[Bub13]

May has us playing 29 games, as well as making our first foray into Interleague Play. Ten games on the road, and nineteen at home. We'll pay for that imbalance down the line. We'll get to see the rest of our divisional foes this month. Also, Ryan Ratliff's diagnosis came back: forearm stiffness, dtd for 3-4 weeks. It's a 'moderate' effect, and that's no good for a pitcher, so on to the DL he goes. Rather than bring Gates back up, this time I send for Seth Howard, a 25-year-old RHP who will make his big league debut this week. Howard was a 5th round pick in the underwhelming '43 draft, and is the first player to make it to Hawaii from that crop.

May 1-3 vs MIAMI 2048: 12-8, 1st place // 2047: 84-78, 1st place
The Marlins are 15th in runs and 5th in runs against, with a sketchy -2 differential. To last year's squad, they added only DH Ricky Chavez (powerful but slow in every way) and SPs Travis Calhoun (good) and Norm Rowsell (meh). They really don't look that threatening to me, but as I've already said, the AL East is wide open, so if their bats get even a little bit warm they could win the division again. Manager Paul Trashini is in his first year with the club after two seasons as Toronto's bench coach, and five seasons in the same role with Austin. And if he sounds familiar, it's because he was our hitting coach for seven seasons as well. Glad to see he's finally getting a head gig. Fun Fact: Since their revival in 2016, there's only been one no-hitter in Marlins history. That was tossed in '42 by Matt Rubin, who is still on the team.

HAW pitchers: LH Eric Jones (2-0, 3.86) / RH Ben Germann (4-0, 3.03) / LH Brandon Mercer (2-0, 0.00)
MIA pitchers: LH Jason Mangiaracina (3-1, 3.81) / RH Travis Calhoun (2-1, 3.77) / RH Arturo Verduzco (2-2, 3.56)

#23: WIN 10-3 ... 10 hits + 8 walks = 10 runs...3 H and 4 RBI for Klein, and two RBI doubles for Lasky...Jones goes the distance, allowing 8 hits with zero walks
#24: LOSS 3-7 ... long ball blues tonight, with Germann giving up 3 and Ramirez one more...two hits apiece for Frederick and Rangel
#25: WIN 11-7 ... Stoneback cranks two out, including a GRAND SLAM in the 2nd...Mercer gets roughed up for 12 H and 6 R in 6 IP but the bats save him

Okay. The pitchers got roughed up a bit, but the bats are still hot. We're hitting .301 and have an .847 OPS. Not shabby at all.... Stoneback's return has been slow, at .238, but as this is essentially his rehab period, I'm not concerned at all. I do want to work some reserves into games a bit more frequently this month, to keep the big guys refreshed.... After starting the season a combined 1-7, my AA and A teams have gone 26-11 since. AAA Santa Barbara has started 7-3.... ELSEWHERE: The top of the NL Central is strong, but the bottom is most definitely not. New Orleans has lost 6 straight to drop to 7-17, while St Loo has lost 4 in a row, and are 5-20.... Funny thing about all those relievers the Dodgers signed this fall/winter: they have three converted starters (not new guys) in the pen, so most of those signees are on the farm.... Also from the Dodgers, it looks like injuries have finally caught up to pitcher Gary Florence. He had five fantastic seasons with San Diego, winning two Cy Youngs and earning nearly 40 WAR. Then followed a six-year run of 24, 11, 14, 29, 23, and 8 starts. This year, he sports a 5.55 ERA in 4 starts and is walking nearly three times as many batters per nine as his career average. Shame. Could have been one of the greats.


May 4-6 vs OAKLAND 2048: 13-12, 4th place // 2047: 91-71, 2nd place
They're he-ere! Our Old Enemy. The league's highest-scoring and home-runniest team comes to town. However, combine that with the league's bottom pitching staff, and you get a -3 run differential and a near .500 team. Only 12th in batting average, they still get a lot of guys on base and then bring them home the Earl Weaver way: a lot of 3-run homers. Pitching tho...they lost ace Mike Wiater to free agency, so went out and signed Juan Valdez away from Cincy, only to lose him for six months to injury. Then #2 guy Jim Schwartz went down for five months. Of the current rotation, only Miguel Valencia was here last year. To him add three former relievers and one rookie. The pen has been roughed up a lot too, with closer Bill Brunson and SU George Fraser both with ERA over 6. Manager Robert Woodard is 63 and has been in charge since 2032, so he probably feels too old for this sh*t. He's guided the team to ten playoff appearances but has yet to win a title. No tears from me, tho. Fun Fact: With fourteen playoff appearances in the last 24 years, this is one of the most successful teams in recent MLB history. And yet...only two World Series trips this century, and still looking for their first title since 1989.

HAW pitchers: RH Seth Howard (debut) / RH Shamar Jackson (2-2, 3.60) / LH Eric Jones (3-0, 3.65)
OAK pitchers: RH Ron Pearson (2-0, 6.21) / RH Chris Ronan (0-1, 8.56) / RH Pablo Aguero (2-1, 4.91)

#26: WIN 9-1 ... Howard only fans one over 6.1 IP, but also yields just 6 hits and 1 HR...2-run triple for Simmons, and 2 sac flies for Padilla, leading the AL with 30 RBI
#27: WIN 6-4 ... Jackson gets pushed around a bit, but we put 18 runners on and win with quantity...three hits for Simmons
#28: WIN 5-2 ... Simmons walks and steals a base in the first, but gets hurt, dtd for a week...Jones walks four but fans seven (!), and the pen works it's magic over the final 3

Well, surprise surprise. I guess this could have been expected, with our "sweep or get swept" mantra this season.... Nice start for Seth Howard, and a good series for the bullpen, giving up zero runs in ten innings of work.... Simmons strains a groin, which will effect his running. I'll bench him for the week, so he doesn't full-on snap the damn thing.... Rule 5 loss Justin Cecil had A Night with the Rangers just now: 5-for-6 with a HR and 3 RBI, earning player of the day from MLB. He might just get five hits the rest of the season, tho, tbh.... ELSEWHERE: Another losing streak for STL, this one seven games, and the Cards are now 5-23. Brooklyn (8-19) and Tampa (9-18) are the only other teams with single-digit wins.... Milwaukee's Matt Anderson just passed Vada Pinson for 58th on the all-time hit list. He's now at 2758, just five behind Jake Beckley and Ichiro!.... the 2049 draft pool is out, and it's not a great one. It'll be a good year for relief pitchers, with 22-year-old closer John Rogers getting the nod by my scouts as having the most potential. The most intriguing guy to me is pitcher Ted Miller, a high-intangible guy who rates as the #1 SP in the draft (looks like a mid-rotation guy who could pass his ceilings) but also rates as one of the best hitters--with power to burn--available. He won't fall to us, but one guy who might is 18-year-old Cuban Rodrigo Jimenes, who's only drawback seems to be an unwillingness to take a walk. A future CF with good speed, contact, and power, he'll likely go in the mid-teens, but I'd love to snag him. There's also high school pitcher Jim Plunkett, who's name is giving me flashbacks.


May 7-10 @ SEATTLE 2048: 17-11, 2nd place // 2047: 82-80, 4th place
They've slowed to 3-3 this month after a 14-8 April. Runs are 8th, pitching is 10th. But with only a +1 differential, they must be doing well in one-run games (they are: 7-2). Batting average is only 16th, and is not helped by having four starters (1B, SS, two OF) on the DL. New signee catcher Arturo Sena (.333/7/24) is earning his keep, but 3B Kevin Venable (.165/1/11) is not. The rotation has been barely average, but closer Daryl Kennedy has 9 saves and a 2.12 ERA. Manager Jacob DeGrom is in his second season; he's a firebrand, but has the clubhouse happy (having seven "leaders" on the team helps). Fun Fact: Umm...is there anything "fun" about this franchise? I guess that Mike Wapner (currently on DL) is a solid 4th in most all-time M's batting stats, behind Martinez, Suzuki, and Griffey (although he's 1st in WAR and 2nd in HR). Another few healthy years and he'll move up those lists, as well as giving himself an outside chance at a Hall look. How's that? Kinda boring, right?

HAW pitchers: RH Ben Germann (4-1, 3.41) / LH Brandon Mercer (3-0, 2.25) / RH Seth Howard (1-0, 1.42) / RH Shamar Jackson (3-2, 3.75)
SEA pitchers: LH Carlos Zenon (3-0, 4.91) / RH Edgar Tinajero (2-3, 5.97) / RH Mark Guest (1-1, 5.65) / LH Ryan Galletto (2-2, 4.11)

#29: LOSS 5-13 ... Germann's body is dumped by the curb in the 2nd, after 8 ER in just 1.0 IP...Groff hit his first HR in a couple weeks, so yay for that
#30: WIN 3-2 ... Mercer tosses a sharp 8 IP, and Daley goes 3-for-5 with a HR...2 hits each for Stoney and Freds...Padilla gets injured by a pitch
#31: WIN 10-3 ... 4 hits and 3 RBI for the on-fire Daley, 3 hits and a HR for Rich, and 2 each for Klein and Stoney...another quietly solid outing for Howard
#32: WIN 7-3 ... 2 hits and a HR for Lasky, making a pitch for playing every day...2-run HR for Klein...complete game for Jackson, with 8 K

other than Germann getting hammered in game one, we looked okay here. Although the pen gave up runs in every game someone appeared, so it's feast or famine for those guys.... Germann started the season 4-0, but has looked as incapable of pitching as you can look in his last two starts. His ERA went up a run-and-a-half in this game.... Daley and Klein have been hot of late, as was Simmons before getting some time off with his injury. He'll be back full time in a couple of days. Padilla has seen his average drop nearly 60 points over the last week, and Klump is still batting sub-Mendoza.... Joe Koval comes off the DL in two weeks and will start his rehab in AAA. Meanwhile, Seth Howard has looked pretty good in his two starts. Only three K in 13.1 IP, but he's never been a big-stuff pitcher.... ELSEWHERE: Oakland rookie starter Oscar Escobedo didn't have a great stat line after his first five MLB starts: 15.2 IP, 7.89 ERA, 20 H, 7 HR. Whatever else happens to the hard-throwing, no-movement-having pitcher this season, he can now at least say he's got a no-hitter to his credit, a 15-K, 2-0 victory effort over Houston.... Eleven straight losses and a 5-27 record now for St Louis. They are the only team in MLB more than 10 games out of first place already.... San Diego (22-10) and LA (20-11) are threatening to run away with the NL West, having opened up a five game spread to the third place DBacks.

May 11-14 vs LA ANGELS 2048: 15-17, t5th place // 2047: 79-83, 5th place
Fifth place has been their home for five of the last six years, so hurrah for consistency I guess. This year, outside of Tony Mendoza (.315/7/25) and Jason Eastep (.260/13/27) no one is hitting. Well, SS Marcus Anderson is batting .301, but with zero pop. Pitching, however, is 3rd in the AL, with the 2nd best rotation ERA. This makes for an odd-looking +12 run differential. Only starter Bob Tranchida and closer Chris Brown (10.97 ERA!) haven't yet gotten in on the act. Manager Brad Davis is in his second season, after four seasons with Arizona (is everyone a former DBacks manager?). Fun Fact: Not exactly fun, but between the years 2017 and 2035 they missed the playoffs just four times. Since then, not a single season with 80 wins. Somebody may need to re-learn the meaning of the word "rebuild."

HAW pitchers: LH Eric Jones (4-0, 3.56) / RH Ben Germann (4-2, 4.97) / LH Brandon Mercer (4-0, 1.97) / RH Seth Howard (2-0, 2.02)
LAA pitchers: RH Justin Allred (2-2, 2.63) / RH Mike Hosey (1-2, 4.00) / RH Jon Carlsen (2-1, 3.19) / RH Bob Tranchida (1-4, 8.44)

#33: WIN 5-0 ... only five hits, but six walks helps some...Jones goes out in the 2nd, but Money, Kym, and Crowley combine for 7.2 IP, 3 H, 10 K
#34: WIN 12-1 ... good Germann (9 IP, 6 H, 7 K) shows up tonight...3 H, 2 RBI for Padilla, 3 H for Groff...we've been hit by 4 pitches this series so far
#35: WIN 3-1 ... we're outhit 8-6 tonight, but 2 HR give us the edge...Mercer solid again, 8 IP, 7 H, but does walk 5
#36: WIN 3-1 ... Howard goes 8 more fab innings tonight...just 7 hits, but 5 are doubles...toss in six more walks and some crazy pitching, and here we are

When things are going well like this, all you can do is shrug and roll with it. I'm sure it'll all turn around at some point, but it's a lot of fun right now.... Late pickup Mercer and why-not callup Howard are pacing the rotation right now, at a combined 8-0 and an ERA around 1.73.... Simmons' dtd injury ended, just when Marcus Walker picked one up, along with RP Justin Crowley. Padilla's ends tomorrow. Eric Jones tweaked his forearm in his start here, and may miss his next turn.... Simmons is 3rd in AL batting at .365, and tied for first with 10 steals.... ELSEWHERE: SD's Blake Langer got hot again, and is back over .400, at .406.... St Louis won a game! But lost three more, and sits at 6-30.... Texas 1B Luis Venegas leads nearly every rookie offensive category going away, at .309/11/28 and 1.8 WAR. Minnesota's Conor MacLeod ("There can be only one!") has been the best rookie pitcher also by far, at 6-1, 2.30 ERA, 54 IP, 52 K, 1.3 WAR. No rookie in the NL is doing much yet.

......

TL;DR Version: A 12-2 stretch is fun fun fun auf der Autobahn. We're 28-8 and 7.5 games up on Houston, 8 over Seattle. Six regulars are batting over .300 right now, and another one is at .294. The offense is first in runs, AVG, OBP, and OPS, and we're also first in runs against. We're not homering as much, and have dropped to 12th in the AL, but a team batting .295 should still score a lot of runs. Next, we're off to some Interleague Play against the NL Central (why not the NL West?). Three guys with dtd injuries should get healthy over the next few days, and Joe Koval will begin his AAA rehab in a week, while Ryan Ratliff will return in about ten days. If our new guys are still pitching well, he might get a rehab stint as well.