[Bub13]

Opening Day 2046!

We open at home, with one series, before traveling to the east coast for a pair of matchups, then back home. April brings 25 games, 12 at home. Oddly, we have no games on Thursdays this month.

Two roster notes: with Manny Rangel and John Canning added to the infield rotation, Edward Ospina became expendable. So we sent him to the Dodgers for 3B Sean Reeder. Reeder has a decent bat, bad glove, and a strong arm. He'll go to AAA. Texas releases Rule 5 pick Connor Mitchell, so he comes back to us, and also goes to AAA. Suddenly we have a glut of infielders in Santa Barbara, so something may have to give over the next week or two.

April 2-4 vs BALTIMORE
Surged last September to make the playoffs, but didn't last long. Working on three straight seasons of winning seasons, but just that one playoff appearance. MLB says they'll win 83 games, but miss the playoffs. They had a quiet off-season signing-wise, adding just 1B Travis Saunders (PIT) and DH Justin Singleton (NYY) to big league deals. They did part ways with last season's DH, 1B, 2B, 3B, CF, and one SP. (They also added two on minor league deals who are now in the lineup--CF Luis Villalba and SP Ken Newman.) They still have AL MVP Cesar Alvarenga, who may have the crown as the AL's best batter, after two seasons of .334/47/144 and .338/47/157. He's in his 8th year, and is signed through 2049 -- but given that his 36M contract is a huge part of their overall 99M budget, might it make better sense to trade him for a pile of prospects rather than keep winning 85 or so games a year with him? Just a thought. Manager: Nestor Corredor, 11th season. Owner: Reginald Ehrlich, a lenient penny-pincher.

HAW pitchers: Rob Hart (15-6, 3.29) / Ryan Ratliff (9-7, 4.68) / Eric Jones (13-6, 4.84)
BAL pitchers: Brian Simon (10-11, 5.54) / Jeremy Stines (16-9, 3.65) / Jonathan Bell (13-10, 4.79)

#1: LOSS 1-5 ... well, that was a bust...Hart gives up a 3-run blast in the first, and we manage just 5 hits, with Groff's HR our only highlight
#2: WIN 5-2 ... that's more like it! Ratliff fans 13 over 8 IP, but gets hurt...newbie McCollum goes 3-for-4 with a HR and 2 RBI
#3: LOSS 5-9 ... Jones lets a 3-0 lead slip away, giving up 5 R in 5 IP, then Masuda gives up 3 in 1.1 IP...another HR for McCollum, plus Davila's first as an Islander

Not an auspicious opener by any means. Plus, after selling out opening day, we played to crowds of 30 and 31 thousand, the lowest home turnouts in some years. Fan interest is down, and season tickets undersold by 21% compared to last year. Hmm.... Ratliff's diagnosis comes in, and it's no so bad: strained back muscle, out for 2-3 weeks. I call up Shamar Jackson to see if he's still got his spring training mojo.... ELSEWHERE: I should talk about hot teams, hot players, and other fun stuff. Like maybe Philly's George Livezey, who ended our season in Game 7 in November, hitting 3 out on opening day. But no. Instead I'll talk about Toronto's new shortstop, JORDAN CRUZ. Yes, that's right, the slick-fielding, flashy-running, shortstop who'll add in 12-15 HR has signed with the Blue Jays. For 3 years, 8.5M. PER YEAR. Hahahahaha! Okay, let's give him some credit: he did hit thirty points above his career average last year in Cincy; but even then he batted just .233. And struck out an amazing 204 times, good enough to lead the league in Ks for the 10th time in his career. I also support his quest to become just the second batter in baseball history to reach the mystical 3000 strikeout plateau. With two whiffs in his first game for the Jays, he's now just 28 from reaching that milestone. Which would still put him nearly 900 Ks behind the all-time best, Miguel Sano. The only thing that will make me happier here is if the Jays bat him leadoff, like his old team the Cubs did for nearly a decade.


April 6-8 @ TAMPA BAY
The Rays swept their opener against Texas, dropping 24 runs on the Rangers. They were the best team in the East for much of 2045, until slumping in August and September and missing the playoffs on the last day of the season. Their lineup has power, and is essentially unchanged from last year, only adding catcher Todd Meyer and 3B Orlando Navarro. Navarro is interesting as he's making the jump from A ball; he's still developing, and while I don't think he has the arm for third, he's got a good bat and will hit for average and gap power, while not striking out much. The pitching staff looks decent too, dropping an underperforming SP and CL, while moving RP Roberto Alvarado into the rotation and giving the closer spot to rookie Nick Scott. Both look like good moves right now. Manager: Tony Bajoczky, 4th season. Owner: Stuart Sternberg, a demanding economizer

HAW pitchers: Tim Pinksen (13-7, 5.14) / Taylor Barnett (6-4, 5.24) / Rob Hart (0-1, 6.75)
TBR pitchers: Jimmy Dalaba (18-7, 3.45) / Roberto Alvarado (6-4, 4.14) / Bill Casas (1-0, 2.08)

#4: WIN 9-1 ... Masuda drives in 5 and hits his 1st HR...Groff with 2 hits, while JHart and Klump get their first hits of the season...Pinksen goes the distance
#5: WIN 5-1 ... Barnett is sharp through 7, and Klump seals it with a 2-run shot in the 6th...Groff and Stoneback also hit HR...Tampa loses two pitchers to injuries tonight
#6: LOSS 6-7 ... RHart is off, way off, again tonight, giving up 10 H and 6 R in 4.1 IP...Stoneback goes 3-for-3, 2 RBI...we also add 3 sac flies

Two wins puts us back at .500, so at least that's good.... Rob Hart is terrible again, and between spring training and the first week of the season he's had just two good-looking starts. At least Pinksen and Barnett came up big.... A ball Eureka was a hot team last year, winning a club record 85 games and making a rare playoff appearance. Things have regressed so far this year, as they're swept in their season opening series.... ELSEWHERE: Texas got swept again, and have started the season 0-6. Houston is 6-0, which achieves a perfect balance in the state.... The Yankees are 6-0, and guess who we play next.... Detroit reliever Lance Hansen has 3 of their 5 wins, while Yankees closer Adrian Hammerbeck has 4 saves.


April 9-11 @ NY YANKEES
You can forgive Yankees fans for feeling optimistic for the first time in years: a 6-0 start, 49 runs and 16 HR in those games, while giving up just 24 runs. They were extremely active this off-season, to wit: new starters at DH, C, 1B, 3B, SS, and LF, plus two new SP and five new RP. And one of those newbies, SP Yoshi Oh, hasn't pitched yet due to injury. New 3B Marcus Walker and SS Brian Martin are, frankly, not very good, but the rest of their additions are creditable players who could push this team back into the playoffs for the first time since 2029. With Oh's injury, four of their starting pitchers are holdovers, and none pitched well last year. So that will bear watching as the season goes on. But they can hit, yes indeed. Manager: Efrain Nevares, 1st year (last four seasons with Houston). Owner: Justin Dielman, a lenient economizer. He's also a meddler who wants EXTREME WINNING, whatever that means. This is their home opening series of 2046.

HAW pitchers: Shamar Jackson (debut) / Eric Jones (0-1, 9.00) / Tim Pinksen (1-0, 1.00)
NYY pitchers: Kasey Sikkema (1-0, 5.14) / Brian Whitney (1-0, 1.29) / Phil Avery (0-0, 3.60)

#7: WIN 11-5 ... lowered the boom with 14 hits, including 2 HR from Masuda...3 hits each for Simmons and Davila, 3 RBI for JHart...Jackson no so good on the mound, but the pen rescues us
#8: WIN 19-1 ... wow, so maybe that Yank staff isn't good after all...we hit 5 HR, 2 more (with 5 RBI) for Masuda...3 H for Groff and Klein...Jones tosses a 4-hitter to boot
#9: WIN 8-3 ... four hits for Klump, including a 3-run HR in the 8th that seals it...3 hits for Stoneback...Pinksen allows 6 H, 1 R in 7 IP

Well that was an epic beatdown: 38 runs over the three games. And just like that, we take the lead as the league's best offense.... Pitching wasn't too shabby, although Jackson did not look ready in his 2nd MLB start. Ratliff is still out for 2 weeks, so Jackson may get one more bite before I try something else.... And Dan Brown comes off the DL, meaning someone had to go. Namely, Hisami Masuda and his 20.25 ERA. He's pissed, but so what? Two days after waiving him, no one's claimed him, and as I prefer not having a $3M salary sitting in AAA, I'll try trading him.... ELSEWHERE: Texas is 0-9, Miami 1-8. The Mets have won 6 straight, are now 9-1.... 8-time All-Star 3B Chris White missed half of 2045, but is having a nice comeback with Brooklyn so far, hitting .404 with 6 HR.... Houston is 8-2, largely behind pitchers Dustin Springer and Alejandro Gonzales, who are a combined 4-0 and have given up just 2 runs in 28.2 innings.... When I was considering acquiring a combo backup C/starting DH this off-season, the White Sox offered me Ken Carter for relative peanuts. Carter, you might recall, is a 35-year-old 2nd year player, who spent over a decade completely destroying Korean League pitching. He hit .277 with 27 HR for the Chisox last year, but they were keen to keep $37M man Dan Starr instead. I turned them down, for some reason I've forgotten. I know it's early days yet, but Carter has 5 HR and 13 RBI for Atlanta right now, just fyi.

TRADE! The aforementioned Hisami Masuda is no longer my problem. No one claimed him, so I shopped him around (reverse psychology!) and the Reds bit. In return (along with a pick exchanging hands) we get pitcher Andy Nowak, a 25-year-old starter with some decent upside. He'll go to AA for now since there's a bit of a logjam at AAA (working on that). It's possible he could see some action in the bigs during the September expansion too.


April 13-15 vs TEXAS
The Rangers are 0-9, and we just beat down the previously unbeaten Yankees. This is a recipe for disaster! Hitting is 14th, but they are getting hits and getting on base, just not scoring runs. Pitching has been a horror show so far, giving up 72 runs. Defense is dead last, too. What could go wrong, lol? They tried to be judicious in the off-season, being without a big budget, adding LF Wil Almodovar and DH Manuel Cervantes. Oh, and some pitcher named Messinger that I've never heard of. Grrr... Manager: Pat Wilson, 2nd season (after 11 seasons with us). Owner: Ray C. Davis, Jr., a lenient controller (wut?). He's unhappy; the players are unhappy, the fans are unhappy. Win-win-win.

HAW pitchers: Taylor Barnett (1-0, 1.29) / Rob Hart (0-1, 9.00) / Shamar Jackson (0-0, 11.25)
TEX pitchers: Pedro Cabrera (0-1, 4.50) / Mike Messinger (0-1, 9.58) / Thomas Cannaday (0-2, 5.73)

#10: LOSS 0-3 ... we're shut out and held to 3 hits...Barnett is good through 6, but Brown gives up 1 in the 8th and 9th to end any comeback hopes
#11: WIN 13-11 ... down 11-5, we drop 4 in the 7th and 4 more in the 8th to win it late...Klump drives in 4 with 2 HR, Groff goes 4-for-5, and 2 more RBI for Masuda
#12: LOSS 2-8 ... blame this on the pen, giving up 6 late runs...Jackson is better tonight, going 7 and giving up 2 H, 2 R, but he does walk 6

So, what did I say?!? At least we didn't get swept, ffs.... Rob Hart now has an ERA over ten, and has given up 25 hits in 14 innings over three starts. NOT GOOD, ROB.... Jackson looked better in his second start, but man that knuckle ball was all over the place. Ratliff is back in a week, and will probably come straight into the rotation, rather than go on rehab.... ELSEWHERE: Cincy's Jeff Clayton blanked St Louis on a 2-hitter in the first half of a double header. Not to be outdone, teammate Juan Valdez went out in the nightcap and 1-hit the Cards. Not too shabby.... More from Cincy: Jose Tavares has hit in every game this season, extending a streak he started last September, which has now reached 20 games. Atlanta's John Arrington has the other active streak of note going, now at 16 games.... Detroit and Houston (!) are the first teams to reach double figures in wins; both are 10-3. Texas is 2-10, Miami 3-9.... Jordan Cruz update: 10 starts, batting .158, 15 strikeouts.

......

TL;DR Version: A 7-5 start, with the usual mix of good, bad, and ugly. Good: hitting, and most of the rotation. Bad: bullpen, currently 14th in ERA). Ugly: Rob Hart may have actually lost his arm somewhere this winter. I will investigate. Otherwise...it's too early to tell. Rich Stoneback leads the AL with a .447 average, while Sen Masuda leads with 19 RBI and Jon Klump is third with 16. And minor league scheduling is weird: A ball Eureka has played 10 games, AA Lewiston three, and AAA Santa Barbara hasn't even started. Of note in SB: Phil Lasky will try pulling double duty as the #1 starting pitcher and the starting CF. He looks pretty decent at both.