Browsing the blog archives for May, 2007.

Season-so-far: May 1st, 2006

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It’s a month into the season, and already big changes are evident in the dying Spring air of the 2006 season.

At the conclusion of April, Daly City stands at 19-9 (.679), tied with the Canon Image Stabilizers in the Shinto-World League for the best record in the majors.  However, the Monti’s 19-9 mark is not only their lowest starting mark ever, but leaves little margin for error as the all super-.500 Galactica Division hotly tails the team, with the Apple Septic Tanks two games back, the Mozilla Firefoxes 3 games back, and the Microsoft Longhorns 4 games back.

Despite standing atop the standings, Daly City is far from being the dominant team it used to be.  It’s ranked 2nd in runs scored, and with a 3.79 team ERA, a full run over 2005’s ERA, ranked 3rd in pitching.  What’s been plaguing the team?  Everyone knew the team would be worse hitting-wise, losing a huge chunk of production in Batter of the Year Joey Wong and all-star catcher Sam Lau.  Compared to 2005’s .304-.369-.484 average line, the team is down to .283-.357-.436 – a similar on-base ability, but a huge power outage (OBP in fact ranks 1st in the league, while SLG is 5th out of 8 teams).  The problem seems to have stemmed from a lack of any midrange whatsoever.  Several players (Derek Lew, Rudy Puzon, Henry Nghe, and surprisingly, Francis Chen) have all performed fairly well, each slugging in the .521-.546 range.  After this, however, there is a significant dropoff to Jason Liu, who slugs .429, Jonathan Chee, who slugs .404, and then 3 ¼ more sub-.400 sluggers after that.  Lacking a 1-9 slot of consistent slugging power, and lacking a single supreme slugging force (like Wong, or the Lew of years past), Daly City seems to be struggling a lot more with scoring runs.

On the pitching side, there seems to be a heavy contrast between the rotation and the bullpen.  The rotation’s ERA is a fairly low 3.15, which is still a bit higher than usual.  However, the bullpen ERA is at a hideous 5.93, driven by several abysmal performances among nearly every single member of the bullpen (save Josiah Leong, ironically).

Despite the struggles, Daly City is still winning, although these days there seems to be more haphazard duck-taping of the leaks rather than smooth sailing.

Tina “Experimental ErRR” Quach, catcher: After finally inheriting the catcher position after two seasons waiting in the wings of Sam Lau, Quach began the season behind the plate… only to fall flat when stepping up to it.  She’s played in 23 games out of 28 so far, but has done so with an abysmal .228-.287-.304 line.  Defensively she’s getting her bearings straight, and despite a weak arm has thrown out 3 out of 9 would-be base stealers.  One of the biggest drop-offs so far from 2005 production, Tina definitely needs to turn it around for the team to return back to form.

Marco Paz, backup catcher: The rookie hasn’t seen too many chances so far he’s had 7 starts to play, and in 30 plate appearances, a .143-.167-.250 line to show for it.  Given time, Paz looks to come around, although at this time there really isn’t much to see.

Derek Lew, first baseman: After a bit of an agonizing 2005 season, Lew looks to be back to form so far in 2006.  He’s hitting .277-.346-.546, and while his contact numbers are a little off, he’s slugging every bit as well as he used to, and is currently Daly City’s top power hitter in terms of slugging.  A surprisingly new aspect of Lew’s game is his newfound penchant for walks – after only 14 in all of 2005, Lew already has 11 so far in 2006, a .083 BB/PA that far exceed’s 2005’s .027 BB/PA.  With Wong gone, Lew emerges as the veteran and leader of this team, and so far he’s done a superb job returning to form and leading what’s left of the hit parade.

Rudy Puzon, designated hitter: There’s no sophomore slump for this rookie hitter, who burst right out of the gate to hit .333-.412-.541 in 27 games, averaging well over his 2005 numbers in each category.  Part of Daly City’s new 3-4-5 core of Puzon, Lew, and Nghe, Puzon has so far been instrumental in keeping the team afloat, and his continued hitting is vital to the run production of the team, especially in his dual role of run-driver for the 1-2 hitters and place-setter for RBI leaders Lew and Nghe.

Cristian Ortiz, second baseman: Hounded by critics all offseason, Ortiz appeared to silence most of them as he raised his batting average to well over .300 in late April, only to see a slump that would bring it all the way back down to a meager .265-.312-.393 line.  While a single month isn’t very telling, the beginning of the season has been a bad sign for Ortiz, whose critics have lamented that he performed far pass his actual skill level in 2005.  On the bright side, Ortiz has 13 steals in April, putting him on pace for 78, which would just barely top Cubilo’s record.

Henry “Mr.” Nghe, shortstop: The rookie of the year returns in 2006 to slightly less flashy numbers but overall better performance.  While his batting average of .333 is off his league-leading .362 mark, a newfound ability to walk and new penchant for extra base hits has left his OBP at .430, higher than 2005’s .408, and his .536 slugging not far behind 2005’s .545.  Hitting at the backend of the 3-4-5 core, Nghe is tied for the league in RBI, and perhaps due to his high OBP, also leads the team with 21 runs, despite having only the 6-7-8 hitters to drive him in.

Joanna Maung, saung-gah-basewoman: Coming in with the need to fill big shoes, and at the same time with no expectation to do so, Maung in her first full starting role has adapted beautifully.  Both her AVG and OBP at .333-437 are career highs, yet at the same time her SLG of .354 is a career low.  Despite cranking out the hits and walks at a dizzying pace, Maung has only 2 doubles, leaving her with 31 singles out of 31 hits for a shocking .939 1B%.  While the team will take what it can get – solid on-base production – from a good tablesetter, there’s some luster missing from a Joanna Maung who no longer hits those clutch pinch-hit homers.  When or if those start to come around, Maung looks, surprisingly, to join the echelon of elite hitters on the team, at least based on her performance so far.

Jonathan “The Cheet” Chee, leftfielder: After making a big name for himself in 2005, Chee returned again to a permanent starting role in LF.  He’s been doing well so far, with a .314-.392-.404 line that isn’t too far off from his 2005 numbers, although he’s scored only 16 runs despite hitting well at the #2 spot in front of the 3-4-5 core.  HBP-wise, Chee’s monthly total of 4 is a far ways off from his 2005 total of 49, so he’ll need to start leaning in towards those beanings if he wants to duplicate his 2005 success in that regard.

Tiffany Ho, centerfielder: After a meager half-season with not much in the way of noteworthy statistics, Ho plowed into the 2006 season as the starting centerfielder.  While her fielding has been decent, her batting abilities are clearly still developing.  With a .292-.309-.349 line, she’s been building up her average, although her OBP and SLG numbers aren’t really going anywhere for now.  Time will tell, but until then Ho slaves away at the bottom-of-the-order 7-8-9 slots.

Francis Chen, rightfielder: Guess who’s back to form?  Surprise!  It’s Francis Chen, who was set to become a bench player in favor of Jason Liu, only to be brought back by grassroots activism.  It turns out that all 2005 postseason indicators (where Francis went .244-.404-.805) were correct – so far this season Francis has batted .234-368-.521 and leads the team with 7 HR, right around where most optimists estimated his performance, and setting the stage for potentially greater development in the coming months.  It’s always a roller coaster ride with Francis Chen, so stay tuned to see what happens in the coming two months.

Jason Liu, backup outfielder: Once slated in the offseason to become the opening day rightfielder for the first time, Liu surprisingly found himself back on the bench, despite arguably being Daly City’s best hiter in 2005.  Maybe it’s frustration and discouragement, but Liu hasn’t been hitting well at all so far, with a mere .171-.189-.429 line (check out that AVG to SLG ratio though!).  As long as Francis Chen keeps slamming away and The Cheet keeps getting on-base, the plate appearances may be hard to come by for Liu, especially if he keeps hitting like this.

Nathan Yan, #1 Starting Pitcher: It’s been a rough month for Yan, who somehow still comes out better than his 2005 average.  In his first start Yan got slammed for a career-high 10 hits in only 8 innings, allowing 4 runs (only 1 earned).  He was, however, still set to win that game, when he handed off the ball to Josiah Leong for the save.  Instead, Leong BLOWS THE FIRST SAVE OPPORTUNITY OF THE SEASON and renders Yan with his first ever career No Decision, breaking the streak.  Since that first game, Yan has bunkered down, throwing four complete games but only one shutout.  Nonetheless, his 0.82 ERA is fairly below 2005’s 0.98 ERA, and Yan’s K per 9 rate has skyrocketed to a godly 18.2, over last year’s already-record 15.3.  Yan also threw a 20-K game in his 2ndstart, and tied that record again in his 5th start.

Whitney Anne Esguerra, #2 Starting Pitcher: The rookie starter has had four great starts and one bad one thus far, and has emerged with a 1-2 record to show for it (including a complete game 1-run loss), which isn’t too surprising given her team-low 2.9 runs per game.  She’s currently pitching at a 2.83 ERA, 1.06 WHIP level, which just may be the best performance from a rookie pitcher in years.  So far, she’s shown every bit of the potential that put her into the #2 slot, and it’s just a matter of time (and some offensive support) before the wins start rolling in.

Terrence Zhao, #3 Starting Pitcher: Another victim of poor and inconsistent offensive production, Zhao, like Esguerra, has thrown four good starts and one bad one, including a 9 2/3 inning, 1 run performance that went far into extra innings and resulted in a no decision.  Zhao’s ERA stands at 3.77 and his WHIP at 1.29 with a 1-1 record, but the real culprit has been his low 5.2 runs per game offensive support.  On the plus side, Zhao seems to be gaining a little bite on pitches, striking out 9.9 K’s per 9 innings and fast approaching the magical 10-K mark.

Sean Wade, #4 Starting Pitcher: The steadfast rookie, who has built his reputation on consistency in his rookie year, has been anything but so far this season.  In four out of five starts Wade has given up 6 runs or more, and yet the fifth start was a complete game shutout.  This all combines together for a 6.35 ERA and 1.24 WHIP, which may easily be Wade’s worst month ever.  However, with a team-high 9 runs per game offensive support, Wade’s record stands at 2-1.  So early into the season it’s hard to make any judgements, but Wade’s performance thus far has been most disappointing, to say the least.

Samantha Chin, #5 Starting Pitcher: Going through her rookie year brimming with potential, Chin seems to have achieved that sooner rather than later.  So far through April, she’s 4-0 with 2.92 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP, although she’s thrown with a more consistent style rather than sheer dominance (no shutouts or complete games, but four out of five quality starts).

Miguel Pardo, #6 Starting Pitcher: For yet another year, the enigmatic Pardo starts out the season blazing, defying all analysts’ predictions.  In three starts this year (all quality starts), he’s 2-1 with a 2.86 ERA, including a beautiful 2-run complete game, despite a high-ish 1.32 WHIP.  As always with Miguel, it’s a game of roulette every time he takes the mound, but for now it seems as if luck is on his side once again.

Helen Yamamoto, Mopup Reliever: I guess the one thing that can be said about Yamamoto is that she has improved.  Where her ERA used to be 9.35, she’s now down to 7.72, her WHIP down from 2.54 to 1.93.  She’s given up an earned run in every appearance she’s made, although she’s not actually the worst of the bullpen woes…

Angel Poon, Middle Reliever: What’s happened to the steady Poon?  Once humming along steadily as one of the team’s better relievers, Poon seems to have hit a very rocky spot.  Her ERA has ballooned to a team-high 8.53, with her WHIP at 1.58.  Could this be the beginning of the end for Daly City’s longest-tenured reliever?

Zubeda Khan, Middle Reliever: Khan seems to have taken her fall from the closer’s role hard, as she gets slammed for a 6.43 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in her first month as a middle reliever.  More than anything, she seems to be particularly affected by big hits, having given up 3 HR and 3 doubles in only 7 innings of work (her SLG of .688 is far higher than 2005’s .408).  Like the rest of Daly City’s ailing bullpen, things need to turn around quick for Khan before the efforts of the rotation and feeble offense are squandered away.

Alfred Vong, Long Reliever: Things have gone from bad to worse for Vong, and no one is quite sure why.  His ERA has risen all the way to 5.89.  In his share of close games, Vong has stepped in to throw 4, 4, and 6 inning outings, which may be stretching things  a bit for the young reliever (he’s on pace to throw 110 innings, after having only thrown 63 2/3 in 2005).  Surprisingly, his other performance metrics aren’t all that bad, with his WHIP at 1.15 and both AVG and OBP numbers lower than last year’s. Maybe a bit of luck is all Vong needs, and the team is hoping the bullpen, and most especially Vong (who’s thrown 30.2% of bullpen innings), finds it soon.

Alvina Chu, Setup Reliever: The leader of the Daly City bullpen, it’s perhaps most shocking of all to see the troubles of Chu, who owns a 5.91 ERA from two very bad relief outings.  Her 1.13 WHIP still offers hope, however, although it is a far cry from her 0.91 2005 WHIP.  At the very least, Chu is no longer vultering those starter wins into no-decisions…

Josiah Leong, Closer: When the team announced that Josiah Leong would be returning to the closer role in 2006, everyone braced themselves for one hell of a ride.  Leong has delivered, to say the least.  In his first four appearances Leong blew three saves (and in the process three wins, including Yan’s first no-decision), going into extra innings in both of them to win two for himself and lose the other.  Outside of those three blown saves, however, Leong has been flawless, and since his last blown save has gone six shutout innings with only 2 hits and 2 walks, and seven consecutive saves.  In fact, with 8 saves, Leong currently leads the league!  With a return to the bullpen, Leong is also throwing at a 3.95 ERA, 1.24 WHIP clip, slightly below his career averages, and throwing out his three blown saves, has got a 0 ERA and .60 WHIP.  More rough spots can be expected along the way, but perhaps this current shutout streak is a sign that Leong may have finally put it all together as a dominant reliever.

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Daly City Montis Career Leaderboard (at the end of the 2005 Season)

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Games

Rk Name G GS
1 Nathan Yan* 96 96
2 Angel Poon* 96 0
3 Josiah Leong* 95 47
4 Terrence Zhao* 87 83
5 Michelle Absalon 84 0
6 Sarah Jimenez 76 13
7 Katie Clayton 61 0
8 Willis Fong 55 55
9 Alvina Chu* 55 0
10 Erica Lum 53 39
11 Michelle Lin 52 51
12 Miguel Pardo* 50 41
13 Zubeda Khan* 42 0
14 Sean Wade* 29 29
15 Jessica Tirta 29 0
16 Samantha Chin* 26 26
17 Alfred Vong* 24 1
18 Helen Yamamoto* 19 0
19 Helen Chow 9 0
20 Aubrey Cubilo 8 8
21 Sean Mok 3 0

*Denotes active player
G: Games
GS: Games Started

A sheer sign of his workhorse nature, it shouldn’t be any surprise that Yan tops the charts in both Games Started and Games. Angel Poon, another three-year veteran, is tied for tops in games, but Josiah Leong, who looks to pitch an ungodly number of relief games in the long-relief closer role, looks to pass up everybody by the end of the season. In terms of starters, Yan and Zhao should remain at 1-2, but the season will likely see Wade, Pardo, and possibly Chin move up beyond 2003-2004 players Fong and Lin for the 3-5 spaces.

Innings

Rk Name G GS IP IP/GS IP/RA
1 Nathan Yan* 96 96 830 8.646 0.000
2 Terrence Zhao* 87 83 587 7.072 0.000
3 Willis Fong 55 55 415 1/3 7.552 0.000
4 Josiah Leong* 95 47 351 0.000 0.000
5 Michelle Lin 52 51 335 1/3 6.575 0.000
6 Miguel Pardo* 50 41 275 6.707 0.000
7 Erica Lum 53 39 258 2/3 0.000 0.000
8 Sarah Jimenez 76 13 213 0.000 3.381
9 Sean Wade* 29 29 201 6.931 0.000
10 Angel Poon* 96 0 181 0.000 1.885
11 Samantha Chin* 26 26 168 1/3 6.474 0.000
12 Michelle Absalon 84 0 120 2/3 0.000 1.437
13 Alvina Chu* 55 0 102 0.000 1.855
14 Katie Clayton 61 0 89 0.000 1.459
15 Alfred Vong* 24 1 63 2/3 0.000 2.768
16 Jessica Tirta 29 0 54 1/3 0.000 1.874
17 Zubeda Khan* 42 0 46 2/3 0.000 1.111
18 Aubrey Cubilo 8 8 44 2/3 5.583 0.000
19 Helen Yamamoto* 19 0 26 0.000 1.368
20 Helen Chow 9 0 18 0.000 2.000
21 Sean Mok 3 0 6 2/3 0.000 2.222

*Denotes active player
IP: Innings pitched (innings are baseball’s time unit)
IP/GS: Average innings pitched per start
IP/RA: Average innings pitched per relief appearance

A much more exact statistic of work, Yan once again dominates this chart, not only in sheer innings but also in innings per start – rounded off he averages a complete game very start! It’s slightly disappointing to see Leong so low on the list, although he did spend a year in relief. Wade seems to be the fastest-rising player – after a single season he’s already 9th on the list, and looks to pass up everyone up to and maybe even including Leong after this season. Angel Poon tops the charts for a pure reliever, a statistic she’ll probably hold onto for awhile.

Wins

Rk Name GS W L Win%
1 Nathan Yan* 96 90 6 0.938
2 Terrence Zhao* 83 52 15 0.776
3 Willis Fong 55 48 3 0.941
4 Michelle Lin 51 34 3 0.919
5 Erica Lum 39 26 7 0.788
6 Sarah Jimenez 13 23 6 0.793
7 Miguel Pardo* 41 22 9 0.710
8 Josiah Leong* 47 21 17 0.553
9 Sean Wade* 29 20 8 0.714
10 Alvina Chu* 0 14 3 0.824
11 Samantha Chin* 26 13 1 0.929
12 Michelle Absalon 0 10 1 0.909
13 Angel Poon* 0 9 5 0.643
14 Alfred Vong* 1 4 2 0.667
15 Jessica Tirta 0 3 1 0.750
16 Aubrey Cubilo 8 3 1 0.750
17 Zubeda Khan* 0 2 3 0.400
18 Katie Clayton 0 0 1 0.000
19 Helen Yamamoto* 0 0 0 0.000
20 Helen Chow 0 0 0 0.000
21 Sean Mok 0 0 0 0.000

*Denotes active player
GS: Games Started
W: Wins, counted whenever a pitcher “wins” the game
L: Losses, whenever a player “loses” the game

Yan once again tops the leaderboard, by a very far margin. After three 30-2 seasons, however, his Winning % actually hasn’t improved, so he’s in fact still behind Fong, who in 2004 put together a perfect 29-0 season Yan still holds the prime distinction of being the only player to not have recorded a single no decision, however, although Wade had only one in his rookie year. The coming year should see all starters move up, possibly past Lin’s #4 spot, but likely not beyond Fong’s 48.
K

Rk Name IP K K/9
1 Nathan Yan* 830 1279 13.87
2 Terrence Zhao* 587 508 7.79
3 Willis Fong 415 1/3 454 9.84
4 Michelle Lin 335 1/3 392 10.52
5 Josiah Leong* 351 375 9.62
6 Miguel Pardo* 275 181 5.92
7 Sean Wade* 201 163 7.30
8 Samantha Chin* 168 1/3 163 8.71
9 Sarah Jimenez 213 149 6.30
10 Angel Poon* 181 142 7.06
11 Michelle Absalon 120 2/3 138 10.29
12 Alvina Chu* 102 95 8.38
13 Erica Lum 258 2/3 73 2.54
14 Alfred Vong* 63 2/3 53 7.49
15 Katie Clayton 89 49 4.96
16 Zubeda Khan* 46 2/3 38 7.33
17 Jessica Tirta 54 1/3 31 5.13
18 Aubrey Cubilo 44 2/3 28 5.64
19 Helen Yamamoto* 26 12 4.15
20 Helen Chow 18 12 6.00
21 Sean Mok 6 2/3 0 0.00

*Denotes active player
IP: Innings pitched (Innings are baseball’s time unit)
K: Strikeout, when the batter fails to even put the ball in play
K/9: A strikeout rate, measured by strikeouts per 9 innings pitched

No surprises here: Having blown away the league for three consecutive years, it shouldn’t be any surprise that Yan dominates this chart. After three years, Zhao also finally surpasses Fong for #2 all-time, although Leong, with his far higher K/9, should have been well past both now, if he had been consistent enough to pitch the innings. Depending on his innings, Leong may yet move past Fong. An interesting thing to note is the dying breed of high K pitchers – of the five players with higher than 9 K’s per 9 innings, 3 of them are retired

Quality Starts

Rk Name GS QS CG SHO QS% CG% SHO%
1 Nathan Yan* 96 90 68 35 0.938 0.708 0.365
2 Terrence Zhao* 83 61 20 14 0.735 0.241 0.169
3 Willis Fong 55 45 20 7 0.818 0.364 0.127
4 Michelle Lin 51 34 8 3 0.667 0.157 0.059
5 Josiah Leong* 47 28 1 0 0.596 0.021 0.000
6 Erica Lum 39 24 3 0 0.615 0.077 0.000
7 Sean Wade* 29 23 3 2 0.793 0.103 0.069
8 Miguel Pardo* 41 21 4 2 0.512 0.098 0.049
9 Samantha Chin* 26 14 2 1 0.538 0.077 0.038
10 Sarah Jimenez 13 9 2 1 0.692 0.154 0.077
11 Alfred Vong* 1 1 0 0 1.000 0.000 0.000
12 Aubrey Cubilo 8 1 1 0 0.125 0.125 0.000
13 Angel Poon* 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
14 Michelle Absalon 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
15 Alvina Chu* 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
16 Katie Clayton 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
17 Zubeda Khan* 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
18 Jessica Tirta 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
19 Helen Yamamoto* 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
20 Helen Chow 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
21 Sean Mok 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000

*Denotes active player
GS: Games started
QS: Quality starts, where the pitcher throws at least 6 innings with fewer than 3 earned runs allowed. A mark of consistency
CG: Complete games, where the pitcher throws the entire game from beginning to end. A mark of endurance
SHO: Shutouts, a complete game where the pitcher allows no runs. A mark of dominance
QS%: Quality starts as a percentage of starts
CG%: Complete games as a percentage of starts
SO%: Shutout games as a percentage of starts

Yan dominates all three QS, CG, and SHO categories by a large margin. A more interesting note is Zhao, who has steadily bettered year after year. Despite his overall career averages not being as high as Fong, at this point he’s probably a better pitcher, and over time he should be able to increase his averages up to #2. Other notes: it’s clear to see that Leong, Chin, and Pardo rank among the most inconsistent, where as Wade has already demonstrated he can be one of the most consistent players around.

ERA

Rk Name IP ERA CERA DIPS WHIP
1 Michelle Absalon 120 2/3 0.75 0.81 1.75 0.77
2 Nathan Yan* 830 1.21 0.72 0.96 0.67
3 Alvina Chu* 102 2.03 1.89 2.94 0.97
4 Willis Fong 415 1/3 2.04 1.83 2.76 0.93
5 Jessica Tirta 54 1/3 2.65 3.02 3.57 1.21
6 Terrence Zhao* 587 2.79 2.66 3.92 1.12
7 Sean Wade* 201 3.00 2.37 3.37 1.02
8 Michelle Lin 335 1/3 3.44 2.98 3.01 1.07
9 Sarah Jimenez 213 3.46 2.98 3.90 1.26
10 Zubeda Khan* 46 2/3 3.47 3.28 3.98 1.14
11 Erica Lum 258 2/3 3.51 4.32 5.88 1.58
12 Angel Poon* 181 3.58 3.52 3.94 1.19
13 Helen Chow 18 4.00 5.12 4.73 1.56
14 Sean Mok 6 2/3 4.05 5.56 6.83 1.65
15 Josiah Leong* 351 4.05 4.04 4.57 1.44
16 Samantha Chin* 168 1/3 4.06 3.29 3.73 1.21
17 Aubrey Cubilo 44 2/3 4.23 3.32 4.88 1.21
18 Alfred Vong* 63 2/3 4.24 3.84 4.65 1.19
19 Miguel Pardo* 275 4.88 4.81 5.05 1.56
20 Katie Clayton 89 7.28 6.05 5.83 1.74
21 Helen Yamamoto* 26 9.35 12.35 8.29 2.54

*Denotes active player
IP: Innings pitched (innings are baseball’s time unit)
ERA: Earned Run Average, the average earned runs allowed by the pitcher per 9 innings
CERA: Component ERA – an overall performance metric similar to ERA. Probably the performance indicator
DIPS: Defense-Independent Pitching ERA – an overall performance metric similar to ERA, which involves only walks, strikeouts, and homeruns.
WHIP: Walks and hits per inning pitched, a rough performance metric

What’s this? A category where Yan isn’t on top? Surprisingly, Yan’s career ERA has actually been bested by Absalon, who boasts a 0.84 ERA in 2003 and 0.64 ERA in 2004. Despite this, all other indicators point to Yan being the far more dominant pitcher. Among other players, Chu is making quite a name for herself, with the third best ERA all-time, just barely edging Fong.

Saves

Rk Name S G RA GF HLD SVO BS SV%
1 Michelle Absalon 50 84 84 69 12 61 3 0.820
2 Josiah Leong* 40 95 48 46 0 43 3 0.930
3 Zubeda Khan* 29 42 42 40 0 34 5 0.853
4 Angel Poon* 7 96 96 50 19 29 5 0.241
5 Alvina Chu* 3 55 55 27 12 22 7 0.136
6 Sarah Jimenez 2 76 63 24 14 19 3 0.105
7 Katie Clayton 2 61 61 40 5 6 1 0.333
8 Jessica Tirta 2 29 29 13 3 5 2 0.400
9 Alfred Vong* 2 24 23 14 3 7 0 0.286
10 Erica Lum 2 53 14 7 0 2 0 1.000
11 Helen Yamamoto* 2 19 19 12 0 2 0 1.000
12 Helen Chow 1 9 9 3 3 4 0 0.250
13 Miguel Pardo* 1 50 9 5 1 2 0 0.500
14 Nathan Yan* 0 96 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
15 Willis Fong 0 55 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
16 Terrence Zhao* 0 87 4 0 0 0 0 0.000
17 Sean Wade* 0 29 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
18 Michelle Lin 0 52 1 1 0 0 0 0.000
19 Sean Mok 0 3 3 3 0 0 0 0.000
20 Samantha Chin* 0 26 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
21 Aubrey Cubilo 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

*Denotes active player
S: Save, when a relief pitcher enters a close game and successfully maintains the lead (the primary role of a “closer”)
G: Games played
RA: Relief appearances
GF: Games finished, relief appearances in which the reliever was the last pitcher
HLD: Hold, similar to save, where a relief pitcher enters a close game and successfully maintains the lead (a reliever does not need to finish a game for a hold)
SVO: Save opportunities, the number of opportunities the pitcher has had to save the game.
BS: Blown saves, when a pitcher enters into a save situation and fails to maintain the lead
SV%: The percentage of save opportunities converted into actual saves.

After three tumultuous years and three starters, the leaderboard is still topped by none other than the inaugural closer Michelle Absalon, who picked up 46 saves in her first season, and added on another 4 the subsequent year. Last year’s closer, Zubeda Khan, managed a scant 29 saves, while year 2 closer Josiah Leong picked up 40. Leong returns as the year 4 closer, marking the first year without a new face at closer. With another year of saves under his belt, Leong should skyrocket past Absalon for first place, and until next year at least, no other candidate has presented himself/herself to climb significantly up this leaderboard.

Games

Rk Name G GS PA AB
1 Joey Wong 474 473 2160 1924
2 Derek Lew* 440 440 2079 1972
3 Sam Lau 405 403 1745 1465
4 Aubrey Cubilo 337 337 1601 1527
5 Desiree Tienturier 326 326 1521 1366
6 Norman Ho 317 317 1464 1238
7 Jonathan Chee* 317 312 1363 1149
8 Sean Mok 255 246 1171 1059
9 Cristian Ortiz* 241 233 996 898
10 Jason Liu* 218 213 951 832
11 Henry Nghe* 151 149 671 618
12 Tina Quach* 150 142 606 535
13 Joanna Maung* 145 128 557 481
14 Rudy Puzon* 139 139 640 554
15 Francis Chen* 121 116 476 414
16 Jean Paredes 113 103 449 424
17 Justin Cheuk 112 106 446 409
18 Josiah Leong* 67 67 314 265
19 Tiffany Ho* 64 60 243 233
20 Joe Jaber 53 44 205 186
21 Kelvin Huang 26 24 104 98

*Denotes active player
G: Games
GS: Games started
PA: Plate appearance, the number of times the player has shown up at the plate to bat. This indicates how many opportunities the player had.
AB: At bats, the number of plate appearances minus PA’s that resulted in non-batting events, such as walks and hit-by-pitches. This indicates how many opportunities the player had to bat.

A quartet of three-year veterans headline this leaderboard, which isn’t really an indicator of anything but longevity. Wong dominates this chart, although Lew held the position for a long time before his injury-plagued 2005 season. With Lew the only player in the top 5 still active, look for him to move into the leaderboard without rival, as he becomes the only regular starter who has been with the team since 2003. Fellow three-year veterans (albeit not regular starters) Jonathan Chee and Cristian Ortiz also look to move up beyond most of the retired players on the board.

Hits

Rk Name AB H AVG
1 Joey Wong 1924 707 0.367
2 Derek Lew* 1972 590 0.299
3 Aubrey Cubilo 1527 452 0.296
4 Desiree Tienturier 1366 447 0.327
5 Norman Ho 1238 436 0.352
6 Sam Lau 1465 408 0.278
7 Sean Mok 1059 371 0.350
8 Jonathan Chee* 1149 324 0.282
9 Jason Liu* 832 259 0.311
10 Cristian Ortiz* 898 244 0.272
11 Henry Nghe* 618 223 0.361
12 Rudy Puzon* 554 167 0.301
13 Tina Quach* 535 161 0.301
14 Joanna Maung* 481 138 0.287
15 Jean Paredes 424 110 0.259
16 Josiah Leong* 265 95 0.358
17 Justin Cheuk 409 93 0.227
18 Francis Chen* 414 84 0.203
19 Tiffany Ho* 233 65 0.279
20 Joe Jaber 186 48 0.258
21 Kelvin Huang 98 34 0.347

*Denotes active player
AB: At bats, the number of plate appearances minus PA’s that resulted in non-batting events, such as walks and hit-by-pitches. This indicates how many opportunities the player had to bat.
H: Hits, when a player hits the ball and successfully reaches a base.
AVG: Batting average, hits per at bat, or the percentage of at bats that result in hits

No surprises here – Wong tops the leaderboard by a wide margin, as he also retires as Daly City’s all time batting average leader (a feat that will be tough to match). While veteran Lew looks to pass Wong by this season, it appears a long ways off before any other player will come close to surpassing the current leader totals.

Singles

Rk Name AB H 1B 1B%
1 Joey Wong 1924 707 490 0.693
2 Derek Lew* 1972 590 309 0.524
3 Aubrey Cubilo 1527 452 308 0.681
4 Desiree Tienturier 1366 447 284 0.635
5 Sam Lau 1465 408 275 0.674
6 Sean Mok 1059 371 267 0.720
7 Jonathan Chee* 1149 324 257 0.793
8 Norman Ho 1238 436 243 0.557
9 Cristian Ortiz* 898 244 168 0.689
10 Henry Nghe* 618 223 149 0.668
11 Jason Liu* 832 259 126 0.486
12 Tina Quach* 535 161 117 0.727
13 Rudy Puzon* 554 167 114 0.683
14 Joanna Maung* 481 138 108 0.783
15 Jean Paredes 424 110 74 0.673
16 Josiah Leong* 265 95 59 0.621
17 Justin Cheuk 409 93 53 0.570
18 Tiffany Ho* 233 65 50 0.769
19 Francis Chen* 414 84 36 0.429
20 Joe Jaber 186 48 27 0.563
21 Kelvin Huang 98 34 22 0.647

*Denotes active player
AB: At bats, the number of plate appearances minus PA’s that resulted in non-batting events, such as walks and hit-by-pitches. This indicates how many opportunities the player had to bat.
H: Hits, when a player hits the ball and successfully reaches a base.
1B: Singles, hits that result in the player reaching the first base (out of four)
1B%: The percentage of hits that are singles

The number of singles correlate fairly well with the number of hits – there is not much Huange in the leaderboard here. Wong dominates by a large amount, although Lew, due to a team third-lowest 1B%, only edges out second place by 1 single. A more interesting statistic than pure 1B totals is 1B%. As expected, the light-hitting players such as Mok, Quach, and most especially Tiffany Ho, Maung, and Chee, were singles dominant, all hitting for singles 70% of the time. In contrast, the biggest pure sluggers like Lew and Norman Ho, batted in the low .500’s for singles. The biggest anomalies, however, turn out in fellow sluggers (and RF position competitors) Jason Liu and Francis Chen, both of whom hit for singles less than half the time (in Chen’s case, a scant 42.9% of the time!)

Doubles

Rk Name AB H 2B 2B% AB/2B
1 Derek Lew* 1972 590 181 0.307 10.90
2 Aubrey Cubilo 1527 452 116 0.257 13.16
3 Joey Wong 1924 707 115 0.163 16.73
4 Norman Ho 1238 436 95 0.218 13.03
5 Desiree Tienturier 1366 447 69 0.154 19.80
6 Sean Mok 1059 371 65 0.175 16.29
7 Sam Lau 1465 408 62 0.152 23.63
8 Jason Liu* 832 259 57 0.220 14.60
9 Henry Nghe* 618 223 49 0.220 12.61
10 Jonathan Chee* 1149 324 44 0.136 26.11
11 Justin Cheuk 409 93 36 0.387 11.36
12 Cristian Ortiz* 898 244 35 0.143 25.66
13 Tina Quach* 535 161 32 0.199 16.72
14 Joanna Maung* 481 138 21 0.152 22.90
15 Josiah Leong* 265 95 18 0.189 14.72
16 Rudy Puzon* 554 167 16 0.096 34.63
17 Francis Chen* 414 84 16 0.190 25.88
18 Jean Paredes 424 110 14 0.127 30.29
19 Joe Jaber 186 48 13 0.271 14.31
20 Tiffany Ho* 233 65 12 0.185 19.42
21 Kelvin Huang 98 34 8 0.235 12.25

*Denotes active player
AB: At bats, the number of plate appearances minus PA’s that resulted in non-batting events, such as walks and hit-by-pitches. This indicates how many opportunities the player had to bat.
H: Hits, when a player hits the ball and successfully reaches a base.
2B: Doubles, hits that result in the player reaching the second base (out of four)
2B%: The percentage of hits that are doubles
AB/2B: The frequency of hitting doubles, in at bats per double (lower is better)

As Wong dominates the hits and singles chart, Lew excels here at his specialty – the double. Now only does Lew have by far the highest 2B total, but he also dominates the 2B% and AB/2B charts as well. There doesn’t appear to be anyone who will challenge him soon, or ever, although rookie Henry Nghe showed a strong penchant for hitting doubles in his rookie season.

HR

Rk Name AB H HR HR% AB/HR
1 Joey Wong 1924 707 92 0.130 20.91
2 Derek Lew* 1972 590 87 0.147 22.67
3 Norman Ho 1238 436 87 0.200 14.23
4 Desiree Tienturier 1366 447 85 0.190 16.07
5 Sam Lau 1465 408 67 0.164 21.87
6 Jason Liu* 832 259 67 0.259 12.42
7 Cristian Ortiz* 898 244 37 0.152 24.27
8 Sean Mok 1059 371 33 0.089 32.09
9 Rudy Puzon* 554 167 32 0.192 17.31
10 Francis Chen* 414 84 28 0.333 14.79
11 Jonathan Chee* 1149 324 21 0.065 54.71
12 Jean Paredes 424 110 20 0.182 21.20
13 Josiah Leong* 265 95 16 0.168 16.56
14 Henry Nghe* 618 223 12 0.054 51.50
15 Joanna Maung* 481 138 9 0.065 53.44
16 Tina Quach* 535 161 8 0.050 66.88
17 Joe Jaber 186 48 7 0.146 26.57
18 Justin Cheuk 409 93 4 0.043 102.25
19 Kelvin Huang 98 34 3 0.088 32.67
20 Tiffany Ho* 233 65 1 0.015 233.00
21 Aubrey Cubilo 1527 452 0 0.000 0.00

*Denotes active player
AB: At bats, the number of plate appearances minus PA’s that resulted in non-batting events, such as walks and hit-by-pitches. This indicates how many opportunities the player had to bat.
H: Hits, when a player hits the ball and successfully reaches a base.
HR: Homeruns, hits that result in the player reaching all four bases and scoring a run
HR%: The percentage of hits that are homeruns
AB/HR: The frequency of hitting doubles, in at bats per homerun (lower is better)

While it’s clear that the slugger era dominated by the likes of Norman Ho and Desiree Tienturier are long over, it’s actually the three-year veterans Wong and Lew that top the leaderboard. With Wong’s retirement, Lew seems likely to move into first place, although there’s a great potential threat from sluggers Jason Liu and Francis Chen. Although both players lag far behind, both players have insanely high HR% and AB/HR numbers that equal or even top the numbers Ho and Tienturier put up. Given enough playing time, look for both to move up the charts quickly, although it will take them awhile before really approaching the top of the board. Rudy Puzon, who had 17.31 AB/HR in his rookie season, also seems like a strong candidate to have a lengthy HR career.

Total Bases

Rk Name AB H 1B 2B 3B HR TB AVG SLG TB/H
1 Joey Wong 1924 707 490 115 10 92 1118 0.367 0.581 1.581
2 Derek Lew* 1972 590 309 181 13 87 1058 0.299 0.537 1.793
3 Norman Ho 1238 436 243 95 11 87 814 0.352 0.658 1.867
4 Desiree Tienturier 1366 447 284 69 9 85 789 0.327 0.578 1.765
5 Sam Lau 1465 408 275 62 4 67 679 0.278 0.463 1.664
6 Aubrey Cubilo 1527 452 308 116 28 0 624 0.296 0.409 1.381
7 Sean Mok 1059 371 267 65 6 33 547 0.350 0.517 1.474
8 Jason Liu* 832 259 126 57 9 67 535 0.311 0.643 2.066
9 Jonathan Chee* 1149 324 257 44 2 21 435 0.282 0.379 1.343
10 Cristian Ortiz* 898 244 168 35 4 37 398 0.272 0.443 1.631
11 Henry Nghe* 618 223 149 49 13 12 334 0.361 0.540 1.498
12 Rudy Puzon* 554 167 114 16 5 32 289 0.301 0.522 1.731
13 Tina Quach* 535 161 117 32 4 8 225 0.301 0.421 1.398
14 Francis Chen* 414 84 36 16 4 28 192 0.203 0.464 2.286
15 Jean Paredes 424 110 74 14 2 20 188 0.259 0.443 1.709
16 Joanna Maung* 481 138 108 21 0 9 186 0.287 0.387 1.348
17 Josiah Leong* 265 95 59 18 2 16 165 0.358 0.623 1.737
18 Justin Cheuk 409 93 53 36 0 4 141 0.227 0.345 1.516
19 Joe Jaber 186 48 27 13 1 7 84 0.258 0.452 1.750
20 Tiffany Ho* 233 65 50 12 2 1 84 0.279 0.361 1.292
21 Kelvin Huang 98 34 22 8 1 3 53 0.347 0.541 1.559

*Denotes active player
AB: At bats, the number of plate appearances minus PA’s that resulted in non-batting events, such as walks and hit-by-pitches. This indicates how many opportunities the player had to bat.
H: Hits, when a player hits the ball and successfully reaches a base.
1B: Singles, hits that result in the player reaching the first base (out of four)
2B: Doubles, hits that result in the player reaching the second base (out of four)
3B: Triples, hits that result in the player reaching the third base (out of four)
HR: Homeruns, hits that result in the player reaching all four bases and scoring a run
Total Bases: The cumulative number of bases from all hits (where singles count as 1 base, doubles as 2, triples as 3, and homeruns as four)
AVG: Batting average, hits per at bat, or the percentage of at bats that result in hits. This is a rough indicator of contact ability
SLG: Slugging percentage, or total bases per at bat. This is a rough indicator of power ability, although it is partially dependent on average
TB/H: Average total bases per hit. This is a pure indicator of power ability, independent of contact ability.

As with most other categories, Wong retires at the top of this chart, with only Lew within easy reach of claiming first place anytime soon. Interestingly, TB/H yields some affirmative results for the best pure hitter in the team’s history. While Ho dominates this category for regular players, Liu and to an even greater extent Chen have hammered away in this category, and both possess numbers greatly in excess of the team’s historical leaders.

Walks

Rk Name BB PA OBP BB/PA
1 Sam Lau 236 1745 0.382 0.135
2 Joey Wong 212 2160 0.429 0.098
3 Norman Ho 199 1464 0.445 0.136
4 Jonathan Chee* 156 1363 0.391 0.114
5 Desiree Tienturier 118 1521 0.391 0.078
6 Sean Mok 93 1171 0.406 0.079
7 Jason Liu* 93 951 0.388 0.098
8 Cristian Ortiz* 79 996 0.336 0.079
9 Rudy Puzon* 76 640 0.383 0.119
10 Tina Quach* 67 606 0.381 0.111
11 Joanna Maung* 67 557 0.375 0.120
12 Derek Lew* 65 2079 0.325 0.031
13 Aubrey Cubilo 53 1601 0.324 0.033
14 Francis Chen* 52 476 0.296 0.109
15 Henry Nghe* 47 671 0.407 0.070
16 Josiah Leong* 41 314 0.443 0.131
17 Justin Cheuk 34 446 0.285 0.076
18 Jean Paredes 17 449 0.296 0.038
19 Joe Jaber 12 205 0.322 0.059
20 Tiffany Ho* 8 243 0.305 0.033
21 Kelvin Huang 4 104 0.365 0.038

*Denotes active player
PA: Plate appearance, the number of times the player has shown up at the plate to bat. This indicates how many opportunities the player had.
BB: Base on balls, or walks, where a player automatically reaches first base after a pitcher has thrown four off-target pitches
OBP: On-base percentage, or the percentage of plate appearances in which the player reaches base safely, regardless of method.
BB/PA: Walks per plate appearance, or the percentage of plate appearances that result in walks:

It’s quite interesting to dip back into the past – despite having played only two seasons, only in the last season have players Lau and Wong surpassed Ho, and not even by that much. Turning towards the rates, we find that Ho clearly dominates in the OBP and BB/PA departments. Nonetheless, all three of the top players are retired, leaving Chee as the current active leader, on pace to take the lead sometime in 2007. Noticeably absent from the top is longtime player Derek Lew, who ranks only 12 in this category, due to his longtime inability to garner any walks despite a great ability to fend off strikeouts.

RBI

Rk Name AB RBI RBI/AB
1 Joey Wong 1924 421 0.219
2 Derek Lew* 1972 396 0.201
3 Norman Ho 1238 299 0.242
4 Desiree Tienturier 1366 296 0.217
5 Sam Lau 1465 291 0.199
6 Jason Liu* 832 215 0.258
7 Aubrey Cubilo 1527 174 0.114
8 Sean Mok 1059 169 0.160
9 Jonathan Chee* 1149 158 0.138
10 Cristian Ortiz* 898 143 0.159
11 Rudy Puzon* 554 115 0.208
12 Henry Nghe* 618 101 0.163
13 Francis Chen* 414 85 0.205
14 Joanna Maung* 481 83 0.173
15 Tina Quach* 535 73 0.136
16 Jean Paredes 424 66 0.156
17 Josiah Leong* 265 52 0.196
18 Justin Cheuk 409 44 0.108
19 Joe Jaber 186 33 0.177
20 Tiffany Ho* 233 23 0.099
21 Kelvin Huang 98 21 0.214

*Denotes active player
AB: At bats, the number of plate appearances minus PA’s that resulted in non-batting events, such as walks and hit-by-pitches. This indicates how many opportunities the player had to bat.
RBI: Runs batted in, when a player directly drives another player (or himself, via a homerun) in for a run (runs are baseball’s point/goal unit)
RBI/AB: RBI’s per at bat

After three dominant RBI seasons, Wong, Lew, Ho, and Tienturier dominate this chart, each averaging well over 100 RBI’s per season. Except for the up-and-coming Liu, Chen, and Puzon, all four players dominate in the RBI/AB rate as well. Lew, as the team’s new #4 hitter following the departure of Wong, looks to dominate in this category after this season, without anyone else to really challenge him for years to come.

Runs

Rk Name PA R R/PA
1 Joey Wong 2160 396 0.206
2 Derek Lew* 2079 366 0.186
3 Norman Ho 1464 318 0.257
4 Desiree Tienturier 1521 304 0.223
5 Sam Lau 1745 265 0.181
6 Aubrey Cubilo 1601 264 0.173
7 Sean Mok 1171 208 0.196
8 Jonathan Chee* 1363 189 0.164
9 Jason Liu* 951 187 0.225
10 Cristian Ortiz* 996 144 0.160
11 Henry Nghe* 671 120 0.194
12 Rudy Puzon* 640 109 0.197
13 Joanna Maung* 557 87 0.181
14 Tina Quach* 606 82 0.153
15 Josiah Leong* 314 69 0.260
16 Francis Chen* 476 68 0.164
17 Jean Paredes 449 61 0.144
18 Justin Cheuk 446 55 0.134
19 Tiffany Ho* 243 34 0.146
20 Joe Jaber 205 28 0.151
21 Kelvin Huang 104 17 0.173

*Denotes active player
PA: Plate appearance, the number of times the player has shown up at the plate to bat. This indicates how many opportunities the player had.
R: Runs, the number of times the player has scored by reaching the fourth base
R/PA: Runs per plate appearance

Runs pretty much follows an order of longevity, although it is again the best sluggers who also end up with the highest run totals, much like RBIs.

Steals

Name SB CS SBA SB%
Aubrey Cubilo 170 24 194 0.876
Desiree Tienturier 92 36 128 0.719
Norman Ho 68 22 90 0.756
Cristian Ortiz* 61 8 69 0.884
Sean Mok 39 13 52 0.750
Josiah Leong* 35 4 39 0.897
Joey Wong 31 0 31 1.000
Jonathan Chee* 24 0 24 1.000
Henry Nghe* 19 9 28 0.679
Sam Lau 15 0 15 1.000
Derek Lew* 14 2 16 0.875
Jason Liu* 11 0 11 1.000
Francis Chen* 10 2 12 0.833
Tiffany Ho* 10 1 11 0.909
Jean Paredes 7 1 8 0.875
Rudy Puzon* 5 4 9 0.556
Joanna Maung* 1 0 1 1.000
Tina Quach* 1 0 1 1.000
Justin Cheuk 1 0 1 1.000
Joe Jaber 1 0 1 1.000
Kelvin Huang 0 0 0 0.000

*Denotes active player
SB: Stolen bases, or steals, when a player runs to take an extra base
CS: Caught stealing, when a player unsuccessfully attempts to steal a base
SBA: Stolen base attempts, when a player attempts to run to advance an extra base
SB%: Stolen base %, or the rate of success

Daly City’s heralded speedster Aubrey Cubilo dominates this chart, with numbers far in excess of anyone else. With the top three players all retired, and not another speedster in the group, Ortiz remains as the only true base stealer on the team, although Jonathan Chee could look to make a long career out of piggy-backing double steals.

AVG

Rk Name AVG AB H
1 Joey Wong 0.367 1924 707
2 Henry Nghe* 0.361 618 223
3 Josiah Leong* 0.358 265 95
4 Norman Ho 0.352 1238 436
5 Sean Mok 0.350 1059 371
6 Kelvin Huang 0.347 98 34
7 Desiree Tienturier 0.327 1366 447
8 Jason Liu* 0.311 832 259
9 Rudy Puzon* 0.301 554 167
10 Tina Quach* 0.301 535 161
11 Derek Lew* 0.299 1972 590
12 Aubrey Cubilo 0.296 1527 452
13 Joanna Maung* 0.287 481 138
14 Jonathan Chee* 0.282 1149 324
15 Tiffany Ho* 0.279 233 65
16 Sam Lau 0.278 1465 408
17 Cristian Ortiz* 0.272 898 244
18 Jean Paredes 0.259 424 110
19 Joe Jaber 0.258 186 48
20 Justin Cheuk 0.227 409 93
21 Francis Chen* 0.203 414 84

*Denotes active player
AVG: Batting average, hits per at bat, or the percentage of at bats that result in hits. This is a rough indicator of contact ability
AB: At bats, the number of plate appearances minus PA’s that resulted in non-batting events, such as walks and hit-by-pitches. This indicates how many opportunities the player had to bat.
H: Hits, when a player hits the ball and successfully reaches a base.

Joey Wong dominates here as batting champ, although surprisingly the next two spots are not other veteran hitters but one-season players Nghe and Leong, both of whom are still active. While both are talented contact hitters, it would be a surprise if either ended up playing at a consistently high level enough to surpass Wong’s .367 mark, although both players are already very close.

OBP

Rk Name OBP PA H BB HBP
1 Norman Ho 0.445 1464 436 199 16
2 Josiah Leong* 0.443 314 95 41 3
3 Joey Wong 0.429 2160 707 212 6
4 Henry Nghe* 0.407 671 223 47 3
5 Sean Mok 0.406 1171 371 93 11
6 Jonathan Chee* 0.391 1363 324 156 53
7 Desiree Tienturier 0.391 1521 447 118 28
8 Jason Liu* 0.388 951 259 93 17
9 Rudy Puzon* 0.383 640 167 76 2
10 Sam Lau 0.382 1745 408 236 23
11 Tina Quach* 0.381 606 161 67 3
12 Joanna Maung* 0.375 557 138 67 3
13 Kelvin Huang 0.365 104 34 4 0
14 Cristian Ortiz* 0.336 996 244 79 12
15 Derek Lew* 0.325 2079 590 65 20
16 Aubrey Cubilo 0.324 1601 452 53 13
17 Joe Jaber 0.322 205 48 12 6
18 Tiffany Ho* 0.305 243 65 8 1
19 Francis Chen* 0.296 476 84 52 4
20 Jean Paredes 0.296 449 110 17 6
21 Justin Cheuk 0.285 446 93 34 0

*Denotes active player
PA: Plate appearance, the number of times the player has shown up at the plate to bat. This indicates how many opportunities the player had.
H: Hits, when a player hits the ball and successfully reaches a base.
BB: Base on balls, or walks, where a player automatically reaches first base after a pitcher has thrown four off-target pitches
HBP: Hit-by-pitch, where a player automatically reaches first after he has been hit by the ball

All-world hitter Norman Ho dominates this category, where he both hit for a high batting average and garnered a large number of walks in two seasons. Not far behind is the one-season wonder Josiah Leong, followed by Joey Wong, after which there is a significant dropoff. One player who looks to improve greatly is Jonathan Chee, who after 1 ½ seasons of mediocrity finally emerged as an OBP machine in 2005. Continuing his on-base ways, he should easily be able to exceed Mok, Nghe, and possibly even break into the top 3 in several years.

SLG

Rk Name SLG AB TB 1B 2B 3B HR
1 Norman Ho 0.658 1238 814 243 95 11 87
2 Jason Liu* 0.643 832 535 126 57 9 67
3 Josiah Leong* 0.623 265 165 59 18 2 16
4 Joey Wong 0.581 1924 1118 490 115 10 92
5 Desiree Tienturier 0.578 1366 789 284 69 9 85
6 Kelvin Huang 0.541 98 53 22 8 1 3
7 Henry Nghe* 0.540 618 334 149 49 13 12
8 Derek Lew* 0.537 1972 1058 309 181 13 87
9 Rudy Puzon* 0.522 554 289 114 16 5 32
10 Sean Mok 0.517 1059 547 267 65 6 33
11 Francis Chen* 0.464 414 192 36 16 4 28
12 Sam Lau 0.463 1465 679 275 62 4 67
13 Joe Jaber 0.452 186 84 27 13 1 7
14 Jean Paredes 0.443 424 188 74 14 2 20
15 Cristian Ortiz* 0.443 898 398 168 35 4 37
16 Tina Quach* 0.421 535 225 117 32 4 8
17 Aubrey Cubilo 0.409 1527 624 308 116 28 0
18 Joanna Maung* 0.387 481 186 108 21 0 9
19 Jonathan Chee* 0.379 1149 435 257 44 2 21
20 Tiffany Ho* 0.361 233 84 50 12 2 1
21 Justin Cheuk 0.345 409 141 53 36 0 4

*Denotes active player
SLG: Slugging percentage, or total bases per at bat. This is a rough indicator of power ability, although it is partially dependent on average
AB: At bats, the number of plate appearances minus PA’s that resulted in non-batting events, such as walks and hit-by-pitches. This indicates how many opportunities the player had to bat.
Total Bases: The cumulative number of bases from all hits (where singles count as 1 base, doubles as 2, triples as 3, and homeruns as four)
1B: Singles, hits that result in the player reaching the first base (out of four)
2B: Doubles, hits that result in the player reaching the second base (out of four)
3B: Triples, hits that result in the player reaching the third base (out of four)
HR: Homeruns, hits that result in the player reaching all four bases and scoring a run

The Babe Ruth of Daly City baseball, Norman Ho remains at the top of the slugging board, although in recent years slugger Jason Liu has made a strong run, and Leong in his half-season also came close. Outside of those three, no other active player ranks even remotely close to the elite slugger range. Henry Nghe is the next best, topping out at .540
Games

Rk Name G GS
1 Nathan Yan* 96 96
2 Angel Poon* 96 0
3 Josiah Leong* 95 47
4 Terrence Zhao* 87 83
5 Michelle Absalon 84 0
6 Sarah Jimenez 76 13
7 Katie Clayton 61 0
8 Willis Fong 55 55
9 Alvina Chu* 55 0
10 Erica Lum 53 39
11 Michelle Lin 52 51
12 Miguel Pardo* 50 41
13 Zubeda Khan* 42 0
14 Sean Wade* 29 29
15 Jessica Tirta 29 0
16 Samantha Chin* 26 26
17 Alfred Vong* 24 1
18 Helen Yamamoto* 19 0
19 Helen Chow 9 0
20 Aubrey Cubilo 8 8
21 Sean Mok 3 0

*Denotes active player
G: Games
GS: Games Started

A sheer sign of his workhorse nature, it shouldn’t be any surprise that Yan tops the charts in both Games Started and Games. Angel Poon, another three-year veteran, is tied for tops in games, but Josiah Leong, who looks to pitch an ungodly number of relief games in the long-relief closer role, looks to pass up everybody by the end of the season. In terms of starters, Yan and Zhao should remain at 1-2, but the season will likely see Wade, Pardo, and possibly Chin move up beyond 2003-2004 players Fong and Lin for the 3-5 spaces.

Innings

Rk Name G GS IP IP/GS IP/RA
1 Nathan Yan* 96 96 830 8.646 0.000
2 Terrence Zhao* 87 83 587 7.072 0.000
3 Willis Fong 55 55 415 1/3 7.552 0.000
4 Josiah Leong* 95 47 351 0.000 0.000
5 Michelle Lin 52 51 335 1/3 6.575 0.000
6 Miguel Pardo* 50 41 275 6.707 0.000
7 Erica Lum 53 39 258 2/3 0.000 0.000
8 Sarah Jimenez 76 13 213 0.000 3.381
9 Sean Wade* 29 29 201 6.931 0.000
10 Angel Poon* 96 0 181 0.000 1.885
11 Samantha Chin* 26 26 168 1/3 6.474 0.000
12 Michelle Absalon 84 0 120 2/3 0.000 1.437
13 Alvina Chu* 55 0 102 0.000 1.855
14 Katie Clayton 61 0 89 0.000 1.459
15 Alfred Vong* 24 1 63 2/3 0.000 2.768
16 Jessica Tirta 29 0 54 1/3 0.000 1.874
17 Zubeda Khan* 42 0 46 2/3 0.000 1.111
18 Aubrey Cubilo 8 8 44 2/3 5.583 0.000
19 Helen Yamamoto* 19 0 26 0.000 1.368
20 Helen Chow 9 0 18 0.000 2.000
21 Sean Mok 3 0 6 2/3 0.000 2.222

*Denotes active player
IP: Innings pitched (innings are baseball’s time unit)
IP/GS: Average innings pitched per start
IP/RA: Average innings pitched per relief appearance

A much more exact statistic of work, Yan once again dominates this chart, not only in sheer innings but also in innings per start – rounded off he averages a complete game very start! It’s slightly disappointing to see Leong so low on the list, although he did spend a year in relief. Wade seems to be the fastest-rising player – after a single season he’s already 9th on the list, and looks to pass up everyone up to and maybe even including Leong after this season. Angel Poon tops the charts for a pure reliever, a statistic she’ll probably hold onto for awhile.

Wins

Rk Name GS W L Win%
1 Nathan Yan* 96 90 6 0.938
2 Terrence Zhao* 83 52 15 0.776
3 Willis Fong 55 48 3 0.941
4 Michelle Lin 51 34 3 0.919
5 Erica Lum 39 26 7 0.788
6 Sarah Jimenez 13 23 6 0.793
7 Miguel Pardo* 41 22 9 0.710
8 Josiah Leong* 47 21 17 0.553
9 Sean Wade* 29 20 8 0.714
10 Alvina Chu* 0 14 3 0.824
11 Samantha Chin* 26 13 1 0.929
12 Michelle Absalon 0 10 1 0.909
13 Angel Poon* 0 9 5 0.643
14 Alfred Vong* 1 4 2 0.667
15 Jessica Tirta 0 3 1 0.750
16 Aubrey Cubilo 8 3 1 0.750
17 Zubeda Khan* 0 2 3 0.400
18 Katie Clayton 0 0 1 0.000
19 Helen Yamamoto* 0 0 0 0.000
20 Helen Chow 0 0 0 0.000
21 Sean Mok 0 0 0 0.000

*Denotes active player
GS: Games Started
W: Wins, counted whenever a pitcher “wins” the game
L: Losses, whenever a player “loses” the game

Yan once again tops the leaderboard, by a very far margin. After three 30-2 seasons, however, his Winning % actually hasn’t improved, so he’s in fact still behind Fong, who in 2004 put together a perfect 29-0 season Yan still holds the prime distinction of being the only player to not have recorded a single no decision, however, although Wade had only one in his rookie year. The coming year should see all starters move up, possibly past Lin’s #4 spot, but likely not beyond Fong’s 48.
K

Rk Name IP K K/9
1 Nathan Yan* 830 1279 13.87
2 Terrence Zhao* 587 508 7.79
3 Willis Fong 415 1/3 454 9.84
4 Michelle Lin 335 1/3 392 10.52
5 Josiah Leong* 351 375 9.62
6 Miguel Pardo* 275 181 5.92
7 Sean Wade* 201 163 7.30
8 Samantha Chin* 168 1/3 163 8.71
9 Sarah Jimenez 213 149 6.30
10 Angel Poon* 181 142 7.06
11 Michelle Absalon 120 2/3 138 10.29
12 Alvina Chu* 102 95 8.38
13 Erica Lum 258 2/3 73 2.54
14 Alfred Vong* 63 2/3 53 7.49
15 Katie Clayton 89 49 4.96
16 Zubeda Khan* 46 2/3 38 7.33
17 Jessica Tirta 54 1/3 31 5.13
18 Aubrey Cubilo 44 2/3 28 5.64
19 Helen Yamamoto* 26 12 4.15
20 Helen Chow 18 12 6.00
21 Sean Mok 6 2/3 0 0.00

*Denotes active player
IP: Innings pitched (Innings are baseball’s time unit)
K: Strikeout, when the batter fails to even put the ball in play
K/9: A strikeout rate, measured by strikeouts per 9 innings pitched

No surprises here: Having blown away the league for three consecutive years, it shouldn’t be any surprise that Yan dominates this chart. After three years, Zhao also finally surpasses Fong for #2 all-time, although Leong, with his far higher K/9, should have been well past both now, if he had been consistent enough to pitch the innings. Depending on his innings, Leong may yet move past Fong. An interesting thing to note is the dying breed of high K pitchers – of the five players with higher than 9 K’s per 9 innings, 3 of them are retired

Quality Starts

Rk Name GS QS CG SHO QS% CG% SHO%
1 Nathan Yan* 96 90 68 35 0.938 0.708 0.365
2 Terrence Zhao* 83 61 20 14 0.735 0.241 0.169
3 Willis Fong 55 45 20 7 0.818 0.364 0.127
4 Michelle Lin 51 34 8 3 0.667 0.157 0.059
5 Josiah Leong* 47 28 1 0 0.596 0.021 0.000
6 Erica Lum 39 24 3 0 0.615 0.077 0.000
7 Sean Wade* 29 23 3 2 0.793 0.103 0.069
8 Miguel Pardo* 41 21 4 2 0.512 0.098 0.049
9 Samantha Chin* 26 14 2 1 0.538 0.077 0.038
10 Sarah Jimenez 13 9 2 1 0.692 0.154 0.077
11 Alfred Vong* 1 1 0 0 1.000 0.000 0.000
12 Aubrey Cubilo 8 1 1 0 0.125 0.125 0.000
13 Angel Poon* 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
14 Michelle Absalon 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
15 Alvina Chu* 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
16 Katie Clayton 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
17 Zubeda Khan* 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
18 Jessica Tirta 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
19 Helen Yamamoto* 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
20 Helen Chow 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
21 Sean Mok 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000

*Denotes active player
GS: Games started
QS: Quality starts, where the pitcher throws at least 6 innings with fewer than 3 earned runs allowed. A mark of consistency
CG: Complete games, where the pitcher throws the entire game from beginning to end. A mark of endurance
SHO: Shutouts, a complete game where the pitcher allows no runs. A mark of dominance
QS%: Quality starts as a percentage of starts
CG%: Complete games as a percentage of starts
SO%: Shutout games as a percentage of starts

Yan dominates all three QS, CG, and SHO categories by a large margin. A more interesting note is Zhao, who has steadily bettered year after year. Despite his overall career averages not being as high as Fong, at this point he’s probably a better pitcher, and over time he should be able to increase his averages up to #2. Other notes: it’s clear to see that Leong, Chin, and Pardo rank among the most inconsistent, where as Wade has already demonstrated he can be one of the most consistent players around.

ERA

Rk Name IP ERA CERA DIPS WHIP
1 Michelle Absalon 120 2/3 0.75 0.81 1.75 0.77
2 Nathan Yan* 830 1.21 0.72 0.96 0.67
3 Alvina Chu* 102 2.03 1.89 2.94 0.97
4 Willis Fong 415 1/3 2.04 1.83 2.76 0.93
5 Jessica Tirta 54 1/3 2.65 3.02 3.57 1.21
6 Terrence Zhao* 587 2.79 2.66 3.92 1.12
7 Sean Wade* 201 3.00 2.37 3.37 1.02
8 Michelle Lin 335 1/3 3.44 2.98 3.01 1.07
9 Sarah Jimenez 213 3.46 2.98 3.90 1.26
10 Zubeda Khan* 46 2/3 3.47 3.28 3.98 1.14
11 Erica Lum 258 2/3 3.51 4.32 5.88 1.58
12 Angel Poon* 181 3.58 3.52 3.94 1.19
13 Helen Chow 18 4.00 5.12 4.73 1.56
14 Sean Mok 6 2/3 4.05 5.56 6.83 1.65
15 Josiah Leong* 351 4.05 4.04 4.57 1.44
16 Samantha Chin* 168 1/3 4.06 3.29 3.73 1.21
17 Aubrey Cubilo 44 2/3 4.23 3.32 4.88 1.21
18 Alfred Vong* 63 2/3 4.24 3.84 4.65 1.19
19 Miguel Pardo* 275 4.88 4.81 5.05 1.56
20 Katie Clayton 89 7.28 6.05 5.83 1.74
21 Helen Yamamoto* 26 9.35 12.35 8.29 2.54

*Denotes active player
IP: Innings pitched (innings are baseball’s time unit)
ERA: Earned Run Average, the average earned runs allowed by the pitcher per 9 innings
CERA: Component ERA – an overall performance metric similar to ERA. Probably the performance indicator
DIPS: Defense-Independent Pitching ERA – an overall performance metric similar to ERA, which involves only walks, strikeouts, and homeruns.
WHIP: Walks and hits per inning pitched, a rough performance metric

What’s this? A category where Yan isn’t on top? Surprisingly, Yan’s career ERA has actually been bested by Absalon, who boasts a 0.84 ERA in 2003 and 0.64 ERA in 2004. Despite this, all other indicators point to Yan being the far more dominant pitcher. Among other players, Chu is making quite a name for herself, with the third best ERA all-time, just barely edging Fong.

Saves

Rk Name S G RA GF HLD SVO BS SV%
1 Michelle Absalon 50 84 84 69 12 61 3 0.820
2 Josiah Leong* 40 95 48 46 0 43 3 0.930
3 Zubeda Khan* 29 42 42 40 0 34 5 0.853
4 Angel Poon* 7 96 96 50 19 29 5 0.241
5 Alvina Chu* 3 55 55 27 12 22 7 0.136
6 Sarah Jimenez 2 76 63 24 14 19 3 0.105
7 Katie Clayton 2 61 61 40 5 6 1 0.333
8 Jessica Tirta 2 29 29 13 3 5 2 0.400
9 Alfred Vong* 2 24 23 14 3 7 0 0.286
10 Erica Lum 2 53 14 7 0 2 0 1.000
11 Helen Yamamoto* 2 19 19 12 0 2 0 1.000
12 Helen Chow 1 9 9 3 3 4 0 0.250
13 Miguel Pardo* 1 50 9 5 1 2 0 0.500
14 Nathan Yan* 0 96 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
15 Willis Fong 0 55 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
16 Terrence Zhao* 0 87 4 0 0 0 0 0.000
17 Sean Wade* 0 29 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
18 Michelle Lin 0 52 1 1 0 0 0 0.000
19 Sean Mok 0 3 3 3 0 0 0 0.000
20 Samantha Chin* 0 26 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
21 Aubrey Cubilo 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

*Denotes active player
S: Save, when a relief pitcher enters a close game and successfully maintains the lead (the primary role of a “closer”)
G: Games played
RA: Relief appearances
GF: Games finished, relief appearances in which the reliever was the last pitcher
HLD: Hold, similar to save, where a relief pitcher enters a close game and successfully maintains the lead (a reliever does not need to finish a game for a hold)
SVO: Save opportunities, the number of opportunities the pitcher has had to save the game.
BS: Blown saves, when a pitcher enters into a save situation and fails to maintain the lead
SV%: The percentage of save opportunities converted into actual saves.

After three tumultuous years and three starters, the leaderboard is still topped by none other than the inaugural closer Michelle Absalon, who picked up 46 saves in her first season, and added on another 4 the subsequent year. Last year’s closer, Zubeda Khan, managed a scant 29 saves, while year 2 closer Josiah Leong picked up 40. Leong returns as the year 4 closer, marking the first year without a new face at closer. With another year of saves under his belt, Leong should skyrocket past Absalon for first place, and until next year at least, no other candidate has presented himself/herself to climb significantly up this leaderboard.

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The Season 2006 Preview – Aftermath of the Hitter Exodus

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The morning shines again on the Daly City Empire.  Of course, these days the sun never really sets.  On yet another sunny April in the Gateway to the Peninsula, spring training abounds yet again with the same enthusiasm, determination, and fresh faces.

Coming off yet another World Championship, last year’s team nonetheless fell short with their first sub-.800 season in history, finishing at 125-37, .772.  The falloff was somewhat expected, given the mass departures of team stalwarts such as 3-4 hitters Ho and Tienturier, a .951 OBP SS Mok, and a full ½ of the pitching staff.  If 2005 was any indicator of how Daly City could carry on without many of its star players, 2006 might see even further decline.  The 2005-2006 offseason saw the departures of all-star catcher Sam Lau, Batter of the Year Joey Wong, speedy CF Aubrey Cubilo, and reliever Katie Clayton.  The trio of batters accounted for 337.4 out of the team’s 1083.7 runs created, or 31.1%, and so far none of their replacements seem completely capable of approaching their production levels.

There are new faces, and new roles, however.  Last season’s crop of promising rookies return, and this year sees two new rookies in starting pitcher Whitney Esguerra, who looks to take role of #2 starting pitcher, and catcher Marco Paz, who will likely fill into the backup catcher position.  In the wake of the latest round of retirements, longtime backup catcher/utility outfielder Tina Quach finally gets her chance at the starting catcher position, while longtime benchwarmer Joanna Maung steps into the big shoes left by Joey Wong at third base.  The centerfield position is the biggest question – Tina Quach, having the best CF defensive ability, used to fill in here (21 games in CF in 2005), but with her new role as catcher, Tiffany Ho seems the best candidate (67 out of 100 defensive rating), although her hitting skills are still a bit underdeveloped and her defense is better at the corner outfield positions.  Jason Liu, with a 55 out of 100 CF rating, also seems capable, although again his defensive skills seem much better suited for the corner positions.  On the pitching side, the departure of Clayton has opened up a spot in the bullpen, which no other than 2005’s closer, Zubeda Khan, steps in to fill.  After a tumultuous season filled with blown saves, the closer position for 2006 goes back to a known commodity in Josiah Leong, who despite shaky stats managed a bottom line of 40 saves and only 3 blown saves in 2004.

More than ever, the team seems to rest on the strength of the pitching staff – though still quite formidable, the lineup has taken yet another strong punch this year, and would be hard-pressed to repeat last year’s league high 1085 runs.

Without further ado, the hardened sophomores, old stalwarts, and new faces of Daly City’s 2006 team.

Tina “Experimental Error” Quach, Catcher: After two years as an understudy to retired all-star catcher Sam Lau, Quach finally moves up to take the reins of the catcher position.  Playing in two partial seasons, Quach has shown signs that she can be a capable on-base hitter, with her .381 career OBP, but this season will be a test of how well she can sustain that level of production over the course of an entire season, in addition to handling her defensive responsibilities as catcher and her management of the pitching staff.

Marco Paz, Backup Catcher: Straight from AA ball, Paz is a new recruit who spent part of 2005 in the minor leagues, beginning in AAA where he struggled and then moving onto AA, where he batted .250-.317-.515 in 20 games. While still a bit underdeveloped, the retirement of Lau and the lack of any other viable catcher meant that Paz was needed up with the major league club to serve as a backup.  The 17 year old is projected as a below-average defender, although he has a cannon arm.  His hitting skills are in the below-average range, but as indicated by his short time in AA last year, he projects out to be an average hitter with decent slugging skills.  He’ll be watched closely as the season winds along, making sure he isn’t impossibly challenged at the major league level, in which case someone else, such as emergency catcher Jonathan Chee, would have to fill in.

Derek Lew, First Baseman: After a vigorous offseason of training, Lew bursted into spring training like a vicious Vladimir Guerrero-type swinger.  So far he looks like he’s been more aggressive free-swinging with the bat, meaning even less walks and a bit more strikeouts, but he’s also been doing it with much greater contact and power than last season.  With last year’s disastrous campaign, Lew is looking to come back, and in a big way.  With Joey Wong gone, Lew remains the last of the “Big Four” of hitters of the inaugural 2003 team, and more than ever, the offensive production will rest squarely on his shoulders.

Rudy Puzon, Designated Hitter: Puzon looks to follow up his explosive rookie season with further development, although it might even be fair to say that he had already began hitting like what many hitters projected he would do after he reached his prime. After a solid all-around performance, with no clear weaknesses in his game, nobody knows what to really expect in terms of development for Puzon.

Cristian Ortiz, Second Baseman: The defensive wizard surprised everyone last year as he turned in a strong statistical season, most especially on the basepaths.  Despite being deemed Daly City’s “breakout” player of the year, many of the league’s scouts still rate Ortiz as simply average in almost all categories, and put strong doubt on whether Ortiz can replicate his 2005 numbers.  2006 will be the year Ortiz proves that his ‘breakout’ performance was no fluke.

Joanna Maung, Saung-gah Basewoman: After three years coming in from the bench, Daly City’s most prolific pinch hitter steps into her first starting role.  With only limited playing time over three seasons, Maung has shown decent OBP ability and virtually no power skills, although it’s anyone’s guess what kind of hitter Maung will actually be in her 4th year and 1st full season.  On the defensive side, Maung has been training hard, and has built herself up to a very respectable 61 defensive rating at 3B. She certainly won’t be an MVP Joey Wong (or will she?) but in terms of sheer love for the game and enthusiasm at finally getting the coveted starting third basewoman role, she may yet turn out to be the Wiggin to the now-retired Wong’s Bean.

Henry “Mr.” Nghe, Shortstop: Reigning Rookie of the Year and oldest player at the same time, Henry Nghe returns for his sophomore campaign hoping to continue on his first-year success.  Surprisingly, like Ortiz many scouts still have doubts over Nghe’s ability, believing he far exceeded performance expectations last year.  Without a dedicated middle infield backup in Kelvin Chang (since retired back to AAA), both Nghe and Ortiz will test their endurance and look to gut out all 162 games on their own out in the middle this year.

Jonathan “The Cheet” Chee, Leftfielder: Daly City’s “comeback” player of the year, Chee looks to continue his tremendous success into 2006, this time going the distance to play in a whole season (last year, he played in only 119 games and had 446 at bats).  Chee’s slated to be in either of the 1-2 leadoff positions, where he’ll set the table for the more powerful hitters with his team-high career .392 OBP.  Having come ever so close to the 50 hit by pitch mark (he had 49 HBP last year), Chee looks to make another run, this time possibly getting there with a full season.

Tiffany Ho, Centerfielder: Taking over the reins from longtime incumbent Aubrey Cubilo, the rookie Tiffany Ho, who had an unremarkable rookie year (.279-.305-.361), is one of the biggest question marks.  While she’s still one of the more promising hitters in terms of skill, she hasn’t demonstrated the ability to hit well yet.  Although originally a corner outfielder, with Quach at catcher, Ho is the best fielder left at the center position, although her 67 CF rating lags behind her 77 rating at the LF and RF positions.  Nonetheless, she’ll be thrown out of the frying pan and into the fryer, starting centerfield on opening day in baseball’s biggest small-town stage.

Francis Chen, Rightfielder: The enigma Francis Chen returneth once again.  Afer enduring a horrendous 2005, Francis was dropped from a starting role, replaced by slugger Jason Liu, and at times, utility player Tina Quach.  After toiling away all during the regular season, however, Chen seemed to catch on fire in the postseason, batting .244-.404-.805 in 41 at bats.  Despite all this, he was about to be dumped back to the bench, or even back to the minors for more conditioning, before the Daly City fans emerged.  All winter long they picketed and protested the stadium and front office with a grass-roots “Bring Francis Back” campaign, ultimately succeeding when management gave in to demand.  So by popular demand, the oft-inconsistent and fleetingly brilliant Chen is back to his role in RF, ready to take a backseat manage whenever Yan is on the mound, albeit with a tighter hook than ever.  He’ll have to jump out of the April gates full blast if he hopes to establish any security at the RF position.

Jason Liu, Backup outfielder: For the third straight year, Jason Liu finds himself starting the season on the bench, despite consistently demonstrating his skills at the plate, and in the field.  After a breakout rookie campaign in 2004 and a strong 2005 followup, Liu was all set to become the starting rightfielder, before the “Bring Francis Back” campaign derailed the club’s plans.  For now, Liu remains on the bench, his pure strength and raw power ready to pounce the second Chen begins inevitably slipping at rightfield.

The Pitching Staff

Nathan Yan, #1 Starter: After a record-shattering 2005 campaign, in which he went 30-2 yet again, with a 0.98 ERA and 0.48 WHIP, the staff ace and three-time reigning Pitcher of the Year returns with his overpowering arsenal of stuff.  Virtually unrivaled anywhere in the league, at this point it’s pretty much just a guess of what record highs he’ll accomplish next.  Zero-loss season?  A 500-K campaign?  30 complete games?  In any case, Yan is on track to surpass 1000 career innings, 1500 K’s, and 100 wins, and 100 complete games and 50 shutouts is not out of the question either.

Whitney Esguerra, #2 Starter: After a year of demonstrating her skills in the minors, rookie Whitney Esguerra makes her way to the big leagues in a surprise move, taking over Josiah Leong’s spot in the rotation.  The young right-hander comes in fully polished already, with a 93-96mph fastball, good control and movement pitches, and dominating stuff.  Her Stuff-Control-Movement rating is 101-77-70, with a talent potential of 124-78-96.  Spending nearly a full season in the minors in 2005, Esguerra pitched 29 games, dominating with a 27-0 record, 2.01 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, and 341 K’s in 246 innings (that’s 12.48 K’s per 9, and 8.48 innings per start!

Terrence Zhao, #3 Starter: Daly City’s unexpected staff ace continues to flourish.  A year after a breakout 2004 campaign, Zhao found himself with yet another breakout beyond all expectations.  There doesn’t seem any stopping Zhao, who worked hard to improve his control, his one point of slight weakness, this offseason.  Zhao looks to continue his winning ways and dominating stuff, although he once again finds himself sitting pat behind the #2 spot for the second straight year.

Sean Wade, #4 Starter: Daly City’s other star rookie is back for a sophomore season.  Wade was a breakout success in his rookie year, and despite not having spectacular stuff, cruised by on sheer consistency to earn himself a 3.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP.  All signs point to Wade repeating his rookie success, although his second-half dropoff in performance could be some cause for reservation.

Samantha Chin, #5 Starter: Chin finds herself in the not-so-enviable role of being the best #5 pitcher in the league, by a far margin.  With at times dominating stuff, Chin floundered with a bit of inconsistency in 2005, with a 4.06 ERA.  Her 3.23 CERA, however, indicates that she can do a lot better, and much like Zhao breaking out in 2004, after a shaky 2003 that was brimming with potential, many scouts believe Chin will break out into one of the league’s most dominating pitchers this seasons.

Miguel Pardo, #6 Starter: Daly City’s #6 returns to round out the DC6, the only rotation in the majors consisting of 6-man rotation.  Pardo has improved in some aspects – his 2005 season certainly saw significant improvement over his past seasons, although the second-half Pardo looked much more like Miguel at his worst.  It’s perhaps time to see if Pardo can work his fleeting magic once again, and it might be his last chance to do so, with new rookie Alfred Vong breathing down his neck for the #6 slot.

Alfred Vong, long reliever: The oft-forgotten rookie pitcher, Vong spent much of 2005 as the long reliever, a role in which he was, in a word, inconsistent.  While clearly displaying good all-around talent, consistency has been a bit of a problem, which is why Vong once again finds himself back in the bullpen.  With a little more time to develop, however, Vong looks to become a solid pitcher, and could look to dislodge Pardo from his coveted #6 starting spot soon.

Helen Yamamoto, mopup reliever: After the worst season in recorded history, Yamamoto returns in 2006 with her 2005 numbers not leaving much to hope for: 9.35 ERA and 2.54 WHIP, and an opponent’s line of .379-.475-.672.  The upcoming season will probably be make-or-break for Yamamoto, as the reliever, especially the mopup kind, seems to be a dying breed in the Daly City system.

Angel Poon, middle reliever: Once again, Poon finds herself in the middle relief role, although the increasingly better pitching staff and increasingly closer games may mean even fewer innings than ever.  While her ERA has been erratic – 4.15, 2.88 3.75, Poon has shown consistency in her WHIP (1.14, 1.14, 1.19), and she looks to fill in a few, although likely not many innings, in middle relief.

Zubeda Khan, middle reliever: Once the team’s great hope at closer, a season marred by blown saves and stretches of downright atrocity have left her out of the running, despite averaging out to a decent 3.47 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 2005.  She joins the regular bullpen, although like Poon she doesn’t expect to see many innings this year, especially with the development of Vong at long relief, the introduction of Esguerra, and the movement of starter Leon to the closer role.

Alvina Chu, setup reliever: Perhaps the most maddening member of the bullpen in 2005, Chu put it down with one of the league’s best 1.70 ERA and 0.91 WHIP, yet at the same time blew wins and saves like no other.  Still, over the past two years (102 innings, 2.03 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 95 K’s), she’s been Daly City’s most dominant reliever by far, and she once again earns her spot as the team’s setup woman.  Forever the bridesmaid, never the bride, I guess….

Josiah Leong, closer: After an unsuccessful try at turning rookie Zubeda Khan into closer material, it was an offseason back to the drawing board, and at this point, the best Daly City has turns out to be none other than their 2004 closer, Josiah Leong. Partly driven by his prior experience, and partly by his abysmal track record as a starter, 2006 will bring Leong back to the bullpen, where he pitched 58 1/3 innings with a 3.70 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and 40 saves in 2004.  All signs point to things being more of the same for Leong, who still hasn’t quite gotten a handle on his control issues, but many still hold out hope for a Gagne-like conversion (without the Gagne-like injury flameout)

On a closing note, everyone’s contract ends after the 2006 season, so it’s time to rework those $1/year salaries.  That’s right: Contract year for everyone.

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