* this project would not be possible without the efforts from Chromatika, Ko-oren and especially Super-Llamaland. The words and pictures on screen right now were made by me, but would not be possible without extensive background work from all of us. Please do grade accordingly.
* this RP series may, on occasion, mention numbers about your players. Feel free to ignore them if you don’t like them.
South Newlandian League
LPB Recaps: St. Riecarn Saints
Sunshine
Last seasons:
+ Last season: 89-95, 4th in SNLS
Expectations
With the leadership of Quebecois manager Dana Hussel, the Saints had hoped to finally get a breakthrough last season. The team in gold is probably the team in the South Newlandian League that has relied most on more local talent, having been extremely successful in the LPB amateur draft – including having selected the two most recent Rookies of the Season (LHSP Wolodymyr King and RF Evander Stone). More than any other team in the SNL, they relied on building up talent by themselves – a strategy that was yet to pay off, and that had ultimately cost Dana Hussel her job after another last place finish in the SNL South.
This season, besides top ten pick Kevin Barros, the Saints made a couple of big trades for established players. For one, they took the Chariots’ Apollo Sündstrom on. The former #2 pick had struggled mightily in Super-Llamaland, and had recently chafed against the rest of the team. They also brought in Kendra Annovar, a Chromatik star in the twilight of her career; and most importantly added manager Velma Soosang, who had previously worked very successfully with Loyoan international teams; she would reunite with a pair of Sunshine Tigers already on the roster. Given the strong starting rotation that had been unchanged, while working with Elephants catcher Brad Moore, and additions to the batting lineup, things should have been looking up for the Saints, a team that was still looking for their first winning record of the LPB era. However, there would always be a massive Rhino-shaped obstacle in their playoff path.
Overview & Trade Deadline
Throughout most of the first half of the season, the Saints didn’t really do too much of note. Hovering a few games above .500, they looked like they were capable of threatening for the playoffs, but never quite put it together. It certainly didn’t help that the Saints lost one of their starting pitchers early in the season, with Pat Jensen of Brookstation needing UCL reconstruction surgery that him out of commission for most of the season. Fortunately for the Saints, they still had two pitching prospects in the minors to fill those holes, as well as having a bullpen with plenty of pitchers that had starters at one point in their career. Unfortunately for the Saints, despite trying all the pitchers they could get their hands on (Mondal, Harmon, McBride, Xavier and Greene), none of them were actually up to the standard they’d hoped for. Ultimately, they settled on giving the rotation spot to Nico Harmon. The lefty had been given away by his former team, the Monarchs, who evidently did not see him as a viable pitcher after just one season; nevertheless, just months later, the Llamanean was back to starting.
The Saints ultimately just treaded water for most of the first half. 37-35 certainly doesn’t look like the record of a playoff team in the pretty strong South Newlandian League, and the division lead had been out of sight for a while now.
It was at this point that the Saints finally seemed to figure things out, and started climbing. The rest of the way until the All-Star break, the Saints went a strong 14-6, including a double-shutout sweep of the Rhinos, while not losing any series themselves. Now having climbed to 51-41, the Saints finally looked like a real threat. They were rewarded with six All-Stars, even though just one, third baseman Jimi Fiazzo, actually started. The five All-Star alternates included his Sunshine Tigers teammate Isabel Morata in left, Chromatik new addition Annovar in center and Evander Stone in Right Field (yes, all three Saints outfielders were All-Stars), as well as shortstop Apollo Sündstrom. Interestingly, despite a pitching staff that was also performing well, Lucy Walker-Diaz was the only pitcher of the Saints on the All-Star team; in the process, the Llamanean became the first All-Star who had been drafted after the first round of the playoffs (having been picked #27 in the LPB draft before the most recent one).
The Saints were able to take that momentum into the second half. Especially the pitching staff was clicking on all cylinders after the break. They had entered the All-Star game after shutting out the Flames, and kept right going, making it three consecutive home shutouts in a sweep of the Larhai Legends. After allowing runs the next day, they shut out the Redhawks; two games with runs later, another shutout pitched at the New Llama Cyclones.
With the bats also waking up more and more, the Saints came out of the break 14-4; now improved to 65-45, the Saints were on playoff course, and even threatening the top spot in the SNL South.
Despite continuing to play relatively well, the Saints struggled to keep up the recent pace, instead more resembling that water-treading team of the first seventy games. Even after Pat Jensen returned, the Saints struggled to really set themselves apart, and the division lead continued to move away further and further. However, the Saints were still about fifteen games above .500; and there didn’t seem to be a serious challenger for the second wildcard. The Saints even had a decent chance of pushing for the top wildcard slot, putting in some work in a four-game sweep hosting Walstreim; but they did run out of gas in the end, finishing 101-83. That’s still a fantastic result – for the first time since the SNBL days, the Saints had finished with a winning record, and even won one hundred games; in the process also marking the first Saints team in the playoffs in the LPB era. One factor there was certainly that the Saints were able to stay mostly healthy throughout the season; with Pat Jensen not the most impactful loss at the end of the day.
Entering the postseason, one worry is that the Saints really only had a short, 38-game run in which they looked like a real playoff team (going 28-10 in those games). Removing those from consideration, the Saints went exactly 73-73 in all remaining games; it remains to be seen whether the Saints can find that fantastic midseason form again, or if they will show up as the .500-water-treading team that was seen throughout most of the rest of the season.
One slice of a season (one random game of 184)
MD155: St. Riecarn Saints @ Kyrinson Cosmos
At 85-69, the Saints were headed to Kyrinson for a series in Super-Llamaland; their only one at Earnest Field. The Cosmos was fresh off a series win in Peninsulara, having now improved to 86-68; they, too, were in very much in the playoff race. The Saints had their young All-Star, Lucy Walker-Diaz, getting the start against the Cosmos’ Larry Foster. With a Llamanean pitching for the South Newlandian side against the South Newlandian pitching for the Llamanean team, the Saints looked favoured in this matchup, and they quickly got to work.
Apollo Sündstrom drew a four-pitch walk, and Jimi Fiazzo drove him in not far later to get the Saints on the board first.
However, the Walker-Diaz got into some trouble in the second inning. Llamanean veteran Tyson Long drew a walk, and Ian Zhuang proceeded to bounce one towards first, and managed to beat Bergmann around the line to put two on with one out. Drawkian Barron Edwards proceeded to drive Long in with a long single, tying up the game, and young Ranorian catcher Lukas Valentine proceeded to drive in another pair of runs on a double down the third-base line.
The Saints, now trailing 1-3, were quite well shut down by Foster, and didn’t get anyone on base in innings two through four. Instead, the Cosmos poured on in the fourth, with a two-run Lukas Valentine home run making it 5-1, driving the All-Star Walker-Diaz from the game and turning things over to the bullpen. There, Silvia Wang would drive another run in in the sixth inning against Saints reliever Rishi Mondal, before the Saints finally scored their second run of the game in the top of the seventh, thanks to a Isabel Morata solo shot. With a 6-2 lead, Kyrinson handed the game over to the bullpen, with Llamanean international Max Bridges able to shut down the Saints in the eighth. The ninth went to closer Marcus Cobb, who quickly ran into trouble, loading the bases with one out.
Manager Bobby Mohs went to rookie Axel Sorensen, and he managed to get the first out before giving up a two-run single to reigning rookie of the season Evander Stone, putting the tying run on first. Sorensen managed to buckle down, though, and induced a Kevin Barros flyout to end the game.
The Saints managed to get the series even the next day, with Ashleigh Witters leading the gold to a 5-1 win to improve them to 86-70.
St. Riecarn Saints 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 4
Kyrinson Cosmos 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 X 6
The RTC Trophy
One innovation for this season was the introduction of a domestic-cup style tournament running throughout the first half of the season. The Saints were drawn to host the Newport Owls in the first round, for the first kind-of playoff game in St. Riecarn in about a decade. For the Owls, too, it was a rare experience. After all, those two were part of a group of only three SNL teams with no LPB era playoff appearances; and they were the only ones without a winning record in that stretch. With the Saints giving the game one start to Wolodymyr King, both starters were having pretty good days on the bump; both teams were trading runs at an even rate. In the eighth, with the Saints down 2-3, Apollo Sündstrom stepped into the box with two outs and the bases loaded. He launched a bases-clearing triple partially thanks to a weird bounce in left-center, and partially thanks to his blazing speed.
Tasked with grabbing the save, Lorenzo Harvey instead surrendered a two-run homer; so the Saints would instead be forced into the taking this to extra innings. There, in inning twelve, it was the Loyoan Jimi Fiazzo who crushed a two-run bomb over the short right field wall; although this ball wouldn’t have been held by any ballpark.
In game two, there was quite a lot of deja-vu; with Chromatik Ashleigh Witters against Eshialand Owl Alex Mann, the Saints trailed early, tied it up twice, and the game was again headed into extras. This time, it was the young South Newlandian Kevin Barros who would have his first memorable moment, with his two-run walkoff into left to advance the Saints to the Quarterfinals with another 7-5 win.
There, the Saints would visit the other Newport team, with a tough series ahead at the South Newlandian powerhouse.
In game one, the Saints seemed like they would have an uphill battle against Dolphins’ ace Julian Mecc-Sanders, reigning Evan Masorka winner. However, while catcher Brad Moore and Isabel Morata drove in a run each, Lucy Walker-Diaz was pitching the game of her life; shutting down a strong Dolphins lineup for eight innings and just three hits, before Lorenzo Harvey grabbed the save.
Game two was a much bigger struggle, with Ashleigh Witters pitching for the Saints. The Dolphins inflicted heavy damage against the young Chromatik, with a 6-4 lead despite some productive Saints ABs. The Dolphins maintained that lead into the ninth, but the Saints, too, were still in it; with rookie Andrew Gilson III managing to sit six Dolphins down in relief. Against the usually rock-solid Dolphins closer Jolene McIntyre, the Saints managed to get some traffic going, partially aided by a pinch-hitting Bucky Jimenez reaching on an error to load the bases, now only trailing by one; setting the stage for Apollo Sündstrom to mash the grandest of slams against the Zwangzugian and her rapidly rising pitch count. In the bottom of the frame, the Saints hung on; advancing them to the semifinals.
In the semis, the Saints would host Elephant Valley United, the reigning South Newlandian champions. There, the magic seemed to run out; King got touched up for four quick runs and a loss, with the bullpen allowing the Snow Bears to pile on the damage, while Sündstrom got himself ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the fifth.
Game two meant much better. Despite Walker-Diaz allowing two runs in the top of the first, the Saints struck back in the second, plating four runs against one of the best pitchers in the game with the bottom of their lineup. Despite the Snow Bears regaining control in one of the weaker Walker-Diaz starts, the Saints were able to tie it up in the sixth thanks to Kendra Annovar scoring on a wild pitch.
The game turned into bullpen-battle mode, with no side able to put further runs on the board throughout the remaining innings of regulation. In the tenth inning, with the ball in the hands of Stef Svojarnsson, the Saints ran out of magic, giving up a two-run blast they couldn’t answer.
Newport Owls 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 5
St. Riecarn Saints 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 7
Newport Owls 0 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 5
St. Riecarn Saints 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 1 0 2 7
St. Riecarn Saints 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2
Newport Dolphins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
St. Riecarn Saints 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 5 9
Newport Dolphins 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 6
Elephant Valley United 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 1 8
St. Riecarn Saints 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Elephant Valley United 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 7
St. Riecarn Saints 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5
Recap: Pitchers
The Saints were finally able to reap the rewards of all the work they invested inside their pitching staff. Their young rotation finished with the fifth-fewest runs allowed in the SNL. While it was obvious to everyone that King was good the day he was drafted, Lucy Walker-Diaz is more a testament to how good this team has been at drafting and developing young talent. The Llamanean diamond in the rough was found as late as the 27th pick (as a reminder – the 26th pick in that draft, also a starter, is currently on the Saints after the Monarchs cut him after just one season). Impressing with her stellar command, she proved that its possible to be a successful, even All-Star calibre, pitcher without elite velocity, and she put it on display this season. Growing as a pitcher with Elephants’ catcher Brad Moore by your side certainly helps matters, too.
Behind them, the other young Saint that got built up was Chromatik Ashleigh Witters. She, too, ascended after struggling with mentality when she was younger. With her pitch-to-weak-contact approach, she has found lots of success here.
The injury to Pat Jensen, while problematic, wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened, with the starter from Brookstation struggling even when healthy lately; while Lester Plattsburgh, fan favourite from Qasden, remains a very solid, no-flashes fifth starter.
The bullpen was perhaps the biggest weak spot on the team, with no clear closer that the team was really able to rely on. Lorenzo Harvey is fine, but far from elite at this; while the rest of the bullpen is very much a jumble of adequate, low-flash players. There was one exception, namely rookie Andrew Gilson III. The Llamanean rookie, another late find picked #39, made a massive step up in controlling his nasty off-speed stuff. Coupled with an already formidable fastball, it meant that the Llamanean quickly ascended to one of the best bullpen arms of the team at only age 21.
Recap: Fielders
The bats held up their end of the bargain too, finishing as the fifth-best offense in the South Newlandian League, finishing with 808 runs. That started with Elephants catcher Brad Moore; who after a struggle-filled first season is finally producing at the expected level, while also feeling like a force-multiplier everywhere else.
First base was a bit of a problem-spot for the Saints, where they ended up platooning Sam Bergmann and Bucky Jimenez; while that wasn’t really good, it was better than that sounds. Skipping over the middle infield, Sunshine Tigers Jimi Fiazzo and Isabel Morata were as excellent as they’d been a season ago. Fiazzo, in particular, was a force to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball, and led the team in hits.
Center Fielder Kendra Annovar continued to be a highly valuable player, with the Chromatik not missing a beat after the trade. Still an elite defender and extremely speedy on the basepaths, her OBP did take a slight dip compared to previous seasons; so age might finally be catching up with her a bit.
In right, reigning Rookie of the Season Evander Stone did not slow down after his initial campaign either. With a tremendous plate discipline for his age, he routinely stormed first base when he wasn’t given something to crush; and with experience, he’s also improving on the other side of the ball.
DHing was a very big mix of players, with no player seeing more than 70 starts there. In general, it was a weak spot for the Saints.
From the bench, the Saints got more production than most other teams. Backup catcher Markus Wren clearly has a little ways to go before the Loyoan can be a great LPB catcher, but he’s able to learn behind one of the best catchers in the SNL; surely, this development is what the coaching staff had in mind when bringing him in.
At second, the Saints got some productive innings from rookie Jasmin Ferrara-Robinson; with her being quite overshadowed in a strong Saints rookie group. Additionally, the outfield has two entirely fine players fighting for playing time; with both Kieran Ripeppi and Sasha Belova possible future trade targets to start somewhere.
Lastly, that middle infield swiftly became one of the best in the South Newlandian League. Apollo Sündstrom quickly turned into the five-tool player everyone saw he could be when drafting him. Or, at least 80% of that player; there were still some issues, and ejections continued to be a relatively frequent problem for him. At the same time, rookie Kevin Barros quickly established himself as a strong second baseman with shortstop upside. A bigger-bodied middle infielder, he isn’t the fastest, but he can hit for great power for a middle infielder, which frequently came in handy. Defensively, he’s just fine, with second base possibly the better fit.
Awards
With six All-Star spots, including so many for position players, it didn’t take long for rewards to come rolling in. Third baseman Jimi Fiazzo was first, with the Sunshine Tiger taking home the Silver Slugger award, with his teammate, Evander Stone, also grabbing one of those. The final award went to Kevin Barros, with the young South Newlandian bringing home the Rookie of the Season award. This marks the third consecutive time a Saint has won that award, and second consecutive time it happened with a double-digit pick.
The future
The Saints are about to face a tough road wildcard game, but everyone is happy that the team in gold has finally made the playoffs in the first place. Even if their run ends up short-lived, the young team is very well positioned for the future. Manager Velma Soosang has proven that she can work well with this team, and the only likely losses via age are catcher Brad Moore and Kendra Annovar. Each of them could easily add another season to their careers if they so choose. With the Saints not picking before #40 in the upcoming amateur draft, though, their rookie-of-the-season streak is likely coming to an end barring exceptional circumstances or a trade for one of the higher picks. However, given the development of Gilson III, perhaps the Saints can surprise again.
@TypicalKrautsFan
