Clip Files for 2023

A 9-11 October wrapped up a 74-86 season for the Clips, better than they expected but unfortunately not very successful in setting the stage for much of an improvement in 2024.

Injured and underperforming players kept the Clips languishing near the bottom of the Yahoo standings, where they finished second-to-last in homers, slugging and OPS, and dead last in WHIP.

Slugger Aaron Judge came into October with 57 homers and he pounded four in the first 10 games, leaving him just one shy of his real-life American League record of 62. But alas he was totally blanked in those final 10 as-played games against Superior and Tatooine, forcing him to settle for a league-leading 61, which frankly was more than we were expecting given the cavernous ballpark we chose.

The strategy with that selection was to try to keep the Clips in games at home, reducing the opposition’s ability to outslug us. That paid off in the Clips outhomering the opposition 83-80 at home and surprisingly 104-95 on the road for a total homer advantage of 187-175. The homers allowed figure was 10 off from the league best.

The Clips hit a woeful .199 with 60 runs scored in October. For the year they hit a league-worst .220. Five players with 87 or more at-bats finished below the Mendoza line, including Riley Greene (.182 in 379 at-bats, 71 points under his real-life .253) and Jesse Winker (.179 in 470 at-bats). … After hitting .186 in October, Judge finished at .258 for the year (53 points under his real-life .311) with 109 runs scored and a league-high 116 RBIs. … Willson Conteras hit exactly .200 in 436 at-bats (43 points under his real-life average). He only hit 14 homers, nine shy of his 105% total of 23. His season was most notable for a league-high 30 hit-by-pitches. … Xander Bogaerts hit 48 points below his real-life average (.259 / .307) … Jon Berti got only 273 at-bats (hitting .198) but still managed to steal 31 bases. …

On the pitching side of things, no Clip pitcher reached double figures in wins. Matt Manning, acquired in a trade with an eye toward next year, made the most of his 10 innings in October with just four hits allowed, but was unable to record a win. Limited to 82 innings, Freddy Peralta had a nice year at 6-5, 2.96 ERA with just 53 hits allowed. Marcus Stroman was the only other starter who did not have a losing record, going 9-9, 3.83 in 145 2/3 innings. Dakota Hudson somehow went 5-0 out of the bullpen, including 3-0 in October. … Applegate was plus-10 in one-run games at 28-18, one of only three teams that could make that claim (New New York, West Atlanta). … Clip pitchers teamed up with Contreras and Martin Maldonado to allow the fewest stolen bases in the league (39) and fewest attempts (55).

Only one player, Eduardo Escobar, was in double figures for error total, as the Clips led the league in fewest errors at 53.

Having drafted and made trades with 2024 in mind, the Clips now fear they will have to look even further into the future. Recapping those moves:

First round: Riley Greene, decent season (.288, 11 HRs, .796 OPS) but cut short by injury (378 AB).
Second round: Joey Meneses, chosen as trade bait, couldn’t find a trade partner, now stuck with a DH with no power (.275, 13, .722)
Third round: Roansy Contreras, flamed out with Pirates.
Fourth round: Pete Fairbanks, chosen as trade bait, packaged with Byron Buxton to Margaritaville for Jarred Kellenic, who fractured his foot in a fit of anger, hit .253, 11, .746 in just 372 at-bats.
Fifth round: Mackenzie Gore, failed to blossom, 7-10, 4.42 ERA, needs more seasoning.
Sixth round: Oswald Peraza, looked like a starting SS in spring training, job went to Anthony Volpe, Peraza primarily languished in minors until garbage time, .191, 2, .539 in 173 ABs.

Besides Kelenic, the Clips picked up Matt Manning, who was having a good season (5-4, 3.58 ERA, 1.04 WHIP) when he was hit by a 119-mph line drive by Giancarlo Stanton and fractured his right foot.

And of course, Aaron Judge, the only player Clips fans pay to see, tore a toe ligament crashing into an outfield gate in Dodger Stadium and was limited to 367 ABs.

Two years ago the Clips suffered through a 64-96 season and rebounded to 89-71 in 2022. A similar 25-win improvement in 2024 seems highly improbable.