Karachi: Assessing the Infieldby Hasan Khan, Sports Editor (Karachi Dawn)8 September 2104Two weeks to go in the season. Karachi is currently on a very uncharacteristic four-game win streak but I still firmly entrenched in last place in the IBL Asian Division. The last weeks will most likely decide who gets the second and third round picks in the next Amateur Draft. Lagos already has first pick pretty much locked up. Barring miracles, pick two will go to London or Karachi.
Karachi has done some wholesale cleansing of its roster which had been so artificially stuffed during previous management’s artificial intelligence fiasco. 24 players sporting one year contracts with major league salaries have been trimmed from the organization. They were all paid off for the remainder of the year. All of them refused minor league contract extensions; none deserved receiving a major league deal. 15 more players currently with major league contracts will remain in the organization next season with minor league contracts. All had previously been waived and designated for assignment, thus removing them from the 40-man roster.
Today we take a look at the present and the future of the Karachi infield corps:
First BaseKonosuke Sanu (age 26) is in his first full season in the major leagues. He is a solid defensive first baseman (+10.5 zone rating), albeit one without a lot of range. At the plate he has the potential to hit for a decent average while providing superior power numbers. Currently he is seond in the IBL in home runs (36) and tied for second in RBIs (91). He is hitting .265 with a club leading slugging percentage of .516. The team’s hitting coach thinks that he can evolve into a .280 hitter.
Backing up Kanu is 23-year-old
Moritz Segaar who has a similar profile while perhaps a shade below him in both talent and potential. Segaar could probably start for many teams, and there is certainly the potential for a trade of one of these guys if the right opportunity arose. Alas, first basemen tend to be a dime a dozen these days.
Second Base25-year-old
Luo-lang Wang, just this week back from four months on the disabled list, currently holds the job and is projected to be the starter in 2105 (barring trade and free agency acquisitions). He is adequate defensively, but his major league history indicates that .250 is probably his batting average ceiling. Most teams hope for more production.
Down in Rookie League Sargodha there is this year’s third round draft pick,
Donat Jakubczak. His defense needs work, but he has very high potential offensively both from contact and power perspectives. He will certainly progress to Class A for the start of next season and could end up in AA during the year. He is still just 19 years old.
Third BaseAntinko Habibulaev (age 30 this week) holds the hot corner job. His zone rating is negative, although massively so, and he has yet to top .250 in three major league seasons with the Falcons. He has decent power, topping 20 home runs this year for the third consecutive time, but he strikes out a lot as well. Unfortunately there is no obvious help waiting in the minors to replace him.
ShortstopTeh-huai Guo (pictured below) has held the shortstop job for three years now. The 28-year-old is a +10 zone rating defender at short, and his batting average has improved in each of his three seasons up to .305 this season. He is inked in as the starter for the foreseeable future as there is no one on the horizon that could supplant him.
UtilityThe backup infielders right now are
Resit Gurânî and
Asad bin Jafar. Gurânî (28) is a solid defender at all four infield positions but does not inspire or project a lot of confidence at the plate. Bin Jafar is less capable defensively although he can also fill in at the corner outfield spots. This year is his first shot at producing in the majors, and his .186 batting average doesn’t bode well for the future.
In a future issue we will look at 1) the outfield and catching, 2) the rotation, and 3) the bullpen.
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