23 SIDEARM REVIEW: #20 ORLANO SUNRAYS

                   ORLANDO SUNRAYS: ENTERTAINMENT CENTER

FRONT OFFICE 

Quynh Nguyen has 2 years under his belt.  The franchise has shown incremental progress stepping out of the cellar into 4th place in the 22 SSL season.   Nguyen will enjoy watching Sandy Alcantara taking the mound every 4th day.  Let's look at the numbers for the 23 SSL season. 

ROTATION 

S. Alcantara 588
Luis Castillo 611
Quantrill 696
Berrios 805

BULLPEN

Bautista 536
Karinchak 516
Sawamura 664
Leone 822
Chafin 611
Morejon  652
E. Morgan 619
Flaherty 804
H. Castellanos 822

LINEUP

Haase c 748
Voit 1b 710
C. Hernandez 2b 629
Swanson ss 776
Muncy 3b 713
Stanton of 759
Amora of 631
L. Thomas of 705

BENCH

Mitchell of 635
Odor if 632
Rendon 3b 706
Stephenson c 854
Beer 1b 521
Leon c 509


ANALYSIS

Arguably, Alcantara is the best starter in baseball.  Superior performance over a ton of innings piles up the wins and keeps the bullpen fresh.  Luis Castillo is an excellent 1A starter.  Quality falls off after these two aces.  Quantrill is a good #4 but Berrios imploded last year and Flaherty went down with a serious injury.

Bautista and Karinchak provide two fantastic closing options.  Morgan, Chafin and Sawamura can eat up the middle innings as long as Mr. Q avoids overusing them. The back of the bullpen falls off significantly.

Swanson and Stanton are solid pros but need to step up their game.  Rendon is still recovering from injuries.  The future looks bright with rising stars Stephenson, Mitchell and Thomas on the horizon. If Berrios, Flaherty, Muncy and Rendon rebound in MLB23, this team could be a powerhouse in SSL 24.  For the present, look for Mr. Q and his team to continue it's inchworm progress and finish 3rd in the AL East.