After finishing out of the playoffs the last two seasons, the Mudcats will look to return in 2009, but is it their turn? So far, the Cats have the league's best record at 11-3.Positional battles: A.J. Pierzynski and Bengie Molina seem to have a platoon going right now, but Pierzynski has been struggling and losing ground to Molina. Most infield positions seem locked up, but look for Carlos Guillen to make a play for some at-bats. The outfield also seems to be set, with perhaps Fred Lewis and Delmon Young looking to gain a platoon role. The Cats only have 5 starters on the roster, so there won't be any surprises in the rotation. Edwar Ramirez has been doing a good job closing games in the pre-season (3 saves, 0.00 ERA in 8 games), but Brian Fuentes will likely take the job once the season starts.
Pre-season surprises/disappointments: Troy Tulowitzki is making his case to take the starting shortstop role (.367/.441/.600), but his rival Mike Aviles is doing just as well (.320/.375/.600) in almost double the at bats. Outfielders Vernon Wells (4-24, .541 OPS) and Grady Sizemore (.157, .542 OPS) have struggled, as has most of the team - at least hitting the ball.
The pitching staff has been great so far - Tim Hudson is 3-0 with a 2.35 ERA, Carlos Zambrano has a 1.77 ERA in 3 starts and Dice-K is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA. Most of the pen has ERAs under 2.50. The only one struggling thus far is ace Roy Halladay (0-1, 5.00 in 3 starts), but word is he's been trying out a couple of new pitches he saw on YouTube.
Roster outlook: The Cats only have one cut to make (wow so far nothing too exciting to write about as far as cuts go for the first three teams!). There are currently 5 ineligible players on the roster and one of them could be a cut (Carolina already cut one in the middle of the draft!) or else Carolina could opt to cut one of their 7 relievers.
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