NALB - 2016 Regular Season Ends

K. Fields
2017-09-16T13:36:04-04:00
Baseball

The Brooklyn Knights easily won their division. The other division races were much more competitive and most went down to the wire. The Firecats held off the Beasts to secure another division crown. The Corals didn’t clinch a division title until the last day of the regular season. After eliminating the Washington Allies, they will face the Vancouver Wild for the League 2 championship.

The League Series match-ups:
Nashville Firecats (88-74) vs. Brooklyn Knights (105-57)
Key West Corals (89-73) vs. Vancouver Wild (92-70)

Head to head:
The Knights were 12-11 against the Firecats this season.
The Corals were 13-10 against the Wild this season.

Playoff injury report:
As happened last year, the Knights enter the playoffs with a starting rotation devastated by injuries. During the season, José Arisa and Porfírio Portio suffered UCL injuries while Juan Fuentes was sent to the disabled list with elbow strain. Outfielder Blas Ramos injured his knee on September 29. It was diagnosed as a torn meniscus, which ended his season. Brooklyn will miss his valuable bat as he hit .315 this year. The Firecats have two big veteran bats on the disabled list—1B Paul Lyons and CF Jim Stoneman. They also have three pitchers on the DL: SP Tremeur Rusch, RP Cordero Decena, and RP Rico Lagumbay. Key West was plagued by injuries this season. Key losses were fielders 1B Yuan Li, LF Alonso Martucci, and LF Cipriano Delgudo. The Corals’ pitching staff was hit equally as hard by losing SP Mario Torralbo, SP Steve Curtis, RP Ray White, and CL Almandeto Trillio. The Vancouver Wild are in somewhat better shape. However, they are without SP Omar Cambra, LF Ángelo Falla, and 2B Fernando Chira. If Vancouver survives the League Championship Series, there is a chance Chira could return for the World Championship Series.

September 2016 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Lariel Gómez (Brooklyn Knights)
Pitcher of the Month: Darius Luxton (Brooklyn Knights)
Rookie of the Month: Jorge Morales (Las Vegas Luck)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Chris Bowmer (Phoenix Rattlers)
Pitcher of the Month: Whitney Sanders (Key West Corals)
Rookie of the Month: Luís Oliuares (Vancouver Wild)