Savin’ Me

What an interesting week in Australian baseball. We had the upstart Canberra Cavalry landing in Perth and stealing 3 out of 4 from the previously undefeated Heat. We had the Blue Sox taking steps to right their season by winning 3 out of 4 against the Bandits (with a little hand from their fans) We had Adelaide and Melbourne split even though slugger Denny Almonte dropped 12 rbi’s on the Aces across the 4 game series.

Unfortunately, all of that was over shadowed by even bigger news – Aussie big leaguer Peter Moylan getting into a Twitter stoush with the rock band Nickelback. Seems Moylan was suitably inspired by a recent Foo Fighters gig to call out Nickelback:

"Note to @nickelback please attend a @foofighters concert. That's how's it should be done chad,"

Unfortunately for Moylan, Nickelback fired back and fired back in style!

"@PeterMoylan Foos are killer for sure. We're doing just fine too thanks. ? for you Pete, is watching Kimbrel better from the bench or on TV?"

Zing!

Nickelback 1, Moylan 0

Anyway, enough injured relief pitchers and Canadian soft rock bands; lets get back to the ABL.

Heat V Cavalry

The Defensive Specialist suggested in a recent post that the Heat’s recent foibles in Asia could lead to a Cavalry upset. Unfortunately your old pal also predicted that the winless trip abroad would fire the Heat up and lead to a demolition of the Canberra outfit…  Canberra were having none of that, shutting down the Heat offensively in the first 3 games and having their way with the Heat pitching staff to the tune of 25 runs in the first 3 games.

Blue Sox V Bandits

Keen meteorologists will tell you that Sydney is currently in the midst of the coldest December in recent memory. As a result, the Blue Sox faced the proposition of playing the Bandits in wet and wild conditions. While the inclement weather threatened the contest across the weekend it also allowed the Blue Sox to expand their roster to 145 as the local fans came out onto the field to assist pulling the field tarp across the diamond.  In more serious news, the weekend saw the Blue Sox take steps towards respectability by adding 4 games to the win column. The key additions of Mitch Denning, Joe Hage and Brandon Barnes paid dividends immediately and manager Kevin Boles will hope and pray this newfound offense can be sustained.

Bite V Aces

Adelaide will be less than impressed after splitting a home series with the last placed Melbourne team although centerfielder Denny Almonte definitely gave the home fans something to talk about, exploding for 12 rbi’s across the series The highlight was obviously game 2 when he hit a grand slam, mixed in an RBI single and them ended the game with a walk off 3 run blast. That’s the sort of game you hang your hat on!

Denny Almonte enjoying a big series

  

After 5 years of continued success and prosperity in Sydney, the Defensive Specialist is pleased to announce that the entire Deep in the Hole operation will be relocating to Western Australia as of next week. While the logistics of moving a franchise are daunting, the Defensive Specialist is confident that a seamless transition can be made. The Defensive Specialist has a  a single Blue Sox season membership available to anyone who’s interested, simply drop the Defensive Specialist an email with your mailing address and it’ll be sent through at no cost – well actually there will be a cost, you’ll likely be accosted by autograph hounds who’ll mistake you for Australia’s preeminent baseball blogger – don’t worry, you’ll grow to love it!

What we learn with pleasure we never forget. - Alfred Mercier

This may come as a big statement but let’s face it, the Defensive Specialist has never backed down from grandeur. Deep in the Hole brings pleasure, which means that you’ll never forget what you read here. Quite stunning when you stop and think about it really. Rest assured, the Defensive Specialist understands the impact that he’s having on your life and the lives of your friends and family who also tune in and that’s why, even after only catching one game this past weekend, your old pal is providing an abridged version of “What the Defensive Specialist Learnt”.

The Blue Sox affirmed what we all thought before the season commenced – they’re legitimate title contenders - by handily sweeping away the spirited yet undermanned Adelaide Bite. While that may sound cut and dry in print, when you lift the hood and peer in at the inner workings of the series you’ll see that things were much closer than the 4-0 result indicates. Both teams take positives and negatives from the series – let the Defensive Specialist spell a few of them out

1. Adelaide Manager Tony Harris has to be sitting in his office with a set of Rosary beads rocking back and forth, praying that the Q-Tip and James McOwen are available for the upcoming series against Brisbane. The heart of the Adelaide lineup was toothless with those two bats missing as Brandon Bantz and Stefan Welch combined to go 5-36 in the series. McOwen leading off allows the surprisingly frisky Jeremy Cresswell to slide back into the 2 hole where his bat plays much better, and the Q-Tip not only brings a power bat back into the lineup but also reduces the burden on Bantz and Welch. Adelaide has no chance of a championship if those two guys don’t play - simple as that.

2. Speaking of hitters, Blue Sox skipper Glenn Williams has to hope that Trent Oeltjen can get over his injury issues and get back onto the field because the Sydney line up could use one or two more rock solid bats in the middle. P.I.M.P Alex Johnson has shouldered a heavy load while Mitch Denning has been up and down. If Williams could insert Oeltjen in the 3 hole it allows Johnson to remain in the 4 spot and slides Denning to 5, giving the line up better balance and making it less susceptible to bullpen matchup’s late in the game. The lower 3^rd of the order is still a black hole – sucking outs into the scorebook, but with Oeltjen in place the top 6 looks good on paper with D’Antonio, Utter Club Nutter Schmutter, Oeltjen, Johnson, Denning & the Bossman / Dean.

3. As the old saying goes “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it must be a duck”.  Well Yong Sup Kwak, the Bites’ Korean import is about to be a dead duck in terms of his spot in the line up with his anemic .109 average and non existent production. It’s hard to see Harris taking at bats away from some of his other role players  (Gladstone, Pett and Gossage) as he has in the past with Kwak swimming in circles and a position the playoffs up for grabs.

4. Although the Defensive Specialist rated it as a strength earlier in the season, the Adelaide pitching staff has to be considered somewhat of a disappointment. The bullpen is littered with 7+ ERA’s, which led the team to break open the trophy cabinet and remove Adrian Burnside and Tom Becker from the formaldehyde. The starters Paul Mildren, Dushan Ruzic and Brandon Maurer have been up and down all season although Maurer has been much better in his last 4 starts (3-0, 4 earned runs). While the Bite line up banged early in the season the pitching staff could afford to yield more runs than you’d ordinarily like. However, as we all know, pitching and defense win championships so for the Adelaide boys to contend, the staff is going to need to turn it up a notch.

Unless a sugar daddy slips a couple of airfares under the Defensive Specialist’s door that’s it for the regular season games. This weekend’s fixtures have some dramatic ramifications for the play off picture. The Heat take on the tail spinning Aces in Perth with the opportunity to put the Melbournians to the sword. The much-anticipated Peter Moylan appearance in the inaugural ABL season appears to have fizzed out with his Twitter updates indicating that he’s back in Atlanta. Brisbane and Adelaide square off in a little 6 game dance in Adelaide with serious repercussions for both teams. If Adelaide can bang out 2 wins they’re fairly secure in the top 4. If Brisbane can steal a few and Melbourne continue their bad run, there’s chance that the young upstarts could sneak into the playoffs. The Multiculturalists play host to the Blue Sox who’d love to sweep or win the series and give themselves a chance at first place and home field advantage.

Half Full or Half Empty (continued)

Alright, lets pick up where we left off yesterday:

Melbourne Aces

Outlook: Half Full (but only after a late top up)

The Defensive Specialist isn’t going to lie to you, last week at Deep in the Hole headquarters we held a monthly meeting where we spit-balled ideas for future blog posts. When the Half Full or Half Empty concept was generated, a lively debate ensued regarding where each team sat, that raged for almost 3 hours. The general consensus amongst the Deep in the Hole staff (45 people) was that the Aces had run their race for this season. Being the voice of reason, the Defensive Specialist suggested that the Aces were showing signs of life and deserved to be watched for one more series against the Blue Sox. Wouldn’t you know it, they came out and boat-raced the Sydneysiders across 5 games and completely reshaped their season.

What’s the lesson here? Don’t count the Aces out.

So what is there to be optimistic about? Well thanks to a 30 run explosion last Saturday, the team hitting stats look a hell of a lot better! Seriously, the offensive line-up has started to click, lead by Yoshiyuki Kamei (candidate for name of the year) who’s hitting a robust .425 with a meaty 1.177 OPS in 10 games. Josh Davies and Andrew Russell have been in scintillating form in the first half of the season in the middle part of the order. The concerns centre around a collection of hitters who have proven track records but haven’t delivered yet – Justin Huber being the most obvious example. Are we going to have another Sydney situation where the offense is hamstrung by under performance?

From a pitching perspective, the Aces have run a staggering 16 arms out to the mound this year already, although with the addition of Greg Wiltshire and Travis Blackley you’d have to think that this may stabilise somewhat since both guys are proven inning eaters and front of the rotation starters. Adding those two arms relieves some pressure on Norihito Kaneto and Adam Blackley and gives the Aces 4 guys with a legitimate chance at winning every time they take the ball. Adam Bright was outstanding in an extended relief appearance last week and has been dominant out of the pen with 16k’s in 15 innings. Jumpei Ono and Masumi Hoshino have lent credence to Japanese made imports by contributing out of the bullpen and don’t forget the Aces have pro Shane Lindsay to work into the mix in some capacity as well.  By the Defensive Specialist’s count, that’s 8 good arms on the staff, which is definitely enough to make your old pal optimistic. And don’t forget Peter Moylan lurking in the shadows!

Yoshiyuki Kamei revelling in cool-namedness

Perth Heat

Outlook: Half Full

The Defensive Specialist has been staring at the Heat pitching staff and wondering “how are they getting it done?” Surely there has to be an element of smoke and mirrors when you’re leading the league and your best pitcher has a losing record and a 5.79 ERA (and participated in the perhaps the best post ejection move by slow walking across the diamond with his gear bag that also happened to be on wheels). Liam Hendriks (he of the ejection move) has been hot and cold in 2010 mixing in dominant performances with some real fizzers, which is not what manager Brooke Knight wants from his ace. After Hendriks the Heat have import Cole McCurry who is 0-1 with a 4.12 although he does have 23 punch outs in 19 innings. So what’s going right? How about Daniel Schmidt who has been outstanding in compiling a 4-1 record and a 1.83 era while giving his manager almost 7 innings per outing. How about Warwick Saupold with his 2-0 record and 2.49 era in 25 innings (and one of the most awkward television interviews in recent memory). These guys are backed up by Tyler Anderson (1-0, 1.42 era), Brett Jacobsen (1.93 era, 3 saves) and Cameron Lamb (2-0, 3.09 era) who’ve provided rock solid relief. The Heat will have to cover the loss of Jacobsen who is being recalled to the US (part of a trade package that sent him to Minnesota this week). It will be interesting to see if they elect to bring out another import pitcher to make up for his arm.

Liam Hendriks minus his bag with wheels on it

The good news for the Heat offensively is the rumour that Luke Hughes may be back from his stint in Venezuela not long after Christmas. Anytime you can plug his bat into the line-up you have to be optimistic. Robbie Widlansky has been a great pick up for the Heat, hitting at a .367 clip and scoring 17 runs. Catcher Allan De San Miguel has morphed into a middle order threat along with import Evan McArthur who has manned the hot corner. The addition of Tim Kennelly (who recently returned from the Arizona Fall League) is huge and provides another middle order threat. Manager Knight will be pleased Mitch Graham came out of his coma last week and will be praying that import Ronnie Welty follows suit and cranks it up quick smart.

If Knight can add Hughes to his line up it looks something like this:

1. Graham SS

2. Widlansky 1B

3. Hughes 2B

4. Kennelly RF

5. De San Miguel C

6. Welty DH

7. McArthur 3B

8. Dale CF

9. Kennelly DH

And that is enough to make the Defensive Specialist extremely bullish on their chances.

Adelaide Bite

Outlook: Half Full (with a straw poised)

The Defensive Specialist would have punched himself in the face for even having that thought early in the season. A severe hiccup in Canberra where the Multiculturalists put them to the sword over 3 games, and a less than stellar split in a weather-affected 2 game series with the Bandits, has the Defensive Specialist somewhat concerned now.

The pitching staff has proven to be the weak link this season. Number 1 guy Paul Mildren has a 1-4 record with a 4.97 era and a propensity to give up the long ball. Darren Fidge came out with guns blazing but looks like to be destined for a role in relief. Import Brandon Maurer punches out a lot of guys but also gives up a bunch of hits, which has led to a 1-1 record and a 6.19 era. The bright spot has been Dushan Ruzic who is 2-0 in 3 starts with 21k’s in 22 innings. Ryan Murphy and Mark Brackman pick up the majority of the leftover innings and have been solid but after that the bullpen looks a little sketchy. Manager Tony Harris has to rely heavily on his starters so as to avoid overexposing his pen, which is fine when your starters are dealing and not so great when they are having a tough time.

Offensively there’s a hell of a lot to like about the Bite with the Q-Tip straight out banging like the latter day Peter North – producing very large amounts of offensive output on a consistent basis (.377, 5 HR, 17 RBI’s, 1.115 OPS). Brandon Pett (.368, 1.113 OPS), James McOwen (.358, 11 RBI’s), Brandon Bantz (13 RBI’s) and the surprising Jeremy Cresswell have provided ample support to the Q-Tip as the Bite have consistently swung the bat this season. Stefan Welch had been asleep at the wheel until recently so if he can keep his form going the line up just keeps on getting better and with that sort of thump you have to be positive about their chances.

James McOwen

Right, with the word count creeping up, its time to finish up with an abbreviated, yet highly thought out round of series predictions for this weekend’s action:

Perth Heat Vs. Canberra Multiculturalists

Heat 3-1 series win

Sydney Blue Sox Vs.  Adelaide Bite

Series split 2-2

Brisbane Bandits Vs. Melbourne Aces

This is a tough one as the Aces take on the Multiculturalists on Sunday and Monday to make up for previously postponed games and then follow that immediately with 4 against the Bandits. You’d have to assume that by game 6 the pitching staff will be gasping for air.

Series split 2-2

As per usual, don’t bet your house!