Credit Where Credit is Due

The Defensive Specialist’s series predictions have become a dog’s breakfast of inaccuracy each and every week. Despite picking winners with about the same level of precision as a scud missile, the Defensive Specialist insists on ploughing on – after all, the key to becoming a champion is persistence so your old pal is going to take another crack at it. Before we get to the balky guesses / educated picks, the Defensive Specialist wanted to take a moment to congratulate himself for directly contributing to Chris Oxspring signing a professional contract with the Detroit Tigers yesterday. Seriously, the Defensive Specialist was scanning the advanced metrics that work behind the scenes of the Deep in the Hole blog and noticed a flurry of activity hitting the site from the offices of the Detroit Tigers, specifically around the time that Oxspring was crowned “Dude of the Month” for November. If you ever doubted the clout of the Defensive Specialist, well this signing has to show you that the man wields mighty power! One award from Deep in the Hole and the guy is banging on the door of the big leagues again!

Ok, so perhaps the Defensive Specialist is slightly exaggerating his involvement in the whole thing. Congratulation to Chris nonetheless, now he can truly say to his pitching staff “BE LIKE ME!” when they’re scuffling.

Another house cleaning issue that the Defensive Specialist vowed to clear up was the ruling around adding players to the 22-man roster. According to a team General Manager, players can be added to the 22-man roster in the case of injury or illness but these changes have to be approved by the ABL. So without knowing what transpired with the Multiculturalists, it’s safe to assume that they didn’t get up to any unsanctioned mischief when they used coach Michael Wells to fill in during their last series.

And finally before the Defensive Specialist embarrasses himself again with his picks, lets answer a question from reader Nathan:

Hello Defensive Specialist,

I'm a big fan of your blog, and enjoyed this run down of the Blue Sox lineup challenges. You mentioned that the addition of Trent Oeltjen could add some spice. I agree - but I think it poses a challenge for the team when three of the better bats belong to Dening, Auty and Kandilas. Will be interesting to see who gets pushed out. I have read around the place that Dening can play a bit of first base, not really sure how likely that is though, and I can't imagine they would have Oeltjen as a DH...so who misses out? Auty? 


Keep up the good work


Nathan

Nathan,

Thanks for taking the time to write in.

As much as it pains the Defensive Specialist to say it, you’d have to think Techno Tim is the odd guy out when and if Oeltjen makes his much anticipated appearance for the Blue Sox. You slot Oeltjen in to centre, move Dening to left and let Kandilas lock down right. However Oeltjen’s return really throws a cat amongst the pigeons because there is a strong chance he may just DH which means that Alex Johnson, Stone Hands Maat or the Bossman miss out and you end up playing a lesser bat in the outfield. Either way, I’m sure it’s a problem manager Glenn Williams is looking forward to having because his bat is a huge addition to the line up.

Right, time to get focussed and nail these picks.

Adelaide Bite Vs. Brisbane Bandits

The Bite will be desperate to get back in the winners circle after last week’s debacle against the Multiculturalists that saw them get swept in a 3 game series. The Bandits return to home soil fresh off a split against the Heat, which could have very nearly been a 3-1 series win. As much as the Bandits have continually made the Defensive Specialist look stupid lately, the Defensive Specialist’s heart and advanced analytics tell him that Adelaide will come out swinging. They’ve added a 6’7 monster by the name of Mark Brackman to the pitching staff which gives them another professional arm and of course the Q-Tip continues to bang along with James McOwen. Adelaide to take the series on the road 3-1.

Sydney Blue Sox Vs. Melbourne Aces

Sydney took the series 2-0-1 last weekend in a rain affected contest and now travel to Melbourne for their first taste of action at the MCG.  The Aces added Travis Blackley last week and Shane Lindsay this weekend, significantly bolstering their pitching staff. Their bats were fairly stagnant last week but that is almost expected against the Blue Sox considering the strength of their arms. Speaking of arms, the Defensive Specialist strolled past Ryan Rowland Smith at the airport in Brisbane this week – no real reason for telling you that story other than to let you know he’s in the country. Anyway, getting back to the predictions – Melbourne’s improved pitching versus Sydney’s sputtering offense = 2-2 split.

Canberra Multiculturalists Vs. Perth Heat

The Multiculturalists have to be riding high after brazenly taking 3 games off Adelaide last weekend and head to the West Coast with the goal of at least splitting the series. The Heat have demonstrated that they don’t mind people coming into their house, eating all their food and making out with their wife as evidenced by them splitting their last 2 home series. The one advantage the Heat have is that the Multiculturalists have not travelled well at all having not yet won on the road. The Multiculturalists bats got going against Adelaide with Donald Lutz leading the way. The Heat welcome back Tim Kennelly (who just spent time in the prestigious Arizona Fall League) to the line up where his bat will be another welcome addition. Manager Brooke Knight will count on ace Liam Hendriks figuring things out as his last 2 starts have been horrendous. Daniel Schmidt, Cole McCurry and Warwick Saupold will also need to calm the Canberra bats. Heat to take the series 3-1.

The Defensive Specialist looks forward to reflecting on these picks on Monday! Enjoy your baseball weekend.