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- Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 9:48 am
Wed Jul 03, 2019 1:22 pm
promote Keller
The Dwarves won 109 games, missing the silver-cup 110+ mark by a single run in the final game of the season.
The team was already in first place at the 2/3 mark when they made the fire & blood trade, sending the entire farm system (top prospects Adell, Keller, Tucker) along with Jon Gray and Chad Green to land Jacob DeGrom, JD Martinez and Taylor Cole. All three would end up having all-star seasons. After the trade, the Dwarves streaked to a 39-14 finish (a 119-win pace over a full season).
Taking advantage of the injury resiliency of the entire infield, the team carried NO BACKUPS at 1B, 2B, SS or 3B for most of the season in order to keep 9 outfielders on the roster, each of whom was playable in very specific platoon/ballpark combinations.
Javier Baez won the league MVP, launching 48 homers and driving in 123 to go with gold glove defense at the pivot. JD Martinez and Manny Machado finished 2nd and 3rd in the league MVP voting.
The starting pitchers were all stellar; tactically used Michael Wacha the best of the bunch on a per batter basis:
Berrios (18-3), Bauer (17-7), Urena (15-4), Wacha (10-4), Marquez (10-5) and DeGrom (7-3).
Finally, credit should be given to the team's top free agent pick and one year wonder/OLD MAN Oliver Perez who threw 167.0 relief innings to the tune or a 0.74 WHIP and a 1.72 ERA.
The bullpen by committee logged 74 saves, with all 6 relievers earning at least a few.
Of course, the whole season could go down in flames next week with an early playoff exit, but it was a magnificent regular season run.
