Watchlist Player Reports Are Finished
Having received word via e-mail from Jeri Sickels, wife of John, that his 2014 Baseball Prospect Book remains behind schedule due to a concussion he suffered this offseason, I decided to finish off the player reports rather than wait. The hope is that I can still revise some of the player reports on guys that I was hoping Sickels might write about that BA didn’t.
But my fear is that once spring training games begin, it’ll slide… not to mention get lost in the shuffle as all eyes (and some drones) are focused on Viera. The watchlist is conceived while doing the season reviews in October-November, set after the Rule 5 draft in December, with the writing begun in early January with a focus on the guys I’ve seen (and the ones I’m sure won’t be written up), and usually finished in late January after I’ve received and reviewed the major prospect books.
So if you’ve got some extra time — say, because you’re at home with your kids because schools have been delayed a couple hours by less than a centimeter of snow — take another gander and feel free to discuss in the comments here or on the player pages.
I had been noticing that Sickels’ updates had been coming out slowly … a real world reminder that concussions can be a lot more serious than they typically are depicted (“take a couple days off, and jump right back in there”). It seems like Denard Span was fully recovered from his concussion issues last year, but you never know for sure whether there might have been some lingering effects. As a dad of a girl soccer player I keep my fingers crossed every game.
Sickels is a hero to me. What that guy does as a one man gang is inspiring from a business and quality standpoint. He seems to have strong ethics and has carved out a life for himself that helps so many interested in baseball find joy. I’ve never bought the book because my time is focused mostly on the Nats and fantasy baseball this year. Since I’m going to be heading down to Viera for the first time in March, though, I’d love to have his book as I at least visit minor league camp. Any advice on the best way to maximize the experience visiting minor league spring training? I will at least comment on my experiences in Viera on here of course.
This is the season SS wins 20 games.
Gio rebounds for 18 games
JoZimm has a solid 15-16 win season
Fiester wins 14
Roark/Herr Deweiler- 12
bullpen 15.
opinions?
Paul White picks Nays second place with 87 wins.
time for the Braves to suffer injuries and falling short.
the interesting competition in camp should be who graduates to Harrisburg between Drew V and Caleb Ramsey.
This should give Lippencott time to get stroking @ Hagerstown.
which guy eventually becomes roving catching intructor for Nats? Hill? Howell? Snyder?
trade Solano to join his brother in Miami????
The Nationals do their best 71 Orioles impression, and Stras, Zimm, Fister and Gio each rack up 20 wins. Det finishes with only 12. The Nats win 110 games and the World Series.
But in all seriousness, I have a very hard time seeing the Nationals do any worse than last season. Offensively, only Desmond and Werth exceeded expectations, with Zimmerman and Rendon meeting expectations.
Our pitching was good, but again we saw steps back from Stras and Gio and more of the same from Zimmermann, and the bullpen was a relative disaster.
The only real positive was the health of our rotation, with 4 of 5 getting at least 30 starts. That could turn into a problem this season, but even with a few different setbacks, just getting healthy seasons out of Harper and Ramos, not historically bad bench stats, and a 5th starter that can keep the job for more than 2 months, I think we’ll see substantial improvements.
2013 wasn’t our worst case scenario, but it was pretty bad. To expect a repeat of that seems particularly pessimistic even if you ignore our offseason upgrades (Fister, Blevins, McLouth).
“But in all seriousness, I have a very hard time seeing the Nationals do any worse than last season.”
I’m trying to have zero expectations this year after last year. God knows what can happen from an injury, chemistry, and performance standpoint from year to year. Of course, that lack of expectations didn’t stop me from talking smack to a delusional Phillies fan on Facebook, though.
Subtract the braves greyhound start- nats
Could have been in back door
Some interesting stuff
Souldrummer
Just melt into the B fields
Watch the BP
See how coaching staffs mix and match
Guys in scrimmages
Watch all aspects
A games are go hum