[mikev]

2012 Pitching Staff Preview

The 2012 California Crusaders pitching staff returns essentially unchanged from last season, in which they were pretty much the best in the league. A brief rundown of how the staff will shape up:

Starting Rotation

1. Jorge Enriquez, RHP
2011: 22-5, 2.98, 262.2 IP, 237 K, 1.05 WHIP

Enriquez is pretty above average. After his second consecutive 20 win season with a VORP over 50, the 29 year old looks to be a Golden Arm contender yet again this season.

2. Ken McKain, LHP
2011: 17-9, 3.32, 241.1 IP, 203 K, 1.14 WHIP

McKain has definitely cemented himself as a #2 starter in the Crusaders rotation. After being aquired midway through the 2010 season, McKain has flourished with a regular rotation spot.

3. Arturo "Big Time" Fernandez, RHP
2011: 17-10, 3.43, 249.1 IP, 179 K, 1.17 WHIP

Fernandez won't ever be the "legit #1" ace type of pitcher he was projected to become when drafted 3rd overall, but if he keeps putting up 250 innings of 3.50 ERA ball I'm not complaining one bit. Look for the 25 year old 3rd year pro to negotiate a longish term extension this year.

4. George Adams, RHP
2011: 9-6, 4.30, 113.0 IP, 69 K, 1.42 WHIP

Adams was called up due to the injury to Javier Lugo in 2011, and performed admirably well as the 5th starter. He grew into his ratings during the season so we actually expect that he'll go around 200 innings with around a 4.00 ERA. We'll take that from a 23 year old 4th starter making the minimum.

5. Lindsay Blackley, RHP
2011: 1-2, 3.92, 20.2 IP, 15 K, 0.97 WHIP

Blackley breaks camp as the team's 5th starter, mostly due to the injury to Hayagawa. He's been getting good strikeout numbers, but he's going to need to keep the hits down if he wants to stay in the big leagues.

Masahiko Hayagawa, RHP
2011: 12-11, 3.88, 209.0 IP, 168 K, 1.17 WHIP

Hayagawa starts the season on the DL, and will likely replace whichever of Adams or Blackley are performing worse when he returns.

The Bullpen

CL Hsin-ta Jin, LHP
2011: 3-7, 1.91, 42 SV, 66.0 IP, 56 K, 0.97 WHIP

The old man just keeps chugging along, racking up saves. He signed a 2 year extension at a discounted rate to keep him around until 2013, but we expect that he'll probably be moved to a setup role sometime between this year and the end of his contract.

SU Luis Vargas, RHP
2011: 7-4, 2.27, 1 SV, 47.2 IP, 44 K, 1.11 WHIP

Here's why Jin won't be the closer by the end of 2013, folks. He's 20 years old, throws 98, and is already in his FOURTH big league season.

SU Angel Sandoval, RHP
2011: 7-2, 1.55, 3 SV, 110.1 IP, 87 K, 1.03 WHIP

Well if the 20 year old Vargas doesn't pan out, the 23 year old Sandoval is just as able to step in and close games. Also in his fourth season, Sandoval has topped 100 IP twice in a row as a reliever.

MR Jesus Diaz, RHP
2011: 0-0, 2.45, 7.1 IP, 3 K, 1.36 WHIP

Yes, Diaz really only pitched 7 innings. No, he wasn't hurt last season. I guess it's a combination of durable starters and awesome relievers ahead of him on the depth chart, but the innings should really be spread out more this season.

MR Jorge Cisneros, RHP
2011: 1-0, 2.31, 11.2 IP, 7 K, 0.86 WHIP

This guy is buried on the depth chart. Just, wow. 24 years old with 3/3/4 talents. I'm going to have to trade off some of my bullpen, cripes.

MR Jesus Perez, RHP
2011: 1-0, 1.17, 15.1 IP, 15 K, 0.72 WHIP

My mopup guy is a 26 year old who has 19 strikeouts in 24 career GUBA innings pitched, and a 1.16 WHIP.