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1991 Philadelphia Freedom Season Preview - Position Players
Catcher
Victor Alveraz - Age: 25 - Ok, we say this every year, but I think he’s finally poised to have a breakout year. Our scout thinks he has finally fully matured (a process that was somewhat drawn out due to several organizational decisions) and he’ll hopefully finally realize his potential. Not a star or standout in any way, but a good well rounded contact hitter.
Infield
1B - Joe Seagarra - Age: 29 - Seagarra scored more than 100 runs last year for the first time in his career. He’s become a fairly reliable/durable part of the order who can be counted on for a certain level of production in a given season. His slugging % continues to trend downward and we’ll have an interesting decision to be made at the end of the year regarding his $8.8mil option for next season.
2B - Geoff Scott - Age: 25 - An offensive force that gives pitchers fits. He walked a ridiculous 128 times last season and posted a .462 OBP to go along with a .500 SLG%. Good stuff. The only drawback to Scott is his penchant for getting injured and missing a month of the season. After a fully healthy campaign in 1989 (played in 159 games) he returned to his injury prone ways and missed the final part of the ’90 season and more importantly, the playoffs. We need to be more diligent about giving him time off despite his youth. Hopefully he can return to his dominant ways and post another 1989-type year.
3B - Jim Newlin - Age: 31 - It will be a sad day for our organization when Newlin starts to slip. He’s such a steady force that you forget how good he’s actually been during his career. He’ll probably never wow anyone with gaudy numbers, but other than his down year of 1987 he’s been one of the more consistently good players in the IL. (VORP over the last three years: 67.4, 66.6, 51.0). The guy just doesn’t strike out while still posting an OPS in the .860 range. More of the same please.
SS - Raul Carbajal - Age: 28 - He just may never reach his full potential. He shows flashes of really getting it, but they’re just flashes. We gambled that he’d become a star, but got “just” a decent ballplayer instead. He’s all-world with the glove and can provide a spark when he’s on a hot streak. Not consistent enough . . .yet.
LF - Orinosuke Takahashi - Age: 26 - Played more of an everyday role for the first time in his career and posted a career high 103 RBI. He hit only 13 HR as his power numbers struggled to match career rates, but he did slug 43 doubles. He just turned 26 so hopefully we’re about to see his career peak over the next few seasons.
CF - Raul Velez - Age: 27 - Got off to such a slow start last season, his numbers aren’t that impressive. He was fairly good over the second half and down the stretch. In an ideal world he’d be a 4th OFer. He’ll split time with Lippincott in a platoon situation.
RF - Pat Gibson - Age: 26 - He was outstanding up until he broke his wrist. He’ll never hit for average, but at the time he was hitting about .260 with an OBP north of .400. He was 2nd on the team in RBI at the time of the injury, but just never got back into the groove after returning from the disabled list.
Key Bench Guys
C - Jim Vallee - Age: 27 - A catch and throw backup catcher. He is what he is.
IF - Pete Summers - Age: 29 - Another solid season under his belt as our super utility infielder. He will get plenty of ABs all around the infield again.
OF - Gary Lippincott - Age: 35 - A platoon role in CF with Velez is likely, though if he shows again that he can’t handle regular duty, he’ll fall into the 4th OFer role
1991 Offensive Outlook
I’ll borrow most of this from last year, because most of it still applies:
We’re a little thin in the OF and will probably be in the market at some point for some OF depth. We’ll either be looking to pick up a 4th OF type or a starting OFer who can push either Velez or Gibson to bench duty.
Once again the strength of the team will be our dynamic IF. A healthy year from Scott and a step forward from Carbajal could go a long way to keeping us competitive in the Porter race.
1991 Philadelphia Freedom Season Preview - Position Players
Catcher
Victor Alveraz - Age: 25 - Ok, we say this every year, but I think he’s finally poised to have a breakout year. Our scout thinks he has finally fully matured (a process that was somewhat drawn out due to several organizational decisions) and he’ll hopefully finally realize his potential. Not a star or standout in any way, but a good well rounded contact hitter.
Infield
1B - Joe Seagarra - Age: 29 - Seagarra scored more than 100 runs last year for the first time in his career. He’s become a fairly reliable/durable part of the order who can be counted on for a certain level of production in a given season. His slugging % continues to trend downward and we’ll have an interesting decision to be made at the end of the year regarding his $8.8mil option for next season.
2B - Geoff Scott - Age: 25 - An offensive force that gives pitchers fits. He walked a ridiculous 128 times last season and posted a .462 OBP to go along with a .500 SLG%. Good stuff. The only drawback to Scott is his penchant for getting injured and missing a month of the season. After a fully healthy campaign in 1989 (played in 159 games) he returned to his injury prone ways and missed the final part of the ’90 season and more importantly, the playoffs. We need to be more diligent about giving him time off despite his youth. Hopefully he can return to his dominant ways and post another 1989-type year.
3B - Jim Newlin - Age: 31 - It will be a sad day for our organization when Newlin starts to slip. He’s such a steady force that you forget how good he’s actually been during his career. He’ll probably never wow anyone with gaudy numbers, but other than his down year of 1987 he’s been one of the more consistently good players in the IL. (VORP over the last three years: 67.4, 66.6, 51.0). The guy just doesn’t strike out while still posting an OPS in the .860 range. More of the same please.
SS - Raul Carbajal - Age: 28 - He just may never reach his full potential. He shows flashes of really getting it, but they’re just flashes. We gambled that he’d become a star, but got “just” a decent ballplayer instead. He’s all-world with the glove and can provide a spark when he’s on a hot streak. Not consistent enough . . .yet.
LF - Orinosuke Takahashi - Age: 26 - Played more of an everyday role for the first time in his career and posted a career high 103 RBI. He hit only 13 HR as his power numbers struggled to match career rates, but he did slug 43 doubles. He just turned 26 so hopefully we’re about to see his career peak over the next few seasons.
CF - Raul Velez - Age: 27 - Got off to such a slow start last season, his numbers aren’t that impressive. He was fairly good over the second half and down the stretch. In an ideal world he’d be a 4th OFer. He’ll split time with Lippincott in a platoon situation.
RF - Pat Gibson - Age: 26 - He was outstanding up until he broke his wrist. He’ll never hit for average, but at the time he was hitting about .260 with an OBP north of .400. He was 2nd on the team in RBI at the time of the injury, but just never got back into the groove after returning from the disabled list.
Key Bench Guys
C - Jim Vallee - Age: 27 - A catch and throw backup catcher. He is what he is.
IF - Pete Summers - Age: 29 - Another solid season under his belt as our super utility infielder. He will get plenty of ABs all around the infield again.
OF - Gary Lippincott - Age: 35 - A platoon role in CF with Velez is likely, though if he shows again that he can’t handle regular duty, he’ll fall into the 4th OFer role
1991 Offensive Outlook
I’ll borrow most of this from last year, because most of it still applies:
We’re a little thin in the OF and will probably be in the market at some point for some OF depth. We’ll either be looking to pick up a 4th OF type or a starting OFer who can push either Velez or Gibson to bench duty.
Once again the strength of the team will be our dynamic IF. A healthy year from Scott and a step forward from Carbajal could go a long way to keeping us competitive in the Porter race.