This season of the BBL, for the first time, the league was separated into two halves, based on the experience levels of the coaches. The National League is also dubbed the Frontyard League, and contains all of the coaches that are new this season or have only played a single season or less in the BBL. This division will allow these newer coaches to experience the league and have fun competing, without the threat of being steamrolled by the league’s top veterans along the way.

Since many coaches in the Frontyard League are new, we’re not sure what to expect from them yet. This is also true for the East division, which contains two completely new coaches, one of the least experienced returnees, and the league’s only long-term veteran who has drafted a wacky team to play with. But another thing that’s true about the East division – it has the scariest set of pitchers in the entire league.

Anaheim Angels

Coach Profile: takenotes011 is new to the BBL this season.

Team Analysis: This is definitely and obviously a team drafted for defense. Every player on the team has a fielding rating of 6 or higher, and all but two players have strong arms rated at 4 or 5. Troy Glaus and Annie Frazier’s comparatively weak arms could be soft spots in the defense, but they’re close enough to stronger arms and can get to the ball quickly so that even those aren’t likely to be reliable weaknesses. The Angels also have a rocket arm behind the plate in Chipper Jones, and one of the most fearsome pitchers covering the mound in Julie Dunkel, which will leave no room for dinky groundballs to hide. The pitching depth also appears to be sufficient. This defense will be a tough nut to crack.

The Angels also have good hitting, however. Only two players on the team have batting ratings of lower than 7, and even if Annie Frazier’s 9 is inflated above what people would expect, she still has enough speed to be solid on offense. Overall, the team seems to have the bats it takes to get a lot of solid hits and singles, with a couple of bigger hitters in there as well to drive in the runs. The one concern is the slower members of the team – one 6 in running, two 5s, and, most concerningly, a 1 could cause some problems, clogging up the basepaths on offense and providing a weaker right side of the field on defense that could let more balls get through. But even if those slow players do prove a problem, the top of the lineup should be able to drive in a decent number of runs, and the defense remains a formidable one to try to get past. This will not be a fun team to play against.

Prediction: First place. takenotes has drafted a stellar squad that should shut down its opponents enough to give him an easy time winning.

Players to watch: Chipper Jones and Julie Dunkel are the extra ingredient to make this a truly fearsome defense, and it’s worth watching to see if they are able to live up to this potential. And Season 4 Ace Wilson Chad Koppel didn’t get the chance to pitch at all last season – will he get that chance this time, and if so, will he shine again?

St. Louis Cardinals

Coach Profile: shrewsbury91 is new to the BBL this season.

Team Analysis: This team doesn’t appear to be too different in focus from the Angels, although the teams do differ in the details. But the Cardinals also have a clear focus on defense and on batting. This team doesn’t have as many specifically strong arms as the Angels, with only five players with higher-rated arms, but it also doesn’t have any arms that are rated as weaker than the average. They have a mobile outfield that will also relay the ball in quickly, and basic scouting reports have confirmed that this team will move the ball around the field quickly and be hard to take extra bases from. One potential cause for concern is present, with the famously weak Marsellus Marx behind the plate – but if opponents are successful at scoring off this team, Marx is likely to take the mound, thereby moving Mr. Clanky to the catcher’s position and solving that problem with a strong arm that will never tire.

A strong focus on hitting is also clear in this team composition – seven out of nine players have bats rated as 8 or better, and one of the remainders is Ingrid Dahlman’s strong 5. Tracy Hoban appears to be the only potentially weak hitter in this lineup, and they’ll be able to send a lot of balls going far, especially with the Paveway’s surface serving to keep balls bouncing on and on. The biggest concern on this team is that they’re fairly slow. Only Marx has a running rating greater than 7, and five players have ratings of 6 or lower, including a 4 and a 2 at the bottom of that spectrum. That could result in the Cards struggling to take extra bases on their own, and somewhat weaken an otherwise solid defense, and definitely puts a question mark on their chances of competing.

The other concern is this team’s lack of pitching depth. Of course, the pitching robot Mr. Clanky is all that a human player needs to get the job done, but the computer team WILL sub him out once a player has scored enough runs against him, and there are no other strong pitchers on the Cardinals – Marx’s 6 rating is the next best, and the rest of the team is even worse. If opposing coaches can get past the initial line of defense and remove Clanky from the mound, there might be little to stop them from wearing the entire team down.

Prediction: Second place. There’s some causes for concern, but this is a solid squad that should be able to get the job done regularly.

Players to watch: As that initial line of defense, Clanky’s pitching will prove critical in securing Cardinals victories, and if he’s quickly worked through then things won’t be looking good for the team. On the flip side, Marsellus Marx’s home run bat and fast speed form the foundation for this team’s offense. If he underperforms, the Cards may struggle to win games.

Atlanta Braves

Coach Profile: Nodakkian is technically a BBL veteran, but only just barely, having played only a handful of games at the end of last season as a sub for a coach that dropped out. This will be his first time playing with a team that he drafted himself.

Team Analysis: There are slow teams, and there are painfully slow teams. And then there are this season’s Braves. Kristen Sullivan at 7 speed stands alone as the team’s fastest player. Zenon Estrada at 6 speed stands alone as the second-fastest. Everybody else on the team has a running rating of 5 or less, and that’s going to spell major trouble for this team. They’re going to take a long time to get anywhere, and that will result in extra bases for the opposition while their fielders try to get to the ball, and few bases for the Braves themselves as their opponents will frequently get the ball in before they can round first base. Speed is the most important skill in the game due to its dual utility in both offense and defense, and a team this sorely lacking in it could have a rough season indeed.

But all is not quite as hopeless for that team as it would initially appear, as they do have strengths in other categories. This team is laden with strong throwing arms, with five having the maximum rating of 5 and two more with a strong rating of 4. It may take a while for the Braves’ fielders to get to the ball, but once they do, they’ll have it moving to other fielders in short order. Strong hits by opposing batters can get them a couple of bases, but a team looking to this as a complete joke of a defense will be in for an unpleasant surprise. One of those 5 arms is also behind the plate, giving this team a strong catcher, and their pitching depth is fantastic, with two aces and three other solid pitchers ensuring that this will never be a problem for the team.

At the plate, this team will be looking to its sluggers to survive. Five players have batting ratings of 7 or higher, and the Braves will need those hitters to rack up the home runs if they’re to put up decent scores. When weaker hitters like Sullivan, Chandler Huggins, or Todd Xavier come up to the plate, this team won’t be accomplishing much, so it will be the efforts of home run hitters like Estrada or Mikey Thomas that determine whether this team sinks or swims.

Prediction: Fourth place. Their arms will stymie opponents enough to win a couple of games, but I think the slow, slow running will stifle their offense too much for them to be competitive.

Players to watch: Randy Johnson just may be this team’s salvation, and if the legendary ace can avoid giving good pitches to opposing hitters, the Braves may be able to keep offenses down and open up the door to victory. Meanwhile, Zenon Estrada is projected to be the team’s top slugger, and how well he does could indicate whether or not this team is able to stay competitive.

Montreal Marlins

Coach Profile: Jibbodahibbo is the only long-term veteran in the Frontyard League. Joining the league back in Season 3, he had a lackluster first season, before improving massively in Season 4, steamrolling his division and making it all the way to the Backyard World Series, where he finished as runner-up. He was less successful in Season 5, finishing the season with a 7-7 record, and this season committed to drafting a gimmicky team due to being placed in the Frontyard league.

Team Analysis: The Marlins are undoubtedly the most French team in the league. But with the drafting focus going largely to their names, how good are they at playing baseball? Much of the remaining focus in drafting the Marlins seems to have gone towards keeping them running on defense. Only one player has a below-average rated arm, with five of the nine players having a 4 or 5 arm rating. The fielding ratings are a bit more spotty, with none above 8 and four below 7, and even with the arms the defense appears to be a bit of a patchwork effort, but it also isn’t a complete pushover. A particular strength to the defense is the presence of Henri Deschenes on the mound – one of the most feared defensive pitchers, he will ably cover the entire infield while on the mound and give opposing players headaches, and the Marlins have good pitching depth behind him. On the other hand, while she has a decent arm, Esther French is a sub-par catcher compared to many in the league, and once Deschenes leaves the mound, the infield could weaken considerably.

Like others in the division, the Marlins’ offense is primarily based on batting – six hitters on the team have batting ratings of 7 or above, and home games will boost that number to seven. Even when accounting for Eric Lebeaux’s famously low-power hitting, this team should get in its share of strong hits. The problem is that, once again, there’s a lack of much speed on the team – lightning-fast Deschenes is the only really fast player on the team, and on road games where Dubois isn’t boosted, six out of nine players will have running ratings below 7. That will be a significant damper on the team’s offense, especially in a division where strong defenses are the order of the day, and also weaken their defense further by letting more balls get by. On the whole, the Marlins appear to be a team without a strong focus – except for the French names.

Prediction: Third place. Jibbo has the advantage of experience, and Deschenes on the mound can win games by himself, but it will be an uphill battle for the Marlins all the way.

Players to watch: The performance of the team’s mid-range hitters – Anna Goodreau, Raquel Cullen, and Perry Marx – will be critical to the team’s success. They’ll need to put up a lot of deep hits or home runs if the team’s to survive.