Athletics over Red Sox. Reports indicate that gmchappe hasn’t gotten back into the swing of things yet, but Nick Foles has. His team will be more on the A-game for Opening Week.
Monsters over Diamondbacks. The Monsters look set to dominate the division, and it’ll start with an extra away game at a pavement park.
Pirates over Tigers. It’ll take a couple of weeks for the Tigers’ offense to get warmed up, but the Pirates’ staunch defense won’t do them any favors in that department.
Indians over Rockies. In a battle between two big offenses, the Indians’ home-park advantage should see them through.
Orioles over Blue Jays. Mavfatha should have the advantage in this early contest, as K13S adjusts to the new ruleset and the O’s bats should work better in the Flats.
Melonheads over Wombats. The first Super-Duper matchup could be seen as favoring the Wombats, but they’ll have to grapple with the Melonheads’ defense first and Eauxps boasts a 5-1 Opening Week record.
Angels over Marlins. The Marlins will still be figuring out how to work effectively, and the Angels’ defense won’t be very friendly towards that goal.
Cardinals over Braves. The Cards have an ability to move that the Braves simply do not, and that should swing this matchup in their favor. Marx as catcher won’t do much for Atlanta’s slow squad.
Mariners over Bombers. The two teams are very similarly built, but the Mariners look slightly stronger to give them the edge in their initial contest.
Yankees over Tapirs. The Yankees’ defense should be enough to hold the Tapirs’ weak hitters back, and their stronger bats are a much more reliable source of runs at the Casa.
Giants over Expos. It’s a tough call between two teams that don’t really have a super strength, but the Giants have home-field advantage and a stronger set of hitters.
Cubs over Devil Rays. The Cubs’ big bats are the perfect counter to the Rays’ killer infield, and the Rays may not perform as well away from their home field.
The NL West is the division where the least is known about the coaches’ skill levels. Only one has any previous BBL experience, the others are blank slates, and it will be interesting to see what effect that has on the division’s competition. It also means that the team rosters are, more or less, the only indication we have for how well these teams will perform during the season.
Montreal Expos
Coach Profile: Jarod Johnson is new to the BBL in Season 6.
Team Analysis: This season, it was Jarod who paid a premium price to move up in the early rounds, and was left near the end of the draft with a lot of picks and a slim player pool. As a result, the Expos don’t truly stand out in any one category – but it could be a lot worse for them. On offense, they mostly have a nice distinction between players that don’t hit so well but are fairly fast, and players who are slow but can hit the ball far. It’s a less specifically focused offense than many in the league, but that setup can work if the faster kids can get on base and the power hitters can deliver well. On the other hand, Diana Hayes and Billy Jean Blackwood are going to struggle to fit in well to the offense, with mediocre speed and bats. Indeed, on the whole, this team feels like it’s pretty light on hitting, and the power hitters will really need to work hard to compensate for the lack of batting ability on the rest of the team.
On defense, the team is once again decent. Only three defenders have weak arms, and one of them is on first base where it shouldn’t matter as much. The outfield has weaker arms but good mobility to compensate, and Mike Piazza is a decent if not outstanding catcher. There’s plenty of pitching depth on the team as well. But that corner of the infield between pitcher, catcher, and first base has nobody remotely fast to cover it, and the outfield’s relatively weak arms could come back to bite the team and give up extra bases. And who knows what will happen to the defense once Angela Delvecchio is forced off the mound to defend elsewhere on the field? Finally, while the arms on the team are decent, only three players have a fielding rating higher than 4. That indicates that errors could be a critical problem for this team, and the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Prediction: Fourth place. There just isn’t any particular category where the Expos excel and can get a true edge over their opponents.
Players to watch: The league was taken by surprise when Angela Delvecchio was picked #1 overall in the draft this season. Will her home run power and ace-level pitching come through and justify that pick, or will she choke under the immense pressure that’s been placed on her?
Crazy Cubs
Coach Profile: MarcoMcGwire is new to the BBL in Season 6.
Team Analysis: This team is very clearly built with offense in mind. Six out of the nine players have batting ratings of 8 or better, and only Kenny Kawaguchi has a rating below 6. Running is also strong, as six out of nine players are rated at 8 speed or better, making the presence of three slower players less of an issue. With the possible exception of Samantha Winslow, each player on the team is either relatively fast, can hit the ball far, or both. This is an offense well-built to get the job done, get lots of big hits, and keep running around the basepaths.
As a direct consequence, though, this team has one of the weakest-looking defenses in the league, simply by virtue of being unremarkable. Most of the defense is just average, not a specific weakness – the majority of kids on the team have an average arm rating of 3, with only three players being stronger. Those decent arms and the team’s solid speed will keep the team rolling and prevent it from completely crumpling, but after facing the tougher defenses that most of the league boasts, adversaries might find this one a breath of fresh air by comparison, and really beat up on it. That problem is exacerbated by the presence of a very weak catcher in Alexis Weis. And while the team does have three different pitchers with a rating of 7, the fact that there are no aces calls their true pitching depth into question, and those pitchers could fall quickly once the pressure is turned on.
Prediction: First place. Defense isn’t everything, and the Cubs’ unparalleled offense should carry the day.
Players to watch: Alexis Weis will need to accomplish a lot at the plate in order to make up for her weakness behind it, and the Cubs will be looking for her to put up big numbers. Samantha Winslow is also the one player who potentially doesn’t fit into the offense – but if she’s able to keep her statline up with the rest of the team, the Cubs could really be going places.
New York Giants
Coach Profile: jmacdrums is new to the BBL in Season 6.
Team Analysis: This comes off as a team with less of a clear focus than many, but the most consistent stat on the team is hitting. Every player on the team has a batting rating of at least 5, and six have a 7 or better in the stat. But just how much those stats mean is in question – despite batting ratings of 10, Maya Woodruff and Lorelei Ikaye haven’t built a reputation as star sluggers, and it’s unclear just how hard this team will be hitting the ball or how much those hitters will be able to drive in.
In other aspects, the team has a spotty set of ratings. The top of the roster has good speed, three speedsters and five players with running of 7 or better, but a 3, 4, and 5 in running round out the roster to be potential concerns. On defense, only four players grade out with fielding of 7 or better, and while there are some strong arms and Marilyn McDonnell will prove a thorn in the side of any offense, only four players have arms stronger than average, and two have weak arms. That particular weakness could be compounded by the fact that the team plays at Dirt Yards, and so throws that don’t make it to a fielder are in danger of bouncing away and opening up new opportunities for the offense. On the other hand, a mobile outfield with decent arms will help reign opposing teams in, and McDonnell could more than earn her keep by playing cutoff to throws coming from there. Pitching could also become a concern, as the Giants have two strong pitchers but nobody beyond that. On the whole, this team doesn’t have any giant weaknesses – but it doesn’t have any giant strengths, either.
Prediction: Third place. I’m not seeing the extra ingredient for success, and home games could be a real problem for their defense.
Players to watch: Luanne Lui will be pitching for once this season, and is expected to become a strikeout machine. Maya Woodruff has also stood out in preseason scrimmage games as a strong contributor, and if she does prove to be a good foundation for this team, then their stock could rise considerably. Meanwhile, Robby Bocko has potential, but it hasn’t come out yet in practice. The team will be hoping for him to really rise up and assert himself as a player during the season.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Coach Profile: T-Boz first played in Season 5, where the Devil Rays had an unremarkable season. He’s hoping to really make his mark this time around.
Team Analysis: A lot of strong arms are to be found on this team – six out of nine players have arms rated 4 or 5. This is especially expected to be a murderous infield, with all positions except pitcher boasting such an arm. Weak hits will receive no mercy at the hands of the Devil Rays. The outfield could be a bit more concerning, as both the left and right fielders have weaker-than-average arms, and it will fall to Ronny Dobbs to hold that part together. Stronger hits could give the Rays a lot of trouble, and their catcher, Chucky Flinder, is mediocre for the job, although he’ll perform better at the Paveway then he will during away games. The team’s actual fielding ratings are also rather low, with only three above 5 and only one above 7. If errors become a big issue because of this, that will be another source of grief for the Rays. On the plus side, they have fantastic pitching depth and should have no trouble at all in that respect.
At the plate, this team should also be solid. Five players have batting ratings of 7 or higher and Holly Franklin is a strong 5, and with several legitimate power bats in there, they should be in decent shape. That’ll be helped by their lack of really slow players – while their three players of running 6 is somewhat concerning, there’s only one player slower than them. Without major slowpokes and playing at a fast field, the basepaths shouldn’t get too clogged and the fielders will have good range. The Devil Rays’ offense won’t be best in its class, but with only two really problematic hitters, it should be able to regularly get the job done.
Prediction: Second place. Their dynamite infield and lack of major weaknesses should make them a good but not top-tier team.
Players to watch: Leah Wayne and Ronny Dobbs were the two most valuable players on the Rays last season, and thus their first two picks this time around. They’ll be expected to put forth strong performances again to lead the team, and if they don’t then the Rays might flounder.
The most experienced division in the Frontyard League, the NL Central contains three coaches who played in part or all of last season, and clearly applied lessons learned there to this season’s draft. Between their strong defenses drafted and the presence of the two sandy fields, this promises to be an inhospitable division for other teams – and perhaps also for the lone newbie coach in the division.
Seattle Mariners
Coach Profile: elchrisblanco joined the league midway through Season Five, taking over a struggling team whose owner had left. While the team continued to struggle during the regular season, they picked up in the consolation playoffs to win the Tier 3 championship, and now with a team that he drafted himself, Chris will be looking to build off of that success.
Team Analysis: The Mariners are yet another team built for defense. Only two players have fielding ratings of less than 7, and everybody on the team has at least an average arm, with 6 of 9 having strong-rated arms. Some significant placements, such as 5-rated arm Tina Herrara behind the plate and Ichiro clone Susan Gore covering shortstop, increase the danger level of the team, and they have plenty of pitching depth as well, with ace Christina Beattie as the first line of defense once starter Dominic Hoskins has been worked through. This will be an intimidating team to hit against.
Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of the Mariners not having a particularly impressive offense. The batting ratings are decent, six team members having a 7 or better, but Davy Marian is the only hitter with a rating above 8, the team appears to have a lack of bona fide sluggers when you look at the names of the hitters, and three weak hitters round out the roster. Running is also a concern – five players on the team have decent speed, but four other players are slow with running ratings of 4 or 5. That could really hinder the team’s ability to put rallies together, and those slow players being clustered in the infield, with Gore as the only fast fielder there, could be a critical weakness in an otherwise fantastic defense.
Prediction: First place. In a division without a lot of hitting power, the Mariners’ top defense should give them the edge.
Players to watch: As the strongest hitter on the team and a solid fielder, Davy Marian is expected to contribute the most to their success. Susan Gore shouldn’t be far behind, and it will especially be interesting to see if her playing shortstop will be as devastating in practice as it is in theory. And Sally Dobbs also bears watching, as one of the few true sluggers on the team and a solid all-around player.
Baltimore Bombers
Coach Profile: jlund24 joined the league midway through Season 5, and had his share of struggles while leading a gimmicky team that had been drafted by a league veteran. Now with the freedom to choose his own team, he’s hoping to make a statement in his first full season.
Team Analysis: Following the pattern that’s been established for the Frontyard League, the Bombers are another defense-first team. Everybody on the team has a fielding rating of 6 or better, and five strong arms spread across the field, including at third base, shortstop, and second base, will help rally the balls around quickly and defend especially well against ground balls. They also secured a strong catcher in Greg Vaughn. The right side of the field is a bit more suspect, though, with two weak arms and a pair of slow, relatively weak-armed outfielders offering a potential opening for opposing offenses to break through. Pitching depth is also a concern, with two 7-rated pitchers the best that the team has to offer, one player rated at 6 in pitching, and the rest all weaker. It’s not a line that will crumble instantly, but it is a weak point, and if opposing teams get going against this defense, the Bombers could have a tough time reeling them in.
Their offense is a similar story to that of the Mariners, with six hitters with a rating of 7 or better, rounded out by three relatively weak hitters. The Bombers have an advantage in that a boosted Ernie Steele will be a better contributor during home games, but they do have the same issue where, looking down the list of hitters, there is a lack of true sluggers, and it’s uncertain how much the hitter’s park of Steele Stadium will help with that. Still, a lot of good outfield hits are perfectly attainable with this team. But those could be of limited use – speed is a very real issue for this team. Six out of nine players have running ratings of 6 or less, and while that will only be five players during home games, it’s still going to make extra bases that much harder to achieve, and constitutes another weakness for the right half of the field on defense. This team is intimidating at first glance and won’t be total pushovers, but there are enough warning signs to seriously take their chances into question.
Prediction: Third place. This should be a competitive division, but the weaknesses of this team are ones that others in the division should be able to take advantage of, putting the Bombers back slightly.
Players to watch: The Bombers were largely built around Ernie Steele, both for his presence on the mound and his boosts from their home park, and they’ll be relying on him to deliver on those. Meanwhile, as the weakest link on the defense, Peggy Heffernan will need to lead the way with her bat in order to make up for it and give the team success. And Jillian Paine at first base will be a crucial part of the team’s defense, while seeking to eke out a true spot for herself on the offense after several lackluster seasons in that regard.
New York Yankees
Coach Profile: As a new coach in Season 5, Marco got everybody’s attention by trading up to secure three Round 1 picks, but paid a premium price for those and struggled through the season as a result. This season he clearly learned a lot about savvy trading, and is hoping to leverage that to have a more successful year.
Team Analysis: This team is more clearly built for offense than many in the Frontyard League. Six out of nine players have batting ratings of 8 or higher, and the lowest rating on the team is a 6. There are quite a few home run hitters on the team, and almost everybody should be able to get solid outfield hits at worst. Speed is somewhat of a concern, with four players of speed 6 or lower and only one truly fast player. Especially at the inhospitable Casa, the team won’t get around the basepaths very quickly, but there are slower teams in the league, and the strong hitting across the board and good number of decent runners should help to cover for the weakness.
Defense is more of a concern for this team. While pitching depth is good, four strong arms are scattered across the field, and Kay O’Toole could be a devastating catcher, this also looks to be the most vulnerable defense in the league, with four different players’ arms rating below the average mark. Especially with weak arms for Arlene Perez and Ray Tran in left and center field, that could be a major weakness for the team, and once Bobby Bulgrien is taken from the mound, he’ll be another big defensive liability wherever he ends up. The sands of Casa could also work against the Yankees here, causing the slower defenders to take that much longer to get to the ball, allowing easy bases for fast baserunners. While this defense is a vast improvement over their S5 field, it still doesn’t look to be one of the stronger ones, especially in a league where many coaches pushed defense specifically.
The Yankees also made an interesting trade after the draft, sending faster players Wing Kwan and Sheila Basante away to pick up Perez and Tran, and more importantly move O’Toole to the catcher’s position. While this is a definite improvement of catchers, and O’Toole won’t surrender the steals of second base that Basante may well have, the rest of the defense suffered for it, as Perez and Tran are both slower than Kwan and Basante and have weaker arms, and the outfield in particular is now worse than it was before. With a weak bat, Perez is also a downgrade on offense, although Tran at least has a stronger bat and could drive more runs in to compensate for his slightly lower speed. It remains to be seen whether this trade was a brilliant move or one that hurts the Yankees overall, but my preseason opinion is that it did more harm than good.
Prediction: Second place. Their hitting is head and shoulders above that of the other teams in the division, and – to a certain degree – will make up for their inferior defense.
Players to watch: As the team’s first pick, Wendy Parsons will have the greatest expectations to fulfill and prove that she was the right choice. As previously mentioned, Kay O’Toole has the potential to be devastating behind the plate – and she’ll need to be in order to justify the measures that were taken to get her there. And on a team that last season was home to the Ace Wilson winner, Bobby Bulgrien will be under a lot of pressure to fill her shoes.
Albuquerque Tapirs
Coach Profile: JorgesBankAccount is new to the BBL this season.
Team Analysis: Especially in contrast to the other teams in their division, the Tapirs have a clear strength in solid speed. While only two true speedsters are on the team, all but one of the players have an average speed rating of 7 or better. Especially given the weakness in this department that their division rivals have, the Tapirs will be unparalleled in both baserunning and efficiently moving around the field.
That’s their biggest strength, though. Defense is solid, as only two players have fielding below 7, five players have arms rated as above average, and the team’s speed will help them out. But with three weaker arms also on the team and a mediocre catcher, there are also definite holes that opponents will be able to take advantage of. Pitching depth is also an interesting point. There are two strong pitchers with a rating of 9, but a lone 6 is the next best, so if the two strong pitchers fail, then there won’t be much holding the team up, and their defense could crumble quickly.
But the biggest warning sign is the Tapirs’ lack of hitting ability. Only three players on the team have batting ratings of higher than 6, and while there are a lot of 6-rated bats on the team, they seem to be ones with relatively low power. Nobody on the team is a great home run hitter, and the large number of weak hitters combined with a lack of exceptional speed is going to give the team a lot of trouble stringing together many hits. Especially with the strong defenses that fill the NL, this could be a critical Achilles’ heel for Albuquerque.
Prediction: Fourth place. The weak hitting just doesn’t give the team enough scoring power to overcome the others.
Players to watch: As the final player picked in the Season 6 draft, Angelique Harding will be hoping to prove herself with a strong season on the mound. Gwen Sears and Barry Bonds were last-minute additions to the team in a blockbuster trade deal that sent away Jay Green – how well will they fit into their new team, and will they be able to compensate for his absence?
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.
The final division in the Backyard League could also be referred to as the “Super-Duper Division”, as it boasts two different teams with that moniker in addition to the only two-time champion. On the other hand, given that it’s the Backyard division with the two sandy fields and the only two-time champion, visits to this division could prove to be anything but super-duper for opposing teams. In any case, it won’t be any more of a walk in the park than the other divisions in the Backyard League.
Blue Blue Jays
Coach Profile: Kiiiiiiiiiiiiis made a statement even before his first BBL season by scoring over 100 runs against a standard AI team. He went on to dominate in Season 4, going 13-1 in the regular season and defeating a series of elite teams to win the World Series. While he’s the only veteran coach this season not to have participated in last season’s Lulu league, whose ruleset is being used for the entire league this season, in the hardcore Paste league he dominated once again, going 10-2 and then winning the World Series to become the BBL’s first two-time champion.
Team Analysis: The Blue Jays led off their draft with a pick of reliable catcher Jason Kendall, before proceeding to fill out the roster with a variety of BBL fan favorites, including Star Moonbeam, Chico Pappas, Johnny “Jomar” Omar, and Fernando “Base on Foul Balls” Diaz – and then tainting the roster with controversial hurler Betty Houston. The resulting team is something of a hodgepodge of different skills, but an overall focus on good hitting does stand out when analyzing the roster. Six hitters have batting ratings of 7 or better, all of which come with respectable power, and from solid outfield line drives to home runs, the entire team should hit well except for Omar and the speedy Moonbeam. Five running ratings of 8 or better should also help the Blue Jays to score quite a few runs.
Defense is a bit more suspect. The Jays did secure Kendall as a strong catcher, their largely speedy outfield should rein in fly balls fairly quickly, and their pitching depth appears to be sufficient, but on the whole they do not appear to have an elite defense. With one 8 in fielding, two 7s, and everything else lower, errors could become an issue, and the arms on this team aren’t great either, with three weak arms and only four particularly strong ones. The weak arms are positioned in places where their impact shouldn’t be too damaging – at least at the beginning of games – but on the whole this is certainly not a lockdown defense like some others in the league are.
Finally, the presence of three slow kids with running of 4 is a cause for concern for this team. While all three have solid power to hit balls far, on those that don’t go out of the park, they’ll go nowhere fast, especially in the sands of Casa de Pablo. And while, again, they’re in positions on defense where the problem will potentially be minimal, the right side of the infield will waste precious extra seconds getting to groundballs that stop in that part of the field, which could give up critical bases. On the whole, the Jays have the tools to perform solidly, but several warning signs indicate that they may not be the best squad.
Prediction: Second place. K13S is untested in the Lulu format, but the top of the lineup is dynamic enough and the defense workable enough that he should be able to adjust without too much difficulty.
Players to watch: The entire team was built around Jason Kendall at catcher, and if he doesn’t deliver there, they will start to look much weaker. Top hitter Chico Pappas ought to lead the way for this team on offense, and may well be the difference between victory and defeat in some games. And after falling 166 picks in the draft from last season, league legend Jomar will surely be looking to reassert himself and earn another first-round pick in the future.
Oakland Orioles
Coach Profile: Mavfatha is entering his fourth season in the BBL. He had a rough first season with the league, but took the lessons from that and had one of the best drafts of Season 4, forming a formidable team that only missed the playoffs due to a tiebreaker. The Orioles struggled more in Season 5 thanks to inconsistent hitting, but with a return to Oakland and a sandy field, Mav is hoping for a return to his Season 4 success.
Team Analysis: This is a team very clearly built with a focus, and that focus is hitting for power. Everybody on the team has a batting rating of 7 or better, with the sole exception of Nan Porter, whose 6-batting rating is more contact than power. All of the others are power hitters though, and we are seeing the repeat of a strategy that was seen two seasons ago: Big Bats at Sandy Flats. That strategy didn’t work out so well for the Melonheads in Season 4, but the Orioles’ bats might well deliver more reliably and put up big scores.
And they’ll need to, because their hitting is certainly the biggest strength the Orioles have. Their defense isn’t terrible, with only two weak arms on the team and a powerful catcher in Brenda Markart, but it’s also not a lockdown defense. Only four players on the team have particularly strong arms, and the Flats could result in quite a few throws from the others stopping short of their targets, forcing fielders to trudge through the sand to pick up the ball. It’s not guaranteed to be a problem, but it’s not the most promising. The Orioles also aren’t too fast, which will be further accentuated by the sand. Only Porter has a “speedy” running rating of 9, and five different players are relatively slow runners at 5 or 6. Fortunately, nobody is slower than 5, but all those slower players could well cost the Orioles in extra bases, and force them to rely more heavily on home runs to keep the score up. At least pitching depth should be all right – with ace Matessa Sturges and two other average pitchers to back her up, the O’s aren’t in too much danger of running out of talent and being forced to use the weaker players on the mound.
Prediction: Fourth place. History has not vindicated the Big Bats at Sandy Flats strategy, and while this team appears better-equipped than the last to follow that strategy, some of the same vulnerabilities remain and it may be hard to score enough runs to keep up.
Players to watch: Joella Minotti was the last pick for the team, and will be aiming to prove her worth by leading the team in home runs. Meanwhile, the faster, less-powerful hitters in Nan Porter and Dmitri Petrovich might struggle in the sands to get on base very often – but if they’re successful, it could swing the team’s fortunes.
Super-Duper Melonheads
Coach Profile: Eauxps I. Fourgott has been coaching since Season 3. In the space of two seasons and the Winterball short season, he coached five different teams, all of which finished with losing records. His breakout came in the Lulu League of Season 5, where his Melonheads finished 10-4 to win the division and made it to the League Championship Series. This will be his chance to prove that this wasn’t a fluke and that he can compete in this format.
Team Analysis: The successful Melonheads of Season 5 were a team built primarily around offense, and this season’s all-girls squad follows that trend. With boosts taken into account, six of the nine players have batting ratings of 8 or higher, and one of the remaining three has a 5 rating with plenty of power in it, leaving only two really weak hitters on the team. Running follows a similar pattern, as six players have running ratings of 8+, another has 7, and the remaining two, slow hitters are two of the best sluggers on the team. This team doesn’t have the raw speed of the Season 5 Melonheads, but it does have more heft in the bats, and good series of well-placed hits have the potential to spark some big rallies.
The Melonheads have accomplished this while also improving on last season’s defense. The raw fielding ratings aren’t too impressive, with four ratings below seven opening up the potential for errors and the Webber twins being prone to overthrowing, but looking at the throwing ratings reveals that the Melonheads will be able to get the ball around the field much better this time. Six of nine players have a strong arm of 4 or better once boosts are factored in, and only Olga Tollefson has a weaker arm. Instead of last season’s team that had weak-armed Star Moonbeam behind the plate and slow, poor-fielding Angela Delvecchio on the mound, this squad has super-defender Maria Luna on the mound and Sidney Webber’s cannon arm behind the plate. The team’s pitching depth is solid, as well – only one really good pitcher at 9, but a host of 7s and 5s mean that reasonably capable hurlers will be able take duty throughout the game. While there is still room for concern, especially with the slow Molly May and Fabienne Callahan leaving the middle of the field vulnerable to balls hit past the pitcher, this is undeniably an improved defense from before, and should give opposing hitters a reasonably tough time.
On the whole, this seems like a recipe for another Melonheads playoff appearance – but some concern enters the picture when you factor in scouting reports. In preseason scrimmage games, the Melonheads have not been able to replicate the smashing success and high scores of last season’s team. While there are still rallies, they are less common, shorter, and more volatile, and this team cannot be expected to consistently provide the same output that last season’s did. It remains to be seen whether their improved defense will be able to compensate for this or not.
Prediction: Third place. It’s hard to know until there’s a realistic idea of how much opposition will score off the Melonheads, but the reduced run output doesn’t bode well for their playoff chances.
Players to watch: Maria Luna has been a star on the mound in preseason training, and has the potential to be a top pitcher this season. At the plate, Fabienne Callahan has been hitting like a star, and as last year’s team leader in home runs and RBI, she’ll be looking to replicate that feat this season. And there will undoubtedly be a lot of focus on late-term addition to the team Jane Davis. As the reigning MVP, will she be able to replicate that success or fall back into obscurity with a weaker season?
Super-Duper Wombats
Coach Profile: Wizard is the only coach in the Backyard League with only a single season of experience, but that season has left no doubt that he belongs with the grizzled vets. In both the Lulu and Paste leagues, he led his team to the League Championship Series, and he’ll be looking to book a return trip there and farther this season.
Team Analysis: This is another team with a clear focus on hitting – seven out of nine players have batting ratings of 7 or higher. But there’s some concern with this array of hitters, due to some of them having low power – Ellen Martinez and Richie Sexson seem to have weak 7’s in hitting, and Ichiro’s 8 is more contact than power. Like most in the division, this team also has speed as a concern, as five players have 6 speed or less, and three grade out as slow with a 3 or 4 running rating – in addition to those three players having potentially the weakest bats on the team! Tiffany Bosworth and Butch Sherrod in particular don’t appear to add much value to the Wombats’ offensive, and could prove to be fatal liabilities.
The Wombats do have a solid defense. Richie Sexson at first base is the only fielder with an arm rated at worse than 3, and the five strong arms on the rest of the team are spread nicely across the field for good coverage. Vlad Guerrero and his rocket arm cover the somewhat vulnerable space between Sexson and second-baseman Randi Uno, and Ruth Proutt’s potentially concerning, relatively weak arm in the outfield is countered by her speed and proximity to a great cutoff man in Sherrod. The only potential major weakness in this defense comes from the lack of pitching depth – while the team boasts reigning Ace Wilson champion Tiffany Bosworth, after her the strongest pitcher on the team is Sherrod with a rating of 6, and the rest of the team is even weaker. If opposing offenses can punch through the defense enough to remove Bosworth, the team’s stock could plummet rapidly. Otherwise, though, this will be an intimidating defense to face.
Prediction: First place. The Wombats make up for having the division’s weakest offense by also having its strongest defense, and that plus taking advantage of the other teams’ weaknesses could well result in a return to the playoffs.
Players to watch: After winning last season’s Goldie Glove award for his work behind the plate, Ichiro is playing catcher again, this time for the Wombats, and it will be interesting to see if he’s as effective there as he was last season. Of more concern are two later picks and weaker arms, in Randi Uno and Richie Sexson. Will they be able to contribute enough on offense to offset their weaker 6-running ratings and prove to be worthy players for the team?
While no division in the Backyard League can be called easy, the Central is perhaps the least intimidating of the three. That’s in part due to the fact that each of the coaches in here has had at least one season in the past where they were less successful, and weren’t a total powerhouse. But that doesn’t mean that any of these coaches don’t know what they’re doing, and none of the teams in here should be taken for granted.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Coach profile: Jyknight joined the league in Season 4, where he coached two teams, neither of which was a total failure, but neither of which made the playoffs. His Marlins in Season 5 were more successful, coming one game away from claiming the division title in an upset and making it into the playoffs via wildcard before being defeated by the eventual champions. Jyknight has proven himself a solid coach, but he has yet to record a great success, and will undoubtedly be hoping to do so this season.
Team Analysis: In contrast to the teams in the AL East, which all had a focus on speed and seemed to be more built for offense, the Pirates here have a clear focus on a strong defense. Six out of nine players have fielding ratings of 8 or better, and seven of the players have stronger arms rated as a 4 or 5. Speed is a bit more inconsistent, but only one player has a running rating slower than 6, so none will take too long to get to the ball, and their ability to quickly throw the ball elsewhere combined with the naturally offense-hampering tendencies of Eckman Acres means that this team ought to frustrate their opponents and be able to hold them down to low scores.
The team also is built around solid hitting – only two players have batting ratings lower than 6, and five have batting of 7 or higher. While it lacks the strong running of some other teams, with only three speedy players and three slower than average, and the weaker hitters on the team could easily prove to be rally-killers, this is still a decent offense, and with the strong defense holding opposing teams down, it could easily be enough to get the job done.
But there are some concerning warning flags to be found on this team. One of their two weakest arms, Karen Donato, is stationed behind the plate, and the stolen bases surrendered to that weakness could prove critical, especially if opposing teams otherwise would be kept from those bases by the Pirates’ defense. The team also has atrocious pitching depth – the three strongest pitchers on the team are 8-pitching Brad Radke, 6-pitching Ezra Travolta, and 5-pitching Bret Olsen. Beyond that, nobody has a pitching rating higher than 3. Bradke is not the strongest pitcher out there despite being a pro pitcher, and if teams are able to get through him and start tiring out the other players on the team, this defense could deflate quickly. Time will tell if this weakness proves to be exploitable or not.
Prediction: Third place. The defense will win some games on its own, but I think others will be able to punch through it, and the Pirates’ offense starts looking pretty weak when compared with others in the division.
Players to watch: Coach Jyknight has reported that Kimmy Eckman has confided an intent to be on a sugar rush for every game. Between that and the fact that half of the team’s games take place at Eckman Acres to give her a stat boost, she will be unpredictable this season, and will easily be the most interesting player on the team to keep track of.
Mighty Tigers
Coach Profile: One of the original league members, GSchlim is one of the two coaches to have participated from start to finish in every season of BBL. He peaked in his first season, becoming the league’s first champion, but remained a strong coach in the following seasons, continuing to advance at least one team to the playoffs in each season. That streak ended last season, however, where he ended with a losing record in both the Lulu and Paste leagues. That season may have coaches singling him out as an easier target, but he’ll be looking to return to form and prove that he’s still got it.
Team Analysis: The Tigers appear to be a solid team in almost every category. Defense is perhaps their greatest strength – only two players with fielding under 7, and Jerry Winchell with a 3-rated arm stands alone as the weakest arm on the team. There’s a lack of true laser arms on this team, but every player can throw well, and so this defense should be able to effectively limit the extra bases that opponents can grab. While Whitney Singh isn’t a lockdown catcher like many in the league this season, she’s also a solid one and not too weak, and there’s enough pitching depth on this team that they shouldn’t have too much trouble in that department either. In addition to the strong defense, the Tigers are built with a lot of hitting – eight out of nine players have a batting rating of 6 or better, and while a couple of those come with the “low power” caveat, most of these players are truly strong hitters and able to send a lot of balls deep.
The one concern for this team comes from their lackluster running ratings. Four of the nine players have running of less than 7, and in particular the slowest three, with two 3s and a 4 in running, could end up becoming an Achilles’ heel on defense. Heather Quinn and Nicky Winston both can throw the ball well, but situated at the corners, their lack of speed could let more balls get by than should, and Jerry Winchell in right field moves slow and has the weakest arm on the team. If there’s a major weakness on this team, it’s the first-base line, and that – along with how well those big bats perform on a given day – may well prove to be where their games are lost or won.
Prediction: First place. The team is very solid and everybody can contribute on offense. I think the decent arms on the slower fielders will compensate enough that the Tigers will get the edge.
Players to watch: Nicky Winston and Heather Quinn both have nominally good bats but a slow 3 in running. In order to justify the picks that were used on them, they’ll have to provide the power and hit balls well to offset that weakness and drive others in. Meanwhile, a late trade deal resulted in former MVP and big-name player Jay Green coming to the Tigers. If he puts on another MVP performance, that could be a game-changer in this division.
Colorado Rockies
Coach profile: mbless1415 has two seasons under his belt now. He struggled as a newbie in Season 4, but still managed a decent finish with a record of 6-8. His Twins struggled again early on in Season 5, but peaked late in the season, scoring a total of over 100 runs in the last three games of the regular season and winning the Tier 2 championships. If he continues on that trajectory, this will be a fearsome team indeed.
Team analysis: In contrast to the first two teams in their division, the Rockies have a clear focus on offense. Their first five players in particular showcase this, all either having low hitting but being speedsters, or else boasting a hitting rating of 10 and at worst average speed. The talent falls off some in the lower draft spots, but Bless clearly made an effort to maximize the team’s offense ability, each player being either decent-ish in both hitting and running, or strong in one of them, so that they can all very feasibly contribute to the effort.
He was also able to do this without completely throwing away defense. With the more offense-leaning draft, it was inevitable that some cracks would form, and the weak arms of the right half of the infield in particular could be a source of concern. On the other hand, Linda Potter can clean up balls that get past those two fielders, and any ground balls that go to the left side of the infield will be pounced on and zinged wherever they need to go in short order. The Rockies also have a strong catcher in Maynard McElroy. Pitching depth is going to be an interesting case – the Rockies have no really strong pitchers, but four “lower-average” candidates with pitching of 6 or 7. That could prove enough to hold down the team, but if it doesn’t and none of them hold up very well, then the team could be in trouble.
Despite the holes in the defense, it’s still solid on the whole. But it’s also clearly going to be giving up more runs than a lot of others in the league, and so it will fall to the dynamic offense to make up for that, by putting up high scores of its own.
Prediction: Fourth place. I like the top of the lineup, but the bottom four players are too weak to keep the rallies going that well and I think they’ll limit the Rockies’ output. That combined with a noticeably worse defense than the others in the division spells doom unless Bless can master his hitters.
Players to watch: Lindsy Felgate brings the best of both worlds to the plate, with 10 hitting and 10 running, but her average pitching and fielding, combined with starting on the mound for the AI team, could lead to her getting tired out and becoming a liability on defense. She could be this team’s greatest asset and its worst liability at the same time, and that certainly bears watching.
Crazy Indians
Coach Profile: Crazyei8hts is the third and final original coach playing this season, and the second to have participated all the way through every regular season. He was strong in the early seasons, finishing as World Series runner-up in the first two and making the playoffs with a strong team in Season 3. But that team was eliminated early in that playoffs, and a less successful outing in Season 4 resulted in the only time he failed to make the playoffs. He bounded back in Season 5, logging the best regular-season record in the Lulu league and finishing as World Series runner-up yet again in the Paste league to stay in a tie with gmchappe’s record for most championship appearances, and this season he’s looking to continue that success and finally get that elusive championship.
Team Analysis: It’s interesting that Crazy’s latest team follows in the vein of one of his least successful, built as a Bomberball team where speed is optional. They certainly will put the focus on hitting – six of the nine players are at least decent power hitters, and combined with a home field of Steele Stadium and their coach’s natural affinity for hitting bombs, the blimps should be floating by early and often. A duo of weak but fast 6-hitters, Wing Kwan and Paco Kaufman, will complement all the big hitters, with 5-hitting, 4-running Nate Kowalski the one odd-man out. But after a season where power hitting took a relative back seat, this team clearly attests that Bomberball is back.
This all comes at the cost of speed. Everybody goes at the same speed when trotting around the bases – but in other circumstances this team will be slow, and that could prove to be a crippling weakness. Four players do have running ratings of 8 or 9, but four others are slowpokes with just 4 in running, with a 5 rounding out the squad as a distinctly slow one. When the bombs stop coming, or Wing and Paco are stuck hitting with some slowpokes clogging up the bases, the Indians could be in trouble.
The good news for the Indians is that they have a superior defense to that of the Season 4 Giants. It certainly is a dynamic one – Sammy Sosa and his rocket arm are stationed behind the plate, Todd Helton at shortstop will zing any balls that he gets to around at lightning speed, and their pitcher, Frank Thomas, is one of the best in the league. On paper, it appears to be pretty solid across the board as well, with only two weak arms on the team, relatively fast left and right fielders that can throw balls in quickly, and sufficient pitching depth. At home, I think this team should do quite well on defense, as long as their lack of speed doesn’t prevent them from getting to the ball fast enough – that will be the true question for the team at home. On the road, though, there’s an extra factor – on fields with a deeper center field, will slow, weak-armed Petra Chekov become a death knell for the Indians, or will the otherwise-solid defense make up for that anyway?
Prediction: Second place. The Indians will get dragged down some by the slow runners, but in other games, the strong arms, home runs, and hard-to-crack defense will carry them to victory easily.
Players to watch: Todd Helton at SS may decide whether the Indians’ defense sinks or swims, based on whether his strong arm makes up for his lack of speed. And Wing Kwan was a late addition to the team on a post-draft trade – especially without any home-run power to boast of, he’s going to need to work to prove himself to his new coach.
For Season 6 of the BBL, the coaches have been sorted into two different leagues based on their level of experience. In the American League (aka the Backyard League) can be found the longer-time veterans of the league, those who already have played two seasons or more in the BBL, plus the most successful new coach from last season. Each of these coaches has previously played successful seasons and knows how to draft a successful team, which will make the AL more competitive than the average league, and each of its divisions a tough one. But perhaps no division will be as tough as the AL East, dubbed the “Division of Doom” as three of the top four coaches of last season run teams in this division, along with one of the dominant coaches from days of yore.
Boston Red Sox
Coach Profile: gmchappe has been a force to be reckoned with in every season that he has played – he has coached six different teams for part or all of a season, and the only one of those to fail to make the playoffs did so via tiebreaker. His debut in Season 2 was also his most successful appearance, as he took over a struggling Astros team and led them all the way to winning the Backyard World Series and becoming the league’s second champion. He has made it to the World Series twice since then, and is tied for the most World Series appearances by any coach in the BBL – the only season where he failed to make it with any team was Season 4, where he had to drop out midway through the season due to external concerns. Whatever the ruleset or cirumstance, Chappe has proven that he was what it takes to get it done.
Team Analysis: The Red Sox seem to have been built with speed at their core this season, headlined by four players of 9 or 10 speed and hitting that mostly has less power than contact, and boasting only three players with speed ratings under 7, and only one under 6. To punctuate that solid speed, his two players with running of 6 both boast strong power bats to help drive the rest of the team in. While those two players and first-round pick Pete Wheeler are the only three players on the team with batting ratings of 8 or higher, and this offense doesn’t look like the most intimidating one possible, on the whole it seems to have been solidly put together and should frequently get the job done. The biggest concern is Michiko Adachi, who as a last-round pick doesn’t have a great bat or any speed.
But while the team’s offense appears solid, the defense seems weaker and could potentially prove a problem for the team. For one, there are no true defensive powerhouses on the team, and nobody with the potential to shut down opposing offenses on their own. The arm strength on this team is also unremarkable, with only four stronger arms and three weaker arms. Hits to far left or right field, out of Wheeler’s range, could be good for opposition to get extra bases, as those outfielders have two of the weakest arms on the team, and this is also one of the few teams in the AL that does not have a catcher with a strong arm – we haven’t tested Lara Nunez on the field, but a 3 rating generally indicates a sub-par catcher, and in a league where strong catchers have been a major focus, that could prove to be problematic. At least the Red Sox shouldn’t have to worry too much about errors – only two players have fielding ratings below 7.
Still, while all of these are potential causes for concern and prevent this from being a really strong defense, none of them seem to be a fatal weakness. Perhaps the issue with the greatest potential to become that lies in the Red Sox’s utter lack of pitching depth. They have one ace, Earl Abbot, but once he has tired and can no longer pitch, there is nobody else, with no other player on the team having a pitching rating higher than 5. If Abbot gives out when Chappe is playing, then he could have a hard time closing the game on the opposing team, and as an AI team, the Red Sox have the potential to crumble once Abbot has been worn down. Pitching rarely wins or loses games on its own, but it could prove to be an Achilles’ heel in this case.
Prediction: Second place. I really like the pattern for offense that this team has put together, and Chappe has a proven history of being a strong contender. Some teams last season proved that a rock-solid defense isn’t necessary to be a strong contender.
Players to watch: One of the league’s elite sluggers, Zena Fromme is in the perfect setup to rack up a lot of RBI and eclipse her total from last season, and could well be a cornerstone of this team’s offense. First-round pick Pete Wheeler also has a lot to live up to, and coach gmchappe expects a lot of value from him. And certainly, all eyes will be on the team’s sole pitcher, Earl Abbot, to see if he can bear the responsibility or will crumple beneath it.
Philadelphia Athletics
Coach Profile: Nick Foles (formerly known as Nick Foles Is My Dad) joined the league in Season 4, where he coached the Mighty Wombats through a solid but unremarkable season and eventually won the Tier 2 championship. He showed that he could compete with the rest of them when he won the Winterball short season’s championship, and went on to coach Season 5’s Athletics to be one of the most dominant teams in the Lulu League, ultimately winning the World Series to claim the title of reigning co-champion. Now he’s back to defend that title.
Team Analysis: This is another team with solid speed, if not one with as many extra-fast players as the Red Sox. Only two players on the team have running ratings below 7, and those two grade out at a workable 5. Most of the team is just the average mark of 7, however, and at first glance, that would appear to be a problem, since the nominal batting ratings on the team aren’t so impressive – two 10s and 3 8s, but then four players with batting of 5 or below, the fastest of which runs at 8 speed. The key to this team’s offense comes from the fact that many of these hitters have more pop in their bats than the ratings might suggest. Players like Amanda Hellerman and Carlos Beltran can easily hit the ball into the outfield despite having just 5 batting, and Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, and Dawn Cozart’s 8-ratings all have legitimate home run potential. As a result, this is a very solid offense, with solid bats and solid running. The real question will be if solid is good enough to punch through the defenses in this league and score a lot of runs.
On defense, as well, this team is solid, and not one that opponents will be happy to face. The left half of the field in particular is very nasty, with Hellerman defending the mound with her reach, Jeter and Garciaparra covering neighboring positions at short and third to completely control that part of the infield, and Beltran a bit further out in center field as a good anchor for the outfield. The right half isn’t so intimidating, but there still aren’t any really weak fielders on this team, and while it’s not the same defensive force as Foles and the A’s fielded last time in their championship season, it’s going to be a solid one and not one to crumble too easily.
There are two causes of concern, however. One is behind the plate – Amir Khan is quite possibly the worst catcher in the entire AL, and his presence behind the plate will allow a lot of opposing runners to steal bases with impunity. The other is on the mound – while Hellerman is one of the best pitchers in the league, the A’s otherwise have almost as little pitching depth as the Red Sox, with only average Garciaparra as a decent backup choice, and the rest of the team all pitching at ratings of 5 or below. Hellerman and Garciaparra should allow Foles to get through his games with little trouble, but the AI team might struggle more once they’re worked through.
Prediction: Third place. Foles has himself a decent team here, but they’re not the lockdown defense that last season’s A’s had, and they’ll be up against some tough competition.
Players to watch: Achmed and Amir Khan are playing together for the third season in a row, and look to be the team’s resident sluggers. They should be two of the players rocking the opposing defenses the hardest. Ace pitcher Amanda Hellerman hopes to be the team’s lynchpin on defense, and if she fails, then the team’s fortunes could take a drastic turn for the worse.
Minnesota Monsters
Coach profile: Since joining the league in Season 4, Aesnop has garnered a reputation as the most prolific trader in the league, swinging deals early and often every draft season. But he’s also earned a reputation as a top-tier regular season coach, producing the league’s only 14-0 season in his debut and going 12-2 and 8-4 in the dual leagues in Season 5. He’s earned a playoff spot with every team he’s fielded, but thus far has struggled to succeed in the playoffs themselves, and has not yet sent a team to the Backyard World Series. But he is a force to be feared in the regular season, and even in this stacked division is a threat to blow the others out of the water.
Team analysis: There is a clear focus to be seen when looking through the Monsters’ roster, and that is running. Every player on the team has a running rating between 7 and 9, with five of the nine players as a speedy 9. That’s going to allow this team to get all over the place quickly. Running is the most important stat in the game due to its dual utility in both offense and defense, and the Monsters will benefit in both categories from their strong speed. The concern for this team’s offense comes instead from its lack of strong hitting. Five of the nine players have batting ratings of 5 or lower, and Francis Blewer looks to be the only true slugger on the team. A capable opposing infield has the potential to stifle the Monsters’ offensive if they can’t sneak hits to where the fielders aren’t. Still, especially at their home park of Tin Can Alley, the Monsters have the potential to go off for some huge scores.
On defense, they also look to be solid. The team doesn’t have as many cannon-quality arms as we’re used to seeing from Aesnop’s squad, but their arm strength is still decent, with five of nine players having stronger arms than average and only one having a weaker 2-rated arm. Their speed will help them to cover the entire field effectively, they have the cannon arm of Scotty Roth behind the plate to eliminate most base-stealing by the opposition, and their pitching situation is decent if not especially great. While there is some potential concern for errors given that nobody on the team has a fielding rating higher than 7, on the whole, the Monsters appear to be a formidable squad, and their defense will be hard enough to poke holes in that even if they have a hard time finding gaps at the plate, they shouldn’t have too hard of a time beating out their opponents’ totals.
Prediction: First place. This will be another Aesnop team that gives opposing coaches headaches, and he will ride out to dominance again.
Players to watch: Despite his mediocre pitching rating, scouts report that Tom Glass is leading the team in home runs during preseason games, and during his pitching stints has been virtually flawless. Francis Blewer also promises to be a top defender in addition to being projected to be the team’s best slugger. And while her ratings are less impressive than most of the team’s, Jody Palmer shouldn’t be counted out, as she’s a threat on defense and so far has proven excellent at getting on base for the team.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Coach profile: One of the original coaches in the BBL, Yurya saw great regular-season success during the early seasons of the league, as his signature Green Monsters were often a force to be feared, although things always would go south for them come the playoffs. Recently, however, his teams have struggled more in the league, and Season 3 was the last time he finished a season with a winning record. He’ll be looking to return to dominance this season, but is in a division where doing so will be difficult.
Team Analysis: As with the other teams in this division, the D’Backs have a definite propensity towards solid speed in their player composition – five players have 8 speed or higher, with only three running slower than 7. Like the Monsters, this team will be playing at a pavement park, and they’re clearly hoping to take advantage of that with the offense they’ve put together. Their hitting is more spotty, though – there are four players with batting ratings of 5 or lower, and while four of the others are genuinely solid to strong hitters, Jocinda Smith’s questionable 10 rating also props the overall batting up to be higher than it might actually deserve to be. This team’s offense is decent, but it’s questionable how well they will do at preserving rallies through the weaker part of the lineup.
For the most part, the D’Backs have a solid defense as well. The majority of the team has strong arms, only one player has a particularly weak arm, and the dependable Pamela Kirkos anchors behind the plate. But with only three players on the team having a fielding rating of 7 or better, errors could prove to be a significant concern, and while the outfield is fast and should snap up most fly balls hit, those that land could be a source for concern, as the weakest arms on the team are to be found out there, including Stuart Sullivan’s 1-rated arm. The team also doesn’t have great pitching depth – two pitchers rated as a 7 are the best to be found on the team, with the rest all rated at 6 or lower. With likely no true ace on the team, the D’Backs could have some trouble holding opposing teams down. This lack of a pitching ace resembles the concern for the team in the other categories – a lack of really clear strengths.
Prediction: Fourth place. I just can’t see the secret ingredient that will give this team success, and they’re in a very tough division.
Players to Watch: Stuart Sullivan’s elite speed will make him a good contributor in the outfield, but in a format where only Line Drive and Power swings are allowed, his hitting makes him not quite as reliable as he otherwise might be, and a potential cause for concern. On the other hand, Stan Olafson ought to be a mainstay of the D’Backs defense. If he struggles, the entire team could. Newer acquisition Sheila Basante now is at the core of the team’s outfield, and how well she performs there will reflect how good that outfield can be expected to be.
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