Getting to know Team Australia Part Two

Earlier this week I offered some ramblings about what I thought the pitching options for Team Australia might look like.

There's been a few interesting opinions expressed as a result, including:

Looks like there is a fair bit of love out there for Oxspring and Saupold, some mixed feelings around Thomas, and a bit of support for Searle and Rowland-Smith. I still reckon Oxspring is most likely to be the number one starter, and tend to agree with the above sentiments that  after Oxspring,  it could go a number of ways. Time will tell!

So today I thought I might take a stab at a line-up card for the first game. Here's what I came up with:

Here's why I went with it.

• Beresford is locked in as the starting shortstop, and he's a lead off guy - has done it for the Aces, did it for Team Australia at the World Cup. Obvious choice to lead off. (Although, another option would be to put Kandilas in at lead off and push the rest of the order down a spot)
• Once Beresford is in at short, the rest of the infield needs to fall into place. The next most obvious selection is to put Harman in at second - I see him definitely in the starting lineup and I don't see him playing any other position (since shortstop is occupied by Beresford)
• With Harman at second, Luke Hughes would be pushed to either firstbase, third base, or DH. I am tipping DH, because...
• I reckon we will give this young Walker bloke a real shot. The guy hit 24 doubles, 1 triple and 12 homeruns at A+ last year, and these are very similar numbers to the guy who I think will be on the opposite corner of the diamond, Stefan Welch (although Welch split his year between A+ and AA). Compare the numbers of either of these guys to Justin Huber, the main other competitor for a 1B or DH spot and the decision is pretty clear (Huber has just three doubles and two homers in more than 120 ABs for the Aces this year, in a big decline on his 2010 and 2011 numbers)
• In terms of the outfield - I fully acknowledge I have a bit of Blue Sox bias, but...- I think Dening, Snelling and Kandilas will form the starting three. I expect Adamson will do an amazing job coming off the bench for pinch run situations and/or to give improved defense late in games - and he may well get a start later in the series - depending on how things go. I'd say he will play a similar role to the role played by Kandilas at the World Cup in 2011). Josh Roberts could be a bit of a bolter - he could take Snelling's spot - but also could feature as a pinch hitter in late innings. In this lineup I'd put Snelling in at five to capitalise on his OBP prowess and set the table for Dening and Walker, if not also clean up the guys above him. Kandilas would slot in at number nine - a spot he has worked wonders in for the Blue Sox in recent seasons
• At catcher it's pretty much splitting hairs. Kennelly and de San Miguel both saw time behind the dish at the 2011 World Cup, both played AA in 2012, and even though de San has had the better of it in the 2012 ABL, I think de San Miguel should get the edge - but it is a very close run race. Although actually, now that I am really looking at the numbers, I think I could make a good argument for Kennelly as well.... you check it out and see what you think:

Click to zoom in

• To cut a long story short, de San showed a bit more pop, but struck out more than Kennelly. In the field it was very close behind the dish, de San shows a better caught stealing average, but had 5 passed balls to Kennelly's zero. Tough decision this one!
• The above lineup would leave Kennelly, Josh Davies, Corey Adamson, Justin Huber and Josh Roberts on the bench. This would give a good mix of abilities to use depending on the situation, and looks to be quite balanced.

Let me know what you think the lineup would/should be - send me a tweet to @ozmlbplayers, or leave a comment!

I am starting to get really excited about the whole thing! Australia should be able to put up a reasonably competitive team, and if they can get a bit of patriotic competitiveness going, I think they could well end up in the second round.

If you haven't already, it would be great if you could check out my application for the World Baseball Classic Fan Cave! Winners are announced after 11 February!