World Baseball Association
General Category => General WBA Discussion => WBA Times => Topic started by: Bob_Meteors on October 17, 2017, 08:37:45 PM
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MELBOURNE, Australia: During the offseason, the Melbourne Meteors acquired Andy Stone, Abdeljilil Abedi, Ronald Poe, and Alfred Reeves, to add to their former ace, Kvana Datar, for a stellar rotation. Of the "Power 5", only two are left. Poe got hurt before the season, and will likely not play until September. But despite that injury, Melbourne's pitching staff still looked strong, with Imre Maxa and Nasih bin Kamil alternating in the 5th spot. But the real blow came today, as doctors announced that Abedi would miss 7-8 weeks with a sprained ankle. Even worse, Datar will likely miss the entire season with a torn rotator cuff.
Where does Melbourne go from here? Most analysts have suggested that they will have a rotation of Stone, Reeves, Maxa, bin Kamil, and Bob Pérez. However, Pérez didn't perform well as a starter during spring training. Stone's historical injury proneness makes it even more likely that the Meteors will consider an alternative tactic: bullpenning.
The basic principle of bullpenning is that there is no "starting pitcher" and instead, the starters and bullpen combine to pitch a game. This has certain advantages, but it's likely the Meteors would use a modified version where their starters pitch for a few innings before turning it over to the bullpen.
Analysts are hesitant to endorse this tactic, which has been tried before without success. But Meteors GM Bob Weinberg believes his team can pull it off. More on this story as it emerges.
Marcus Comet