After a tough 2034 we move towards the 2035 season. As always, hope springs eternal in Idaho.
Some new faces and some old ones in some new places for 2035.
Hitting
Leading off is 23 year old, 3 time all star, 2 time gold glover, SS Lucio Souza.
Batting second, coming off a season ending injury is Jesus Hernandez. The 29 year old is 31 stolen bases shy of 400 for his career.
In the 3 spot is 22 year old 1B, Damian Lipton. Lipton was the rookie of the month in August and September on 2034 and showed real promise.
Batting clean up, when he returns from injury is long time star Loren Dobson.
Hitting 5th and playing left field, Ollie Little. Little lead the league with 44 doubles and added 21 Homeruns in 2034.
Batting 6th is 3B Dan Strickland. Strickland batted .343 in 2034 and sported a 5.2 WAR.
In the 7 spot is Ian Woods. Woods will DH. He can play 3B as well.
Hitting 8th is rookie catcher, former 2nd round pick Maurice Wintle. After smacking 30 HR in AAA he is finally ready to be the every day catcher.
In the 9 spot is future lead off man, CF Ty Wilkerson. Mike Roy was traded to make room for this 21 year old CF.
Bench
Long time LF David Pegas is going to back up in LF and CF as his career is starting to wind down.
Backup catcher is a battle between young Antonio Jimenez and Archie Copeman.
Albert Amaya, a brilliant fielder and Doug Beynon figure to round out the bench, sharing time while Dobson recovers.
Pitching
The starting rotation is going to look similar to the end of last season.
Jim Fish, Dan Collinsowrth and Bob Parker make up a strong front 3. They will be folowed by young Ruben Martinez and a battle between Cisco DeJesus and Rick McAfee is on going for the #5 role.
In the bullpen, Tabito Tamura, coming off a 37 save season is the closer once again.Recently acquired Jose Manuel will set up along with long time Steelhead Cesar Hernandez. The other battles are for middle and long relief roles, but no major changes from last year are expected.
The Outlook
While the spring predictions are not favorable, Idaho has a very young offense capable of surprise, combined with a veteran starting pitching rotation (top 3).Similar to last year, Dobson is hurt in spring training, hopefully the 2035 offense won't struggle as much without him in the lineup.