With rosters expanding, SP Nick Britland (trade acquisition), RP Devon James (trade acquisition), RP Brian Caprio (2025 Draft, Rd 3), SS Mike Phipps (2024 Draft, Rd 3), C Bobby Edwards (trade acquisition), RF Corey Davidson (MiLB FA signing), and CF Ross Wright (2025 Draft, Rd 5) all received call ups. This is a larger group than I would normally add.
The Expos continued their series with Oakland, winning 1 of the remaining 2 games. They then won 2 of 4 versus Arizona, 2 of 2 versus the Padres with the third game suspended until the end of the week. With SS Warren still hot at AAA, I called him back up to the majors.
The Expos won 1 of 3 versus St. Louis and 4 of 4 versus the Cubs, clinching the NL East on a walk-off win in the Cubs series.
The Expos lost the continuation of the suspended game versus the Padres and won 2 of 3 versus the Nationals, 2 of 3 versus the Phillies, 2 of 4 versus the Mets, and 3 of 3 versus the Pirates. RP Hitchcox suffered the first major injury of the season at the MLB level for my organization. He will miss the next 9 months.
This gives the Expos a 19-10 record for the month and 98-64 record for the season. This is good for third place in the NL and place the Expos in a matchup with a wild card team for the first round of the playoffs. I'm surprised this record did earn a first round bye.
Here are the batting performances for the month:
2B Albies and 3B Draxler had great months, leading the Expos' offense. 1B Flores, C Lopez, RF Lindberg, and LF Derringer all played well. In his return to the majors, SS Warren played a little better than his first go around, but still struggled mightily. I'm not sure what to make of him right now as he is not especially young for a prospect.
And here are the pitching performances:
SP Caballero had the best month of my starters, averaging 7 1/2 innings in his six starts with a 1.79 ERA and 2.21 FIP. SP Garcia also performed well with a 3.26 ERA that outperformed his 4.26 FIP by a run. SP Diplan, and SP Womble were about average and SP Killough struggled a bit.
In the bullpen, RP Britland impressed as he did not allow a run in his 8.1 innings. He may make a play for a rotation spot next year. RP Takara had a minuscule 0.57 ERA in 15.2 IP, CL Beddingfield picked up 10 more saves, and RP Salazar and RP Aguilera each struggled in their limited action.
Next up is coverage of the Expos' first playoff appearance in the past few years...