Does anyone remember Bengals 2019 season?
It was a forgettable season as any team last year. Yes, they played well in the middle of season, at one point reeling off 8 wins in a row. But a mix of injuries, attendance issues, and bad luck, they finished the season with a blowout mercy loss in the SNL. In that SNL game, they were missing probably their top 6 players. Shame!
The Bengals are now under new leadership than the 2018 season. Gone are the leadership team of Faisal and Salman. They are being replaced by Abir and Manju. Yes, the Abir from the good old days of Bengals and that Manju who is always the center of every joke in the league. What was their plan?
First they needed their core guys to get healthy. Second, they needed a deeper roster of players who can actually fill in without looking like they never picked up a glove in their lives. They needed a revamp in their swagger and bring the chemistry back in Bengals.
Additions:
The moves this team have made are enormous. They have revamped more than half their roster. Gone are Nabil, Raheel, Faisal, Kyle, Shairooz, etc. In come some very versatile players in rookie Michael Appell, former All-star Anwar Sadat, versatile players Pervez Khan and Saeed Anwar. Pervez and Saeed can play over the field and Anwar brings his championship winning leadership to the fold. Michael, from what we hear, is a middle of the order type hitter in the lower division that should command a lot of respect.
They have also added some wildcards who can prove to be very valuable in Billal Lateef, Manpreet Singh, and Sunny Naveed. Bilal and Manpreet haven’t reached their potentials yet, but have always teased it. Sunny is the eldest brother in the Hashim Naveed family, so we are excited to see what he brings to the table in his rookie year.
Overall:
The team is still dependent on Travis and Matt to pull the heavy load. Matt is one of the best defenders we have seen and Travis is a perennial .550+ hitter in the middle of the lineup. Is Yash healthy? Is Manju ever going to use those muscles of his and hit anything but singles? Salman hit under .400 last year. Is that a blip in his career or a trend? Is Sami ever going to learn to play any defense? There are a lot of questions that they have to answer, if they ever want to dream about making noise in the playoffs.
Offense: Matt, Saeed, Pervez should be at the top of the lineup. At least 2 of them. Travis is as good a 3 hitter as there is in the NL. The middle of the order will include Anwar and Michael. The key will be how good the bottom of the lineup is and can they flip the lineup over on a consistent basis.
Defense: Infield will be led by Matt at SS, Anwar at 3b, Travis at 2B and Michael at 1B. Their OF is a lot of questions marks. Only Saeed has the range of a good Outfielder. Pervez is the Swiss army knife that can play every position and play at well. Billal, Manju, Sammi, Yash, etc have to step up in the Outfield
Offseason Grade: B. It was time to put some fresh leadership energy and who better to do that than bring back Abir and all time funny man Manju. Good solid additions should give them a more competitive team this year. However, their OF is a big question mark, and they never found that big time LCF that can command the outfield.
Prediction: Definitely a top 6 team. We think they lose in the first round however. One year away from being legit championship contender.
