Season 6 NL South Predictions

NL SOUTH - Predicted Order (1) Charlotte Codes (2) Durham Bulls (3) Jackson Stonewall (4) Tampa Bay Citrus

First Place - Charlotte Codes

The Codes had a very successful season in season 5 winning 87 games and taking first in the Division. The formula for success was a well balanced team, finishing above the league offense, defense and pitching. With things working, the Codes made very few changes coming into season 6. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Manager dovonjain chose not to resign Spud Bryant who led the team with 36 HR and also hit 104 RBI's and is still waiting for a phone call from someone to give him a a chance. However, his replacement is one of the top International Free Agents of Season 4, Luis Pujols. Pujols definitely doesn't have the power of Spud, but is a much better all around hitter. In in 152 AB's, he hit .368 with an OBP. of .423 last season. To improve the pitching, the Codes let 37 year old Zeus Lyons go and will likely use Alex Ortiz to start games in his place, and signed Roy Duffy to help in the bullpen. Look for the Codes to try to make a deal go aquire a 5th starter near the trade deadline. With the main peices still in place and a few changes for the better, the Codes should once again take the NL South Division.


Second Place- Durham Bulls

Durham Bulls (NL) rpsrn View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Hardball Dynasty's

Juan Guillon

At the head of Durham's rotation is stud pitcher Juan Guillon who won 14 games in his rookie season. Although it was good, some expected Mr. Guillon to do more. Now, after some hard work and training in the offseason, Guillon has come back stronger, with more control and a more refined fastball, and should challenge this season for the Cy Young. To work alongside Guillon, the Bulls have added Deacon Tracy who brings his playoff experience and knowledge of pitching to help the Bulls. Stump Peters has been promoted and should become a regular in the rotation.

The change in pitching stems from the Bulls 5.11 team ERA, which was tied for last in the NL. Although the starting pitching seems to have significantly improved, it wasn't the starting that hurt this team, it was the relief pitchers. Aside from Andres Ontiveros who went 10-13 with a 5.22 ERA in 172 innings and has now been moved to the bullpen, the other four main starters combined to go 39 -25 with a combined 3.91 era and none finished with a losing record. On the other hand, the relief pitchers combined for a 6.73 ERA and had a record of 16 - 46 (note: Vern Dodd who started 15 games was not factored in to the stats for starters or relievers). To improve the relief pitching, the Bulls have signed Antonio Griffin and Ozzie Roosevelt who last played for Dover. Roosevelt will help team moral and turn everyone into winners. He has a career 3.60 era and has never had a losing season coming out of the pen; he will assume the closer role. Without Woody Palmer and Red Bell stinking up the place, and an offense which produces stats nearly identical to the Division favorite, Charlotte, the Bulls appear to have done just enough to compete this year. This will prove to be a tight race coming down the stretch.

Third Place - Jackson Stonewall

Jackson Stonewall (NL) PoconoMets View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Jackson was the only team in the entire league in season 5 that had two players reach 50 home runs. The two power hitters in the middle of the lineup are scary. One of those guys is All Star and former MVP Slick Rapp who is one of the best players in the league. The other is Bob Patrick. Season 5 was Patrick's first as the starting First baseman and he made the most of the opportunity. Combined, the two sluggers hit 103 homeruns and drove in 267 RBI's. However, besides those two, everyone else was anything but scary in season 5. The next best player as far as offense goes, hit only 18 homeruns and drove in 69 RBI's. Jackson has the players, however, to improve on its 80-82 record. At the plate, guys like Peter Salmon and Ronald Lee and Kenneth Franco have potential to be decent contact hitters, rookie Ossie Higginson has shown some serious power in the minors, and both Duane Dessens and Freddy Peterman have proved that they have the ability to hit 30 plus homers. Sammy Suarez is the ace on the pitching staff and can still pitch even at his age. However, the current man rotation that Jackson uses doesn't have another pitcher as dominant as Suarez, so if the Stonewalls make the playoffs its becuase they simply had more fresh arms than the competition, however they have thier work cut out for them in this increasingly competitive division.

Fourth Place - Tampa Bay Citrus

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Things aren't looking too good this season for the Citrus. Possibly the most obvious reason Tampa Bay struggled last season was the poor defensive play. As a team, the Citrus committed the most errors of any team in the league, a fielding percentage of .971, a total of 175 which was 19 more than any other team. A large part of those came from SS Raymond Mantei who committed 62 errors and led all shortstops in that category. There has been worse, however, current free agentPaul Saitou committed a total of 85 in season 3 while playing for the Montreal Expos. There are signs of change and improvement in the defense, as there are three solid defensive shortstops currently in AAA. The most likely to be called up first is Samuel Simon who would be a significant improvement defensively over Mantei. The pitching also struggled, ending with a team era of 5.09 and had 4 starters with double digit losses. Although most of Tampa Bay's starting pitchers are young and should improve from one season to the next, 4 of the 5 guys from last season rotation are the same. The only change was the release of Terry Reames, who is still looking for work. To replace Reames, Geoffery MacDougal was acquired in the Rule 5 draft. One of the few bright spots is the relief pitching, closer Larry McDonald was 30 for 32 in saves last season, and Aaron Gleason, joined the team via the Rule 5 draft. Next season will be a different story though, as there are many players in both AA and AAA who are nearly ready to join the Major League club.