Bomber's Report - May 2020

The Bombers pick right up where they left off in 2019.  Mediocre baseball, even worse pitching, and a trainer that might find himself out of a job!

South Carolina sits in 2nd place, a half game behind SF, and with a paltry record of 12-13.

GM Gary Altman addressed the media and even though this weeks segment sees games against Manhattan and Brooklyn expectations are high, and performance is demanded.

When Gilberto German, your 4th OF'er and mid season call up last year is leading your team in HR and RBI's (7 & 22)  German is a very talented 4th OF'er and is projected to have a very serviceable ABL Career.  But more is expected of Anderson and Rosas and Woods.  Cisneros has been moved from the leadoff spot to a position in the lineup to be more of a run producer.  

Pitching ranked 11th or 12th in most major categories.  

11th in Runs Against, SP ERA, Defensive Efficiency.
12th in Bullpen.

The Starting Pitching is alarming as 4.36 is the lowest ERA (Jason Adams) and he's the 5th SP.
Raul Perez is sitting at 1-3, 5.06

Flipper Martin is 1-2, 6.60

Ted Mills, 3-2, 6.23

Aaron Harris, 1-1, 6.31.

The bullpen is even worse, sans Lorenzo Soto who has a 1.45 ERA.
Cal Henry, Will Bartlett, Jim Hall all have ERA's over 11.00

Having potential, and being fully developed is great.  But if these guys don't get their asses in gear, they can be someone else's problem!

Injury Report:

April 9 - David Lewis (2019 ROY) 14 Day DL
March 25 - Ken Abbott, 14 Day DL (REHAB ASSIGN April 27th)

March 23 - Jeremy Fisher, 60 Day DL,

March 17 - Jorge Rosas, 14 Day DL (RECALLED April 27th)

2019 Year In Review

Hopes were sky high for the South Carolina Bombers coming into the 2019 campaign.  After finishing the regular season with the best record in the TML and then pushing the defending champion Kansas City to a 7th Game in the TMLCS and losing that game late, The Bombers fully anticipated returning to the post season for the 3rd time in 4 seasons.

But it wasn't to be.

The Division was tight all season seeing all 4 teams (Maple, Jersey and San Francisco) holding 1st place at various times during the season.  But an 0-7 SIM at the beginning of September was too much to overcome, and the Bombers finished 1 game behind Maple and shared 2nd Place with Jersey.

Before the deadline the Bombers picked up two quality players.  One was two time Gold Glove Winner Rod Brown from SF for minor leaguer's Pat Ashe and Leonard Rutledge.

The second move echoed throughout the league, when the Bombers acquired 3 time Cy Young Winner, 3 time All Star, with 1 Gold Glove to his credit from Cabo, along with stellar reliever Jack Hall for a string of quality minor league talent (Jason Davis, Mulia Kathirirthamby, Egagara Manasi, Joe Ward and Matt Murphy).

Both players played pivotal roles in their short stay with the Bombers, with Perez going 8-6, 4.36 ERA and a WHIP of 1.15 while Brown played 43 games, hitting 291, belting 9 HR (161 AB), and 21 RBI.  OPS a solid 862.

Pitching was a nightmare, league wide in 2019, and the Bombers saw what should have been a strength in their rotation and bullpen ranked near the top in 2018 slip all the way to 11th and 12th in 2019.  The moves acquiring Hall, and Perez moved the rankings to 6th in SP and 9th in Bullpen.

Offensive was NOT a problem for the Bombers as they ranked 1st in RS, HR, 2nd in OB and 3rd in AVG.

Leading the Offense was the 2019 Rookie of the Year, David Lewis, who also lead the entire ABL in HR's with 51.

2018 Rookie of the Year, Lowell Anderson put up great numbers when he was on the field, hitting 334, 21 HR's and 72 RBI's in just 71 games!

Stephen Jackson had a renaissance season offensively, hitting 362, with 17 HR, 73 RBI's in just 107 games.  His OPS of 1.005 was a career high for the 33 year old Original Bomber.

Injuries took a toll on the Bombers, as they do the entire league, seeing Anderson (LF), Jorge Rosas (2B), Mike Woods (SS), Jackson (DH) all miss time in September and that probably was a contributing factor in the Bombers missing the playoffs.

But based on what else is out there, the Bombers decided to push their payroll to 2nd in the League and put money back into this team.
Signed to an extension was Raul Perez (37 over 2 seasons), picked up the option on Rod Brown (7.5 for 1) and Byron Bryant resigned to a (10.5M over 3).
Gary Altman also gambled on Gary Payne by declining his 18M Option and was able to resign him as well (20 over 3).

All told, the Bombers spent 75MM this off season and return with a relatively intact roster.

Altman also made one trade so far this off season, picking up Ted Mills, along with LF Calvin Tyree and some cash for C Morgan Cairnes, SP JR Murphy and MR Bryn Embree.  Rumors are circulating that there might be another player added to this deal.

All in all the South Carolina media is reporting that the Bombers have no holes in their ABL roster, returning all fielders and now have a stellar starting staff of Perez, John Martin, Aaron Harris, Mills and the 5th rotation spot being a battle between Jason Adams and rookie Didier Fernandez and possibly Tim Harris as a late season call-up.

Inconsitent Season So Far

Here we are, sitting on June 10th and the big club is sitting 4 games under 500 at 29-33, just 3 games out of 1st place (shared by Jersey & Maple).

We're confident that we WILL win our division...again.

Right now the offense is performing very well, with the exception of runs scored (ranked 7th).
But we're 4th in AVG, OB and 2nd in HR's.  We've had our share of injuries and every team does, but everyone right now are healthy.

The biggest concern is the entire pitching staff.  Last years best team in the TML's regular season has seen their bullpen go from being 1st in ERA to 12th!  SP's are ranked 10th, Defense 11th and Runs Against 12th.

If the pitching staff can get their act in gear and start pitching like they're fully capable of, we'll win our division by 5 games!  Put that on your bulletin boards Jersey and Maple!

Right now David Lewis is one of a handful of candidates for the Rookie of the Year award, to give South Carolina Back to Back ROY Awards.

The minors are busting with talent at the lower levels and with boat loads of cash being poured into player development there are some trades to be made to redistribute that talent in the days to come.

We'll also be looking to move some of that lower level talent to secure some help in the rotation, but right now no deal is imminent.

2018 Season in Review

By all accounts this was an excellent season for the South Carolina Bombers.

Here are the positives:
Setting a franchise record in Wins (93)
Franchise record for attendance (3,983,097)
#1 Ranked bullpen in TML
Finishing the regular season going 21-7 (mo. of September)
Capturing their 2nd Billy Martin Division title,
Winning a playoff round (vs. Cabo) in 5 games,
Pushing the defending and eventual World Series Champion Kansas City Tornado's to a do or die 7th game
Seeing Mike Woods win his 1st Gold Glove
Seeing Lowell Anderson win the TML Rookie of the Year Award.

Here are the few negatives:
Losing Jorge Rosas in the TML Championship Series (probably cost the Bombers a trip to the World Series)

Yeah....that's just about it.

But there are some things to work on in the offseason.

First was slashing payroll, and tremendously.  The Bombers between declining options, declining arbitration and not tendering new contracts say the Bombers save about 36 million off their payroll.  Oditon, who's production wasn't great had his option for 8MM declined, yet was resigned for 2.75 MM.  Bustamante (14.3) and Bryant (10.6) were let go as well.

Then there was the spending.
Aaron Harris, SP, was extended for 5 years at 34 MM
Mike Woods, SS, was extended for 5 years at 21.5 MM, and
Bernardo Cisneros was extended for 5 years at 27 MM

Rumors are very strong coming out of South Carolina that Jorge Rosas is in negotiations to buy out two seasons of his free agency.  Rumored offer was 5 years at 66 MM.

If Rosas signs, the Bombers will have spent 148 MM this off-season securing their own players.

Looking at the Bombers future, as it sits right now, the payroll for a team coming off a 93 win season stands at 62MM for next season.

The infield of Adrian Ortiz (25 years old), Rosas (23), Woods (26) and Ken Abbott (24) has the makings of being together for at least 6 more years, and Ortiz and Abbott were called up in Aug and July respectively.

The outfield projects to be Dave Lewis (R) (24), Bernardo Cisneros (27) and Lowell Anderson (25).

The Starting Pitching looks to remain relatively the same.  John Martin (28), Aaron Harris (27), Jason Adams (26), JR Murphy (R) (25) and probably Cecil Gibbons in the last year of his contract (4MM).

Gary Altman announced that Lorenzo Soto (25) will not be looked upon to start next season at all.  His bullpen numbers were strong, and he best suits the team in that area.  Soto will join Closer Gary Payne - at 33 years old, the oldest player on the team, Cal Henry (27), Jose Parra (23), Joe Ward (28).

There are moves that could be made to improve the team, add depth and strengthen key elements of this franchise, but Altman refused to elaborate as to which direction the team was headed, except to say, "We ran very efficiently, have a surplus of cash to spend this offseason and will look to add a quality bat for the DH position, and there are some really good bats out there in Free Agency".

To say we're looking forward to 2019 is an understatement.

Down the Home Stretch

The Bombers find themselves in rarefied air at this juncture in the season.   South Carolina is no longer chasing the rest of the TML for a playoff position because they find themselves holding the top Wild Card spot!

Yeah, well, it is JUST a 1 game lead, but as GM Altman said, "better to be a game up than a game down".

But just because the team is playing well at this point, Altman decided to do a little tinkering with the roster to gear up for the post season.

A couple of injuries occurred right at the roster deadline, and being that the races for the post season are so tight, Altman was forced to put Cecil Gibbons (SP) and Roy O'Quinn (OF) on the DL.  Needing a SP to replace Gibbons, Dave Nicholson was put back on the 40 man roster and promoted and will get a start vs. SF.  He's pitched well of late, going 8+ innings in his last 4 starts and we're hoping that kind of production continues.  Nicholson being added back on the 40 man roster gives the big club another chance to see him before deciding what to do with him in the off season.  His contract expires at the end of the season.

The next move was to purchase the contract of 24 year old OF'er Dave Lewis.  He had an awesome debut against division leader New Jersey going 4 for 11, with a HR and double.  He has a .417 OB and a .727 Slug.  At AAA this season he hit 29 HR's, 116 RBI's and a .311 AVG and .932 OPS.  At 4* / 4/5* he's nearly full developed and we're thinking that his energetic enthusiasm carries the club to the playoffs - preferably as the Billy Martin Division winner.

The last move made was a shocker for the bear writers covering the team.  1B Fernando Guzman was optioned to AAA on 8/29 and rookie Adrian Ortiz was called up and immediately inserted into the lineup.  Ortiz in 12 AB's has 1 HR, a 333 AVG and a modest .667 Slug.

Finally,Stephen Jackson finished off his REHAB assignment at AAA Bronx and to make room for him, the Bombers designated for assignment team veteran Orlando Bustamante.  Anonymous sources within the Bomber organization have said this was a numbers game and plan on bring Bustamante back to the team when he clears waivers, and be added back to the 40 man roster.

Tonight's games sees the conclusion of the SC - NJ series, then SF for 3 and GEO for 3.
With Jacksonville, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Eureka all within striking distance, we're going to need to get hot and hope these kids can play up to snuff.

SC GM Press Conference

July 2018 - Maple - Sight of the 2018 All Star Game

GM Gary Altman starts off the press conference by congratulating Starting Pitcher John "Flipper" Martin and Closer Gary Payne on their election to the 2018 All Star Game.  This is Payne's 3rd trip to the mid-summer classic and first with South Carolina.  For Martin, this is his 2nd Consecutive Appearance.  

Before the game, some roster moves prior to the game, JR Murphy had his contract purchased and will make his ABL debut on Sunday against division rival San Francisco.  When Altman was asked why he was brought up with so much time before he was going to be used, his answer was simple.  "We wanted to give Murph a little more time to get acclimated to the ABL life style."  Murphy was a 4th Rd Pick in 2015 and is 24 years old.

To make room in the rotation and roster for Murphy, Altman designated Jeremy Fisher for assignment and demoted Soto and his league leading 10 wins back to the bullpen.  When questioned about Fisher, Altman said that "Fisher is a good pitcher - just not right now!"  When it was announced that Soto was being moved back to the bullpen the press corps grumbled.  Altman, clearly red faced responded back to the press, "Soto is just 21 years old.  While he does have 10 wins, and while he did win 7 of them as a Starter, he's also owner of a 6.47 ERA, WHIP of 1.59 and averaging just over 5 innings per start.  Not quite the 20 game winner you're portraying him to be!

Soto, as a reliever was 3-0, with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP.  Right now he's more suited for the bullpen, to be in a prominent role, and the Bombers are better for it!"

Before storming off, Altman did make one last statement.  Clearly agitated with what should have been a nice moment for the Bomber All Stars, Altman pointed his finger at the press and said, "You want a quote, how about this for a quote.  South Carolina will win the Billy Martin Division and make the playoffs this October!

We have the #1 Bullpen (ERA), #2 Pitching Staff (Runs Against), #3 in Defence (efficiency), and we're 4th in OB, AVG and HR's.  The only thing our offense is not doing is scoring enough runs.  But that will change.  Anderson is headed to a Rookie of the Year Award, Rosas and Woods haven't hit the first half and we're going to correct that either in house or via trade.  But we're going to the post season!  Write That!"

And with that Altman stormed off.

Review of 2013 Draft

Since it's quickly approaching Draft Day, I figured I might as review what appears to be the Bombers best draft, the 2013 Draft.

So without any further ado, here goes....

Round 1 - SP Aaron Harris.  Harris made his ABL Debut just 2 years after being drafted, in 2015, going 1-1 with a 12.76 ERA.  He had an expected rookie campaign of 14-9 but a 5.09 ERA.  2017 saw a setback, but in 2018, he's been stellar, going so far 3-2, with a 3.29 ERA and a WHIP of 1.40.
For his career, he's 20-21.

Round 2 - CF Bernardo Cisneros.  Cisneros made his ABL Debut in 2016 playing in 85 games and hitting a respectable .275 with 11 HR and 36 RBI's.
In 2017 he played in 157 games with 18 HR and 89 RBIs and a .276 avg.
So far in 2018 he's hitting 291, with an 820 OPS, 6 HR and 17 RBI's

Round 3 - MR Millard Joseph.  Peaked as high as AAA and sits now in A Ball with no real potential.  Still just 26 and odd's makers are putting him as a long shot to hit the ABL.

Round 4 - 3B Katsumoto Matsui.  Matsui now finds himself in AA with the Eureka Organization, as part of the trade bringing Cal Henry to South Carolina.

Round 5 - MR Bryan Mifflen.  Miflen, 28, sits in AAA and is on the verge of being called up.  Had a strong 2017 season in AAA, 8-0, 2 saves, and a 2.71 ERA.  This season he's 5-1, 6 saves and a 4.43 ERA.  What's held him back is a current WHIP of 1.88

Round 6 - MR Jim King.  King, 27, is also on the verge of being promoted.  He's been in AAA since the latter part of 2016, and this season seems to have found himself.  Right now, King is 0-4 with 3 saves and a 3.60 ERA and a WHIP of 1.34.

Round 7 - CF Leland Rey.  Rey made his ABL Debut in 2015, primarily as a defensive specialist and is a bench player.  A career .254 hitter and should hold a job with his defense as long as doesn't get greedy.

Round 8 - 1B Brett Caines.  Caines sits in AA fully entrenched behind the trifecta of Bryant, Guzman and Ortiz (AAA).  Has no future in our organization.

Round 9 - C Morgan Cairns.  Starting C in ABL.  Made his ABL Debut in 2016 when the previous incumbents O'Neill and Yarbrough were faltering.  His produced with his bat and has an average defensive ability.  In 2017 SC acquired Oditon from SEA and Cairns was moved to 2nd in the depth charts.  But with Oditon's bat still struggling, Cairns was inserted in the lineup full time and is only hitting .311 with an .811 OPS.

Round 10 - MR Pancho Ochoa.  Peaked at AA and was recently demoted to A ball because of his struggles there.  No ABL future for Ochoa.

Round 11 - MR Tom Smith.  Smith sits in AA.  While initially showing promise in A and AA with sub 2.50 ERA's, he's since been at 7.71, 7.86 and 6.46.  Still has tons of potential (3.5*) and the organization has not given up on him...yet.

Round 12 - SP Wei-Quo Xian.  RETIRED in 2014 while in AAA.  Kind of a bizarre scenario as he went from A Ball and a 1.86 ERA to AA and a 4.26 before a promotion to AAA.  He struggled in his initial doctrinarian to AAA,, but the management team had faith that his second full season would hold a lot of promise.

So to recap, the 2013 Draft has seen 4 current graduates to the ABL, and possibly 3 could make it, before this draft is put to bed.

2018 Season Preview

Apologies for not participating as much last season.
Between house hunting, buying, moving, packing & unpacking, life has been a tad crazy!

So, in review of last season, something was amiss.
The Bombers were hovering around 500 (40-41) at the end of June; and then the wheels came off!
The top 2 SP's for the Bombers John Martin and Jason Adams were both challenging for the ERA title at that time and both at one point were leading the league.  When they slipped, so did the Bombers.

The only saving grace was that San Francisco took off and never looked back - and even if we finished 500 we still would have been close to 20 GB in the standings!

This year, again, big things are expected, but will the players step up and do their part?

STARTING PITCHING -
John Martin is a fixture and has been named the Opening Day Starter.
Aaron Harris has had a phenomenal spring and has gone 2-0 w/ 1.69 ERA
Dave Nicholson, who has had an up and down career, seems to have found himself.  A notorious slow starter has come out of the gate pitching very well and secured a spot in the rotation.
The #4 & 5 slots are a toss up between Jason Adams, Cecil Gibbons and Lorenzo Soto.  Rumors swirling in SC were that Gibbons was asked about a demotion to AAA (he has one option remaining) and stormed out of GM Gary Altman's office.  Adams still has options remaining, so there is some wiggle room.

BULLPEN -
Again, significant work was put into the bullpen this off season, but still remains the Achilles Heel of SC.
9 relievers still in camp, 7 spots to be had.
Gary Payne finds himself the Closer once again.
Cal Henry, after a phenomenal 2016 season, a major statistical step back last season.
Stephen Douglas, a former Rule V acquisition, has really pitched well this ST and has earned his roster spot.
Will Bartlett, a current Rule V acquisition, and has pitched as expected when selected this past December and the scouting department feels he is ready (12 IP, 3.60 ERA, 1.30 WHIP)
Jim Dorsey and Mike Hamilton.  Both have tons of potential, but performance has been lacking.  Based on others performances - they could either make the team or find themselves waived.
Jose Parra, ROOKIE, is almost fully developed and looks like he'll have a very long career, but has struggled a little this spring against ABL hitters.
Matt Murphy & Jeremy Fisher - two SP's who've been relegated to the BP because of a numbers game in the rotation.  However, Fisher will be given a start in one of the last 4 ST games.  Rumors swirling say that if he has a good game it could spring board him back to the rotation.

CATCHING -
Leon Oditon has had an adequate spring and will remain the Starter.
Morgan Cairnes, not getting much respect in his rankings continues to outperform expectations and might find an increased roll this season if Oditon doesn't get over the "blues".

INFIELD -
1B - Byron Bryant and Mark Buchanan will split duties this season.  Buchanan has swung the bat well this spring and has earned some playing time somewhere.  Bryant, a major acquisition last season from Nottinghamshire (now Brooklyn) struggled to adjust in the South.  We're hoping that like Oditon, he comes out of the gate like his normal self to knocking everyone on base!
Rosas and Woods will return as the DP combo.  Woods has had an excellent spring and Rosas is looking also looking to return to his 2016 form.  A lot of it was chalked up to a sophomore slump, but has started slow this spring.
3B it appears that Gerald Pugh has regained his starting role over Hartman.  Barring any injuries to an infielder, Hartman will play everyday at AAA and be ready in case of the inevitable ABL Injury Bug.
Which leaves Fernando Guzman, 1B, sitting on the bench and being a defensive replacement.

OUTFIELD -
Everyone is excited about the showing that rookie Lowell Anderson has shown this spring.  4 HR, 12 RBI and a 1.029 OPS.  It's being announced that the 2015 1st Rd Pick (#6 overall) has made the squad and will be starting in RF.
Stephen Jackson, had a phenomenal year last year, even with sustaining multiple injuries, and appears to have returned to form.  With the added depth in the SC OF, Jackson will be rested a bit more to see if we can nurse him to a season without a DL appearance.
Bernardo Cisneros will be manning CF and has had a great spring, hitting 359 and an OB of 405.  He's projected to be at the top of the Bomber order to give opportunities to Bryant and Rosas to ring up some major RBI totals.
Orlando Bustamante will find himself in a reduced roll this season.  Mark Buchanan will get some of his playing time.
Roy O'Quinn, who has shown lots of promise finds himself on the bubble of breaking camp with the big club.
Dave Evans appears headed to AAA and possibly Leland Ray as well.  Each has one option available.

After making the 2016 Playoffs, everyone associated with South Carolina was disappointed with the 2017 campaign.  We're hoping that we can continue the growth that was shown in 2016, otherwise, some major changes are in store for this squad!