Surprises of the Year, Nay, The Century

 

Halfway through the 2013 EHCC season, and there's plenty of surprises. Some of those that top our list: SP Hisashi Iwakuma and the 1st place Tijuana Hispanics.

Surprises of the Year, Nay, The Century
By Skip Clifton, San Diego Chronicle

It was Week 10. As I watched the conclusion to the Dublin/Tijuana matchup, my head was spinning: The Hispanics had dominated from start to finish, and beat the #1 team in the league 9-1. How could this happen? After a fairy tail run to the playoffs last season that ended in disappointment, the team fired their GM Peter Kantor and replaced him with long-time franchise 2B Brian Roberts. 2013 was supposed to be a rebuilding year, but nobody told the players.

We're 11 weeks in, and while the All-Stars head off to Rakeville for the Mid-Summer Classic, we look at the 10 biggest surprises of the EHCC season. Tijuana made the list, but they're definitely not number 1.


#10: New Guy In Town
Rookie owner David Femino came in without the fanfare of most new expansion teams. Sure, he took over a roster already established, but not many people expected the success he's been having this season. San Juan is 4-2-1 vs. the East (4-5-2 overall) and sits atop the division by 1/2 game. The offense has a few performing stars (Robinson Cano, Carlos Beltran) but its been the pitching that has carried the team. The Guerites have 9 regular SP, none of which have over a 4.08 ERA or less than 4 wins. They also have 3 closers with over 15 saves each. If the offense can catch up, they'll be a force to be reckoned with in the postseason.

#9: Relievers? I Don't Need Stinkin' Relievers
Closers are a rotating position for most teams. You may think you know the top 10 closers during the preseason, then 8 of those are jobless by July. And yet, its still amazing how many teams have just given up on saves entirely. Dublin officially bailed on the position from day 1, carrying 0 relievers. While teams like Quebec City (1), Tokyo (2), Augusta (2), and Bridgewater (2) have closers on their roster, they clearly have decided to focus on other needs. Of those 5 teams, DUB is having a great year, and QC is hovering around playoff contention, but the remaining 3 are in 10th-12th place. Saves don't win you weeks, but they obviously help.

#8: Magical Arms
It's no surprise who the highest ranked hitters are (Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Carlos Gonzalez, etc.), but there have been some huge surprises on the mound. Hisashi Iwakuma (Tij) was ranked 283 during preseason but is currently 8th (2nd overall SP) in the league with just 23 ER in 100 1/3 IP, as well as a 90/17 K/BB ratio. Clay Buchholz (QC) has also had a surprising year, starting the year #241 but is now #17 with a 9-0 record, 1.71 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. The biggest surprise might be Patrick Corbin (Brw), who was ranked 345th preseason yet is currently 33rd, 9-0 with a 2.28 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. Honorable mentions to Matt Harvey of SD (135 > 13), Shelby Miller of DUB (279 > 23), and Ervin Santana of SJ (354 > 61).

#7: Mess In The West
The 3 overall teams in the EHCC happen to reside in the West. The bigger surprise is that they are all 5-2 in the division, and just 1 game separating them overall. Tijuana's only losses this year came at the hands of DUB (wk 2) and QC (wk 3). Santo Domingo fell to RIO (wk 3) and TIJ (wk 6), but also dropped an inter-division game to RAK (wk 8). And Dublin has their losses to those two teams (SD wk 5, TIJ wk 10) and also has a tie against LV (wk 9). Tijuana's current 8-game win streak makes them look the strongest, yet Dublin, despite their 9-1 failure vs. the Hispanics, looks the most-likely to take the Western title. But with 8 division games still remaining, there's really no way to tell how this thing will end.

#6: Where'd The East Go?
The West went 15-5-4 vs. the East in the first half of the season, which is quite an arbitrary record but meaningful nonetheless. The 3 best records in the league are Tijuana, Dublin and Santo Domingo, and only Las Vegas (.550 win percentage) rounds out the 4 teams with even a .500 record. The most important stat to remember is that 11 of the 12 EHCC Champions have resided in the East, and yet in recent memory the top teams in the West have never been so dominant, so there is hope!

#5: South Of The Border Is Tops In The League
Prior to last season, General Manager Peter Kantor decided to dissolve the Tijuana roster and entered the expansion draft. It was a complete disaster at first, yet the team finished 6-0-1 to finish in 6th place and make their first postseason since 2004. The team lost in the first round, which cost Kantor his job. New GM Brian Roberts has changed the entire attitude in the front office as well as in the clubhouse, and at the midway point the Hispanics are in 1st place in the midst of an 8-gamewinning streak. Tijuana isn't built to dominate opponents, but their speedy offense, churnable rotation, and crowded bullpen make them a real title contender.

#4: Bridgewater Regrets Expansion
Like Tijuana, Bridgewater also dissolved their roster last season after looking over their roster and realizing they had an average age of 74.2. After winning the title in 2009 and 2010, the Weasels realized that if they wanted to compete down the road, they needed a complete roster upheaval. However, the expansion draft didn't go so well, and inactivity has prevented BRW from making any franchise-changing deals. They do have have a few talented young players (Matt Kemp, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Archie Bradley) so hopefully the recent failures on the scoreboard don't frustrate the front office.

#3: Let's Make A Deal... Or Not
In the past, there have been a ton of trades made by the All-Star break, but not so much recently. There were 12 in 2008, 17 in 2009, and 18 in 2010. However, in 2011 there was just 1 (ONE!) deal made before Week 12. Last season there were 6, but what has happened to the wheeling and dealing in the EHCC? So far this year there have been 3 (2 by TIJ, 2 by QC). Everybody knows that the best time to make trades is when the deadline approaches in August, and that its still way too early to panic, but the activity of the league has dropped exponentially.

#2: The "Greatest Pitching Staff In The League"
In an article I wrote during the preseason, I projected Dublin to finish second in the West, and make it all the way to the Championship Game (ultimately losing to Las Vegas). This was based on the Snake Chasers' amazing pitching staff, anchored by Stephen Strasburg and Clayton Kershaw. However, DUB has gone with the "quality over quantity" strategy, which has hurt them in the cumulative stats. They are 4th in the league in Wins and 8th in Strikeouts, though they ARE tops in ERA and WHIP. Against a team like Tijuana, who prefers churnable pitchers to aces, they lost 4 out of 5 pitching categories (a couple bad starts by Matt Moore and Jhoulys Chacin killed Dublin's averages) en route to a 9-1 defeat.

#1: Here Come The Rookies!
Every year there is that one guy (MAYBE 2) who everybody waits to use their waiver claim on. In 2012 it was Trevor Bauer for Tijuana. In 2011, Danny Duffy for Weymouth. In 2010, Starling Castro for Tokyo. But there hasn't been a season I can remember where there has been so many waiver claims this early in the season. Kevin Gausman, Michael Wacha, Yasiel Puig, and Mike Zunino have all been picked up, which has ruined the Minor League Draft for those who had some of the higher picks. With the Minor Leagues already crowded with talented players, and 4 players getting claim in 2013, this could destroy the value of minor league picks.


With 11 weeks to go, there are still plenty of things to be decided. Who will come out of the cluster of Western Division teams? Will the East continue their dominance in the championship? Will anybody start making some deals and help their team for this season or next? So many questions unanswered, but there is one thing we already know the answer to: Who is the best team in the league after the first half of the season?

The 2012 EHCC Champion Rakeville Rockets.

Until someone takes the title away from them, there's only one team in the league that can be called the best.


Skip Clifton is a columnist for the San Diego Chronicle. His biggest fears are snakes, heights, and Patrick Millina being allowed to manage another EHCC franchise.