Things soured a bit in June for the Expos.
The month started well with a three game sweep of the Rays and winning 2 of 3 versus the Diamondbacks. After that the Expos won 1 of 3 versus the Yankees, and activated RF Kirilloff for a three game series versus the Nationals, who swept the Expos. SP Montes De Oca, a player I was looking into trading closer to the trade deadline was sidelined with an injury for seven weeks and I called up top prospect, SP Sean Killough.
The Expos won 2 of 3 versus the Cubs with Killough pitching well and winning his debut. However, in this same series, C Dillard was lost for the next 9-10 months with an injury. The Expos proceeded to win 1 of 4 versus the Phillies. After this series, I activated CF Williams.
The Expos closed out the month by getting swept in three games versus the Mets, winning 1 of 3 versus the Giants, and dropping the first two of a series against the Braves. To make matters worse, I was informed that RF Lindberg, my top performing batter this year would miss the next three weeks.
The Expos finished the month with a terrible 10-17 record. Perhaps some of this can be attributed to injuries, but the depth is so strong that I didn't expect this to be much of an issue. If anything injuries should impact the bench more than the lineup.
On a positive note, SP Salazar, another top pitching prospect, is nearly ready for the majors. He won the AAA International League pitcher of the month award.
Here are how my batters performed for the month:
Before his injury, RF Lindberg again had the best month. SS Flores and LF Sera were not far behind. 2B fill in Severino played well, and considering he was only active for about half of the month, RF Kirilloff also had a terrific month.
And the pitchers:
In his limited action (15 IP) SP Killough was my best starter with SP Caballero not far behind. SP Locey and SP Dobashi also performed decently.
RP Beddingfield and RP Smith had otherworldly stats as each had 0.00 ERAs with 15/2 K/BB ratios in 11.2 and 12.2 IP respectively.
Next, the international amateur free agent signing period begins...