Sirloins: Rotation and Bullpen

As always, the Sirloins have transitioned to a new era of the Super Mega League as the team to beat. That said they're finally looking a bit human in this latest iteration of the game, with some of the pillars of the team getting close to retirement, some defensive concerns, and maybe a few position battles.

Yet they're still the Sirloins, still brilliantly constructed top to bottom with no easily exploited weaknesses. The defense may be average but they can still get routine plays and will be playing behind one of the best starting rotations in the game.  The combination of great pitching and unstoppable power means they'll hold a lot of late inning leads, and the bullpen may be a little suspect but it can definitely do the job.  If you have a concern going forward it's that this team doesn't have a lot of cap space and may fall behind when Hammer Longballo and Boomer Platune finally hang up their cleats.

I do love that this team manages to act like the yankees even in a capped league, willing to spend developmental money to fill the roster with star players.  Of course, that strategy only works if the stars are out there when you need them.

Starting Rotation

Manny Kays:  26 year old Lefty Manny Kays is the best pitcher on this team and one of the best aces in the league, capable on a given day of going toe to toe with anyone.  He can mix up fastballs with 2 seam movement or just throwing it in the mid to high 90's, then drop the curve or change for a strikeout.  Also flashes the leather with amazing reaction time on the mound, taking away a lot of ground ball hits through the center.

Slip Van'Derwink:  31 year old left hander Van'Derwink is the bake to Kays' shake, an outstanding five pitch arsenal with the capability of generating fly or ground outs basically at will, he may not have the velocity or break of Kays but every one of his 5 pitches is graded at least a B, and he can locate any of them on any given outing.

Van'Derwink may be ready to move on and become the bake on a team needing an ace pitcher, it's unlikely the Sirloins plan on letting go of the younger Kays and not many top tier talents enjoy being the second fiddle (or making second fiddle money).  This duo may be due to break up in the near future.

Bugsy Snugs:  If Van'Derwink moves on then Snugs is ready to move into that second slot.  Rated overall B+ but with great stuff and time to develop it.  Snugs does have a somewhat limited arsenal with only the slider as a breaking pitch but like the greatest chefs he can serve up his fastball 3 ways and bamboozle hitters with all of them.  Keep an eye on this righty.

Kayo Niomo:  Kayo rounds out the group.  30 years old, right handed, Niomo has been around the league.  One of the better velocity ratings on the team, he can throw a mid to high 90's fastball and has a nasty cutter up and inside, or throw the changeup for a whiff.  His slider is hittable though as it tends to hang and even when it breaks it's pretty limited, but can be effective when mixed in sparingly.  He also struggles with location at times.  All in all a tailor made end of the rotation pitcher who may not be able to put a game on his shoulders but will battle through 6 or 7 innings of 4 run ball.

Bullpen

Shay Dee leads this group with outstanding control and velocity, a rare example of a lefty throwing high 90's heat with a mid 90's cutter, with a changeup for the strikeout.  She can mix in a curveball but it has an unfortunate tendency to hang.   With the ability to throw strikes in the black she rarely falls behind in the count but can at times become flustered and lose the strike zone when she does.  Overall a superb option to bring out for a mid inning hold or a multi-inning save.

Linus Digbee is something of a right handed specialist with an excellent pitch selection but average stuff and severe control issues.  Control issues is a bit of a theme in this bullpen so expect a lot of late wild pitches.  In spite of early promise Digbee at 35 years old has unfortunately reached his ceiling, having never quite brought it together.  All that said this veteran still has good deception and some tricks he can call on in big games.

Miguel Duke, another righty in a bullpen loaded with them, is an outstanding developmental project pitcher with tremendous break on his 3 pitch arsenal.  He isn't there yet and needs significant work on his mechanics to establish control of the plate, as he's as likely to bounce his curve into the backstop as he is to drop it for a strike. 

Be that as it may he's 24 years old on a 2.5 million contract and if he can learn to control his pitches, he could pair with Shay Dee to shut off the lights late in games a few years down the road.

Franz Zilla (CP).  There is a disturbing trend in this league among the well established teams of sticking with shaky closers with better options sitting in the bullpen.  We saw it with Walt Huckster on the Blowfish and we see it here with Franz Zilla.  Sure he's been around a while, yet in all that time he hasn't managed to translate that screaming 4 seamer into consistent saves. 

The issue lies in his ability to control the plate.  Zilla only throws the 4 seamer with a curve occasionally mixed in and he uses it like a club to overpower opposing hitters.  Against some of the best hitters this just leaves him down in counts throwing meatballs for strikes and giving up big hits.

It's not all bad, Zilla's had some great moments in his career but he lacks the ability to control the strike zone that a consistently good closer needs and that massively hurts his utility.  He would be a matchup nightmare in the middle innings but the team needs to move away from him at closer and look to Duke and Dee late in close games if they want a shot.