Call it being an expansion team, call it bad draft strategy, call it whatever you want, the Sand Cats just aren't set up to be great this year. To hope to match the offensive output of some other teams we've seen like the Blowfish they are going to have to shift a lot of players into secondary positions, playing shaky defense behind shaky starting pitching and an exhausted bullpen, and even then the offense is really just ok.
That said there's definitely a lot of hope for the future here. This is one of the youngest squads in the super mega league, only veteran catcher Stracy Wickers is over 30 in the entire lineup. This lack of veteran leadership is going to hurt in the short run (especially with so many players learning new positions), but if the team decides to unload a few contracts and focus on rebuilding and development they could set themselves up to make a run in 3 or 4 years, right as some of the current powerhouses' windows' could be closing. They also have one of the better outfields we've seen with Marsha Brown and Dolf Steak, 2 young players with all star potential and years to grow into leadership roles.
If they want to make a run now, well frankly it won't be easy but there are some roster moves they can make to be more competitive offensively. Below I will break down each position in detail, but later I would like to discuss the choices this team faces more in depth.
Catcher: Knox Oxensoxson is a tremendous starting catcher with superb defense behind the plate, a great pairing to some of the questionable young arms in this rotation. An accurate enough throw to second to hold most baserunners at bay, but not quite strong enough to be elite. Knox also features great bat skills that should hopefully translate to high OBP but will need to spend a lot more time in the gym to see those hits start going out, but at 27 he does have a bit of time to fill out.
Backup Stracy Wickers is the oldest position player on the roster at 31, ancient in anime but still plenty of time to play baseball. Mediocre defensive skills, poor bat technique, but good power at the plate make her a serviceable if below average backup catcher. Her poor defense could definitely become an issue with this starting rotation's control.
1B: Hercules Bentley is likely to be one of the better first basemen in the league this year, with excellent offensive skills and great reaction time and range over at first. Lack of speed should have him hitting cleanup but with the pop in his bat he'll probably lead the team in dingers and should be an RBI machine.
Jess Fowl is the only backup on the team whose primary position is first (Stracy Wickers can back up in an emergency). A good defender who hits for power but low average, Fowl could be a strong candidate for everyday DH if the Sand Cats end up in a DH conference but otherwise should probably start at third, her secondary position.
2B: On the depth chart Chip Duffers is your starting second baseman, with Winston Draper backing him up. Even though Draper's overall grade is a solid half letter worse than Duffers', I think this is a spot you can platoon Duffers against lefties and Draper against righties. Duffers is great defensively and a technician at the plate with good speed but is one of the physically weakest members of this team and struggles to make solid contact, most of his hits are ground balls. Draper can't hit lefties and has mediocre defense at second but his hits carry against right handed pitching.
Overall neither option is particularly good for an everyday starter but you may be able to maximize their impact by platooning. If you're dead set on starting one then Duffers is going to be your man.
The one major concern with platooning is that Duffers is a good candidate for leadoff with great speed and good on base potential, while with draper options for a leadoff hitter kind of drop off. I've made my lineup (below) with Duffers as the everyday starter. Just keep in mind that if you want to create a platoon this is probably your best bet.
SS: A definite weakness on this team, your options at shortstop are Rodney Park. Chip Duffers can play it as his secondary position but lacks the defensive range of Park and is slightly worse offensively. Park is similar to Duffers with a slightly more productive bat but worse baserunning skills, ok speed but frequently mistimes his jumps and struggles to read the pitcher. Realistically Park is at best a backup or part of a platoon but on this team he's the starter by default.
3B: Third base is a toss up between Kara Kawaguchi (the on paper starter) or Jess Fowl, who ostensibly backs up Hercules Bentley but makes way too much to be a backup. Both are right handed so platooning is not an option.
Kawaguchi is the only primary third baseperson on this team. A below average offensive player with poor power and contact skills, she plays solid defense and throws an absolute dart across the infield. Jess Fowl is a gold glover at first and still well above average at third, she lacks the throw power of Kawaguchi but at the plate can absolutely crush low pitches. If the DH spot is unavailable Jess Fowl should be starting everyday at third.
All that said, whatever you do the entire left side of the infield is frankly a liability offensively and if the team can't find a way to address the lack of depth, they are going to struggle over the course of a long season.
RF: Marsha Brown is this team's best player and one of the best right fielders in the league. She flashes superb offensive skills and great baserunning but is at best an average defender, though her speed still creates good range out in right. There isn't much else to say, a left handed bat with elite skills at the plate, Brown is a key building block to this team.
Yet again, this team does not have a primary right field backup. Dolf Steak can play any outfield position (and first) with gold glove skill but if he isn't starting in right then you have some concerns (more on that later). Gia Axelson is a pretty good option at backup with good offensive numbers but can be a disaster defensively, especially at a secondary position. The other option, Super Sampson, is polar opposite with poor skill at the plate but superb defense (but he should probably be starting in center field).
CF: On paper your starting center fielder is Dolf Steak, but I'm going to make the case he should be starting in left which means Super Sampson should be your center field starter.
Even though this team has two primary left fielders, neither of them are very good and neither make close to what Sampson makes. Sampson has elite, gold glove defense in center with an absolute cannon of an arm. Offensively he leaves a lot to be desired but when he gets on base you could make a convincing argument that he's the fastest player in the league. You do lose some on base percentage by not playing Gia Axelson (the primary backup left fielder who I would absolutely play over Tigg Tantrum), but this is one of those rare cases I'm going to take the glove over the bat. Gia is the best offensive option among dedicated left field starters but is only marginally better than Super Sampson and is a defensive liability. A lineup with Sampson and Steak is much better than one with Steak and Axelson.
For all those reasons, start Super Sampson in Center and save left for Dolf Steak.
LF: Dolf Steak may play center on paper but as a Utility outfielder (and first baseman) he should be playing left on this team. A defensive gold glove, he has good offensive potential but still needs a few years to bring that aspect of his game together. Above average bat skills with ok power makes him a good potential line drive hitter and that combined with excellent speed should see him hitting in the heart of this lineup in a couple years. At 27 years old he still has the time to bring it together and become a lynchpin of this team, though he may never become a true all star.
Tigg Tantrum is the dedicated left field starter on paper and if this happens something has gone wrong for the team. Tantrum has good speed with ok defense and the ability to elevate his offensive performance with runners in scoring position but otherwise is a low average, low power hitter and error prone defender. Just 22 years old and a good pinch runner off the bench but will need a few years of development before you should be lining him up. Save Tantrum for an emergency.
Gia Axelson is a better offensive option than Tantrum and similar defensively (though with a weaker arm). She should probably be backing up Steak in left. Of course you do have the option to platoon her and Tantrum but I don't think the gain in offense would make up for the defensive shortcomings of these two. That said, it would be an option down the road if you can develop them into at least average fielders.
DH: While it's still unknown if this is a DH team it's worth speculating that they are simply because this is a lineup built around having a DH. Assuming it's an option, the Cats have two good options though they have very different plate approaches.
Jess Fowl is a right handed power hitter, low average but able to drive the ball (especially low pitches) and make productive outs with RISP. While she should be starting at third (secondary position), you could line her up at DH against left handed pitching and have Kawaguchi as a superior defender and additional right handed bat late in the lineup.
Gia Axelson also makes a strong case for the role. A left handed technician at the plate with lower power numbers but potential for good OBP, Axelson can work counts and serves as a dangerous bat late in the lineup.
Neither is going to wow anyone offensively but it is tempting to alternate against right and left handed pitching. If you want to choose just one, I would suggest Axelson. Fowl should already be a starter on the team and Axelson is a better hitter than Kawaguchi even against lefties. I don't think you can really go wrong with either option though.
Lineup
Which leaves your 2020 Sand Cats lineup as
No DH
1. Chip Duffers (2B)
2. Dolf Steak (LF)
3. Marsha Brown (RF)
4. Hercules Bentley (1B)
5. Knox Oxensoxen (C)
6. Rodney Park (SS)
7. Jess Fowl (3B)
8. Super Sampson (CF)
9. Pitcher
DH
1. Chip Duffers (2B)
2. Dolf Steak (LF)
3. Marsha Brown (RF)
4. Hercules Bentley (1B)
5. Knox Oxensoxen (C)
6. Gia Axelson (DH)
7. Rodney Park (SS)
8. Jess Fowl (3B)
9. Super Sampson (CF)
So I decided to follow a classic formula with this team of high OBP with good speed in the first 2 spots, best hitter in the third, and cleanup fourth. While I tend to believe your best hitter should be second this team just doesn't have good 3 and 4 options with Brown second.
I really don't love either group, there's a severe lack of power that even with the ability to make contact will result in a lot of groundouts. Dolf Steak really isn't ready to be a 2 hitter and probably won't be for another season at least but his skillset is best suited to that in this group. It's definitely a smallball team.
The main concern is that this group is not built to score runs in bunches and with their weak starting rotation, they'll be playing from behind a lot. A lot has to go right for them to win games and I really doubt they can sustain it over a full season.
Bench
Piecing together an offensively viable lineup leaves a pretty thin bench unfortunately. You've got some power options without good contact, a couple bad hitters, and two pretty good pinch run options. Also kind of a dearth of good defensive replacements.
Kara Kawaguchi plays third base without any secondary options, limiting her defensively on a team hurting for infield backups. Excellent speed makes her the go to pinch runner late in games but unless she's subbing for Fowl she would require a secondary defensive sub. She is also sub-par offensively with below average power and contact skills.
All that said, she's only 22 years old and if you focus on developing her ability to make contact she could be a viable starter at third in just a few years. She also isn't likely to be making much right now but also won't be providing much value as a bench player with severely limited utility.
Tigg Tantrum is a LF/OF backup with below average offense and defense and good speed. He does have the advantage over Kawaguchi in being available to backup more positions but outfield is already pretty deep on this team and, while you could call him a speedster, he is not as fast as Kawaguchi.
I really think the GM will have to choose between Tantrum and Kawaguchi and, if that's the case, Kawaguchi narrowly edges him out with superior (though still not good) plate production, starting potential, and being a somewhat better baserunner.
Winston Draper (2B/3B) is a good offensive option off the bench with serious power, low potential for average, and is capable of backing up 2 major infield positions with solid defense. In the event Rodney Park goes down at short and Duffers needs to fill in there, Draper is going to be playing second and you may not even see a significant offensive decline. Not a great defensive third baseman with a below average arm however.
Gia Axelson (LF/OF) (no DH). Axelson is another good utility outfielder with great on base potential as a dedicated DH. Bad defensive skills and average speed will limit her ability to start but in an emergency she really adds to your outfield depth. Also only 21 years old and not a big cap hit so she could be a future building block for this crew.
Stracey Wickers (C/1B). Wickers is the oldest member of the lineup at 31, and the lowest rated overall player. She is one of the stronger bats on the team but is going to struggle to connect with any pitches that aren't a changeup down the middle or hanging breaking ball. Pretty sub-par defensively and a weak throw to second, she's a serviceable backup but will struggle catching some of these lower control pitchers (particularly Takabasei) and may have a tough time blocking Maverick McMann's curveball if it's in the dirt.
Backup catcher may be worth looking for a defensive upgrade even if you lose one of the few power bats on this team. Normally I value offensive production over defense but catcher is one of those positions where bad defense can severely limit your pitcher's arsenal and placement options, and building confidence is going to be crucial if this rotation will even be able to compete.
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