[Bub13]

Although not quite the dog days of July and August, you know thing are finally getting serious when June rolls around. We'll play 26 games this month, 14 at home. Once again we'll see everyone in the division, as interleague play has been eliminated. More chances to catch up! Or...fall behind. Oh, and the draft: we'll have a supplemental pick this year, just the one. We traded away our 10th round pick to somebody, but still have all the others, plus extras in the 3rd and 4th rounds...for now.

June 1-2 vs NY YANKEES
Wrapping this one up. We hit the road after these two.

HAW pitchers: RH Shamar Jackson (5-4, 5.50) / RH Josh Irvin (3-1, 5.08)
NYY pitchers: LH Brian Whitney (5-3, 4.20) / RH Bob Garner (1-8, 5.94)

#56: LOSS 2-4 ... we outhit them 9-7, Medici gets his 1st HR of the season, and we still come up short
#57: WIN 6-1 ... Irvin returns to his winning ways, fans 7 through 6 IP...3 hits for Lynn, 2 doubles for Daley

We went and did a thing. See below.... ELSEWHERE: In an effort to keep the AL East from getting out of hand, Miami has lost four straight, bringing Tampa Bay and Toronto to a game behind.... Austin (again) finds itself in last in the NL West, leading two players to publicly deny they've requested trades in recent days.... William Swanson (TEX) had a 28-game hitting streak earlier this season; now he has a 25-gamer going. He's probably the best hitter in the game today, tbh.

After dropping some broad hints lately, we went and made a tremendous TRADE! One that--I hope--rectifies my "mistake" in turning over too much of the rotation at once. So...we acquire 31-year-old righty Chris Liles from KC, along with IF Oscar Padilla and $2M cash. Liles is a four-time all-star who started his career with six years in Pittsburgh, with the last three in KC. He's a power pitcher with a career high of 294 K, but his numbers have declined a touch since that mark. He's a groundballer, great in the clubhouse, and has three elite pitches and solid movement and control. He's under contract through '54, making--gulp--$26.8M per, but the Royals will eat $16M of that going forward. We simply needed better starting pitching: I'm confident we just got it. Padilla is really just a AAA middle infielder, with little shot of making the bigs. He's here b/c of mounting injuries on the farm. The cash will help sell the trade to the suits in the Caribbean. That phone ringing from international area code 345? Ignore it.

What did we give up? A lot: five players and two picks. First, there's Julius Burrows: stuck on our bench but someone who deserved better. He's immediately KC's best OF now. Second, prospect 1B/DH Tim Chapman: I hated sending him, as he could be a .300 hitter one day, but he's behind Medici and itching to play. I think we've got replacements for him moving up anyway. (Fingers crossed.) Third, SP Greg Van Tilburg. GVT is a late bloomer who started the season with us but didn't pitch well and was demoted. I think he's still got promise, and should move right into their rotation. I'm glad I didn't have to part with any of my younger pitching prospects. Fourth and fifth were RP Yue-jiu Yi and Tyler Amsden. At 27 and 23, not anywhere close to over-the-hill, but two guys who could be a long-term part of a solid bullpen. Yi made the all-star game last year, but was struggling this year. Amsden got hurt in the spring but otherwise was a near-lock for the roster. We also sent our 2nd and 5th round picks, in part to offset our requested salary-eating by the Royals.

Liles slots into the rotation immediately (duh), but as he just pitched two days ago, he won't be up for going in the next series against...KC. That may mean Jackson will have to go on short rest, or something else will happen maybe. Shane Walker is sent back to AAA. To take Yi's place we call up Nate Kearns for his first taste of the bigs; Burrows' spot goes to Ken Taliaferro, a captain-type lefty with some pop and a huge arm, but not much else. He's up since our prior recall--Josh Hed--is injured for seven weeks, plus he was already on the 40-man roster.

Whew.


June 3-5 @ KANSAS CITY
Well, well, what are the odds? I'm guessing we'll see some familiar faces in the Royals lineup now. (They already have RP Nick Kramer at closer, and former prospect IF Francisco Saucedo as a utility man. Neither is doing well.) Currently last in everything, with just 16 wins, last-place hitting and 13th-ranked pitching. Five players--all of them at least useful types--are on the DL, which is not helping. I've been complaining about our lack of power: we have 51 HR, now 17th in the AL; these guys are last, with just 33. This winter they went and grabbed OF Dan Dellinger, a two-time NL batting champ, and he's batting .346 with 4 HR, tied for first on the team. After him, there's little pure hitting talent available, and by my count at least four regulars who should be in AAA at best. The rotation has also struggled, but at least Adam Grossman has been solid; promising Ryan Swan, however, looks great on paper but is in his second season of poor pitching. Youngster Arturo Bernal could be good one day, but Tony Arriaga is only a fill-in. Manager Andy Raaff has been doing this since 2031, and in KC since '44, and has to be working the Maalox extra hard right now. Team budget is 25th, payroll 30th; there's money to spend. But a 24th-ranked prospect system doesn't really bode well for the near future.

HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (6-4, 4.68) / RH Mike Bader (4-3, 4.33) / RH Ben Germann (4-0, 3.80)
KCR pitchers: LH Jeremy Akey (1-0, 4.35) / RH Ryan Swan (2-9, 7.34) / RH Arturo Bernal (2-6, 7.59)

#58: WIN 4-2 ... 2 H, 2 RBI for Medici; 2 H for Simmons...Biff goes 8 IP, yields just 7 H...Burrows and Chapman play against us, the former gets hurt
#59: LOSS 4-7 ... Bader is pushed around again, and Kearns looks bad in his first outing...sloppy all around
#60: WIN 6-2 ... Germann steps into the breach and tosses a CG...*shrugs*...3 hits each for Grace and Goodloe...dtd injury for Matson

Germann really saved face for us in that last game. We've won both of his emergency starts this year. Hmm.... Those soft bats did outhomer us 4-0.... Matson's injury is a strained calf, but it might put him out for five days. Medici, step up now, son.... Fun in the division: Oakland has a 3 game lead over Texas, Houston, and us.... Guess who we play next.... ELSEWHERE: Five straight for Detroit, and 9 out of 10, to an MLB-best 42-18 mark.... Swanson's streak was stopped at 27 games, but now KC's Dellinger has a 20-game thing going.... Philadelphia has the NL's best offense, and just about the worst pitching. So of course they're six games over .500 and a single game behind the Braves.... SD is hot and now so is SS Blake Langer, batting .365 to lead the NL.


June 6-8 @ OAKLAND
The division leaders, at 37-23. Whereas we're 1st in AVG and 6th in runs, the A's have reversed that, helped in no small part by their 151 home runs. That's the total MLB said we'd get all season. Felix Reyes may have slowed down, but he's still banged out 32 dingers, Justin Sandy 18, and Ryan Walton and Randy Costello 17 each. SS Alex Cruz had 31 last year with Cincinnati, and his mere 7 so far this year looks anemic in this lineup. Pitching hasn't been great, but at 10th in runs against, they've been good enough. Only one player is on the DL, and that's back-end RP James Clemons. We're somehow 4-2 against these guys so far this year.

HAW pitchers: RH Chris Liles (4-5, 3.15) / RH Shamar Jackson (5-5, 5.33) / RH Josh Irvin (4-1, 4.79)
OAK pitchers: LH Chris Larimer (7-2, 4.39) / RH Eric Stockton (2-3, 4.40) / RH Conrad Robertson (1-3, 7.89)

#61: LOSS 4-8 ... we outhit them, and keep up in homers one-to-one, but LILES GETS HURT OMFG...Walker and Pearse then explode all over my life
#62: LOSS 6-9 ... everyone's flat tonight, outside of Frederick's 2-run double and a handful of other useless hits...more bad pitching too
#63: WIN 13-4 ... the offense shows up, banging out 15 hits (3 HR) and taking 8 walks...Irvin is okay, but the pen struggles again

There was some good old fashioned woodshedding happening in this series. Ugh.... And it'll be a fine joke by the universe if Liles is done for the year. He looked good in the 3 innings he managed for us, anyway.... At some point this season I'll probably do something like a 3-for-3 swap of relievers between us and AAA Santa Barbara.... With injuries starting to bite in the minors, and wanting more OF depth after the big trade, I reach out and sign two veteran OF to minor league deals. First, we sign Roberto Saldana, who was a regular for three teams between '40 and '45, smacking 130 HR during that time. He's been in Japan since, and will go to AAA for now. Next, we ink 41-year-old Mike Blough, a former stud with the Pittsburgh dynasty in the '30s. He's made the free agent circuit through the league the past decade, and will likely wrap things up with us. Scouts say he can still hit, has some power, and is good in the clubhouse.... ELSEWHERE: It's some 1984 deja vu all over again with Detroit and San Diego on top of their respective leagues. The Padres have the best pitching in MLB by far right now, while being fairly middle-of-the-road offensively. Detroit, meanwhile, combines top-five offense (plus lots and lots of HR) with the AL's best staff. And their doing all that with five legit regulars--2 SP, their CL, 2B, and CF--on the DL.


June 10-12 vs TEXAS
I told you these guys would be good this year. Another lineup of big bats, led by William Swanson (.347/28/59), Omar Gurrola (.298/21/44), and Eric Robbins (.284/14/39), their 3rd in runs and 2nd in HR. Pitching ranks 8th, and they have a +65 run differential (ours is +20). The only drawbacks I see right now are the very top of their lineup (batting .218 and .193) and the bottom of the rotation (combined ERA around 7). They've taken 4 out of 6 against us so far, and sit three games in arrears of the A's.

HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (7-4, 4.45) / RH Mike Bader (4-4, 4.44) / LH Shane Walker (3-2, 5.75)
TEX pitchers: RH Mike Kent (4-7, 5.71) / RH Bryan Crider (1-1, 8.10) / RH Kevin Cahill (5-5, 3.98)

#64: WIN 3-1 ... 24 combined hits tonight, but no dingers, and few runs...3 hits for Frederick, 2 for several others...Biff looks good too
#65: WIN 7-0 ... CG for Bader, fanning 4...Grace and Matson homer...12 hits, 3 walks, a HBP, 4 steals, 4 2b, 2 HR -- lots of stats tonight
#66: LOSS 6-10 ... sleeping bats awoke, bashing 4 HR and 13 hits...three pitchers walked out to the mound tonight, three slunk away beaten soundly

Okay, the baseball gods maybe *don't* hate me, but they are probably watching me for hubris: Liles' injury is a strained shoulder, out for six weeks. Not great, but still a huge sigh of relief.... Shane Walker gets the call, and as you can see above, it didn't go well for him. If he can't make it work over the next start or two, I'm not sure what I'll do next. My most likely recall, Miguel Tirado, is injured, and the current rotation in AAA is: an underdeveloped prospect, two relievers, one old guy called up from AA, and a winter trade throw-in from the awful Baltimore organization. Yikes.... Nate Kearns is returned to AAA for more seasoning after that third game; Min-hyuk Yaung is recalled.... ELSEWHERE: The three best pitchers in MLB showed their stuff on that third night: Minny's Conor MacLeod tossed a 4-hit, 15-K shutout; Cincy's Cris Frias fanned 17 in an 8-3 win; and Atlanta's Jose Gutierrez delivered a 14-K shutout of his own. Gutierrez, a two-time Cy Young winner, leads baseball with a 1.69 ERA and 4.7 WAR....KC's Dan Dellinger had his 24-game hit streak ended by Tampa Bay. The Royals are the last team without 20 wins, coming in at 18-48.


June 13-15 vs MIAMI
We're facing all the good teams now, aren't we. Miami is back on top of the East, at 38-28 and riding a five-game winning streak. Batting has rebounded, up to 7th in runs, with Toshi Shimabukuro emerging as a star (.355/20/45) in his second season. 3B Jon Ladd is having a nice comeback season, batting .280/18/45, and 37-year-old Sean West keeps chugging along, with 14 HR and a .296 average. Pitching sits 5th, with new acquisition Jon Carlsen earning his huge paycheck, but former Isle Mike Messinger definitely not. Manager Efrain Nevares slid over from his bench coach duties when the club decided not to extend 95-game winner Paul Trashini. He's had a steady hand so far, something he never showed during stints with Houston and the Yankees. Team budget ranks 9th, payroll 8th. Owner Dusty Means is happy, despite GM Adrian Ashford not getting rid of "clubhouse distraction" Ricky Chavez. He's an interesting case, Chavez: so disliked that after hitting 49 HR in '42 and 46 the following year, no one in MLB signed him as a free agent until four years later. He's the leader of a dissatisfied clubhouse, too, with no team leaders and a handful of disgruntled and selfish jerks. But they're still winning games...

HAW pitchers: RH Shamar Jackson (5-6, 5.70) / RH Josh Irvin (5-1, 4.65) / RH Biff Skiff (8-4, 4.20)
MIA pitchers: RH Norm Rowsell (3-2, 4.56) / LH Victor Nunez (8-5, 3.07) / RH Jon Carlsen (10-1, 3.05)

#67: LOSS 6-12 ... Jackson is again terrible...and yet, so are the two RP who follow him, sigh...2B and HR for Alonzo, at least
#68: LOSS 4-5 ... Germann's scoreless 1.1 IP in relief is the only good news tonight...just five hits, nobody doing nothing again
#69: WIN 6-5 ... Frederick homers for the 2nd straight game, and a reshuffled lineup manages 13 hits...Biff gives up 12 tho, feeling generous

We saved some face with that last game, at least.... Terrible pitching this series, from nearly everybody. If we can just keep hitting, maybe we can ride this out. I dunno right now.... Liles comes back in five weeks. HURRY.... ELSEWHERE: If you're wondering about our former SP from last year, wonder no more: Eric Jones has an 8.10 ERA in relief duty for the Dodgers, and now has a pending injury; Dennis Perry has been better, with a 2.45 ERA, also in relief, with Toronto; and Tim Ciotta, whom we dumped after he started so poorly for us, is with Houston and doing quite well. We'll see him soon enough.... The underrated Juan Garcia, now with the Cubs (also Royals for 12 years), is nearing 2600 career hits. The 34-year-old has a lifetime .321 average, and if he can stay healthy for a couple more years, has a very real shot at reaching 3000 hits.

......

TL;DR Version: You know, we use the word 'crisis' too easily in the world today. So I won't use it here. After all, our pitching--despite ranking 12th in runs against--is not truly lethal...in the sense that heartburn is not lethal. It's just bad right now, but it can get better. The rookies have shown some real promise, even though they've all been quite uneven. It's really the veteran Jackson--who couldn't get me out right now--and our #5 slot, presently filled by someone masquerading as a big league pitcher named Shane Walker, that have been the real trouble. Chris Liles comes back in five weeks. But let's be honest: something needs to happen in those five weeks, or we'll find ourselves on the outside before August even begins. Trade? Done that. Waivers? I'm watching, but don't expect anything there either. The farm? Only two guys look even close to MLB level: Henry Weareorwear started seven games for Baltimore in the late '40s and didn't show much. Oof. Prospect Danny Carbajal is only about 3/4 baked right now, but does have a lovely "It's-a me, Mario!" moustache going. Maybe a little hipster 'stache injection is what we need. That, or we ruin his confidence in the meat grinder. It'll be interesting to watch, either way. Oh...and the batters? It would be nice to mix in some home runs every now and then, but otherwise, we're okay.