Early season surprises/disappointments

[Sully]

Things are dead around here today, so I thought I'd start this thread to see who guys are happy or upset with.

I'm a little upset with John McNeilage. His stats aren't terrible, but I was expecting him to pick up where he left off last season. His K's per game are down a bit, and walks are up. The rest of the rotation is carrying him at this point.

1b FA acquisition Fred Priday is a worthless piece of crap. I should've realized that when I saw he played for Baltimore last year. He's on his way out the door shortly.

SP/MR Dan Haughey has been a pleasant surprise. He lost 20 games for lowly Philadelphia last year, but his numbers really weren't that bad. His whip was high due to a good number of walks. I figured I'd take a shot on him, hoping he could lower that number, and he's been solid through the first month and a half of the season.

2b Earl Eanes has been tearing the cover off of the ball. I've got to lock him up soon. He's arguably the best 2b in the league.

CF Francois Dupuis is on pace for that 40/40 I hoped he'd get last year. Watch out Kellum!

Closer Siu-Chung Sukarto has already allowed as many earned runs as he did all of last season. Ouch. He is tied for the lead with 10 saves though.

SP Herbert Haile was signed cheap as a FA during the offseason, and has been my best pitcher thus far. 4-1 with a 2.51 ERA.

[Andrew]

My only real surprise has been Chang-wei Au Yong, who I signed as a FA. He's 37 years old so I gave him a 1 year deal for $12 mil hoping he'd provide some offense as his career winds down. He's been nothing short of amazing so far. He's hitting .389, 2nd in the leauge in BA, is tied for the lead with 33 RBI's and has a 1.042 OPS. He's making me consider reupping him for another year despite his age.

http://ootp.oldredboat.com/news/html...player_45.html

[GIGGAS2]

Danny Nelson, my vote for the Rookie of the Year. Kid's 19 and he's hitting .243 in the bigs, with 7 HR, and 19 RBI.

Betta recognize.

[BradleyB]

I'm surprised by the Whaler's new logo. How can a whale hold a bat if it doesn't have any thumbs?? It's ridiculous.

[Pat]

Surprises:
1. Joe Santiago CF: Last year he hit .236 with a .657 OPS, this year he is hitting .362 with a .904 OPS, and has 16 SB and only 1 CS.

2. Wayne Deel 2B: Last year he hit .241 for Philadelphia and .266 for Washington, this year he is hitting .373.

3. Bill Gentry LF: He good numbers last year for when he played, but he missed the majority of the season with an injury. He is 38, coming off a season ending injury, so I wasn't expecting much from him. He has already played in more games than he suited up for last year and is hitting .286.

4. Jose Macias SP: He is 39 years old, and last year had a 5.76 ERA, 1.68 WHIP and a 3-6 record. This year he is 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA and 1.17 WHIP.

5. Raimundo Carrazana CL: He split time closing and at setup, finishing with 15 saves and 2.25 ERA/1.09 WHIP. This year he already has two wins, eight saves, a .60 ERA and .67 WHIP.

Disappointments:
1. Nick Latham RF: Last year he hit .276 and 28 HR this year he is hitting .235 with 2 HR.

2. Jim Birkholz MR: Last year 61 innings, 3.39 ERA/1.25 WHIP, this year 9.00 ERA and 1.83 WHIP.

3. Tom Block/ Anibal Urritcodez: Both starters and both hitting under the mendoza line.

4. Chicho Ochao: Prized RF prospect hit .303 in AAA last year, is hitting just .204 in spot starting duties for the big league club.

[Andrew]

My biggest disappointment has been Jose Gretter:

http://ootp.oldredboat.com/news/html...player_80.html

He had a very good solid season last year in AAA but has done nothing this year. Maybe asking him to jump from AAA into the starting lineup is too much but you'd think he'd be better than a .581 OPS.

[Guest]

Biggest disappointment: My whole team.

[Dave]

My only real surprise is how well Frank Dallyn is pitching. Frank posted a tidy 3.27 ERA after coming over from California last year, which earned him a hefty contract extension this offseason. A good season would not have been a surprise, but his numbers so far are stunning. He's 5-2 with a 1.37 ERA and has been near-unhittable, giving up only 29 hits in 52.2 innings of work.

As for disappointments....

Joe Negron, MR. Joe was very solid last year, posting a 3.06 ERA and an 0.85 WHIP as my LH setup man. This year, however, is a different story. An early 7.04 ERA has relegated Negron to a middle relief role until he sorts out his problems.

Xever Magano, C. Xever finished 5th in the league in OBP and 6th in hits last season while batting mostly leadoff for the Bulldogs. This year, batting in the bottom half of the lineup, Magano is hitting .231 and has just 5 extra base hits in 27 games.

Amato Albors, SS. If he didn't make $11+ million a season, he wouldn't be on this list. But he does and he is. Amato has displayed some nice pop (7 2B, 4 HR) but a .246 average in Phillips Field isn't going to cut it. Amazingly, he's hitting almost 20 points higher on the road so far.

Otherwise, everyone's pretty much where I expect them to be so far. And Sully, I told you that Priday sucked. At the start of last season, he wouldn't even talk to me about an extension. By the end, he was begging for a contract.

[Riverman]

My only real surprise has been Chang-wei Au Yong, who I signed as a FA. He's 37 years old so I gave him a 1 year deal for $12 mil hoping he'd provide some offense as his career winds down. He's been nothing short of amazing so far. He's hitting .389, 2nd in the leauge in BA, is tied for the lead with 33 RBI's and has a 1.042 OPS. He's making me consider reupping him for another year despite his age.

http://ootp.oldredboat.com/news/html...player_45.html

Yeah, I thought about making him an offer but I couldn't quite afford it along with the FA pitchers I signed. Sure wish I had gone for him now instead of Joyce.

[Riverman]

Surprises

Bovey - 13 HRs in April (BLB record for HRs in a month?) after hitting just 27 last year.

Buzzell - OPS of 1.069, last year .763

Cadena - batting .338, last year .245

Young starters Orozco and Jorge - both 23, 5-1 between them both with WHIP under 1.0.

Marron - 1 ER in 22 innings out of the pen.

Disappointment

McCabe - .195 average after hitting .266 last year.

And then of Course there is Joyce - out for the season after 3 innings pitched.

[HWessinmouse]

Re: Early season surprises/disappointments

I'm a little upset with John McNeilage. His stats aren't terrible, but I was expecting him to pick up where he left off last season. His K's per game are down a bit, and walks are up. The rest of the rotation is carrying him at this point.

That's not too suprising. I'm fairly certain that Andrew lowered K's in the off season (that bastard!) I was quite happy with the K's, since hitting overall was skewed a bit high as well. But everyone plays with the same conditions so whatever if fine with me.

[Acid]

Surprise: Jude White and Buster Townsley

Disappointment: Everyone else

[Jistic]

Pitching Suprises

None

Pitching Disappointments

Just one, Timothy Rohan.

22yr old MR had a 2.80 Era last year with a WHIP of .93 in 74 innings.

This year
8.78 ERA, 2.03 WHIP so far. I know he'll be fine, but he's hurting our club. So he's going down to AAA to figure it out.

The good news is Marquetta is back after 11 months on the DL.

The only real suprise on offense is Samarano. Not that he's doing well, but he only hit 13 HR's last year and this year he's got 8. Ever since I moved him to the 3 hole now he's got Arce behind him and he's responded.

[Z]

Surprises
CF Joe Iliquez- .900 OPS with 7 steals while playing good defense in center.
IF Wilton Harcourt- .523 SLG with 7 homers for a .875 OPS
SP Quin Billegas- 2.81 ERA with a 2.13 K/BB
CL Mike Remy- 5 saves in 5 opportunities, 1.74 ERA, .167 BAA

Disappointments
C Javier Villarroal, 1B Chi-hyeon Park, 3B Juan Coera, LF Mois?s Taporco- 2nd year men underachieving at the plate
OF Rick Hoover- Talented veteran entering his prime struggling at the plate

[mahoney2]

I don't even know where to start.