Prospect Spotlight: Elmo Slayer

Elmo Slayer, 24, P Heaters


Who could have predicted the rise of Elmo Slayer? If you ask around the league, everyone would tell you the same thing: “I saw this two years ago.” Two years ago, Slayer was the 3rd and final starting pitcher who signed with the Moonstars during the inaugural Super Mega League season. The only people who can definitively say they foresaw his rise to stardom were his college coaches “Strike” Rodriguez and softball turned baseball star Alisha Woodrow. A blue chip high school pitcher from Boston, Slayer in college was a consistent pitcher, but his numbers never really astounded anybody. Posting an ERA between 3.3 and 3.5 and a 1.5 K/BB ratio each of his four seasons as the starting pitcher at the University of the Dakotas, he was not a highly sought after prospect for a fledgling league, but with the combined persuasion of Rodriguez and Woodrow, Slayer got his shot.

His first season was rather forgettable. After a very tough first three starts where his ERA stabilized around 11.34, he improved drastically over the season, dropping radically to 2.85 by the end of the season. With a K/9 of only 3.2 and a WHIP of 2.4, there was room for improvement, but Woodrow's mentorship of the young pitcher was working.

This upward trend continued into the 2019 campaign, remaining consistently in the conversation for an Ace pitching job at the end of the season as he posted a 1.56 ERA (2nd in league) and 117 K’s (4th) in 103.2 innings of work. In an interview with SMB Insider Darrel Clinton, Slayer attributed his success to the aforementioned training alongside Woodrow in addition to an unnamed private trainer he hired between his first and second years. When asked about the new life he put on the ball, Slayer also admitted part of his early struggles were due to re-aggravating an elbow injury from high school when he took a line drive to his throwing elbow. “I didn't think much of it back then...” Slayer pointed to himself on the TV during his windup during a game against the Blowfish. "But you can see me wince right there on the mound. I tried to play it off like I was fixing my belt, but my arm was on fire..." After minor surgery on that elbow, he was throwing flames like in his high school days.

As we all know by now, not all of the good lasted. The Moonstars entered the playoffs as a 4 seed against the 1 seed Blowfish. After an offensive explosion and subsequent defensive implosion by Woodrow and the Moonstars in Game 1, scrutiny was immediately placed on the ‘Stars’ decision to keep Woodrow as the ace despite Slayer’s dominance. Scrutiny that followed the Woodrow-Slayer romance home as the two were seen bickering in the bullpen during Game 2. With the series tied, Slayer took his position on the bump, holding the Blowfish to just 2 hits until the 6th inning when he took a hot grounder to the leg after walking a batter. Slayer stayed out, declining C Lars Stadkleef’s request for a reliever. His first pitch was a slider than hung over the middle and was jacked to deep center field, giving the Blowfish a 2-1 lead. Reliever Bert Bergerer was immediately subbed in, but the damage was done. The ‘Stars lost the game 7-1 and the series in 6 games.

Tempers between Slayer and Woodrow flared, and unconfirmed reports say that Slayer spent that night in the bullpen. With speculation that the Moonstars brass was looking to move either Woodrow or Slayer, speculation began to build over which one was be the ace for the 2020 season, and the breakup appeared to accelerate the process. As an established Ace, Woodrow made it clear that this was her team and that she didn’t desire to go anywhere. Media the next day found a clearly heartbroken Slayer packing his belongings the next day.

Cue Inside the Zone, the SML Network’s program focusing on the top Free Agents and incoming rookies similar to HBO’s Hard Knocks. Slayer’s journey from nearly quitting the sport he loved to reinventing himself as a pitcher to one of the top free agents in the SML stole the hearts and minds of the public. When the Commissioner announced the 4 new expansion teams, Heaters GM Ferris “Forge” Irons made it abundantly clear he wanted to establish a “‘Big Three’ pitching staff that would set the SML on fire” during their first year. In true Slayer fashion, he signed the dotted line the very next day for $17.9 Million annually. He joined Bishop Fuller who declared himself eligible from the Crocodons for the expansion draft where the Heaters selected him with their first pick. Derr Neverwocker signed 4 days later, completing Irons’ “Big Three” at the expense of a hefty amount of cap space.

As we are now well-within a month of SML’s 2020 Opening Day (May 13th), there’s been much talk of the “healthy competition” between presumed-ace Elmo Slayer and Bishop Fuller as the pair have posted a series of videos on Instaframe doing various pitching “trick shots” in the bullpen. Fuller is clearly ace material on any other team, and with two strong A-type personalities going head to head, how long will it be before this “friendly competition” becomes a little more heated?

Between the budding Moonstars-Heaters rivalry (other members of the Moonstars staff were poached by Forge Irons, including hitting coach Jermaine Leighner and assistant coach Mair Anders) and the Boom or Bust structure of this Heaters roster, Slayer and the Heaters will be a team to watch.