The Hitmen ended up in the three-way tie for eighth place. Despite being in a playoff spot for a good part of the season, the Hitmen hit some bumps in the road and ended up on the outside looking in.What went right: The Hitmen offense and pitching were both in the top half of the league. Robinson Cano had a great year atop the Hitmen lineup. Ryan Howard followed up his Listach Rookie of the Year season with a Mitchell Award-worthy season. Takashi Saito and Chad Cordero were a solid closer tandem.
What went wrong: The young pitching staff is still going through growing pains. Felix Hernandez took a big step backwards after a successful rookie campaign and Jeremy Bonderman is still trying to figure it out. Rookie Justin Verlander was up and down, but showed enough moments of brilliance to give Hitmen fans some hope. Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Delgado had down years - well, down for them anyway. A-Rod still managed to score 100 runs and Delgado did hit 34 homers and 93 RBIs, but overall, expectations were higher for the two.
With a rebound from A-Rod and Delgado and some more progress from the young arms, maybe Hillsborough will get over the playoff hump next season.
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