Virginia Pats 2005 PreSeason Review

 

The Patriots have completed two winning regular seasons however with not much success in the post season.  In 2004 the Pats were winners of the Aaron Division with a record of 104-58.  The Pats had high hopes in the post season only to be dashed quickly by Daniel’s Diamonds. 

 

In the off season, several players had disappointing tv ball seasons and the Pats were not big spenders in free agency.  To top it off, most draft picks were traded to compete last season.  It seemed that the Pats would not be as competitive in 2005 as in their first two seasons of BW.

 

Somehow, with a few key trades, the Pats appear to be back in the race and look forward to our third season.  In a previous article, we displayed an EXCEL spreadsheet of relative team strengths of the National League, and the Pats were estimated for 3rd place that would put them in the wildcard race of the NL with quite a few other teams.

 

Here is how we look for 2005:

 

Once again as in previous seasons, the Pats strength is their starting pitching:

 

 

Name

Age

Throws

 

 

Plan Starts

Pedro Martinez

33

R

 

 

35

Eric Milton

29

L

 

 

34

CC Sabathia

24

L

 

 

31

Tim Hudson

29

R

 

 

30

Gary Knotts

28

R

 

 

22

Dave Borkowski

28

R

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pats bullpen appears to be fair to average and will rely upon sound bullpen management to succeed:

 

 

Throws

Age

IP

Whip

 

 

 

 

 

Todd Jones

R

36

82

1.42

Jorge Julio

R

25

69

1.42

Ron Mahay

L

33

67

1.33

Gabe White

L

33

59

1.41

Danny Kolb

R

29

57

1.13

John Franco

L

44

46

1.51

Brooks Kieschnick

R

32

43

1.33

Javier Lopez

L

28

40

1.75

Grant Balfour

R

26

37

1.41

Al Reyes

R

34

12

0.42

 

 

The Patriots catchers look very good with Posada playing almost full-time:

 

Catchers

Bats

Age

Games

PA

Jorge Posada

S

33

137

537

Kelly Stinnett

R

35

20

64

 

Our infield is good offensively but lacks defense ratings all around:

 

Infielders

Bats

Age

Games

PA

Melvin Mora

R

33

140

610

Edgar Martinez

R

41

141

544

Carlos Delgado

L

32

128

527

Jose Valentin

L

35

125

493

Alex Cora

L

29

138

452

Nomar Garciaparra

R

31

81

345

Mark Grudzielanek

R

34

81

272

Bobby Hill

S

27

126

253

Willie Bloomquist

R

27

93

198

Augie Ojeda

S

31

30

69

Wilson Betemit

S

23

22

51

 

 

The Outfield is not as strong as other teams but has some nice platoon options:

 

Outfielders

Bats

Age

Games

PA

Brian Giles

L

34

159

698

Milton Bradley

S

27

141

587

Jason Michaels

R

28

115

341

Daryle Ward

L

30

79

315

Rickey Ledee

L

31

104

203

Jason Lane

R

28

107

152

Kerry Robinson

L

31

80

97

Brooks Kieshnick

L

 

 

68

Jason Conti

L

30

22

60

Tony Alvarez

R

25

24

42

 

 

Overall, Pats management is hoping for a good season and just maybe with a little luck advancement in the post season.