After a long break, we are back with the 3 Up, 3 Down Series featuring some standouts from the Major League Baseball Playoffs and Arizona Fall League. Roger Dorn Baseball League Front Office are in their quiet period with evaluations of the 2023 season still in progress before teams turn the page to 2024 when the Hot Stove will quickly heat up.
Evan Carter (Minors), Stacks
The Stacks Front Office wants to take a patient approach to their strong Farm System but Evan Carter is making it difficult to not sharpie in as an Opening Day activation for 2024. The 21 year old reached base in 10 of his first 11 Playoff at-bats and enters Thursday with a 1.167 OPS while hitting in the middle of the Rangers order. Alongside Corbin Carroll and discount hitters Josh Outman and Josh Lowe, the Stacks have a strong outfield core to build around for 2024.
Kyle Manzardo (Minors), Ducks
Manzardo was a hot name entering 2023 when the Ducks selected him 11th overall in the Reserve Draft. After a season in which he slugged 17 home runs between two levels and two organizations, Manzardo has shown off his power stroke in the desert. After homering in three straight games in the second week of the AFL, Manzardo, a lefty-hitting Washington State product, slammed two more longballs on Tuesday afternoon. Not only does Manzardo currently lead the AFL in home runs, he’s one off the total of six that Tyler Hardman and Matt Mervis hit last year when they led the league. He looks set to push for a big league role in 2024 for the Cleveland Guardians.
Royce Lewis (Minors), Falcons
A 2018 Reserve Draftee, Lewis has worked his way through multiple serious injuries but looks finally set to enter 2024 healthy and ready to cash in on his enormous upside for the Maltese Falcons. He hit .309 with 52 RBI in 58 regular season games before hitting four home runs in six playoff games and looks set to be one of potentially six activations for the Falcons for 2024, headlined by Pitching Prospect of the Year Eury Perez.
Team Pitching Points
With the use of starting pitchers continue to decline on an inning per start basis, RDBL Pitching Stats continue to plummet. The RDBL Regular Season produced 32,858 Pitching Points, the second lowest of the Playoff Era and the third consecutive decline in points since 2021.
Pitching Points by RDBL Regular Season
2023 Season 32858.0
2022 Season 35424.0
2021 Season 36272.0
2019 Season 31884.0
2018 Season 37310.0
2017 Season 33510.0
2016 Season 36965.0
The only lower season was 2019 when the baseball was clearly juiced. That season produced the five highest Team Home Run Totals in RDBL History, led by the Asti Grape Stompers who mashed 350 home runs in 22 Periods.
Sandy Alcantara, Free Agent
After a ridiculous 733.0 point season in 2022, RDBL Front Offices were counting down the days until Sandy Alcantara would complete his Rookie contract with the Lunatic Fringe and reach Free Agency. A monster deal will need to wait as Alcantara underwent Tommy John surgery and is expected to miss all of 2024. He'll join Shane McClanahan, Jacob deGrom, Brandon Woodruff, Drew Rasmussen and Felix Bautista as elite arms that RDBL clubs could round out their Active Rosters with in the 2024 Auction Draft.
Jokers Pitching Depth
The St. Joseph Jokers are coming off two of the six worst pitching seasons in RDBL History in 2022 and 2023 and will need to rebuild a rotation even further following news that Kyle Wright will miss all of next season after shoulder surgery. Wright was one of baseball's biggest breakouts in 2022, posting 452.0 points with a 3.19 ERA in 180 innings of work. That was all completed while still under a Minor League deal for Jokers GM Rick Steen. Expected to be a top activation for 2023, Wright's season never got on track as he managed just 31.0 innings for -11.0 total points and now will head back into Free Agency.
As currently projected, MacKenzie Gore (Minors) looks to be the only projected starter set to return for 2024.
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