H'ville, Tn (AP) - The 2012 season for Hendersonville Hitmen offense was a mix of surprise and disappointment. No bigger surprise was the break out season of 1B/DH Manny Copriviza while the biggest disappointment for the Hitmen were the injuries. The entire starting OF were injured for the playoffs with LF Gregg Burkholder (102) and RF John Prowse (63) missing a total of 165 games last year.
Heading into the off-season Hays had only one real goal for the offense, find an upgrade at 3B! Last year's experiment with Francisco Vázquez didn't work out the way Hays' had hoped. The guy he found is coming off a career year and finished 3rd in the TL MVP race last year. 3B Masanobu Hasegawa comes in and immediately becomes an important part of this offense.
With the breakout season of Copriviza and 4 starting OF Hays had a dalema with how to get all his players into the lineup. The simple solution....trade the access. Vazquez was an obvious trade bait, but the one guy Hitmen fans would have never guess would have been traded is former MVP 1B Tommy Green. Green was traded to the Madison Bombers in the Burgess deal, but that trade also brought over INF Utility Bill Davis who will most likely see starting time at 2B, SS and 3B.
Then on the last day of Spring Training the Hitmen pulled off another trade. This one with Seattle Kings that will bring over C Jesús "Dirty" Hernández but the Hitmen offense will lose 2012 All-Star 2B Pedro Valdéz.
The 2013 Projected Lineup:
1. LF Gregg Burkholder
- .306 avg., 13 HR, 42 RBI, .382 OBP, .901 OPS in 59 games before inj
2. DH Tony Owens
- .316 avg., 27 RBI, 51 BB, .456 OBP, .879 OPS in 56 games for H'ville
3. RF John Prowse
- .315 avg., 15 HR, 63 RBI, 27 2B, .390 OBP, .915 OPS in 99 games before inj
4. 1B Manny Copriviza
- break out season! .290 avg., 42 HR (franchise record), 124 RBI, 33 2B, 113 R, .366 OBP, .920 OPS
5. C Jesús "Dirty" Hernández
- .271 avg., 25 HR (2nd in all of BSA for C), 86 RBI, 21 2B, .849 OPS in 130 games
6. 3B Masanobu Hasegawa
- 3rd in TL MVP last year, .316 avg, 22 HR, 130 RBI (4th in BSA), 58 2B (Lead BSA), .400 OBP, .975 OPS
7. CF Luis Padilla
- .289 avg, 19 HR, 83 RBI, 21 2B, 86 R, .379 OBP, .822 OPS as a 21-yr old rookie
8. 2B Bill Davis
- .261 avg, 36 2B, .360 OBP as a rookie last year, will play 2B, SS and 3B this year
9. SS Alonso Pérez
- .271 avg, 34 2B, 7 HR, 52 RBI, 16 SB as a rookie last year
If they stay healthy this unit could be a top 5 offense, but just like every team, injuries are part of the game. This year the depth of the overall team is way deeper than last year and should help out.
1. Burkholder has game changing speed at the top.
2. Owens is the All-Time greatest OBP player in BSA history
3. Prowse was on fire last year before inj and had a great ST. I predict a career year from him.
4. Copriviza is coming of a MVP type season and is only 22!! I expect more of the same if not better!
5. Hernandez hit 25 HR in his first full season as a starter and should be one of the top 3 offensive C again
6. Hasewaga is coming of a MONSTER year and is entering his prime, can he repeat? Anything close is better than last year's 3B situation
7. Padilla had a great rookie season and should be a 20+ HR, 100 RBI, .400 OBP type player this year
8. Davis is also coming off a rookie season and should develop into a contact gap hitter with a high OBP
9. Perez is the 4th starter coming off a rookie season, he has great def and if he repeats last yr numbers then its a success.
April PR2
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