Spirit analysis from NEFAN forum

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woodenulykteneau3
2005 Spirit
It's been awhile since we've posted something about the team, so let me set the table for you guys (and gals):

LINEUP
Garrett Weir, LF
Rob Fischer, CF
Vic Davilla, 1B/DH
Travis Oglesby, DH/C
Brian Macchi, RF
Alex Trezza, C
Eric Story, 3B
Marcos Agramonte, 2B
Yuri Sanchez, SS

ROTATION
Bryan Morse
John Kelly
Joey Siack
Ryan Bicondoa
Jake Mullis

BULLPEN
Gregg Pleeter
Chris Farley
Ryan McCally
Jarrett Sues
Peter Soteropolous
Alex Herrera

BENCH
Andy Howdeshell
Angel Valdez-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Information regarding the new players continues to be wanting. Angel Valdez appears to be a roster filler and Chris Farley appears to be another arm out of the bullpen until the Spirit get some days off and/or Siak get stretched out.

If I had to guess, I'd say Kunion is biding his time until the Central League playoffs begin in two weeks. I wouldn't expect either of these two to still be here on August 23 (First game after CBL season ends).

Rich Gedman's success in Worcester has a lot of people thinking that Kennedy's previous success was misattributed. Let me make the case where Kennedy's moves aren't getting much credit:
* Moving Rob Fischer to the #2 hole. Since that move, Fischer has gone from below .200 to above .300, which has helped delay the next move.
* Swapping Weir with Agramonte. A lot of folks have been getting on Yuri, but if you look at the numbers, having your leadoff guy batting 40 points below his career average is much more problematic than your #9 hitter batting 40 points under.
* Putting Herrera back in the bullpen. When Alex first came here in June, he pitched brilliantly out of the pen, enough to make me wonder if Kennedy was going to make him the closer that the Spirit have never really had, as overrated as that concept is at least (any pitcher that consistently throws strikes can finish a game).
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Now, the word is that Siak will replace McCally in the rotation, which I think is the prudent move to make - at least in the short term. Should he falter, the next logical choice is Pleeter, but again: we're coming up to end of the CBL season and there are four days off this month. I doubt we'll see a four-man rotation, but I also doubt that we'll see the same five guys start the next 10 games.


SpiritedNSSpiritFan
Re: 2005 Spirit
1 Siak has been REALLY promising. He's already been a huge contributor to the staff- a few of his long relief performances helped us pull games out of the fire. I'd like to see him get his shot as a starter. He couldn't possibly do worse than McCally.

2 Speaking of McCally, when are we going to just cut him anyways? He came out firing and has been awful ever since in whatever role he plays.

3 Interesting to see that the Spirit let Lentz go.. now we are once again without a backup catcher not counting Travis Oglesby. Weird.

4 As for Alex Hererra, I've been told from sources(and I don't doubt it, either) that one of the Spirit's motives in moving him to the bullpen, along with stabilizing the bullpen, was to 'hide' him from MLB scouts.. he was putting up such great numbers starting that the Spirit were afraid he'd be snatched up.. whereas few MLB teams actually sign relief pitchers out of the Indy leagues. Then, they would slot Hererra back into the rotation come Can Am playoff time. Now, I don't know if there's any truth to that, but if there is, that's quite clever AND has had the benefit of making the 9th inning a lot less heartrendering than it was before.

5 Seems like the bullpen, although still the team's weakness, has stabilized a bit, with Pleeter settling down, and Sues and Siak and Hererra being nice additions.

6 Offensively, despite a few holes, the team has put up good numbers and is plenty capable of slugging their way into any game. The question is, will they have enough pitching to push their way into and through the playoffs?

7 Yuri's batting average has gone up 30 points since getting engaged.

8 Wow, it's kind of amazing to look at the overall records and see that the Spirit have the 2nd best record for the season. Who would have thought that during the Spirit's big struggles in the middle of the first half? The Spirit have played with a lot of heart and they are very much alive to win the whole thing.

9 One more thing I noted when looking at the Can Am standings.. it's very possible that the Spirit could wind up with the #1 record in the Can Am league come the end of the season and still be shut out of the playoffs. It's one of the flaws of the two-half system, but for all the flaws, I really like it- it makes everything 2x as exciting.