[G-Force]

ABL Around the Horn: May 2021

• San Antonio's Elmer Flick saw his hitting streak snapped at 28 games on May 29, the second longest mark in ABL history and the longest in the Western League (Orlando's Ryan Braun had a 30-game streak in 2020). Flick was a three-time All Star and two-time Gold Glove winner with Charlotte before signing a 7-year, $184 million deal with San Antonio this offseason that makes him the league's highest paid player.
  
  
• The ABL has yet to have a team finish a season with a .600 winning percentage. But two months in, Louisville and Denver are both playing .700 ball. The key? Pitching! Of the top 10 players in ERA in the ABL so far, Denver and Louisville account for eight of them. The outsiders? Sacramento's Hal Newhouser and Phoenix's Red Faber.
  
  
• When Orlando took Barry Bonds with the top pick in November's amateur draft, he was hailed as an immediate difference maker. After he hit .221 in April with one homer, the skeptics - and starved-for-success Orlando fans - were quick to worry as the team stumbled to a 10-15 start. But Bonds posted a .998 OPS with six homers in May and, in an impressive feat for a rookie, leads the league in walks. He's batting .283/.392/.455 at the moment.
  
  
• Worst free agent contract to this point: Boston's Bob Friend, who was signed to a 7-year, $130 million deal and has gone 0-6 with a ghastly 10.21 ERA. Friend, a reliever for three seasons with Memphis, broke through last season with a terrific 1.31 ERA. Boston thought that breakthrough would serve them better getting more innings as a starter. But a shift back to the bullpen has to be considered at this point, as does a possible injury.