#3Peat: 2015 Pitching

H'ville, Tn (AP) - Pitching has always been a strength in H'ville and after a crazy World Series that saw Hill and Bamber only win 1 of 4 starts the front office decided to upgrade the staff in the off-season.   That upgrade included acquiring elite front end starters like Earl "Knuckehead" Harper (flipped for Guerra) and Greg "Big Game" Casey along with the addition of  Declan "Dec the Halls" Parsons (flipped for Casey) and Marcos "Exorcist" Guerra while fan favorites Mike Haward and Carlos Arevalo were shipped out.

"We definitely wanted to upgrade our rotation for the 2015 season," Hays told reporters over a conference call. "Hill and Bamber are a great 1-2, but we wanted that 3rd clutch guy and while Haward was that guy last year we wanted Harper and Casey.  While we had no intentions of moving Harper, Pittsburgh really wanted him and we just couldn't pass up the offer and so far "Exorcist" has been lights out for us!"

"The Franchise"

Starting Pitching
#1 Scott "The Franchise" Hill
#2 Walter "The Claw" Bamber
#3 Gregg "Big Game" Casey
#4 Marcos Pineda
#5 Marcos "Exorcist" Guerra
Expectations -  Hill has 3 Cy Young's (should be 4?) and Bamber is the reigning Cy Young winner, maybe the best 1-2.  Add Casey, a 26-yr old ACE coming off a career high in GS, IP, W, K's and WHIP and Hville could possibly be the best 1-2-3 in BSA.  Pineda and Guerra are good SP in their own right and should be mid 3 to low 4 ERA's and 10-15 wins, but both have potential to be way better than that too!

"Flash"

Closer and Setup
CL Tommy "Flash" Smith
SU Oliver "Muscles" Donahue
SU Alfredo "Gonzo" Gonzalez
Expectations -  If all 3 of these guys were closer's on other teams they might be the top 3 closer's in BSA today.  Elite of the Elite, these guys don't and shouldn't allow a lot of runs.  Gonzo had an off year last year (2.72, 1.06, 122 K, 24 BB, 89 IP), but Smith (32 Sv, 1.49, 0.87, 77 K, 16 BB, 66 IP) and "Muscles" (1.37, 0.74, 109 K, 18 BB, 92 IP) were dominate.  I expect them to be nothing short of unhittable this year.

Henley

Middle Relief
#1 Mike "Tip" Henley
#2 Antonio "Sinner" Lopez
#3 Diego Solis
#4 Felipe "F-Rod" Rodriguez
Expectations -  Solis and "F-Rod" were 2 big pickups for the pen in the Harper deal, especially the young and cheaply signed "F-Rod" who will spot start throughout the year.  "Sinner" and "Tip" are two great young MR's who are just coming into their own.  All 4 guys have nasty stuff and will fight for innings all year long.


All in all the Hitmen pitching looks to be among the leaders once again.  The starting rotation has changed alot this off-season and while at one point were 7-deep are now only 5-deep.  Each of the last 2 years the roto has lost a big arm, is this the year that all 5 starters get 30+ starts?