There are always a few doubters out there, people who for
whatever reason and despite all evidence refuse to believe. As a means to prove
the Defensive Specialists brain power perhaps now is an opportune time to
discuss the series predictions the Defensive Specialist threw out before the
first round of fixtures:
- Perth Heat Vs. Brisbane Bandits- you’re old pal predicted a 3-1 series win to the Heat. And the actual result? Yep you guessed it, 3-1 to the Heat. TICK. The Heat went to Brisvegas, dropped game 1 then reeled off 3 consecutive wins to take the series.
- Melbourne Aces Vs. Adelaide Bite – continuing the Midas touch, the Defensive Specialist called a 3-1 series win to the Bite. TICK……. Oh wait, the Defensive Specialist capitulated and hedged his bets by calling a 2-2 series result. Mental Midget. Didn't matter, the Bite swept the series.
- Canberra Multiculturalists Vs. Sydney Blue Sox – ok, this whole exercise is doing the Defensive Specialist no favours by this stage. The prediction was a 3-1 series victory to the Blue Sox and it almost looked like it may happen in the last game as the Multiculturalists came out firing. Unfortunately for the Defensive Specialist’s credibility, the Blue Sox had too much firepower and too much pitching which resulted in a win and a series sweep.
So that didn’t help, but as Theodore de Bouville said “Those who
do nothing are never wrong”. With that in mind, lets do something, lets delve
deeper into the Defensive Specialist’s game notes and come up with a couple of
key insights in a post we here at Deep in the Hole like to call “What has the
Defensive Specialist Learnt?”
1. Having an Ace is important. Yeah, the Defensive Specialist knows
this was a key learning from last week, but as Chris Oxspring demonstrated
again, having a big arm that can chew up a chunk of innings not only gives your
ball club a chance to win each time out but also spares the bullpen, which is
critical over a 4 game series. You need only look at recent World Series
victors the San Francisco Giants, who rode their 3 guns to a championship with
rag tag offensive support, to understand how important good starting pitching
is. Oxspring was a little rocky early on, giving up a big fly to Nick Kimpton
but once he settled he was lights out and in command through 8 innings. He
maintained his velocity and even flirted with 92 mph twice during the game.
As an additional highlight for readers, the Defensive Specialist
stumbled across this pretty cool video detailing the Multiculturalists opening
game. However it gets even better at the 7.51 minute mark when Multiculturalist
manager Steve Schrenk says to an unidentified player (who very much resembles
Nick Kimpton):
“That Oxspring is probably the best pitcher in the league.”
To which Kimpton replies:
“You know what, he’s not that good.”
Ahh Nick, you may have taken him yard, but he’s just shoved the
bat up your team’s rectum on two occasions now. It’s safe to assume that
Oxspring may have that little sound bite stored in his memory bank for future
reference.
2. The Multiculturalists need to get their staff in order. Look
it’s early in the season and you’d expect teams to be a little rough and tumble
early on, but as the Canberra team demonstrated, if you don’t get solid
starting pitching early on a series can unravel mightily quickly. Steve Kent
has the potential to be an ace, but if he can’t go more than two innings per
outing he is leaving the bullpen exposed over the course of a contest. As the
Defensive Specialist mentioned in an earlier post, perhaps his best use would
be out of the pen to lock down any leads the Multiculturalists may have.
3. A position battle may be brewing in the Blue Sox camp. A reader
launched a vociferous campaign in support of Alex Johnson who made his ABL
debut in game 3 of the series and hit a big 3 run bomb in game 4. The basis of
the argument was that he provides more with the bat that Pat ‘Stone Hands’ Maat
which definitely was the case in this series just gone. Stone Hand’s bat looked
slow and sluggish and he really laboured to catch up to mid 80’s fastballs.
Johnson on the other hand looked dialed in during his AB’s with consistently
hard contact. Adding to his case, he looked serviceable at first base. In Stone
Hand’s defence (and that term is used very loosely when discussing Stone
Hands), he has a proven track record at this level and surprised the Defensive
Specialist with his outing behind the plate, displaying good receiving skills
and a strong arm.
So what’s a manager to do? Well skipper Glenn Williams really
has 4 of the same sort of player – that is, big corn-fed mules. Andy Graham,
Stone Hands, Johnson and the Bossman are all solid units who look to pull
fastballs and contribute limited amounts on defence (Graham contributes a bit
more behind the plate admittedly). At the moment Johnson and the Bossman are
the ones bringing it offensively (although it looks like Moanaroa will hit
sporadically against lefties) so you’d have to say both have earned longer
looks. Perhaps you platoon Stone Hands and the Bossman and let Johnson play out
his hot hand. It’s not the worst scenario for a manager to have – 4 guys
competing for 3 spots (C, 1B, DH).
4. If the Korean imports don’t start to hit, the Multiculturalists may
need to send an envoy to the local embassy to keep the peace because there
could be some foreign relation disasters after they get sent packing. Moon, Lee
and Jang all had a woeful series with Moon registering 2 hits, Lee 1 and Jang taking
the schnide. All 3 guys bail out on almost every swing meaning that from time
to time they may run into something and hit it hard but for the most part
they’re out in front rolling over the ball or missing it altogether. Lee and
Moon seem to run ok, but its not like they’re even putting the ball in play
consistently. If the Multiculturalists want to get anywhere, they need their
Korean connection to figure it out and start hitting.
5. The catcher pop up may be dying art. The Defensive Specialist
woke up on Sunday morning with a crick in his neck as a result of cringing too
hard when both coaches butchered every attempt at the dime piece. It’s like
everything in life really – practice makes perfect. Get a crate of balls, stand
at home plate and don’t leave until your hands are bleeding and you’re
consistently drilling balls 200 feet in the air and bouncing them on home
plate. The Defensive Specialist is looking to clear his schedule in order to
conduct a one on one workshop on the art of the pop up. Details and pricing to
come.
6. Although their pitching has a lot of question marks, the
Multiculturalists have the makings of a decent offensive ballclub. The addition
of Michael Collins was always going to be big and he demonstrated his worth
immediately going a lazy 6 for 11. Kimpton is a tough hitter and as the video
demonstrates a confident one who’ll provide solid output in the middle of the
order. If Didi Gregorious manages to put the ball in play and get on base he’ll
do some damage with his speed. Until Moon figures out how to hit, the Defensive
Specialist would be tempted to plug Andrew Schmidt into the 2 hole as he seems
to be a scrapper who’ll find a way to get on. Donald Lutz has some pop, and Tom
Vincent proved he can knock it around. And don’t forget D Wash is hidden on their
roster, just waiting for an opportunity!
7. The Defensive Specialist wasn’t in attendance and usually
doesn’t include 3rd party information in “What has the Defensive
Specialist Learnt”, but after seeing the result of the Adelaide Melbourne
series, you’d have to say that either the Bite are the second coming of the
Bronx Bombers or the Aces are a little underdone on the mound. The Bite put a
legitimate beat down on the Aces and while the Defensive Specialist would like
to think that we may have an offensive juggernaut on our hands this season,
word from those in attendance suggests that the Aces just couldn’t compete on
the mound. It will be interesting to see what the Aces can do to right the ship
because no one would have predicted that last year’s champ would have been
beaten like a rented mule in the first series of the season.
The Defensive Specialist will not be in attendance at any series
next weekend due to Deep in the Hole budgetary constraints so if there are any
philanthropists out there who enjoy reading unbelievably comprehensive baseball
reviews, the Defensive Specialist is more than happy to accept your donation
and make the trip. But do not fret, even if no sugar daddy steps forward with
access to their private jet, the Defensive Specialist will still conjure some
magic and provide your weekly baseball fix!
