The Beef are currently at the fork in the road. The team has a great core of young hitters to help keep this teams head above water. How far above water? Only time will tell.
Starting Pitching:
L Andrew Howell
L Tim Terry
R Colby Mills
L Ryan Williams
R Xu-gang Hsueh
L Stephan McMillan
Not a true ace on the staff but we have 3 solid #2's. Colby Mills will be entering his rookie year and the expectations are high for him after going 3-0 in 4 starts with a 2.12 ERA last season. If we can get solid prodcution out of Williams and Hsueh the Beef can make a push for a wildcard birth.
Bullpen:
CL Carlos Castillo
SU Gonzalo Castenada
SU Will Clark
MR Jerry Owens
MR Ed Perez
MR Andrew Murray
MR Wally WIlliamson
The bullpen is anchored by Carlos Castillo. Entering his 5th year and now fully seated in the Closer role he will be relied on to close out and ensure the Beef win. Will Clark who was going to be relegated to AAA for his career ended up having an amazing boost to his changeup. At the end of the season his changeup was an 8 potential, now it's a 80/80.
Lineup:
2B Hal Watkins:
Entering his 2nd season and will leadoff for the Beef. Plays above average defense, has good speed and eye and can hit lefties well.
Expected stat line: .271/13/52 27 SB
1B Terrance Stead
Defending AL batting champion, and has finished in the top 3 in batting average in the past 4 seasons. We don't expect anything less from Stead. If he could hit HR's he'd be a household name in our digital world.
Expected stat line: .334/4/72
3B Mario Carillo
Last years season was halted by an injury that sidelined him for multiple months. Has a chance to lead the Beef in HR's and RBI's, but will probably fall short to Jessup.
Expected stat line: .284/31/106
DH Philip Jessup
Hits righties very well and struggles against lefties. Has the power to change a game if he can get the bat on the ball.
Expected stat line: .251/36/104
RF Steve Yanez
At 28 years old, he is one of the vets in the starting lineup. Just a solid all around player that won't wow anyone in any facet of his game.
Expected stat line: .271/24/103
LF Alfonso Fernandez
Entering his second season after a decent rookie year. Needs to improve his defense to become a very good all around player.
Expected stat line: .306/5/49 31 SB
CF Mike Krieger
2nd year pro who plays ++++ defense in CF. Probably should have won the gold glove as a rookie. Not a horrible hitter but will not wow anyone there as well.
Expected stat line: .246/18/75 25 SB
C Juan Saucedo
The oldest starter in the lineup at 29. Plays well enough behind the plate where he won't hurt your team. Nothing great about him but nothing horribly wrong with him.
Expected stat line: .274/6/52
SS Rich Booth
Another guy entering his 2nd season. Plays great defense at SS and has plenty of speed. May struggle against lefties but will hit righties very well.
Expected stat line: .267/1/53 24 SB
RF Melvin Cooper
Will come off the bench and will get starts against lefties. Easily could start for over half the league. Has a cannon for an arm in RF and could play CF if needed, just not at a high level.
Expected stat line: .264/14/63 18
Season Expectations:
We have a young nucleus of hitters to build upon, 3 players entering their 2nd season and another entering their 3rd season. We are excited to see how well Colby Mills does in the starting rotation and could compete to be the best rookie pitcher in the AL. The Beef are an elite power hitter and a true Ace away from turning the corner from being a sub .500 team to a team that can get over the hump and be competitive in the Wild Card race.
Last Season: 75-87
Expected Record: 85-75
Beef will be on the outside looking in come playoff time
Prior to the season started and after the Outlook was written, we looked at the teams strengths and decided to move the fences to play into the teams strength (high contact/gap and great team speed). This move paid great dividends in the end as we finished better than expected.
Beef bats played much better than the preseason outlook had predicted. We were expecting to be on the outside looking in for the playoffs but the team banded together and made the playoffs as the 2nd wildcard team. The team vaulted to a playoff spot by riding the best hitters in the AL. The team lead the league in average, runs, OBP, OPS, wOBA, SBs and doubles.
Pitching was down league wide as we may have entered the baby steroid era and the Beef pitching suffered greatly. We knew that the pitching staff would be the weak link in this team but did not expect them to be this bad.
Some potential stars broke out this year in Alfonso Fernandez and Mario Carrillo. Fernandez set the tone for the Beef in the leadoff spot hitting .347/13/100. We do not expect this kind of power from him moving forward. Mario Carrillo was the anchor in the lineup with a solid all around year, hitting .342/26/101/120 runs and was tied for the most doubles in the league at 53.
Playoff prediction:
Realistic: lose 2-4 in the wildcard round
Optimistic: win 4-1 in the wildcard round and lose to Winterfell in the second round 3-4.
Wishful thinking: Win against Philly and Winterfell and get to face off with Miami from the AL (L)east. We get to Villy early and he is pulled in the 2nd inning and this sets the stage for a 4-1 beat down of the Vice.
2025 all over again: We come back from 0-2 to win 4-3 against Bowie.
Prior to the season started and after the Outlook was written, we looked at the teams strengths and decided to move the fences to play into the teams strength (high contact/gap and great team speed). This move paid great dividends in the end as we finished better than expected.
Beef bats played much better than the preseason outlook had predicted. We were expecting to be on the outside looking in for the playoffs but the team banded together and made the playoffs as the 2nd wildcard team. The team vaulted to a playoff spot by riding the best hitters in the AL. The team lead the league in average, runs, OBP, OPS, wOBA, SBs and doubles.
Pitching was down league wide as we may have entered the baby steroid era and the Beef pitching suffered greatly. We knew that the pitching staff would be the weak link in this team but did not expect them to be this bad.
Some potential stars broke out this year in Alfonso Fernandez and Mario Carrillo. Fernandez set the tone for the Beef in the leadoff spot hitting .347/13/100. We do not expect this kind of power from him moving forward. Mario Carrillo was the anchor in the lineup with a solid all around year, hitting .342/26/101/120 runs and was tied for the most doubles in the league at 53.
Playoff prediction:
Realistic: lose 2-4 in the wildcard round
Optimistic: win 4-1 in the wildcard round and lose to Winterfell in the second round 3-4.
Wishful thinking: Win against Philly and Winterfell and get to face off with Miami from the AL (L)east. We get to Villy early and he is pulled in the 2nd inning and this sets the stage for a 4-1 beat down of the Vice.
2025 all over again: We come back from 0-2 to win 4-3 against Bowie.
