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Bub13 · 09-03-2019, 08:58 PM

June 2048

We've got 27 games on tap this month, only nine at home. Plus three more series against the NL Central to close out interleague play. We'll also be 1/3 of the way through the season after the first series of the month. Time for a June swoon? JUST SAY NO, KIDS.

June 1-3 @ DETROIT 2048: 25-25, t2nd place // 2047: 92-70, 1st place
The offense has fallen way off from recent heights, just 15th in runs and 17th in average. Still hitting HR, however, third in the AL with 71. Pitching is better, 5th in runs against, for a -6 run differential. Leadoff batter Jesus Villalobos is pacing the offense, at .280/11/22. Their best hitter is 2B Sean West, who hit 52 HR in '46, but he's been out since early April with a broken ankle. Ethan Larrison is the fifth-year manager, and will have to work hard to keep the Tigers three-year playoff run going. Fun Fact: this is an old team. Of the top 30 salaries in the org, only two are under 28, and six are over 35. Only four players on the 26 man roster are under 28.

HAW pitchers: RH Shamar Jackson (6-3, 3.26) / LH Eric Jones (5-0, 2.89) / RH Ben Germann (6-3, 4.52)
DET pitchers: RH Alex Hidalgo (0-2, 3.03) / LH Jeffrey Foley (3-4, 4.76) / Mike Cote (5-3, 3.50)

#52: WIN 11-8 ... Groff homers again, and Klein adds a little GRAND SLAM to help out...15 hits for us, plus 8 walks...Jackson struggles, Ramirez gets hurt in relief
#53: LOSS 4-5 ... Kym gives up a solo HR in the 8th to take the loss...Klein goes 2-for-2 but is lifted for a PH with a runner on in the 9th, b/c why
#54: LOSS 0-4 ... just five hits tonight, with only Simmons' triple making any noise...Germann goes 7 IP, walks 5, gives up 9 hits

Well, there it is. Our first losing series in a long time. Still a 10.5 game lead over Houston, so we're juuuust hanging on.... Ramirez has a dtd back injury, duration 5 days. His ERA is now below 7, but it's looking clear to me that he'll never become the lights-out closer I had in mind when I drafted him.... Germann is looking more certain to be back in AAA by the start of summer.... ELSEWHERE: Six NL teams have won 30+ games, only two AL teams tho.... Baltimore got to 21-20, battling for first in the East, but since has lost 11 straight.... STL is now 12-42, and that .222 win pct is an improvement. Silver lining!

June 4-7 @ OAKLAND 2048: 28-26, 4th place
The offense is cranking, 2nd in runs and HR. Reigning MVP Jordan Coronado is way off last year's 32 HR pace (just 3 this year), but is batting .316. 3B Ryan Walton is having a career year, at .293/16/43. Pitching, however, has been pretty bad, 17th in runs against and with the AL-worst rotation ERA. Their best three on-paper SP--Jim Schwartz, Juan Valdez, and Pablo Aguero--are out, the first two for the whole season. Rookie pitcher Conrad Robertson has pitched out of his head in stead of those guys, but the other four current starters have a combined ERA near 6.50.

HAW pitchers: LH Brandon Mercer (7-1, 2.45) / RH Seth Howard (4-0, 2.79) / RH Shamar Jackson (6-3, 3.74) / LH Eric Jones (5-0, 3.03)
OAK pitchers: RH Ron Pearson (3-2, 6.37) / RH Chris Ronan (0-5, 7.78) / LH Miguel Valencia (1-3, 6.75) / Conrad Robertson (3-2, 3.19)

#55: WIN 5-4 ... Klump's solo pinch-HR puts us ahead in the 9th, and Sanabria shuts the door in the bottom half
#56: WIN 4-3 ... another late comeback, this time it's McCollum driving in the second, and game-winning, run in the 8th
#57: WIN 4-3 ... Cappuccilli gets a rare start and hits the GW triple in the 17th, bats 3-for-7 on the night...Simmons is 4-for-9...Crowley goes 5.1 IP in relief
#58: WIN 7-3 ... 3 hits and a HR for Daley, 2-run double for Lasky...Jones gets pulled in the 2nd with an injury; Money replaces him and also gets hurt

Always great to sweep these guys, and this series pushes them to 17 games behind us.... Those two injuries don't help, however. Money's is just a dtd, one week. Jones, however, has a pending diagnosis, so no word on him yet.... Simmons (.336), Klein (.333), and Daley (.328) are all in the top six AL batters.... We're third in the AL in steals, with 47. We've also been caught 27 times.... ELSEWHERE: Boston (9 wins) and Miami (4) are on winning streaks, and are the only over-.500 teams in the AL East now. Baltimore has now lost 15 straight.... Mikwaukee's Jay Russo missed all of last year, but has come back nicely: 6-2, 2.36, 99 K in 72.1 IP, 2.5 WAR. He's closing in on 3000 K and possibly a run at the Hall, at 36.... the Cardinals win pct is now .241. Moving up!

June 8-9 @ TEXAS 2048: 24-35, 6th place
An odd two-game series here, followed by a day off. Still hitting, at 6th in runs scored, 5th in average. 1B William Swanson (.322/14/33) is having a nice sophomore season, and LF Luis Venegas (.264/14/36) was just named AL Rookie of the Month for May. Rookie catcher Juan Espinoza is batting just .257, but is still growing and looks like a long-term fixture behind the plate. Pitching, however, ranks dead last. Only Greg Buchanan (4.41) has an ERA below league average, and ace Mike Messinger is on the shelf for another month-plus. June hasn't been good to these guys yet, at just 1-6 so far.

HAW pitchers: RH Ben Germann (6-4, 4.58) / LH Brandon Mercer (8-1, 2.43)
TEX pitchers: RH Francisco Pantaleon (5-3, 4.83) / RH Greg Buchanan (5-6, 4.41)

#59: LOSS 2-5 ... we only manage 4 hits (2 for Simmons), and Germann gives up 11 hits and all 5 runs
#60: WIN 9-5 ... 3 hits (and a HR) and 4 RBI for Stoney, and a 3-run blast for Freds...Mercer picks up the win despite giving up all 5 runs in 7 IP

A split, which is fine.... No other news, except that we get the diagnosis on Jones: sore shoulder, dtd for two weeks. He'll go on the DL, and we recall Joe Koval from his rehab stint. Koval hadn't pitched well in AAA, but he was about due to come back anyway, so this is convenient.... ELSEWHERE: It's really upsetting that STL has won 6 of their last 10. I want a 40-win season, guys, c'mon! They're still 16-44, but not playing like absolute ass anymore. Sad.... Brooklyn, at 21-38, decided that as STL was now catching up to them, both GM Este Palermo (GM since '34) and Manager Buster Posey (since '41) needed to go. Posey won the Robins only title, back in '41. No word on their replacements.... So, yeah, nothing is going right for Brooklyn right now, but second-year 2B Corey Rhea leads baseball with a .371 average.

June 11-14 vs HOUSTON 2048: 32-27, 3rd place
Playing .500 ball outside of their 17-12 month of May. Only 11th in runs, 10th in runs against, with a shady-looking -16 differential. Nobody is standing out at the plate, where only two guys are batting over .290 and none of the power guys are hitting over .250. The offense is going to have to get into gear if they're going to sustain a run at a wildcard spot. Former Isle slugger Sen Masuda is on a rehab stint in AAA, so won't be able to beat us with any 3-run HR, like he did last time we played.

HAW pitchers: RH Seth Howard (5-0, 2.89) / RH Shamar Jackson (6-3, 3.61) / RH Joe Koval (debut) / RH Ben Germann (6-5, 4.74)
HOU pitchers: RH Chris Driscoll (5-1, 4.82) / RH Alejandro Gonzales (2-6, 6.00) / RH Dustin Springer (5-3, 3.86) / LH Chris Harris (4-6, 3.61)

#61: LOSS 3-6 ... the pen blows this one, Crowley giving up three in the 13th...Groff's 2-run shot in the 8th tied it, so at least we tried to come back
#62: LOSS 3-4 ... pffft, flat game...we leave Jackson in, and he gives up 2 in the 8th to take the loss
#63: LOSS 5-10 ... Koval gets hammered early, and Sanabria screws the pooch in the 9th (5 runs)...two HR tonight, but we're not hitting and not pitching now
#64: LOSS 2-7 ... no comment

Wow, that was brutal. Good thing we've got a big cushion, so I'm not too too concerned yet. But our hitting has dried up some, and the pitching has been outright terrible here. Germann was particularly awful that last game, and Koval was NFG in his return. Germann may be done now. Ratliff has tossed well in AAA, and looks ready to return.... Padilla has dropped to .220 and isn't hitting HR right now, so he goes to the bench in place of Lasky, batting .320.... ELSEWHERE: San Diego becomes the second team to 40 wins, now at 41-23 and 4.5 games ahead of the Dodgers.... Brooklyn's new GM is Nick Cicio, who spent 11 years with the Orioles and 5 with the Yankees. The good news is he's experienced; the bad news is only two of his teams ever made the playoffs. The new manager is Austin Adams. This is his first appointment anywhere. Not sure what he's been doing with himself since retiring 30 years ago.... Tampa Bay has made the playoffs three of the last five seasons, but brutal pitching has them at 22-41, worst in the AL.

......

TL;DR Version: A disappointing 6-7 stretch, but one that I was sure was coming. Hitting always comes and goes, but our pitching has been uniformly craptastic. Jones is still out, Germann is being sent to the scrapyard, and Koval looked terribly rusty in his debut. Not helping were untimely blowups by the bullpen too. And I mentioned us having a cushion that we could fall back on, but looking at it now: Seattle is hot, and just 7 games behind us. Getting tight!

09-03-2019, 08:58 PM	#271
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	June 2048 We've got 27 games on tap this month, only nine at home. Plus three more series against the NL Central to close out interleague play. We'll also be 1/3 of the way through the season after the first series of the month. Time for a June swoon? JUST SAY NO, KIDS. June 1-3 @ DETROIT 2048: 25-25, t2nd place // 2047: 92-70, 1st place The offense has fallen way off from recent heights, just 15th in runs and 17th in average. Still hitting HR, however, third in the AL with 71. Pitching is better, 5th in runs against, for a -6 run differential. Leadoff batter Jesus Villalobos is pacing the offense, at .280/11/22. Their best hitter is 2B Sean West, who hit 52 HR in '46, but he's been out since early April with a broken ankle. Ethan Larrison is the fifth-year manager, and will have to work hard to keep the Tigers three-year playoff run going. Fun Fact: this is an old team. Of the top 30 salaries in the org, only two are under 28, and six are over 35. Only four players on the 26 man roster are under 28. HAW pitchers: RH Shamar Jackson (6-3, 3.26) / LH Eric Jones (5-0, 2.89) / RH Ben Germann (6-3, 4.52) DET pitchers: RH Alex Hidalgo (0-2, 3.03) / LH Jeffrey Foley (3-4, 4.76) / Mike Cote (5-3, 3.50) #52: WIN 11-8 ... Groff homers again, and Klein adds a little GRAND SLAM to help out...15 hits for us, plus 8 walks...Jackson struggles, Ramirez gets hurt in relief #53: LOSS 4-5 ... Kym gives up a solo HR in the 8th to take the loss...Klein goes 2-for-2 but is lifted for a PH with a runner on in the 9th, b/c why #54: LOSS 0-4 ... just five hits tonight, with only Simmons' triple making any noise...Germann goes 7 IP, walks 5, gives up 9 hits Well, there it is. Our first losing series in a long time. Still a 10.5 game lead over Houston, so we're juuuust hanging on.... Ramirez has a dtd back injury, duration 5 days. His ERA is now below 7, but it's looking clear to me that he'll never become the lights-out closer I had in mind when I drafted him.... Germann is looking more certain to be back in AAA by the start of summer.... ELSEWHERE: Six NL teams have won 30+ games, only two AL teams tho.... Baltimore got to 21-20, battling for first in the East, but since has lost 11 straight.... STL is now 12-42, and that .222 win pct is an improvement. Silver lining! June 4-7 @ OAKLAND 2048: 28-26, 4th place The offense is cranking, 2nd in runs and HR. Reigning MVP Jordan Coronado is way off last year's 32 HR pace (just 3 this year), but is batting .316. 3B Ryan Walton is having a career year, at .293/16/43. Pitching, however, has been pretty bad, 17th in runs against and with the AL-worst rotation ERA. Their best three on-paper SP--Jim Schwartz, Juan Valdez, and Pablo Aguero--are out, the first two for the whole season. Rookie pitcher Conrad Robertson has pitched out of his head in stead of those guys, but the other four current starters have a combined ERA near 6.50. HAW pitchers: LH Brandon Mercer (7-1, 2.45) / RH Seth Howard (4-0, 2.79) / RH Shamar Jackson (6-3, 3.74) / LH Eric Jones (5-0, 3.03) OAK pitchers: RH Ron Pearson (3-2, 6.37) / RH Chris Ronan (0-5, 7.78) / LH Miguel Valencia (1-3, 6.75) / Conrad Robertson (3-2, 3.19) #55: WIN 5-4 ... Klump's solo pinch-HR puts us ahead in the 9th, and Sanabria shuts the door in the bottom half #56: WIN 4-3 ... another late comeback, this time it's McCollum driving in the second, and game-winning, run in the 8th #57: WIN 4-3 ... Cappuccilli gets a rare start and hits the GW triple in the 17th, bats 3-for-7 on the night...Simmons is 4-for-9...Crowley goes 5.1 IP in relief #58: WIN 7-3 ... 3 hits and a HR for Daley, 2-run double for Lasky...Jones gets pulled in the 2nd with an injury; Money replaces him and also gets hurt Always great to sweep these guys, and this series pushes them to 17 games behind us.... Those two injuries don't help, however. Money's is just a dtd, one week. Jones, however, has a pending diagnosis, so no word on him yet.... Simmons (.336), Klein (.333), and Daley (.328) are all in the top six AL batters.... We're third in the AL in steals, with 47. We've also been caught 27 times.... ELSEWHERE: Boston (9 wins) and Miami (4) are on winning streaks, and are the only over-.500 teams in the AL East now. Baltimore has now lost 15 straight.... Mikwaukee's Jay Russo missed all of last year, but has come back nicely: 6-2, 2.36, 99 K in 72.1 IP, 2.5 WAR. He's closing in on 3000 K and possibly a run at the Hall, at 36.... the Cardinals win pct is now .241. Moving up! June 8-9 @ TEXAS 2048: 24-35, 6th place An odd two-game series here, followed by a day off. Still hitting, at 6th in runs scored, 5th in average. 1B William Swanson (.322/14/33) is having a nice sophomore season, and LF Luis Venegas (.264/14/36) was just named AL Rookie of the Month for May. Rookie catcher Juan Espinoza is batting just .257, but is still growing and looks like a long-term fixture behind the plate. Pitching, however, ranks dead last. Only Greg Buchanan (4.41) has an ERA below league average, and ace Mike Messinger is on the shelf for another month-plus. June hasn't been good to these guys yet, at just 1-6 so far. HAW pitchers: RH Ben Germann (6-4, 4.58) / LH Brandon Mercer (8-1, 2.43) TEX pitchers: RH Francisco Pantaleon (5-3, 4.83) / RH Greg Buchanan (5-6, 4.41) #59: LOSS 2-5 ... we only manage 4 hits (2 for Simmons), and Germann gives up 11 hits and all 5 runs #60: WIN 9-5 ... 3 hits (and a HR) and 4 RBI for Stoney, and a 3-run blast for Freds...Mercer picks up the win despite giving up all 5 runs in 7 IP A split, which is fine.... No other news, except that we get the diagnosis on Jones: sore shoulder, dtd for two weeks. He'll go on the DL, and we recall Joe Koval from his rehab stint. Koval hadn't pitched well in AAA, but he was about due to come back anyway, so this is convenient.... ELSEWHERE: It's really upsetting that STL has won 6 of their last 10. I want a 40-win season, guys, c'mon! They're still 16-44, but not playing like absolute ass anymore. Sad.... Brooklyn, at 21-38, decided that as STL was now catching up to them, both GM Este Palermo (GM since '34) and Manager Buster Posey (since '41) needed to go. Posey won the Robins only title, back in '41. No word on their replacements.... So, yeah, nothing is going right for Brooklyn right now, but second-year 2B Corey Rhea leads baseball with a .371 average. June 11-14 vs HOUSTON 2048: 32-27, 3rd place Playing .500 ball outside of their 17-12 month of May. Only 11th in runs, 10th in runs against, with a shady-looking -16 differential. Nobody is standing out at the plate, where only two guys are batting over .290 and none of the power guys are hitting over .250. The offense is going to have to get into gear if they're going to sustain a run at a wildcard spot. Former Isle slugger Sen Masuda is on a rehab stint in AAA, so won't be able to beat us with any 3-run HR, like he did last time we played. HAW pitchers: RH Seth Howard (5-0, 2.89) / RH Shamar Jackson (6-3, 3.61) / RH Joe Koval (debut) / RH Ben Germann (6-5, 4.74) HOU pitchers: RH Chris Driscoll (5-1, 4.82) / RH Alejandro Gonzales (2-6, 6.00) / RH Dustin Springer (5-3, 3.86) / LH Chris Harris (4-6, 3.61) #61: LOSS 3-6 ... the pen blows this one, Crowley giving up three in the 13th...Groff's 2-run shot in the 8th tied it, so at least we tried to come back #62: LOSS 3-4 ... pffft, flat game...we leave Jackson in, and he gives up 2 in the 8th to take the loss #63: LOSS 5-10 ... Koval gets hammered early, and Sanabria screws the pooch in the 9th (5 runs)...two HR tonight, but we're not hitting and not pitching now #64: LOSS 2-7 ... no comment Wow, that was brutal. Good thing we've got a big cushion, so I'm not too too concerned yet. But our hitting has dried up some, and the pitching has been outright terrible here. Germann was particularly awful that last game, and Koval was NFG in his return. Germann may be done now. Ratliff has tossed well in AAA, and looks ready to return.... Padilla has dropped to .220 and isn't hitting HR right now, so he goes to the bench in place of Lasky, batting .320.... ELSEWHERE: San Diego becomes the second team to 40 wins, now at 41-23 and 4.5 games ahead of the Dodgers.... Brooklyn's new GM is Nick Cicio, who spent 11 years with the Orioles and 5 with the Yankees. The good news is he's experienced; the bad news is only two of his teams ever made the playoffs. The new manager is Austin Adams. This is his first appointment anywhere. Not sure what he's been doing with himself since retiring 30 years ago.... Tampa Bay has made the playoffs three of the last five seasons, but brutal pitching has them at 22-41, worst in the AL. ...... TL;DR Version: A disappointing 6-7 stretch, but one that I was sure was coming. Hitting always comes and goes, but our pitching has been uniformly craptastic. Jones is still out, Germann is being sent to the scrapyard, and Koval looked terribly rusty in his debut. Not helping were untimely blowups by the bullpen too. And I mentioned us having a cushion that we could fall back on, but looking at it now: Seattle is hot, and just 7 games behind us. Getting tight! __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!