View from
the Crows' Nest
Jones, Smolinski
Added to Post-Season Roster
Montreal-
After missing out on a post-season
appearance a year ago by a loss to the Maine Express, now the Pompton
Pythons, in a game 163, the Montreal Crows are back in the CBA
championship dance. Of course, we all knew this officially a couple of
weeks ago when they clinched the Dawson division. But, a top seeding in
the Staub conference was unexpected. The door to that opened when San
Diego dropped the last three of a four game set against Joliet while the
Crows were continuing the torrid pace that began in June. Montreal and San
Diego both finished with 99 wins. And, as they split the twelve games they
faced each other, it came down to who scored more runs in those twelve
games. The Crows edged out the Surf 43-38, and top seeding was capped off
last night in Towaco with a 5-3 Crows win over the Wolf Pack.
And so, with the season over and
the view of the post-season in full focus, manager Robert Brunet must
announce the 25 men who will undertake a run at a championship. Though
there has been some time to consider who will be representing the Crows in
this challenge, some last minute considerations have produced a few
surprises.
The pitching staff finished atop
the CBA ledger with a stellar 2.78 ERA, but many of the arms that
contributed to that mark must content themselves as biased spectators. The
Brunets have settled on a 10 man staff to make room for some extra bats in
an attempt to produce more runs. Although 635 runs is an all time high for
Montreal, they sit far behind the numbers that the other nine play-off
teams put up. The Ottawa Otters scored 874 times this season. That's 239
more than the Crows. All the rest scored over 700. So, the Crows will have
to bring their league leading pitching and league best defense to each and
every game. If they're to have a chance, they'll need a few more runs
considering that most of these run scoring mammoths also finished in the
top 8 in pitching.
"You can expect everyone to be
shortening up on the pitching," said Crows manager Robert Brunet. "Guys
will go on short rest. Bullpen horses will be ridden. We've got to keep
pace with that. I'd like to keep more arms, but we need more options on
offense, because we'll be going up against the best pitching in the
league, make no mistake."
Brunet went on to name his ten
pitchers, led by the starters. Jordan Zimmermann and Dallas Keuchel, the
most consistent all season, will likely go 1-2. Veterans James Shields and
Jered Weaver got off to horrid starts this season, but have been
exceptional since the end of May and will be starting in the post-season.
These four, according to the plan, are expected to comprise a 4 man
rotation that will require short rest starts if series go long. Tom
Koehler, who had a fine season in his own right, is not ruled out
entirely, but will be preparing to come out of the bullpen.
"I'm good with it," said Koehler
when asked if he saw this as a kind of demotion. "Coach sat me down and
pretty much said he's counting on my versatility to stay sharp for any
situation. I'll do whatever he needs me to do."
Koehler proved very effective in
a swing roll a season ago, and that helped in the decision to go in this
direction. Another helpful happening was the mid-season addition of Mike
Fiers, who has been nothing less than outstanding and is capable of
throwing multiple innings when called upon. Zach Putnam and Marc
Rzepczynski will remain as specialists that will hopefully lead to the
shut down tandem of David Robertson and closer Mark Melancon. Going with
ten pitchers means the Crows will have to do without contributions from
the likes of Antonio Bastardo, Matt Thornton, Neil Ramirez, Will Smith,
and Roman Mendez, after having seasons all worthy of an appearance in the
post-season.
That leaves fifteen spots for
position players. The unexpected additions include Garrett Jones and Jake
Smolinski. The former spent most of the season on the disabled list, and
only joined the team in September. Though he's still not 100 percent, his
left-handed bat can figure in the mix and become an option as a designated
hitter should Montreal manage to go far enough that one is needed.
Smolinski is held over for pinch-hitting duties. He only amassed 76 at
bats in short stints this season, but hit .329 with 7 doubles and 5
homeruns. Erik Kratz stays in, giving Brunet 3 capable catchers. That
means more options in the late innings to go along with all the movable
parts in the Crows defensive posture.
Robert Brunet and his Crows must
now wait to see who comes out of the clash between Joliet and Essex in the
Staub wild card series. Up until the final days of the season, the odds
makers were sizing up a match up with Towaco. However, the Wolf Pack have
hotel reservations booked in San Diego, where they will begin a conference
semi-final series against the Surf.
While the Jackhammers and
Escapees have a tilt, the Clemente wild card series will see the Brooklyn
Superbas and the Ottawa Otters go at it. This, too, was something
unforeseen. For much of the season, the Otters presented themselves in the
guise of some elusive thing, a will-o'-the-wisp. But, as the wispy
withered, the Phantastics were, well, fantastic. Philly charged to the top
of the Clemente overall standings, knocking Ottawa into a wild card and
holding up Brooklyn's intentions on the Parker title. Philly will watch
for the winner of this series that they have so gracefully arranged. The
Newton Bombs have the honour of receiving the defending Champion Ohio
Outlawz.
It promises to be an interesting
post-season, with some new faces and some familiar ones. Nothing can be
taken for granted.
