San Antonio Sting: The best last-place team!

The San Antonio Sting were definitely the surprise of season 6. Preseason predictions had them pegged as the worst team in baseball, but they ended up flirting with .500 for much of the year and finishing with a 75-87 record, good for third place in the AL South. Season 7 was only a very modest improvement as the team finished with a 77-85 record, earning the honor of being the best last-place team in the Gleeman World. It’s nothing to be proud of, but it’s something and Sting fans are hopeful about the future.

Scoring runs was not a problem for the Sting. Free-agent catchers Josh Wagner and Vic Hardtke split time and had great seasons, hitting .309/.397/.541 and .320/.395/.476, respectively. Alexander Gibbs, Raul Cerveza and Kareem Duckworth all crushed 40-plus home runs, but the low-.300s OBPs aren’t ideal. Duckworth, however, is still maturing as a player and came two bags shy of joining the 40/40 club. A mid-season trade brought Brent O'Donnell to San Antonio, where he solidified the middle of the order, hitting .301/.383/.547. The team scored 855 runs on the season. Only five AL teams and three NL teams scored more runs.

Preventing runs, however, was another story. The Sting gave up 866 runs — making them sixth-worst in the AL in run prevention. Kevin Riggs, the team’s number one starter held his own, tossing 232.1 innings while striking out 185 and walking 79, posting a 18-11 record and a 3.87 ERA. After Riggs, free-agent acquisition Bob Witt was somewhat of a disappointment and fans booed him relentlessly toward the end of the season. He’ll need to get off to a quick start next season. Louis Quantrill was solid, but was traded midway through the season for Will West and Joshua Walsh. The rest of the rotation was cheap, but ineffective. The bullpen also struggled, as former relief ace Jacob Stewart looked pedestrian as the team’s top setup man. Stewart pitched 95.1 innings and had solid ratios — striking out 89 and walking 35 — but still compiled a 5.10 ERA. Season 6 Rookie of the Year Pedro Mendoza experienced a sophomore slump as the team’s closer with a 4.64 ERA over 77.2 innings. He struck out 64, walked 24 and earned 28 saves.

The young Sting hope to continue to improve and the team will certainly be more interesting. Top prospect Ronald Levrault will be season 8’s Opening Day second baseman and the team is planning to shuffle some players around the field to improve defensive production.

Here are San Antonio’s season 7 team awards:
ML MVP: Josh Wagner
ML Pitcher of the Year: Kevin Riggs
Minor League Player of the Year: Ronald Levrault
Minor League Pitcher of the Year: Mateo Baez