2025 season personal thoughts

[Jose Herrera]

Hello everyone,

 

Hope you all are well. For me, 2025 was a pivotal year for the fish. It's not often you see a new FO, rookie manager and many fringe/rookie players come together and put together the season we did. Given we missed the playoffs, I'm happy with the season we had as we should have a rock-solid foundation to build on for next season.

This season I really enjoyed watching Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards establish themselves up the middle. It was also cool seeing Agustin Ramirez, Eric Wagaman, Kyle Stowers (All-Star) and much of our pitching progress as they had more playing time. Next season it will be intriguing to see what position players like Connor Norby, Griffin Conine, Heriberto Hernandez and Jacok Marsee can all do in a full season.

As for players like Joey Weimer, Maximo Acosta, and Troy Johnston I'd like to see them stick around and get some playing time. I think if we pair them with Javier Sanoja and Liam Hicks our lineup should be fun to watch. I would also like to see Deyvison De Los Santos, Jacob Berry, Joe Mack, and Victor Mesa Jr. come up if they play well in the minors.

Regarding the pitching, this was the perfect season for Eury Perez and Sandy Alcantara to come back. The team's expectations were not that high, which may have made it easier for them to work through their struggles and get better as the season went along. I feel good about them both and Edward Cabrera making quality starts for us next season.

Something we should keep an eye on for next season is how the starting rotation is going to be filled out. Janson Junk did a phenomenal job filling in and Ryan Weathers showed promise. However, both Robby Snelling and Thomas White pitched very well in the minors. Should they continue I think they will earn an opportunity to be called up at some point next season. 

For me the bullpen was our biggest surprise and what our secret weapon this season. If it had not been for Anthony Bender, Cade Gibson, Calvin Faucher, Lake Bachar, Ronny Henriquez, Tyler Phillips and Valente Bellozo eating up innings and holding games we totally would have lost over 90 games. The bullpen's endurance and perseverance are what set up many of the awesome moments we had this season. 

Overall, I'm impressed with how Clayton McCullough and his coaches managed and the personnel that Peter Bendix and the FO brought in. Most games I watched this year were fun and the players seemed focused but relaxed. It should be interesting to see who sticks around and who we bring in via free agency this off season. Between all of cool giveaways, moments in the booth and in the stands, I think we are trending in the right direction and looking forward to seeing how we can continue to build on this. Let me know what you all think?

 

-Jose