[Bub13]

April 18-20 @ SEATTLE
Last season's almost-division-champs ("Late Swoon Kills Early Promise") are off to a hopeful 8-5 start. Hitting has been big so far, 1st in AVG and 2nd in runs. Pitching, however, is a hot mess, near the bottom, although closer Adam Kosik hasn't been scored on in six appearances. This is the middle of a 13-game road swing for us.

HAW pitchers: Pete Morrow (0-2, 8.00) / Ryuma Sato (1-0, 1.13) / Rob Hart (1-1, 5.40)
SEA pitchers: Leo Zamorano (0-1, 15.00) / Carlos Zenon (2-0, 3.18) / Sean Easter (2-0, 2.35)

#14: WIN 6-3 ... four XBH on seven hits overcomes 12 Mariners hits. Five walks helps too...Morrow gives up 10 H in 6 IP, but fans 7, walks none
#15: WIN 1-0 ... well well well...Sato walks John Fry in the 2nd, but allows no further runners, for our second franchise NO HITTER...two good guys injured tho
#16: LOSS 1-2 ... nice line for Hart: 8.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 13 K...why he was still out there (120 pitches) in the 9th is an open question

Lots of good stuff in this series. Sato's no-no was the first in MLB since August, 2042. Ken Clark threw our first no-hitter back in 2037, a 13 K win over Tampa Bay. They guy who signed him this spring deserves a fat raise.... Offense is down to 8th in runs, 12th in AVG, but pitching is up to 3rd.... Stoneback's rough start continues, as he suffers a second dtd (both moderate) injury, this one for three weeks. I think it's best to shut him down and so he's placed on the 11-day DL. JJ Simmons will come up from his rehab stint in AAA. CF Jim Klein tweaks his knee, but it's minor--and less than a week long--so he'll keep playing.... ELSEWHERE: Texas has won 5 straight, moving them to 10-5. Cleveland--our next opponent--has also won 5 in a row, and leads the Central.... Milwaukee (3-12) and KC (4-12) are dragging down on the bottom.... Portland's Morgan Akers is hitting a league-best .547, and was the most recent NL player of the week.


April 22-24 @ CLEVELAND
Predicted to win just 75 games, the Indians are off to a stellar-ish 9-6 start, good for first place in the Central. Good times on the Lake. Fourth in runs (although 8th in AVG), but first in pitching, for a very nice +28 run differential already. 1B Eddie Hummel (.321/2/18) is hitting a full 100 points over his career average (after just two seasons, but still...).

HAW pitchers: Mike Messinger (1-0, 4.50) / Eric Jones (1-1, 4.42) / Pete Morrow (1-2, 6.60)
CLE pitchers: Mike Koslowsky (1-1, 4.72) / Roberto Maldonado (2-0, 2.08) / Bryan Altier (0-2, 7.71)

#17: WIN 11-4 ... Masuda's 3-run shot in the 5th pretty much ends things, making it 8-0...19 Islander hits, at least one from every starter
#18: LOSS 5-6 ... Cortez Gamez wins it in the 10th, the first run given up by closer Yaung this year...3 more RBI for Masuda, up to 24 on the season
#19: game rained out, rescheduled for 8/12, making a doubleheader

Six regulars are now hitting over .300 (including JJ Simmons at 5-for-10), yet team AVG is 10th overall.... Pitching is now 1st in the AL, starters 2nd, ditto bullpen.... Masuda leads the AL in RBI, Groff tied for first in HR.... ELSEWHERE: Expos starter--and former closer--John De Jong rides his oddball sidearm delivery to the league's second no-hitter this season, whiffing 12 and walking just 2.... Yankees OF and injury machine Daizo Yonamine has suffered his first dtd injury (after getting 2 in spring training). He had 8 last season. Still, NY is 12-5, best record in baseball by half a game.


April 25-27 vs MILWAUKEE
Slow start for the Brewers, 6-12, but still 2.5 games ahead of the Royals. Struggling offense (16th) paired with a slightly worse (17th) pitching staff, for a wild -42 run differential. CF Jesus Esparsa (.352/7/19) hasn't gotten the memo, however. Two top pitchers are on the DL. One-time 1B of the future Marcos Mora hasn't played a game since 2042, but is just 6 days away from giving his brand new knee a go. Good luck, M.

HAW pitchers: Pete Morrow (1-2, 6.60) / Ryuma Sato (2-0, 0.72) / Rob Hart (1-2, 4.33)
MIL pitchers: Travis Calhoun (0-1, 5.12) / Dan Tuff (0-3, 9.78) / Greg Sipes (1-1, 6.35)

#19: LOSS 4-5 ... a Groff HR in the 9th ties it, but Yaung blows up in the 10th...Morrow looked good, but did walk 5 in 6 IP
#20: WIN 5-3 ... Sato gives up 7 H this time, but fans 7, and the pen whiffs 5 over the final 3 IP...Groff's HR sparks a 5-run 8th, and Klein's 2 run single is the GW
#21: WIN 6-4 ... J.Hart's 2-run pinch HR in the 8th puts us up for good, and R.Hart fans 12 in 8.1 IP to pick up the win

Now up to 14-7, a game up on Texas. Hitting is still average (8th in runs), while pitching is 2nd overall (best bullpen tho). It worries me that this is putting too much pressure on our pitching. But that always worries me.... RP Rick Ramirez is just five days away from returning, but Rich Stoneback suffers a setback and won't be 100% for another two weeks.... ELSEWHERE: KC is now 5-17, but a tough stretch from Baltimore has them at 6-15.... My favorite pitcher, Padres star Gary Florence, is back, and has just a lovely K:BB ratio of 44:4 through 36 innings. His career ratio (per 9 IP) is 9.1 to 1.3. He's a free agent after next year, and if he's got anything left in the tank by then, I may take a run at him. I can't help it.... Cleveland's Zach Gioeli has 5 of the team's 11 wins, while Arizona's Brad Schmitt has saved 7 of their 10 wins.


April 29-30 vs MINNESOTA
At 11-10, and in second place in the largely moribund Central Division. Not surprising, since two of their best hitters (3B Paul Foster and LF Brendan Glenn) and two starting pitchers (Milt Schott and Chris McMichael) are out. When healthy, they'll be a force. First in AL home runs with 39, and 6th in runs (vs 8th in pitching), for a +15 run differential, so they're doing a lot of things right anyway. Starting pitching (15th) and team defense (15th) are the big letdowns. 1B Joel Rogers is hitting .398, and C Peanuts Carter .361.

HAW pitchers: Mike Messinger (2-0, 4.44) / Eric Jones (1-1, 4.44)
MIN pitchers: Chris Christopher (0-0, 5.27) / Paul Cole (2-0, 5.56)

#22: WIN 9-1 ... we jump out early, led by Masuda's four hits and a Cannon 2nd inning HR...throw in four doubles and a five-hitter for Messinger, with 9 Ks
#23: WIN 8-7 ... 5 more doubles, 14 hits overall, and 4 key RBI from Groff...Jones puts on 11 runners in his 5 IP, but is saved by some big bats

Two more wins ends the month with us at 16-7, best in baseball by a few pct points, and two games ahead of the Rangers.... Groff is tied for first with Oakland's Vinny Vargas at 10 HR, and Ryuma Sato leads baseball with a 1.45 ERA.... ELSEWHERE: Six straight wins and Brooklyn has surged to the top of the NL East, at 15-8.... Portland's Morgan Akers is still rolling along with a .463 average, and is 2nd in the NL with 21 RBI.... Mets OF Greg Tackett is out for six weeks. Tackett, 33, is in his 12th season but has only topped 120 games in five of those years. He's reached 300 HR this season, and has earned 50 WAR in his career, but all those injuries have probably ruined his chances at the Hall of Fame. He reminds me a lot of Bryce Harper. In his first nine years (2012-2020), Harper had earned 43.8 WAR, with 173 HR and 1000 hits. Knowing that his career would last until 2030, you'd think those next ten seasons would combine with the first nine to get Harper into the Hall. Sadly, Harper was already a physical wreck, and those ten seasons would see him only gather 8 more WAR, 53 HR, and 600 hits. He did top his career off with a World Series ring with Atlanta in 2030, a season where he hit 4-for-47 as a little-used reserve.

......

TL;DR version: Few games in this update, but we did go 7-3 and are continuing to pitch well while our bats slowly catch up. Groff, Masuda, and Joseph Hart (.324/3/10) pace the offense, and newbie JJ Simmons has started his filling-in for Stoneback by going 12-for-26. And what a treat that my afterthought free agent signing or Ryuma Sato brought us our second franchise no-hitter. Good times. For now...