TCABT Team selection

The field is getting set for TCABT-V- some predictable teams appearing and some surprises.

I selected the 2015 Kansas City Royals for a number of reasons in no particular order.  First, it holds to my self-imposed rule of only Twins, Royals, and Cardinals teams (one other exception), I wanted to play a current team after playing teams from 1919, and 1908 in the TCBA (but this team will still require managerial skill with hit and run and bunting a necessity as they have modest power numbers at best), the hype around a WS champing team is exciting, and I think they will be competitive, I need to roll above average 11's for this team.

I will break the team down more later as I do not have the 2015 set yet, but using Steve's APBA Card Computer (a fantastic APBA tool) I will take a quick look at the starting pitching.

I'd like a true ace for a tournament, league play may be OK with the 2015 Royals rotation, but it is what it is.

I will throw:

Cueto             B, yz
Volquez         B
Young            B
Ventura          C, y

So three B's and one C with few letters.  The bull pen is worthy of another post, as it is stellar.  At the TCABT we need to get 5 innings out of each starter unless they are getting blown out by 5 runs in an inning so I need the dice to be at least fair through five. When the sixth inning starts, I can go with an A/B, xy and A, yz for the last 4 innings of a 9 inning game, with an A,y in reserve.  Supporting this rotation is a #1 defense, more on that later.

When I watched the actual 2015 Royals Cueto made me nervous.  I like his card, but he's no tournament Ace.  The y gives me a slightly elevated strike-out number 0.92-1.17 (give or take) compared to league average and the z gives me slightly elevated control 0.30-0.83 walks compared to league average.  In a perfect world of APBA pitching, he is a nice 3 with an A/B or A/C sitting at #1.

Volquez and Young will have to face teams like the '61 Yankees, '88 Mets, '04 Cards (with the MONSTER Pujols card) and '98 Yankees as a slightly above average starting pitcher given the field of 2015 MLB starting pitchers.  A tall order.  I have seen many C's and a few D's make their appearance in a tournament in the #4 slot so Ventura will be average for the TCABT field.



Below is a list of the first 19 entrants:

#1 – 1920 INDIANS – GARY BORTHWICK (CRYSTAL, MN)

#2 – 2011 RANGERS – KEVIN CLUFF (APPLE VALLEY, MN)

#3 – 1988 METS – CRAIG CHRISTIAN (EAU CLAIRE, WI)

#4 – 1961 YANKEES – LEROY ARNOLDI (PRIOR LAKE, MN)

#5 – 1969 ORIOLES – PAUL VAN BEEK (WINONA, MN)

#6 – 1929 ATHLETICS – FRED JOHNSON (COTTAGE GROVE, MN)

#7 – 2015 ROYALS – ERIC BERG (JACKSONVILLE, IL)

#8 – 1972 PIRATES – ROGER PARSONS (TWO HARBORS, MN)

#9 – 1912 RED SOX – CHRIS SHORES (MINNEAPOLIS, MN)

#10 – 1985 BLUE JAYS – BEN LOFGREN (HAWLEY, MN)

#11 – 1910 ATHLETICS – BRUCE TYLER (ELK RIVER, MN)

#12 – 1997 MARINERS – GREGG NELSON (MAPLE GROVE, MN)

#13 – 2015 CARDINALS – PHIL GERAFFO (MINNETONKA, MN)

#14 – 2015 METS – SCOTT EGGE (WOODBURY, MN)

#15 – 2004 CARDINALS – DARRELL SKOGEN (MAPLE GROVE, MN)

#16 – 1920 YANKEES – JIM FRAASCH (SAVAGE, MN)

#17 – 1954 INDIANS – PAT MARTIN (BROOKLYN PARK, MN)

#18 – 1968 CARDINALS – ROB SKOGEN (FOREST LAKE, MN)

#19 – 1998 YANKEES – SCOTT ELLINGWORTH (BROOKLYN PARK, MN)