Last season the Waves had to battle their way through Opening Day without their 2 best players, Mason Klingberg and Adam Clark. Their situation isn't AS BAD this time around, but they will once again not be at full strength. Ace pitcher, Clark is expected out, as well as is Taite Kleine and Shawn Godinho. Team owner Anthony Nusbaum has signed himself to the roster to fill the void.
"We will still hit fine with Mason, but our pitching could be a problem," Nusbaum said. He added that Lane Traver will most likely toss the majority innings.
In order to sign himself, Nusbaum had to clear space on the roster and did so by temporary releasing Clark. Nusbaum said as soon as Opening Day is over Clark will be re-signed and that it's not a big deal anyway because Clark and the Waves have reportedly been working on (and are close to finalizing) a newly reconstructed contract. Clark is also a co-General Manager, so although he is technically a free agent for the next few days, he isn't actually available on the market.
On having a limited Opening Day roster, Nusbaum admitted frustration, but said he expects his team to still come out 2-1, or 1-2 worst case. The Waves play the Express, Sasquatches and Storm on Saturday. Last season they left Opening Day 1-2 and things turned out just fine as they ultimately still made the playoffs and advanced to the NC Finals. So long as an 0-3 start is avoided, the Waves should theoretically be alright — but let's be serious, that will be no easy task. Their opponents will definetely smell blood in the water and try hard to capitalize on it.
Will they?
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