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Bub13 · 07-11-2020, 09:39 AM

June 16-18 @ PITTSBURGH
Back on top of the NL Central, 42-25 and 8 games ahead of Montreal. The great Pirates teams of the 30s were offensive juggernauts. Not so, these guys: 13th in runs, 17th in AVG. No one is batting .300 and the top two guys in the lineup are hitting a combined .221. RF Miguel Iglesias is solid as usual, at .289/12/32, and 2B Tony Conde is hitting a career best .282. Pitching sits 5th, with the rotation hitting on all cylinders right now. Starters Kenny West, Rick Horan, and Alex Correa are all under 25 and showing signs of fully harnessing their great potential. The pen has been a bit wobbly, but closer Jose Rivera (1.91, 24 SV) has been money. Manager Dario Agrazal was a champion with Atlanta in '46, and has been excellent in his two+ years in Pittsburgh. Money and stuff: 23rd in both budget and payroll. Only one regular (plus three relievers) are free agents in the fall, so their budget limitations won't be pushed any time soon.

HAW pitchers: RH Dennis Perry (6-3, 4.94) / RH Mike Pearse (7-1, 3.66) / LH Eric Jones (7-6, 3.83)
PIT pitchers: RH Alex Correa (7-3, 3.28) / LH Alex Alvarado (4-5, 4.15) / RH George Cart (1-0, 0.00)

#69: WIN 4-2 ... Daley's two-run triple in the 9th wins it...Perry leaves in the second, diagnosis is pending. Bullpen fans 12 after he's pulled
#70: LOSS 1-4 ... another late loss, yielding runs in the 6th, 7th, and 8th...Groff's solo HR is our only run tonight
#71: WIN 5-3 ... Mahoney gets bombed in relief again, but this time we hold on, nearly squandering a late 5-0 lead...2 H for Lynn, 2-run triple for Matson

Some soft bullpen work, but otherwise fine.... Injury news: Matson is back to 100%, as is Rich, and Perry's diagnosis was "dead arm" but he'll miss no starts.... AAA Santa Barbara is 39-16.... Cam Daley goes 12-for-25 and earns Player of the Week honors.... ELSEWHERE: Houston has won six in a row to move into second place in the AL West. Baltimore has dropped six straight to fall to the bottom of the heap, 24-44.... Brooklyn's Chris White recently became the fifth active player to reach 2500 career hits. He's also one away from 500 home runs. Cubs pitcher Rafa Maldonado is less than a hundred away from becoming the seventh to reach 4000 K. Robins ace Eddy Llamas is just 9 behind him.

June 19-21 vs ST LOUIS
After a horrendous 5-20 April, the Cards have righted themselves to go 26-20 since. The stats still don't look good, however: 13th in runs for, 15th in runs against. RF Phil Imel--a prize FA catch from a year ago, is his excellent self at .302/20/46. But no one else is even hitting .250. Ace Steve Davenport is coming along, and there are a couple other arms with talent; but the pen has been a mess, and there are too many old-and-nearly-washed-up guys around to consider this either a rebuild or a stab at competitiveness. They've also become a home for wayward former Isles: C Alexis Mercedes (still going at 39), 2B Manny Rangel (hitting .218), 2B Josh Robertson (batting .373 but getting few starts), SP Jim Kieffer, and RP Dan Brown. Manager Jean Ramirez is in his first season, after eight years of diminishing returns in Austin. Money and stuff: budget is 15th, payroll 21st. They've got a ton of money to spend, but aging owner Joe DeWitt, Jr, doesn't seem to have a care. Fan interest has also dipped dramatically.

HAW pitchers: RH Shamar Jackson (10-2, 3.27) / RH Tim Ciotta (4-3, 4.47) / RH Dennis Perry (6-3, 4.97)
STL pitchers: RH Jim Kieffer (3-7, 6.25) / RH Matt Wright (1-7, 4.60) / RH Steve Davenport (5-5, 2.50)

#72: LOSS 5-10 ... Jackson throws a stinker but the pen yields 5 runs late...six balls leave the yard tonight
#73: LOSS 3-7 ... well, we didn't strike out any, and our pitchers fanned 14 Cards...nothing else to see here
#74: WIN 8-6 ... Burrows' 2-run HR in the 12th wins it...we got 13 hits and took 12 walks...3 hits each for Daley and Simmons

Not so great, but at least we avoided an embarrassing home sweep.... Manny Rangel bashed a couple home runs, and Josh Robertson played DH and got 8 hits. Fantastic. Now get out.... Got an interesting trade offer from Minnesota. 'Interesting' in that it would've saved me money and opened up space on the 40-man roster. But they offered me next to nothing.... Team defensive efficiency is still pretty poor, 17th in the AL.... ELSEWHERE: Nine losses in a row for Baltimore now.... 201 strikeouts now for Conor MacLeod, in 15 starts. He's on pace for 440, which I suppose is pretty good.... Portland's Gerardo Nieto is the first batter to 5 WAR. He's batting .377/18/64 for the first place Pioneers.

June 23-25 vs CALIFORNIA
Still in last place, 26-47. The "offense" ranks 15th in runs, while pitching is 16th. 1B Ricky Ochoa (.282/24/59) has been a one-man band, with only CF Jake Glowski (.275/8/26) helping any. Pitching is struggling across the board, with closer Scott Mahala (9.89 ERA, 2.24 WHIP) a prime example. Trivia, etc: this year's $101M payroll drops to just $66M committed so far for 2052. And that includes Mike Wapner's $11.9M vesting option, which requires 550 PA. (He's very unlikely to reach that.) Now that's committing to a rebuild the right way!

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (7-1, 3.51) / LH Eric Jones (8-6, 3.61) / RH Shamar Jackson (10-2, 3.50)
CAL pitchers: RH Mike Hosey (3-7, 6.92) / RH Nate Elder (0-0, 4.74) / RH Jon Carlsen (4-7, 4.22)

#75: WIN 9-2 ... 3 hits for Frederick, 2 for a bunch of guys...10 K through 7 IP for Pearse
#76: LOSS 0-3 ... we manage just four hits, all scratch singles...Jones is fine, fanning 7 through 6 IP
#77: WIN 12-6 ... Frederick's GRAND SLAM and Matson's 3-run shot set the pace...12 hits plus 12 runs equals Efficiency!

I guess we needed that one night off, huh.... I thought Goodloe's .354/18/80 mark last year was likely a career high. But I'm liking what he's following that up with so far: .330/8/39. His defense at third hasn't been great, but it's not killing us either. Josh Matson, however, is underperforming a bit, at .281. His 2B defense has been pretty bad, tho. He really is a candidate for 1B one day.... ELSEWHERE: Even taking away his 212 strikeouts, Conor MacLeod is just deathly this year: 16 starts, 11 CG, EIGHT SHUTOUTS.... Detroit's pulled out a 5.5 game lead over Chicago, and Luis Rodela has had a big month, now leads MLB with 29 HR.... As we approach the mid-point of the season, the NL division races are looking dull at the moment: ATL leads WSH by 8.5; PIT over MTL by 11; POR over SD by 6.5.

June 26-29 @ HOUSTON
Losers of 7 straight, they've fallen to 41-37, 10.5 behind us and 4 behind second place Oakland. Like CAL, the offense has been a two-man operation: 1B Jose Renteria (.328/18/50) and 3B Ricky Silva (.269/15/58). Leadoff batter Jason Welch has a nice .356 OBP, but four regulars are batting under .230. Pitching has been fine (5th overall), but the bottom part of the rotation has been a mess. SP Ron Mills comes back in a few weeks, and not a moment too soon. (He's not great, but better than what's shambling out there right now.) Trivia, etc: Top prospect Humberto Quirindongo is showing some power (10 HR in single A), but he's been slow to develop elsewhere; at age 21, he needs to step it up. There's not much else for the 33rd ranked system, but catcher Chad Willis looks decent (a rarity among catching prospects), and SP Cooper Bradberry is already up on the big team but not going great just yet.

HAW pitchers: RH Tim Ciotta (4-4, 4.85) / RH Dennis Perry (6-3, 4.83) / RH Mike Pearse (8-1, 3.35) / LH Eric Jones (8-7, 3.57)
HOU pitchers: LH Chris Harris (7-4, 3.62) / RH Cooper Bradberry (1-6, 5.98) / RH Dustin Springer (9-5, 3.59) / RH Eric Morton (2-7, 6.87)

#78: WIN 8-7 ... 3 H and 3 RBI for Groff, including a GW 2-run single in the 7th...2-run HR for Cardenas
#79: LOSS 3-5 ... Perry falls apart in a 5-run 4th inning...2 hits for Matson, triple for Lynn, and little else
#80: WIN 7-2 ... 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI for Cappuccilli, 3 hits for Daley...8 K, 6 IP by Pearse, then 4 K for the bullpen to close it out
#81: LOSS 4-7 ... bleah...bad pitching, no timely hitting...moving on

Well that could've gone better. Pitching is trending down right now, the rotation at least. Look guys: there are some good-looking guys in AAA who deserve a chance, so get it together.... And we're back in first place in stolen bases! Huzzah! Or not. It's only 62 steals, so don't get too excited.... ELSEWHERE: 32 HR by Luis Rodela now.... Detroit has banged out 174 HR. Eight regulars have hit double figures, three have hit at least 20.... There are five teams (HAW, MIA, ATL, PIT, POR) on track for 100 wins.

June 30 vs CLEVELAND
MLB had the Indians winning 75 games, but they aren't on track even for that modest goal, at 33-45. Last place in the AL Central, 14th in runs for and 15th in runs against. LF Morgan Akers (.299/14/41) is hitting, and 1B Manny Ayala is still batting .327, but there's not much else on the plate. Ayala's AVG has dropped 50 points this month; stud 2B D.J. Grace (.261) is hitting 60 points below his career average. One good thing is that CF and offensive anchor Pat Daniels (.180 this year; .161 last year) is on the DL. The rotation is next-to-last right now, and that includes a bad year from former Isle Ryan Ratliff, whom we'll see in the second game. Manager Jose Ariza has been at the helm since 2041, and it may be time for a change. Money and stuff: 32nd-ranked budget and payroll. Most of the guys around now will be back next year. They're not playing well, but at least they're cheap!

HAW pitchers: RH Shamar Jackson (10-2, 3.76)
CLE pitchers: RH Bob Garner (6-7, 5.42)

#82: WIN 6-1 ... 4-hitter from Jackson, with 9 K...4 hits by Daley...2 hits by Rich, now hitting .337

Not much to add after only one game. At least it went well. Solid shutout and no injuries.... AAA Santa Barbara is now 48-17, still leading the PCL South Division by 13 games.... ELSEWHERE: Pretty strong half season from Portland sophomore Gerardo Nieto: .361/21/73, 5.4 WAR.... Best AL rookie so far is White Sox 2B Ninsei Sato, .280/20/53. He's 34 too. Our own Mike Pearse has been the best rookie pitcher, so he's in the running for ROY too.... Halfway through the year, and California has 28 wins, Baltimore 29.

......

TL;DR Version: We close out an 18-9 month, making for a 54-28 overall record and a 7 game lead over Oakland. And for the first time that I can remember, we'll start July without anyone on the DL. Shhh...don't say anything else. Looking at who's moving up: Daley is killing it, Frederick is heating up, and Goodloe and Rich are still going strong. Who's going down: pitchers Ciotta and Perry are struggling. I joked about bringing up someone from AAA, which could still happen, although I still prefer not throwing some rookie into a playoff race this late into the season. We'll see...

07-11-2020, 09:39 AM	#348
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	June 2051, cont'd. June 16-18 @ PITTSBURGH Back on top of the NL Central, 42-25 and 8 games ahead of Montreal. The great Pirates teams of the 30s were offensive juggernauts. Not so, these guys: 13th in runs, 17th in AVG. No one is batting .300 and the top two guys in the lineup are hitting a combined .221. RF Miguel Iglesias is solid as usual, at .289/12/32, and 2B Tony Conde is hitting a career best .282. Pitching sits 5th, with the rotation hitting on all cylinders right now. Starters Kenny West, Rick Horan, and Alex Correa are all under 25 and showing signs of fully harnessing their great potential. The pen has been a bit wobbly, but closer Jose Rivera (1.91, 24 SV) has been money. Manager Dario Agrazal was a champion with Atlanta in '46, and has been excellent in his two+ years in Pittsburgh. Money and stuff: 23rd in both budget and payroll. Only one regular (plus three relievers) are free agents in the fall, so their budget limitations won't be pushed any time soon. HAW pitchers: RH Dennis Perry (6-3, 4.94) / RH Mike Pearse (7-1, 3.66) / LH Eric Jones (7-6, 3.83) PIT pitchers: RH Alex Correa (7-3, 3.28) / LH Alex Alvarado (4-5, 4.15) / RH George Cart (1-0, 0.00) #69: WIN 4-2 ... Daley's two-run triple in the 9th wins it...Perry leaves in the second, diagnosis is pending. Bullpen fans 12 after he's pulled #70: LOSS 1-4 ... another late loss, yielding runs in the 6th, 7th, and 8th...Groff's solo HR is our only run tonight #71: WIN 5-3 ... Mahoney gets bombed in relief again, but this time we hold on, nearly squandering a late 5-0 lead...2 H for Lynn, 2-run triple for Matson Some soft bullpen work, but otherwise fine.... Injury news: Matson is back to 100%, as is Rich, and Perry's diagnosis was "dead arm" but he'll miss no starts.... AAA Santa Barbara is 39-16.... Cam Daley goes 12-for-25 and earns Player of the Week honors.... ELSEWHERE: Houston has won six in a row to move into second place in the AL West. Baltimore has dropped six straight to fall to the bottom of the heap, 24-44.... Brooklyn's Chris White recently became the fifth active player to reach 2500 career hits. He's also one away from 500 home runs. Cubs pitcher Rafa Maldonado is less than a hundred away from becoming the seventh to reach 4000 K. Robins ace Eddy Llamas is just 9 behind him. June 19-21 vs ST LOUIS After a horrendous 5-20 April, the Cards have righted themselves to go 26-20 since. The stats still don't look good, however: 13th in runs for, 15th in runs against. RF Phil Imel--a prize FA catch from a year ago, is his excellent self at .302/20/46. But no one else is even hitting .250. Ace Steve Davenport is coming along, and there are a couple other arms with talent; but the pen has been a mess, and there are too many old-and-nearly-washed-up guys around to consider this either a rebuild or a stab at competitiveness. They've also become a home for wayward former Isles: C Alexis Mercedes (still going at 39), 2B Manny Rangel (hitting .218), 2B Josh Robertson (batting .373 but getting few starts), SP Jim Kieffer, and RP Dan Brown. Manager Jean Ramirez is in his first season, after eight years of diminishing returns in Austin. Money and stuff: budget is 15th, payroll 21st. They've got a ton of money to spend, but aging owner Joe DeWitt, Jr, doesn't seem to have a care. Fan interest has also dipped dramatically. HAW pitchers: RH Shamar Jackson (10-2, 3.27) / RH Tim Ciotta (4-3, 4.47) / RH Dennis Perry (6-3, 4.97) STL pitchers: RH Jim Kieffer (3-7, 6.25) / RH Matt Wright (1-7, 4.60) / RH Steve Davenport (5-5, 2.50) #72: LOSS 5-10 ... Jackson throws a stinker but the pen yields 5 runs late...six balls leave the yard tonight #73: LOSS 3-7 ... well, we didn't strike out any, and our pitchers fanned 14 Cards...nothing else to see here #74: WIN 8-6 ... Burrows' 2-run HR in the 12th wins it...we got 13 hits and took 12 walks...3 hits each for Daley and Simmons Not so great, but at least we avoided an embarrassing home sweep.... Manny Rangel bashed a couple home runs, and Josh Robertson played DH and got 8 hits. Fantastic. Now get out.... Got an interesting trade offer from Minnesota. 'Interesting' in that it would've saved me money and opened up space on the 40-man roster. But they offered me next to nothing.... Team defensive efficiency is still pretty poor, 17th in the AL.... ELSEWHERE: Nine losses in a row for Baltimore now.... 201 strikeouts now for Conor MacLeod, in 15 starts. He's on pace for 440, which I suppose is pretty good.... Portland's Gerardo Nieto is the first batter to 5 WAR. He's batting .377/18/64 for the first place Pioneers. June 23-25 vs CALIFORNIA Still in last place, 26-47. The "offense" ranks 15th in runs, while pitching is 16th. 1B Ricky Ochoa (.282/24/59) has been a one-man band, with only CF Jake Glowski (.275/8/26) helping any. Pitching is struggling across the board, with closer Scott Mahala (9.89 ERA, 2.24 WHIP) a prime example. Trivia, etc: this year's $101M payroll drops to just $66M committed so far for 2052. And that includes Mike Wapner's $11.9M vesting option, which requires 550 PA. (He's very unlikely to reach that.) Now that's committing to a rebuild the right way! HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (7-1, 3.51) / LH Eric Jones (8-6, 3.61) / RH Shamar Jackson (10-2, 3.50) CAL pitchers: RH Mike Hosey (3-7, 6.92) / RH Nate Elder (0-0, 4.74) / RH Jon Carlsen (4-7, 4.22) #75: WIN 9-2 ... 3 hits for Frederick, 2 for a bunch of guys...10 K through 7 IP for Pearse #76: LOSS 0-3 ... we manage just four hits, all scratch singles...Jones is fine, fanning 7 through 6 IP #77: WIN 12-6 ... Frederick's GRAND SLAM and Matson's 3-run shot set the pace...12 hits plus 12 runs equals Efficiency! I guess we needed that one night off, huh.... I thought Goodloe's .354/18/80 mark last year was likely a career high. But I'm liking what he's following that up with so far: .330/8/39. His defense at third hasn't been great, but it's not killing us either. Josh Matson, however, is underperforming a bit, at .281. His 2B defense has been pretty bad, tho. He really is a candidate for 1B one day.... ELSEWHERE: Even taking away his 212 strikeouts, Conor MacLeod is just deathly this year: 16 starts, 11 CG, EIGHT SHUTOUTS.... Detroit's pulled out a 5.5 game lead over Chicago, and Luis Rodela has had a big month, now leads MLB with 29 HR.... As we approach the mid-point of the season, the NL division races are looking dull at the moment: ATL leads WSH by 8.5; PIT over MTL by 11; POR over SD by 6.5. June 26-29 @ HOUSTON Losers of 7 straight, they've fallen to 41-37, 10.5 behind us and 4 behind second place Oakland. Like CAL, the offense has been a two-man operation: 1B Jose Renteria (.328/18/50) and 3B Ricky Silva (.269/15/58). Leadoff batter Jason Welch has a nice .356 OBP, but four regulars are batting under .230. Pitching has been fine (5th overall), but the bottom part of the rotation has been a mess. SP Ron Mills comes back in a few weeks, and not a moment too soon. (He's not great, but better than what's shambling out there right now.) Trivia, etc: Top prospect Humberto Quirindongo is showing some power (10 HR in single A), but he's been slow to develop elsewhere; at age 21, he needs to step it up. There's not much else for the 33rd ranked system, but catcher Chad Willis looks decent (a rarity among catching prospects), and SP Cooper Bradberry is already up on the big team but not going great just yet. HAW pitchers: RH Tim Ciotta (4-4, 4.85) / RH Dennis Perry (6-3, 4.83) / RH Mike Pearse (8-1, 3.35) / LH Eric Jones (8-7, 3.57) HOU pitchers: LH Chris Harris (7-4, 3.62) / RH Cooper Bradberry (1-6, 5.98) / RH Dustin Springer (9-5, 3.59) / RH Eric Morton (2-7, 6.87) #78: WIN 8-7 ... 3 H and 3 RBI for Groff, including a GW 2-run single in the 7th...2-run HR for Cardenas #79: LOSS 3-5 ... Perry falls apart in a 5-run 4th inning...2 hits for Matson, triple for Lynn, and little else #80: WIN 7-2 ... 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI for Cappuccilli, 3 hits for Daley...8 K, 6 IP by Pearse, then 4 K for the bullpen to close it out #81: LOSS 4-7 ... bleah...bad pitching, no timely hitting...moving on Well that could've gone better. Pitching is trending down right now, the rotation at least. Look guys: there are some good-looking guys in AAA who deserve a chance, so get it together.... And we're back in first place in stolen bases! Huzzah! Or not. It's only 62 steals, so don't get too excited.... ELSEWHERE: 32 HR by Luis Rodela now.... Detroit has banged out 174 HR. Eight regulars have hit double figures, three have hit at least 20.... There are five teams (HAW, MIA, ATL, PIT, POR) on track for 100 wins. June 30 vs CLEVELAND MLB had the Indians winning 75 games, but they aren't on track even for that modest goal, at 33-45. Last place in the AL Central, 14th in runs for and 15th in runs against. LF Morgan Akers (.299/14/41) is hitting, and 1B Manny Ayala is still batting .327, but there's not much else on the plate. Ayala's AVG has dropped 50 points this month; stud 2B D.J. Grace (.261) is hitting 60 points below his career average. One good thing is that CF and offensive anchor Pat Daniels (.180 this year; .161 last year) is on the DL. The rotation is next-to-last right now, and that includes a bad year from former Isle Ryan Ratliff, whom we'll see in the second game. Manager Jose Ariza has been at the helm since 2041, and it may be time for a change. Money and stuff: 32nd-ranked budget and payroll. Most of the guys around now will be back next year. They're not playing well, but at least they're cheap! HAW pitchers: RH Shamar Jackson (10-2, 3.76) CLE pitchers: RH Bob Garner (6-7, 5.42) #82: WIN 6-1 ... 4-hitter from Jackson, with 9 K...4 hits by Daley...2 hits by Rich, now hitting .337 Not much to add after only one game. At least it went well. Solid shutout and no injuries.... AAA Santa Barbara is now 48-17, still leading the PCL South Division by 13 games.... ELSEWHERE: Pretty strong half season from Portland sophomore Gerardo Nieto: .361/21/73, 5.4 WAR.... Best AL rookie so far is White Sox 2B Ninsei Sato, .280/20/53. He's 34 too. Our own Mike Pearse has been the best rookie pitcher, so he's in the running for ROY too.... Halfway through the year, and California has 28 wins, Baltimore 29. ...... TL;DR Version: We close out an 18-9 month, making for a 54-28 overall record and a 7 game lead over Oakland. And for the first time that I can remember, we'll start July without anyone on the DL. Shhh...don't say anything else. Looking at who's moving up: Daley is killing it, Frederick is heating up, and Goodloe and Rich are still going strong. Who's going down: pitchers Ciotta and Perry are struggling. I joked about bringing up someone from AAA, which could still happen, although I still prefer not throwing some rookie into a playoff race this late into the season. We'll see... Attached Images __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!