HSH: London Knights

London Knights Have Eye on the Prize



2016 Record: 97-63 (1st in Euro, Lost 4-1 in the first round)
2017 Projected Record: 95-65 (1st in Euro)
Key Pickups: Delmon Young (trade), Craig Hansen (free agent)
Key Losses: Jeremy Reed (free agent)

London enters 2017 riding the wave of three Euro Division titles in four years. Last season's squad won 97 games, the most in franchise history, thanks to a trio of amazing rookies and a solid pitching rotation. With another year under their belts (plus some key off season additions), the Knights look like the team to beat not only in the Euro Division, but in the entire World League.


The '16 Knights scored 819 runs, good for 4th best in SLB,
and have added super slugger Delmon Young. Young gives them a fifth hitter who had a .500+ SLG last year, so 900+ runs is easy to imagine this year. Overall, the team ranked 3rd in OBP and 2nd in SLG in 2016. The weakest hitter is Joe Mauer (batting 8th). Scary. Despite a rather underwhelming college career, Diego Clemente lit up the SLB, winning RHOY and living up to his "The Next A-Rod" hype. Strong hitting up the middle and plenty of team speed makes this the best lineup in the division. While Clemente got a lot of the attention, Jim Russell was even better, out OPSing his rookie teammate.

On the pitching side of things, the Knights were about league average, but with a Top 3 offense, that should be plenty good for another 90+ wins in 2017. While the team lacks a true "ace", the top three of Dice-K, Weaver and Bray were all good for mid 3.00 ERA's and double digit wins. Bray had an extremely impressive 166:17 K/B ratio and Weaver managed a respectable 3.80 ERA despite giving up 40 homers. Mahara was a disaster, surrendering 260 hits (43 of them long balls) in 205 innings. The bullpen was a mixed bag, but the addition of Hansen really strengthens the late innings.

Despite sharing the division with the defending WS Champs, London projects to win the Euro again. The team lacks depth and has exactly $0 to work with under the cap, but a healthy offense should run over just about everyone in their paths.

PROJECTED LINEUP:

SS Jose Reyes
CF Warren McFadden
3B Diego Clemente
RF Delmon Young
LF Jim Russell
1B James McNulty
2B TJ Mackey
C Joe Mauer

SP Daisuke Matsuzaka
SP Jered Weaver
SP William Bray
SP Christopher Volstad
SP Jon Switzer

CL Craig Hansen