Loggers 2021: Ugh! Better Luck Next Year ...

Given how many of its star players had "off" years, it shouldn't have been surprising that the P-Town Loggers slumped to such a sad finish of its 2021 season in the Sunrise Baseball Association. 

Loggers MVP Bryce Harper.

Nevertheless, who could have predicted the team would lose 12 of its final 13 games and once again miss the playoffs. The Loggers finished 74-88, putting them in fifth place in their division, 31 games behind Jerry Conca's Yankees squad, which would go on to win this year's SBA Championship. (Congrats to Jerry on his first SBA title!)

Although this year's edition of the Loggers scored a few more runs (771 vs. 757) than in 2020 they allowed way more (820 vs. 703)! Yikes! And that pretty much sums up this dismal season, though things were looking pretty good at midseason at 50-48.

So not everyone sucked ... 

Bryce Harper (.246/.346/.504) led the offense, scoring 104 runs, driving in 130, smashing 40 HR's and stealing 21 bases. It helped that he walked a team-high 92 times. 

Leadoff guy Brandon Nimmo scored 115 runs and hit a whopping 30 home runs. His .356 OBP was driven by 88 walks and 27 HBP's. 

Starling Marte (.269/.329/.408) also contributed mightily in the two hole: 113 runs, 45 doubles, 28 stolen bases. 

Chris Taylor just missed the century mark in RBI, driving in 99, scoring 77 runs and hitting 25 home runs, though he also lead the team in whiffs with 175 and errors with 37, mainly at second base, where he is rated a 7. 

In part-time duty, Edwin Rios contributed 27 HR's, 38 doubles and 70 RBI. 

On the flip side, the Loggers suffered from down years by its perennial MVP Nolan Arenado (.209/.246/.372), whose pandemic slump resulted in only 20 HR's and 64 RBI. Likewise, shortstop Brandon Crawford could manage only a .195 batting average, though he did hit 29 dingers.

The pitching is where things really went off the rails, with Gerrit Cole (BXZ) avoiding losing 20 games, barely, finishing 10-19 with a 5.55 ERA! (He had gone 19-10 the year before ...)

Antonio Senzatela (BRZ) led the starters with a 12-15 record, 3.56 ERA and 10 complete games and 5 shutouts. Other starters were: Zach Eflin (7-12, 5.08); Lance McCullers (8-11, 5.34); rookie Triston McKenzie (8-6, 5.14); and Drew Smyly (5-6, 4.04). 

Fan fave Josh Hader.

The bullpen was equally below par, though Yimi Garcia (A&BX) led the team with 25 saves and a 2.23 ERA. Grant Dayton (AY) contributed a 9-7 record, 4 saves and an ERA of 4.50. Sadly, the team's most popular player, Josh Hader (CXYW), only pitched 23 innings with an 8.87 ERA. Ouch!

The team ERA was 4.66, compared to 3.91 the year before. (Click here for all team stats.)

As noted, the team hit about the same as the year before ... .230/.305/.426 compared to .228/.303/.435, though home runs were down to 230 from 255 in 2020. 

It was a disappointing end to a disappointing season, though there is definitely hope for the year ahead with strong bounce-back years for Arenado, Crawford and Hader. Harper, of course, earned the NL MVP and we're looking forward to rolling for his 1-1-0-0-0-10 APBA card. 

(BREAKING NEWS: Next year's offense will have some more pop with the addition of Polar Bear Pete Alonso and his 1-1-0-0 card, though the Loggers waved goodbye to Starling Marte, who along with Arenado, Cole and Crawford have been the foundation of the Loggers lineup all these years.) 

Who knows? Maybe get a few better arms in the draft to go with all those home runs and things are already looking up for 2022. (rp)

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