I am mostly done with my initial planning for the season, so now is as good a time as any for a team outlook report.

Ballpark – I was stuck (?) with the 17th pick in the draft order, so I was able to pick my ballpark in the 8^th slot. Unfortunately most of my preferred ballparks went in the first seven picks. I had wanted low singles, low homers, and a symmetrical park – OAK would have been ideal if not for the impending moves to Sacramento and Vegas. STL and SF looked good but they were snatched up first and second. I decided to go with ARI-Chase Field, very low on homers but high on singles. This put an even higher priority on getting some solid defense in the infield, hopefully turning those singles into the first half of double plays.

Draft – well, the 17 hole. I tried to not worry about it but all of the dream guys were certain to be snatched up before I picked. There were maybe ten or eleven guys my mouth watered over; the last of them to go was Will Smith at #12. I decided to grab Logan Webb, an innings machine who is solid year in and year out. The players that I would have taken next all went before my next pick at 2/8 – Riley and Tovar opening the second really crushed me. OK, let’s grab another rotational rock in Zack Wheeler.

Next up, that defensive infield. Four straight picks filled my infield with 1s. Grab a 600+ PA catcher with a -3 arm, a young 1e1 CF, then back to pitching for four more picks. The next five picks? Two OF-1s, two more -3 arm catchers, and the best base stealer in the game (let’s figure out how to steal 1B). From then on, fill the holes with the shiniest baubles I could find.

Net result: the best defense you’ve probably seen assembled, decent pitching that should only be improved by the defense, and an offense that’s somewhat mediocre but can hopefully sneak up on people.

2024 Wheeling Screamers

HITTERS/DEFENSE (with projections for the minimum number of starts I should be able to squeeze out)
C – Realmuto 2(-3)e1T2PB2 for 134+ games; ERodriguez 4(-3)e3T1PB3 vs normal RHP 52+ games
1B – CWalker 1e2 162 games
2B – Stott 1e6 159+ games
3B – Hayes 1e8 150+ games
SS – Kim 1e19 156+ games
OF – Mix and match (I need to figure out matchups)
  Doyle CF 1(-3)e1 107+ games
  Bader CF 1(-1)e11 86+ games
  Heyward RF 1(-2)e9 94+ games
  Ruiz LF 3(0)e11 117+ games
  Blackmon LF/RF 4(+1)e6 102+ games
DH – JDDavis vs RHP 136+ games, GSanchez vs LHP 67+ games, maybe a spare OF in the mix
UT – Hampson – effective spare everywhere other than C and 1B
“Carded Minors” (I don’t expect to use in current plans) – Mead, Goodman, Toglia
Minors – Edgar Quero ETA 2025, Emil Morales ETA 2030

PITCHERS
Logan Webb 248 IP 33 Starts
Miles Mikolas 230 IP 35 Starts
Zack Wheeler 220 IP 34 Starts
Max Scherzer 176 IP 27 Starts
James Paxton 110 IP 20 Starts
Jacob deGrom 34 IP 6 Starts (call-up when needed)
Kenny Rosenberg 37 IP 7 Starts (call-up when needed)
(yes, add them up and you’ll get 162 – but subject to the schedule working out)
Garrett Whitlock 83 IP S/R Closer-0
Matt Liberatore 71 IP S/R
Jake Bird 102 IP
Tanner Scott 90 IP Closer-3
Phil Maton 76 IP Closer-0
Jose Soriano 48 IP
Brendan White 47 IP
Robert Garcia 36 IP
“Carded Minors” (probably unused for now) – Ryan Weathers, Andre Pallante
Minors – Robert Gasser ETA 2024 but probably uncarded, Dylan Lesko ETA 2026

NOTE – my estimate for starts for hitters and pitchers are based on time-tested formulas. Most hitters are projected for hitting high in the order, so they will get even more games if lower in the order.

Picks I’m proud of – Jose Soriano, Curtis Mead, Ryan Weathers. All more for the future but Soriano will help in the bullpen this year.
Ashamed of – no one really, but in retrospect I could have taken Doyle a little later (probably) and Goodman way way later (definitely). I’m really counting on the defense turning Mikolas into something pitchable, and that might blow up in my face.

I’m planning on throwing Webb and Wheeler four times in a seven-game series in the playoffs, rest rules permitting. For the regular season I’ll probably go with the 27 active plus two call-up-as-needed starters as indicated above, unless I make deals.

This team will run – using basic stealing as shorthand knowing that we use advanced, I have three AA, two A, and four B stealers, spread throughout the lineup. I can’t bunt though, but I should be able to hit and run a little. Most of the guys have some power, although I may try to augment that with a deal.

Outlook – well, I think I’ve got what it takes to compete in 2024, but I’m not fully convinced. This will be the most extensive test of my theories about extremely good defense in Strat. They’ve proven well in a couple of short-season leagues, but I’ve never been able to assemble this sort of defense in a full-season team before. The team should continue to be good in the future; some of my bats are having down years but others are up for next year, and some of the arms (Soriano and Weathers) will emerge. I’ll DL Endy Rodriguez to the minors along with any one other player who may qualify.