that Mike Walsh, Ian Byrd, or Kyle
Archibald aren't talented themselves. They are, but when you play
the Whites, all you know is you'll be playing Scott.
And
that's scary enough.
This
is the Doctor, signing off.
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