Naughty or Nice

The Defensive Specialist isn’t going to lie to you; he’s had his feet up for the past couple of days taking a well earned break before the second half of the ABL season cranks up. It’s easy to get fat off the land when Christmas roles around but a series of emails from loyal readers bemoaning the lack of Christmas cheer from their favourite baseball blogger has spurred the Defensive Specialist into action –after all, tis the season of giving! Every team has specific needs heading into the second half so the Defensive Specialist negotiated with Australia Post to intercept each managers shopping list to Santa – what better time than Christmas Eve to evaluate the wish lists of each skipper to see what they need to succeed in 2011.

Perth Heat

Manager Brooke Knight’s list to Santa:

1. Pitching

2. Pitching

3. Pitching

4. And grey uniforms for when we play away

Although the grey uniforms are a no brainer they’ve been covered ad infinitum in this forum and in reality, it doesn’t matter what uniform you’re wearing if you don’t have anyone to pitch. The Heat is set to lose number 1 & 2 arms Liam Hendriks and Cole McCurry to inning restrictions while import reliever Brett Jacobsen was traded to the Minnesota Twins and recalled back to the states. On top of that, leading bullpen arm Tyler Anderson is set to head back to the US to work on completing his college degree. That’s 4 fairly key appendages that will be tough to replace. While there’s word that Brendan Wise may be available in the coming weeks (making up for the loss of Jacobsen) Knight will be scouring his little black book searching for live arms to fill the void in his rotation with only Liam Baron a local option. With the Heat regaining the services of Luke Hughes and apparently an import second baseman, the addition of front line arms would almost assure the Heat of a finals berth.

Melbourne Aces

Manager Phil Dale’s list to Santa:

1) Better foreign relations

2) Smaller coaching staff

It would surprise some that Dale would request a smaller coaching staff, but do you realise how hard it must be to remember that many names? The first point about foreign relations relates to the fact that the Aces’ Japanese contingent are said to be shipping back to their motherland in preparation for their spring training / season. Just as the Aces started to hit their straps (winning 9 of their last 11), word comes that their imports need to pack up shop and leave. These departures leave quite the void:

Yoshiyuki Kamei has been an offensive monster hitting .438 with 7 bombs, 25 RBI’s, 20 runs and an OPS of 1300. Sick numbers! Dale should find some way to hide his passport. While Dale is being devious, perhaps he should think about hiding a sizeable quantity of marijuana in the boogie board bags of Norihito Kaneto (2-2 with an ERA of 4.35 over 30 innings), Jumpei Ono (awesome name, 1-1 and 2.12 ERA), Masumi Hoshino (1-0 3.38 ERA) and Tetsu Nishikawa (1-0, 4.85 ERA) in order to keep them in our fair land.

On the upside, the Aces are dropping bombs and scoring runs at an alarming rate of late, lead by Andrew Russell who has vaulted into contention for Deep in the Hole “Dude of the Month”. The beat down has continued recently as the Aces man handled the Bandits in their latest series.

Adelaide Bite

Manager Tony Harris’ list to Santa:

1) A Stud

Harris has always been known as a simple man and his wish list reflects just that, yearning for only one thing. Unfortunately the one thing he desperately desires is the one thing that Santa doesn’t dish out willy nilly –staff aces. The Bite have an offensive line up that bangs with anyone in the league, meaning they’re always going to be able to put up numbers. What they lack is a guy who takes the ball and almost always guarantees a win. While they do have a group of steady pitchers, none has stepped forward and demonstrated the ability to be the guy. Paul Mildren doesn’t have the over powering stuff, Darren Fidge is almost a pensioner and their import Brandon Maurer has been inconsistent. Dushan Ruzic has had some exceptional outings but Harris will be imploring his GM to reach out into the baseball universe to find a staff leader that would completely reshape his pitching staff by providing stability at the front and allowing an arm like Fidge to become a go-to bullpen guy.

Canberra Multiculturalists

Manager Steve Schrenk’s list to Santa:

1) The ABL to only schedule home games

Being a new parent himself, the Defensive Specialist is keenly aware of the developmental cycles of young children. Right now, the Defensive Specialist’s young child is in the phase where kids tend to experience separation anxiety (time away from parents upsetingt them). The more the Defensive Specialist observes the Multiculturalists, the more he sees the signs of separation anxiety. The team plays with confidence and joy at home but goes to water whenever they leave the friendly confines of the nation’s capital. The solution? Perhaps take their parents along for the road trip while loading up on the porn and fireworks to make the lads feel as at home as possible.

Sydney Blue Sox

Manager Glenn William’s list to Santa:

1) A Banger

No Williams isn’t looking for a new relationship! What he’s after is a middle of the order thumper who can put fear into opposing pitching staffs and drive in a plethora of runs. Prior to the season commencing there were a number of guys ear marked to fill this role locally but to this point no one has stepped forward to be the MAN. We keep hearing that Trent Oeltjen will eventually strap on the powder blue uni and while he may not be your prototype banger, he definitely provides a premium bat that should be able to carry a large proportion of the load in the middle of the order

Brisbane Bandits

Manager Dave Nilsson’s list to Santa:

1) Snowstorms in Japan

2) Lubrication

The lube is more of a stocking gift but definitely well needed as the Aces have been legitimately sticking it to the Bandits in their pre Christmas series. The Bandits were pumped 18-8, 12-10, 10-0 and 16-3. That’s some serious friction!

Much like Melbourne, the Bandits are rumoured to be losing their Japanese imports in the coming weeks. The two keys losses will be Shuhei Fukuda who joint leads the team with 4 homeruns, while driving in 6 and scoring 11. He has also proved to be a reliable and versatile defender. From a pitching perspective, the big loss is Hiroki Yamada who has started in every series and struck out almost a hitter per inning while compiling a record of 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA. Neither import has put up “stop the press” numbers but having been steady contributors that Nilsson has relied upon as the season has progressed.

Unfortunately the Defensive Specialist has to cut this post short as he still has 2438 baseballs to autograph as Christmas presents. Thank you very much for reading Deep in the Hole and have a great and safe Christmas. The Defensive Specialist will next check in from the Heat VS. Blue Sox series on December 30th.

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!