April In Review

Overall, this has been a remarkably positive month, in spite of the current 8-11 record.

Also in spite of the fact that Roy "ROQ" O'Quinn has succumbed to an end of season injury.
In spite of the fact that SP Cecil Gibbons is going to return to the Bomber rotation sometime in June.

The real positives for the Bombers have been leaps and bounds.
John "Flipper" Martin is pitching, so far, like the pitcher the Bombers expected when they traded "Crayon" Frost to SoCal.  A modest 1-1 record in 4 Starts, a WHIP of 1.16 and an ERA of 2.70

Reijiro "Hit Squad" Yamaguchi has really persevered so far in this young season.  Coming out of Spring Training Yamaguchi lost his bid for the 5th spot in the rotation and was relegated to the bullpen.  However, when Gibbons went down, Yamaguchi stepped right back into the rotation and has really stabilized the back end of the rotation.  In 6 appearances - and 3 starts, he's 1-0, with a 1.66 ERA, 1.06 WHIP.  But as a Starter, he's been down right FILTHY!  1-0, ERA of 0.49, WHIP of 0.87 and 14 K's in 18.1 IP.

Orlando Bustamante, has started this season like a man on a mission.  So far he's already won a Player Of The Week Award, hit 7 HR's, knocked in 16 and is batting at a .407 clip which leads the TML.

Then from a team standpoint, things are looking very promising right now.  Historically, the Bombers bullpen ERA has been ranked either 11th or 12th in the first 3 seasons.  So far this season, they are ranked 2nd in the TML with a 2.70 ERA, which is almost 2.5 runs BETTER than previous season. 
That is the biggest jump right now, but improvement has been seen across the board.

The Bullpen stalwarts are John Wood, Jim Dorsey,  and Cal Henry who are all sporting WHIP's under 1.00 (0.55, 0.68 and 0.97 respectively).

Six of the Seven members of the bullpen are racking up K's at a rate of 8.1 K per 9 or better.

The Bombers have 3 games remaining this month to finish at 500, and they're against Billy Martin Division King, the Maple Marauders.  3 wins would go a long way towards the psych of this young team.

Down Goes Maple!!!

South Carolina WILL win the Billy Martin Division in 2015!

There, it's been said.  It's out there.
Well, it wasn't meant to be clubhouse fodder, but it was broadcast over the offseason on the ABL OMG Episode #2 by Mike Brouillette. 

GM Altman confirmed the quote and said it would be put up in the South Carolina clubhouse as well, to show players that this year is the year we go from Worst To First!

First thing is first.  The ballpark is being modified to be significantly more balanced and the benefit should greatly aid the Bomber batters more than harm the pitching staff!

Altman went onto say that with a full season of ROQ in CF (16 HR, 61 RBI) who played ONLY a half season should easily translate to 35+ HR and 120+ RBI's. 

Chance Everett was also recently added and he'll man RF for the Bombers and gives them another legitimate 30/100 player (44 HR, 102 RBI in the hitter friendly RCL) and now there is some serious thunder to add to Gunner "Get" Smart and Orlando Bustamante (combined 58 HR, 189 RBI) and you're potentiall looking at 140 HR's, and 400 RBI's from just half the lineup!

Fernando Guzman, and Stephen "Action" Jackson should add to what appears to be an significantly upgraded lineup for 2015, and would, on paper improve the rankings across the board of the Bombers offensively.

Pitching should be significantly ramped up with a starting corps of John "Flipper" Martin, Tony Ross (FA Acquisition), Cecil Gibbons, Dave Nicholson and Matt Murphy.

The bullpen sees a significant upgrade with trade acquisitions Jim Dorsey and Cal Henry to go with veteran Charlie Arnold and Mike Hamilton.  John Wood had a scorching hot spring and Yamaguchi gives many options and SC should see great improvement over last years results.

Opening Day, 2015

South Carolina Bombers are all set across the board (25, 30, 30, 40) and their notable moves were, what I consider, somewhat surprising as well….

Reijiro Yamaguchi, who was a SP last year amongst his recall, has been relegated to the bullpen to start the season, as the upstart Matt Murphy had a pretty good spring and won the #5 spot in the rotation.  Yamaguchi’s stuff should work well in the bullpen and add another quality arm for late inning work.

Martin Evans, last year’s rookie starting CF’er and stolen base artist was shipped out.  This move was two-fold.  Eugene White, 28 year old rookie, had an exceptional spring and basically won the job outright.  However, Evans being 25 upper management wanted Martin to continue playing and not sit on an ABL bench to continue his development.  With Chance Everett, Roy "ROQ" O’Quinn, and Stephen "Action" Jackson, there doesn’t appear to be many games that White would appear in and team officials thought that White could adjust better to limited playing time.  White also adds some much needed power off the bench in a pinch hitting role.

Finally, in what is being called a surprise in the SC Press, Jayson O’Neill with his torrid spring won his job back from 22 year old Stu Yarbrough.  O’Neill hit .314 with an OPS of .810 .  It is anticipated that O’Neill will get anywhere from 60% of the playing time and manager Gary Altman has told both players that he will primarily play the hot bat, but for defensive reasons Yarbrough will see more action against the league felons (i.e., Kansas City, etc.).

In regards to their starting rotation, the only thing that Bombers have announced is that John “Flipper” Martin has been named the Opening Day Starting Pitcher vs. Boston on April 4^th.

2015 Season Preview

South Carolina fans and team officials are excited about this upcoming season and feel it could be a turning point for this otherwise floundering franchise.

Amassing win totals of 61, 69 and 68 through the first three seasons, ANY improvement would and could be considered a step in the right direction.  But stability and quality players rather than rhetoric is what is being looked upon.

This season is looking like this right now:
SP: Gibbons, Nicholson, Martin, Ross
MR: Arnold, Henry, Dorsey, Hamilton, Rutledge
C: O'Neill, Yarbrough
INF: Guzman, Cooke, Smart, Pugh, Bustamante
OF: Jackson, O'Quinn, Everett, Buchanan

In previous seasons, there were players playing at the ABL Level that should have been parked at AAA but due to lack of depth in the organization coupled with injuries this wasn't the case, and specifically, nothing more apparent then the reliever rankings over this time.

This year sees very few holes overall and competition for roster spots!  What a concept!!!

STARTING PITCHING:
This year saw 8 SP's brought into camp for 5 spots, with 4 spots guaranteed (Cecil Gibbons, Dave Nicholson, John Martin and Tony Ross).  The remaining rotation spot is being battled out between Reijiro Yamaguchi, Matt Murphy and Jeremy Fisher.  Murphy is a long shot and Fisher looked good enough to possibly win out the job.  Yamaguchi is the odds on favorite to win this spot.  Should Murphy beat out Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi will move to the bullpen and be utilized as a spot starter and insurance for injury.
Aaron Harris, the 2013 1st Round Pick made two starts this spring for a teaser with the ABL club and moved down to AAA to continue his development.

RELIEF PITCHING:
Based on the being the Bombers Achilles Heel, a lot of off season attention has been spent on the reliever corps.
The Bombers have stated that they will be coming into the season with 7 spots for relievers and 5 of those spots are already spoken for.  Charlie Arnold, Mike Hamilton, Cal Henry, Jim Dorsey and Kevin Rutledge, leaving just two spots remaining to be battled out this spring.
Jose Carreon, 22; Stephen Douglas, 27; Nick Jones, 30; Joseph Matheson, 28 (coming off the DL this week, and at an obvious disadvantage); Johnny Ratzlaff, 26; Joe Ward, 24; Joseph Williams, 27; John Wood, 26;

Front runners right now would be Douglas and Williams, but based on other criteria (options, trades) this could change dramatically, even including with the Top 5.

CATCHING:
This is the only place on the team that management is okay with who is on the roster and have not brought in any players for competition.
Jayson O'Neill and Stu Yarbrough will be splitting time this season and manager Gary Altman has told each of these men that he will probably go with the "Hot Hand" most of the season.  Yarbrough is superior defensively, so Tim Ervin will probably NOT see O'Neill behind the plate during their series.

INFIELD:
There is room for 6 Infielders on this team, and 5 spots are already filled.
Orlando Bustamante, SS, Stephen Cook, 3B, "Get" Smart, 2B, Gerald Pugh, and Fernando Guzman.

Bustamante had his position changed on the team from LF to 1B, but is primarily the DH.
Pugh is a Rule V pickup and has already secured an apartment.
Smart and Guzman are experimenting swapping positions this spring training to give a little more flexibility to Altman.

In the mean time, there is healthy competition for the one remaining spot on the roster.
Ronald McAusland, 32, 1B; Jorge Rosas, 19, 2B; Dave Collins, 29, UTIL; Dan Mullen, 27, 2B; Walt Dobson, 24, 2B are the final combatants.
Collins could earn that final spot depending on any further injuries in the OF
Rosas is the future, and will be given a real good look this spring and could be one of the final cuts unless he struggles.
Dobson would appear to be the favorite of this bunch, but needs to show he can handle the bat.
The rest are long shots, especially McAusland.

OUTFIELD:
Probably the strength of this team and maybe one spot available.
Stephen Jackson, Chance Everett and Roy "ROQ" O'Quinn are our outfielders this season.  So, the two remaining spots are for backup roles.  Eugene White and last year's starting CF Martin Evans will battle out Mark Buchanan (DL, 2 weeks remaining) for the last spot.  Buchanan will come of the DL at the end of ST and be assigned to a 20 day Rehab assignment.  He's also out of options so, by default he'll be making the team.  So the final spot is between Evans and White.  This will be the toughest decision when the team breaks camp.  The thought process will be should Evans ride the bench and be a defensive replacement and get 150-200 AB's or have him lead off for the AAA squad and play everyday to get better.

Bombers Add To Bullpen

The Bombers have announced that in the early morning hours they finalized a trade with the Eureka Hornets and have acquired two ABL quality relievers in exchange for two blue chip prospects and two high level minor league relievers.  South Carolina also received and cash in return.

Coming to South Carolina will be  37 year old Jim Dorsey, and young phenom Cal "Bijou" Henry.

Henry was the key for South Carolina.  "Bijou" is just 23 years old and almost reaching his full potential (4.5* / 5*).  The hard throwing right handed reliever tops out on most radar guns at 98, and when opposing batters do not whiff, they'll hit it to one of Henry's infielders, to the tune of 73%.

Scouts are saying he is above average across the board and the only area that could stand improving would be his control. 

Also acquired was Jim Dorsey.  While not a natural leader as a rah-rah type guy, he does put long hours in, and hopefully that translates to the other players in the bullpen.  But what he does off the field doesn't matter nearly as much as it does with how he performs on the field.  And even at 37, he's still logging many innings and being exceptionally reliable.  Primarily a flyball pitcher, and topping out at a modest 94 MPH it appears he has a lot left in the tank.  His WHIP rating the last 3 seasons were 0.88, 1.21, and 1.09. 

Couple these two with Mike Hamilton and Charlie Arnold as well as the rapidly developing Kevin Rutledge and Jose Carreon, South Carolina addresses an area that was overwhelmingly disappointing ranking 11th or 12th in most pitching categories.

Of course, to acquire this kind of talent, talent has to be given up.  South Carolina gave up blue chip  18 year old prospects in 1B Rodrigo Flores, A Ball, 2B Katsumoto Matsui, A Ball as well as relievers Stuart Lang, AAA, and 28 year old John Ward, ABL. 

It would appear that Bomber roster is just about finalized for Spring Training and possibly Opening Day 2015.   But there could be another surprise that GM Altman could pull off.  But that remains to be seen!

*****************

Actual Trade:

 

South Carolina sends

Francisco Flores, A

Katsumoto Matsui, A
Stuart Lang, AAA
John Ward, 28 years old, ABL

Eureka sends

Cal Henry

Jim Dorsey
$4,000,000