Current Week: 5-2 (70-29, +23)
Next Week: 3 @ Ellicott City Express, 3 @ Salisbury Ports
Power Ranking: 1 (-)
Fan Interest: 99 (+4)
Owners Mood: Ecstatic
Runs Scored: 534 (4th)
Avg: .280 (3rd)
HR: 100 (7th)
SB: 104 (1st)
Runs Against: 305 (1st)
Starters ERA: 2.97 (1st)
Pen ERA: 2.89 (1st)
Def Eff: .718 (1st)
Game 93: Norfolk 4, Milford 3
Cornell Pearson (9-5): 7.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 K
Dalton Whitaker (SV 25): 1.0 IP, 1 H
Denny Dooley: 2-4, HR (1), R, 2 RBI
Cornell Pearson: 1-2, 2 R
H: 6, LOB: 4
Game 94: Norfolk 5, Milford 4
Takayuki Iemochi (11-4): 7.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 5 K
Dalton Whitaker (SV 26): 1.0 IP, 1 K
John O'Donegan: 2-4, HR (17), R, 2 RBI
Denny Dooley: 2-3
Cav's scored 2 runs in the 7th, and 3 in the 8th.
H: 8, LOB: 2
Game 95: Norfolk 1, Christiana 2
Armando Lopez (12-2): 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Javier Janchez: 1-4, 2B, R
John O'Donegan: 1-2, 2B, RBI
H: 5, LOB: 8
Game 96: Norfolk 9, Christiana 3
Miguel Contreras (12-7): 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K
Sergio Galvez: 2-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI
King Brock: 2-4, HR (18), R, 3 RBI
Tom Anderson: 2-3, 2 2B, R, RBI
Denny Dooley: 2-4, HR (2), R, 2 RBI
H: 11, LOB: 7
Game 97: Richmond 2, Norfolk 0
Matt Hollis (12-4): 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K
Francisco Gallegos: 1-1, 2 BB,
Augusto Rodriguez: 1-3
H: 2, LOB: 5
Game 98: Richmond 1, Norfolk 5
Cornell Pearson (10-5): 7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K
Francisco Gallegos: 4-4, 2B, HR (7), R, RBI
King Brock: 1-3, HR (19), R, 3 RBI
Jeff Lewis: 2-3, R, RBI
H: 12, LOB: 9
Game 99: Richmond 4, Norfolk 5 (12 Innings)
Takayuki Iemochi: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 5 K
Dalton Whitaker: 2.0 IP, 2 K
Derek Carter (6-0): 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 K
John O'Donegan: 3-6, 2 2B, HR (18), 2 R, 2 RBI (walk-off solo-HR in 12th)
Jeff Lewis: 2-5, R
Tom Anderson: 2-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI
H: 9, LOB: 11
Cavaliers News:
Who's Hot:
Miguel Contreras: 5-1, 1.29 ERA, last 7 games
Matt Hollis: 2-1, 1.88, last 3 games
Derek Carter: 3-0, 0.00 ERA, last 20 games
Cornell Pearson: 4-0, 1.78, last 4 games
Francisco Gallegos: .667, 1 HR, last 10 games
Dan Nelson: 3 SV, 0.00 ERA, last 9 games
Who's Not:
Sergio Galvez: .095, 0 HR, last 6 games
Javier Janchez: .120, 0 HR, last 6 games
Injuries:
Mauro Candelara, Strained Adominal muscle, 3 weeks
Other News:
none at this time.
GM Notes:
The 15-game winning streak brought the fans out in droves and was a top league headline, the Cavaliers have a fan interest of 99 now, a jump of 4 from last week. I am not sure it has ever been this good here. We are riding high hopefully we can continue this.
Last week I made a comparison of Francisco Gallegos to King Brock and how similiar their first full season have been. Gallegos started off a lot slower this year and Brock had more offensive power on his team, but overall they are doing pretty close to each other, less the power numbers. Gallegos will never have the HR power of Brock, but if this season is any indication of what lies ahead then I am happy I decided to keep him over Yann. Here is a look at Brocks first full year and Gallego's predicted season totals:
Brock (2018): .305-27-137 49 doubles 114 runs
Gallegos (2021): .308-11-69 61 doubles 67 runs
Miguel Contreras started his 20th game of the season this week, with 4 more starts the vesting option will kick in and he will be our ace once again. I am not sure I will try to extend him or if I will let him walk, it will be a tough call. I have a lot of kids in the minors that are ready to go and cost a lot less, they aren't nearly as talented as Miguel, but at 34 a down fall is going to happen, its just a matter of when.
Its good to see Dalton Whitaker get on a hot streak, he must of heard the talk about him getting removed from the closer role. I wasn't ready to demote him from his closer role, but would have out of necessity. He has hopefully righted his ship for the rest of the season. In 10 July games he has yet to give up an earned run, and has lowered his ERA to 3.96 amost to where it was last season. He should hit his 40 save goal, however his strikeouts are way down.
I want to find someone who hits the long ball. I miss having that "guy" in the middle of the lineup. Francisco Reyes gave this team something we have never had I think he spoiled me. Even our minor league teams are missing the power aspect. Shows how little I value HR power. Not sure if thats a good thing or not.
Around the League:
Standings Leaders
DE Southern: Lewes Braves 57-42 (+6)
DE Northern: Milford Clippers 57-42 (+6)
MV Eastern: Ocean City Tourists/Baltimore Barons 61-38 (+7)
MV Western: Norfolk Cavaliers 70-29 (+23)
Players of the Week:
Delaware: George Corbett, Wilmington Iron Pigs, 15-30, 3 HR's, 7 RBIs
MarVa: Will Riley, Ellicott City Express, 12-23, 4 HR's, 13 RBIs
Power Rankings:
1) Norfolk Cavaliers (135.3)
2) Baltimore Barons (117.9)
3) Ocean City Tourists (113.9)
4) Milford Clippers (102.6)
5) Lewes Braves (102.6)
News:- The Dover Generals will be without Morris Sinclair for the next 6-7 weeks. The 40-yr-old-2b tore his quad running the bases. Morris was hitting .257-8-24 on the season.
- The Richmond Cardinals traded young outfielder Xue-qin Xu (.253-12-30) to the Chesapeake Blue Crabs for 2B Tim Simmons (.307-11-51). Simmons is a free agent at the end of the year making $8,500,000 it will be interseting to see if the Cardinals try to extend him or let his salary go.
- James McLaughlin is out 3-weeks with a strained hamstring. McLaughlin is 5-8 6.01 ERA on the season. Is this a blow to the Tourists or a blessing in the middle of pennent race?
- The Blue Jays are looking for some offense to make a run at the Braves and they hope Reynaldo Peralta (.331-8-43) is worth it. Peralta was acquired from the Ellicott City Express for 3 minor leaguers: Kirby Nixon (#242), Robbie Numbers and Hasan Elezi.
- The Baltimore Barons will be without one of the strong middle-man Norris Brooks for the next 8-9 months after Brocks fractured his elbow. Brooks was 2-0 3.74 in 19 games this year.
- Herminio Bovay is at it again, hitting in 20 straight games.
- The Richmond Cardinals and the Ellicott City Express made a rare inter-division deal. The Cardinals received 34-yr-old MR Nick Gilbert (3-5 5.23, 40 G), outfield prospect Edgar Baez (#39) and $3,000,000, and all it cost them was 34-year-old journeyman 3B Pat Shelton (.313-4-17). This is an obvious salary dump by the Express, as they start to look forward to next season.
- Ricardo Flores the starting catcher for the Richmond Cardinals will miss 6 weeks with back spasms. Flores is having a solid year, when he has been healthy, hitting .297-11-37.
- John Bean has suffered a set-back from a sprained wrist and will miss another week. Bean is hitting .296-11-40, which most people have considered an off-year for him.
- After 1/2 a year in Ellicott City, Tony Soto is on the move, along with $3,000,000 to the Chesapeake Blue Crabs, in return for 2 minor leaguers. Soto was set to be a free-agent in 2021, this deal doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
Milestone:
Number 300 for Peters: Swinging his way into the record books, Peter Peters reached the 300 homer mark today at Colonials Stadium against the Salisbury Ports. He went 3-5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs on the day, although New Castle would go down to defeat 5-4. "It was a distraction," Peters said of his 300th home run, "I'm happy it's over. I just wish I'd been able to make a difference in the outcome today." It took Peters 5 games and 21 at-bats to hit #300.