|
MVP
|
2026 SAB Hall of Fame (Part 2)
Prajwal Adhikari – Center/Right Field – Kathmandu Chaparrals – 72.8% First Ballot
Prajwal Adhikari was a 6’2’’, 205 pound right-handed outfielder from Baglung, Nepal, a city of around 260,000 inhabitants. Adhikari was a solid contact hitter who was great at putting the ball in play and avoiding strikeouts, although he was below average at drawing walks. His gap power was his biggest strength as a hitter with 36 doubles and 20 triples per his 162 game average. Adhikari never topped 20+ home runs in a season, but he did usually get you more than 10 each year.
Adhikari speed and baserunning were both pretty good, but his stealing ability was merely above average. His combined offensive skills commonly placed him into the leadoff spot. He started in right field primarily in his first few seasons, but shifted later to center, the inverse of most career trajectories. Adhikari ultimately had around 2/3s of his starts in CF and the rest in RF. He graded on the whole as an excellent defender in right and passable in center.
He had some recurring back troubles later in his career, but Adhikari was generally quite durable across a 17-year career. From 2005-17, he played 145+ games in all but one season. The one main knock teammates had about Adhikari was that he was a bit of a mercenary. He wasn’t going to cause trouble and wasn’t lazy, but you didn’t look to Adhikari for leadership or loyalty.
Adhikari was viewed by many to be the best prospect out of Nepal since the legendary Tirtha Upadhyaya, who was SAB’s lone Nepali Hall of Famer prior to Adhikari. This excited folks in the capital Kathmandu, who hoped to find a Nepali superstar to lead the franchise. The Chaparrals picked Adhikari seventh overall in the 2003 SAB Draft. He struggled with limited use as a rookie with -0.6 WAR over 43 games. Adhikari earned a full-time starting job after that, although it took a bit to reach elite status.
With Kathmandu, Adhikari led the Southeast Asia League thrice in triples and had two 6+ WAR seasons. He didn’t win any awards though and the Chaparrals remained a bottom-tier franchise for most of his run, averaging 74.4 wins per season. Things finally seemed to be trending upward in 2010 at 85-77, their first winning season since 2001. However, Adhikari left after that for free agency seeking a big payday at age 29.
For Kathmandu, Adhikari had 963 games, 1064 hits, 442 runs, 200 doubles, 108 triples, 92 home runs, 526 RBI, 220 steals, .297/.334/.490 slash, 123 wRC+, and 25.3 WAR. It was his longest tenure and thus the team he was inducted with, although his Delhi stint would be certainly his most productive. Adhikari wouldn’t really be upheld as a franchise icon in later years in Kathmandu, although he did remain broadly popular with Nepali baseball fans.
Adhikari signed for $20 million over five years with the Drillers and delivered right away with a career best 8.7 WAR season. He led the Indian League in hits (211), triples (29), and batting average (.356), with career bests in triples, triple slash (.356/.391/.590), OPS (.980), and wRC+ (190). Adhikari won his first Silver Slugger (at CF) and was third in MVP voting, his only time as a finalist. In 2013, Adhikari won his second Slugger with league and career bests in runs (119) and hits (219). In 2014, he hit for his lone cycle of his career.
Delhi generally stunk while Adhikari was there apart from a surprise wild card in 2013, ending a nine-year playoff streak. The Drillers made it to the ILCS after upsetting 111-win Kolkata, but fell to Visakhapatnam. Adhikari had a strong playoff run with 1.309 OPS, 24 hits, 8 runs, and 10 extra base hits in 12 starts. In total over five years with Delhi, Adhikari played 743 games with 925 hits, 468 runs, 187 doubles, 93 triples, 64 home runs, 309 RBI, 211 steals, .323/.360/.520 slash, 160 wRC+, and 31.7 WAR.
Adhikari was now 34 years old and returned to free agency for 2016, joining Hyderabad for $34 million over four years. He won his third Slugger in his debut and led in triples twice. Adhikari became the SAB all-time leader in triples, leading his league six times in the stat. Adhikari had .877 OPS in the postseason as the Hippos lost in the first round in 2016 and the ILCS in 2017. Hyderabad also fell in the 2018 ILCS, but Adhikari missed the playoff run with a herniated disc.
In three years for the Hippos, Adhikari had 435 games, 522 hits, 247 runs, 99 doubles, 59 triples, 43 home runs, 233 RBI, .324/.362/.539 slash, 162 wRC+, and 17.9 WAR. He didn’t meet the vesting criteria for the fourth year of the contract and returned to free agency at age 37. Adhikari’s production had remained quite steady, which earned him a three-year, $26,700,000 deal with Visakhapatnam..
Adhikari was on a good pace in 2019, but lost around two months in the fall to another herniated disc. He then declined sharply with -1.0 WAR and .647 OPS for the Volts in 2020 over 110 games. Realizing he was cooked, Adhikari retired that winter just after his 39th birthday. For Visakhapatnam, he played 217 games with 2.8 WAR and .761 OPS.
The final tallies had 2358 games, 2711 hits, 1241 runs, 525 doubles, 284 triples, 212 home runs, 1136 RBI, 461 walks, 1254 strikeouts, 571 stolen bases, .308/.346/.505 slash, 141 wRC+, and 77.7 WAR. Adhikari retired the triples leader and only finally got passed in the mid 2030s by Gunavati Candrajita. As of 2037, Adhikari ranks 21st in hits, 53rd in runs, 27th in doubles, 91st in RBI, 88th in stolen bases, and 54th in WAR among position players.
Adhikari was rarely dominant or considered a top five level player, but he had remarkably consistent and reliable production for 17 years. Being the triples king and hitting 2500+ hits, 1000+ runs, 500+ doubles, and 1000+ RBI were all important milestones for many voters. Some still were skeptical by the lack of big accolades, power stats, and team success. Adhikari debuted with 72.8%, enough to cross the 66% threshold for a first ballot induction with South Asia Baseball’s 2026 Hall of Fame class.
Viaan Govindraj – Relief Pitcher – Visakhapatnam Volts – 71.8% Third Ballot
Viaan Govindraj was a 5’9’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Visakhapatnam, India. The stocky Govindraj had strong stuff and great control along with above average-to-good movement. His one-two punch was a 97-99 mph fastball along with an outstanding circle change. Govindraj expertly changed speeds and fooled batters with which pitch was coming.
Govindraj didn’t have the stamina to go too many innings, but his ironman durability meant he was already ready to come out of the bullpen. He did struggle with holding runners and was below average defensively. Govindraj was quiet and humble, keeping his head down while working his butt off.
Pitchers projected to a career of relief didn’t generally get drafted high, but Govindraj was picked in the late first round. As a Visakhapatnam native, his hometown squad had kept tabs throughout his amateur efforts. The Volts took Govindraj 21st overall and made him a full-time part of the bullpen right away with immediate results.
Govindraj was third in 2005 and 2006’s Reliever of the Year voting, then took second in 2007. His lone award win came in 2008 with career bests in ERA (1.32), innings (102), strikeouts (166), and WAR (4.8). Govindraj was third in 2009’s voting as he led the Indian League with 45 saves. 2009 was Visakhapatnam’s first winning season or playoff berth since 2001, although they had a first round exit. Govindraj gave up three runs over 5.1 playoff innings.
That marked the end of Govindraj’s first stint with his hometown team as they couldn’t come to terms. It was also his final year pitching for India in the World Baseball Championship. Govindraj pitched from 2004-09 for the Indians with unremarkable results with a 5.59 ERA over 29 innings, 49 strikeouts, and -0.2 WAR. He didn’t leave the Indian League though, joining Mumbai on a one-year deal worth $2,040,000.
Govindraj was second in ROTY for the Meteors with league and career bests in saves (48) and games (79). He tossed 1.2 clean playoff innings, although the Meteors lost in the first round. Govindraj was moved out the closer role and saw limited middle relief use in the next two seasons. He pitched in 2011 for Pune and started 2012 with Delhi. The Drillers traded him in the summer to Yangon, who went on to win the SAB Championship. Govindraj allowed one run over 4.2 playoff innings and four appearances. He then gave up two runs in 4.1 innings in the Baseball Grand Championship as Yangon took tenth at 10-9.
Coming up on age 33, Visakhapatnam brought Govindraj back on a two-year, $7,920,000 deal. The Volts were coming off an Indian League pennant in 2012 He returned to the closer role in 2013 with 41 saves in 72 games, becoming the eighth in SAB to earn 300 career saves. Visakhapatnam repeated as IL champs in 2013, losing the SAB Championship to Hanoi. Govindraj tossed 16 playoff innings with 6 saves, a 2.25 ERA and 27 strikeouts.
He was moved back to middle relief for 2014 as Visakhapatnam fell to Kolkata in the ILCS. Between his two stints with the Volts, Govindraj had 261 saves and 317 shutdowns, 2.09 ERA, 730.2 innings, 1179 strikeouts, 149 walks, 162 ERA+, and 26.2 WAR. The hometown boy would see his #24 uniform eventually retired by the Volts.
Govindraj bounced around as a serviceable middle relief guy for the rest of his career. He had second stints with Mumbai in 2015 and with both Delhi and Yangon in 2016. Govindraj went to Colombo for 2017 and finished up with Hanoi in 2018. He retired that winter at age 38 after 16 seasons.
The final stats for Govindraj saw 871 games, 1127.2 innings, 326 saves, 428 shutdowns, 80-86 record, 1681 strikeouts, 243 walks, 144 ERA+, 62 FIP-, and 35.7 WAR. He ranks 18th in saves as of 2037 and among pitchers with 1000+ innings Govindraj ranks 16th in ERA, 18th in opponent’s OPS (.581), 9th in K/9 (13.42), and 30th in H/9 (6.85). His .208/.257/.324 triple slash ranks 25th/21st/23rd.
Govindraj ranks 7th in WAR and strikeouts among the South Asia Baseball Hall of Fame relievers as of 2037. He wasn’t as dominant as some of those peers which kept him off the ballots of the more reliever-stringent voters. Govindraj still had the milestones that the majority looked for though. He just missed the 66% requirement at 65.1% and 62.8% in his initial two ballots. Third time was the charm for Govindraj at 71.8% to take the third and final slot in the 2026 class. |