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ayaghmour2 · 08-19-2021, 03:02 PM

Weekly Record: 5-2
Seasonal Record: 26-21 (t2nd, 7 GB)
Stars of the Week
Rich Langton : 22 AB, 9 H, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .409 AVG, 1.116 OPS
Billy Hunter : 20 AB, 8 H, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .400 AVG, .935 OPS
Leo Mitchell : 24 AB, 7 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .292 AVG, .804 OPS

Schedule
5-30: Win vs Foresters (5-6)
5-30: Win vs Foresters (3-4)
6-1: Win vs Cannons (3-7)
6-2: Loss vs Cannons (7-3)
6-3: Loss vs Cannons (3-0)
6-4: Win vs Stars (5-6)
6-5: Win vs Stars (2-4)

Recap
Three out of four! No, we didn't win three of four, but we now have gotten duds in three of our four lottery picks. The dud we got this year was Adolph Jacobson, the second basemen in group six which was a pretty rough group. And while we didn't get Donnie Jones (those darn Wolves...), we did end up with an exciting young catcher in Solly Skidmore. He has one of the highest signing bonuses in the pool, which I'll take as a good thing, as the 18-year-old looks to be a future FABL catcher and money is plentiful. I'm really excited to see what he can do in our system, and he'll be getting everyday reps in La Crosse the rest of the season. The rest of the draft kicked off in the morning, and we'll likely see a few picks made before the weekend. I'm not quite sure who I want to use with my picks, but we'll have a trio of 4ths and then we pick 11th in each other round.

On the field, we played well, sweeping the double header against the Foresters and winning five of seven to sneak into second place. It did suck dropping two of three to the Cannons, but they were on a rough stretch and took it out on us. Rich Langton was a big part of our successful week, 9-for-22 with a double, homer, two steals, five runs, and six RBIs. Billy Hunter continued to heat up, 8-for-20 with a triple and three more runs driven in. Leo Mitchell was 7-for-24 with a double, homer, steal, and four runs scored and driven in.

Dave Rankin had a big week, a pair of complete games and a relief outing. He evened his record to 5-5 and worked to a 3.15 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 20 innings pitched. Milt Fritz made two starts and a relief outing, but had a little less success. He was 2-1 to Rankin's 2-0, but allowed 23 hits and 11 runs (9 earned), 10 walks, and 8 strikeouts in 17.2 innings pitched. Both have sub 3.50 ERAs and sub 1.30 WHIP and have been outstanding in the top two spots of our rotation. Oscar Morse had another good start, a complete game win with 7 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Morse continues to pitch well, now ranked as our best starting pitcher and his name is the one next to our 9th rated starting pitching. Morse is pitching a little worse then the top two, but he's 4-3 with a 3.61 ERA (115 ERA+), 1.37 WHIP, 24 walks, and 15 strikeouts in 77.1 innings pitched. The Chicagoan has found himself again with the Cougars, and even though he'll turn 35 this month, he's shown no signs of slowing down. Cy Sullivan did alright in his first week, saving three games in 2.2 innings with three hits and a run. I'm debating whether to give him a start or not, but I think I'm going to keep Pug in the rotation at least for one more week.

Looking Ahead
We'll look to sweep the now 17-29 Stars, and we're scheduled to face Chicagoan Les Zoller. He's back in the rotation, but still owns a 7.63 ERA (53 ERA+) and 2.03 WHIP with almost twice as many walks (30) as strikeouts (16). This is definitely a must win game for us, as these are games we cannot afford to lose. Even though we are in second place, we're already seven games behind the Kings and I'd prefer not to drop any further. The Stars do have some decent hitters in the lineup, so we'll need a little pitching, but if we're able to score runs off Zoller like we should, it may not matter.

Next is Montreal, three in Chicago with the 21-26 Saints. Walker Moore has really turned things around, now 3-3 with a 3.49 ERA (123 ERA+), 1.37 WHIP, 26 walks, and 17 strikeouts in 67 innings pitched. It makes up for George Thomas' struggles, who's now 4-5 with a 4.57 ERA (94 ERA+), 1.44 WHIP, 24 walks, and 15 strikeouts. Of course, Jake DeYoung is still dominating CA hitters, his ERA and WHIP down to 2.45 (174 ERA+) and 1.08 with 13 walks and 36 strikeouts in his 10 starts. The offense hasn't gotten off to a great start, with one of the surprises being Adam Mullins. He's hitting just an adjusted league average .280/.393/.385 with 9 doubles, 3 triples, and 20 RBIs. Vic Crawford has been struggling even more, batting just .254/.330/.399 (86 OPS+) with 13 doubles, 4 homers, and 28 RBIs. They'll need a boost from them if they want to move up into the second division, as Lass and Bond can't do it themselves.

Our week, homestand, and stretch of games without an off day ends with three against the first place Kings. At 33-14, they are leaps and bounds ahead of the pack and they just finished a 13 game win streak. Chicagoan Bob Cummings is on a hot stretch, now 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA (149 ERA+), 1.50 WHIP, 22 walks, and 18 strikeouts. Shockingly, his ERA is the third best on the staff, behind both Murphy and Shaffner. Shaffner is on a dominant stretch of his own, now 7-2 with a 2.55 ERA (167 ERA+), 1.17 WHIP, 24 walks, and 18 strikeouts in 77.2 innings pitched. Murphy is 4-1 with a 2.72 ERA (157 ERA+), 1.15 WHIP, 13 walks, and 18 strikeouts. Tom Barrell, however, had his issues, despite being 5-1. His ERA is up to 4.64 (92 ERA+), but he still has a great 1.28 WHIP, 13 walks, and 50 strikeouts in 83.1 innings pitched. If Barrell starts to get back on track, things could get really ugly in the CA, as it's going to be next to impossible to score on the Kings. Other then Frank Vance, who's absolutely killing it, the rest of the Kings offense isn't blowing the world away. Al Wheeler is having a "down" year, batting just .263/.393/.425 (111 OPS+) with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers, and 31 RBIs. This will easily be the toughest series of the week, and maybe one of the toughest of the season. I have faith in the team, and a lucky sweep could bring us in striking distance.

Minor League Report
RHP Bob Saltzman (B San Jose Cougars): He was just an out away in the second game, but "Knuckles" first two starts in San Jose were almost both complete game shutouts. The first was a 6-hitter against Fresno, allowing just one walk with two strikeouts. The second was against first place Bakersfield, who is 23-14 and now just a game ahead of the Cougars. He allowed 3 hits and 3 walks with 6 strikeouts. A 1935 7th Rounder, he just came up from La Crosse where he allowed just 5 hits, 4 walks, and struck out 7 in 8 more scoreless innings there. After a rough showing last season, he's on a 25.2 scoreless inning streak with a sparkly 0.86 WHIP. He's not one of our top pitching prospects, but performances like this are always exciting and could be the start of something more. OSA thinks he added another mile to his cutter, and my scouting accuracy dropped, so there is a chance he got a little talent boost. I'm hoping his new scouting report will be exciting, as it never hurts to have pitching depth. You never know who else is going to pull a Bill Scott (my money is on Danny Hern...).

Minor League Report
RF Chick Browning (C La Crosse Lions): What a month for Chicago's Chick Browning! The Batter of the Month in May, Browning hit .411 with 8 homers, 27 RBIs, and 19 runs scored. He's now slashing an astronomical .402/.476/.759 (210 OPS+) with 9 homers and 29 RBIs. The lefty potentially now slugger turned 20 on May 11th, but endured a terrible 1937 season that saw him fall from every day right fielder to platoon bat to basically a bench bat. His batting line is nowhere near that .182/.261/.280 (62 OPS+) line and he may be ready to move up to San Jose shortly. None of our outfielders are struggling in San Jose, but AA and A center fielders John Johnson and Doug Bennett are really struggling. I'm rather shocked none of our outfielders have gotten hurt yet, but I can't imagine Chick will still be a Lion once the new draft class hops in the system.

LHP Joe Ferrara (C La Crosse Lions): Here is a weird one; Browning's teammate took home Pitcher of the Month despite not starting a single game. The southpaw stopper was near unhittable in 26 innings, working to a 0.69 ERA and 1.35 WHIP with 13 walks, 15 strikeouts, and 4 saves. I don't usually follow relief arms that much, but his performance was definitely worth pointing out. Our 10th Rounder in 1936, I selected Ferrara because I was hoping maybe he could turn into a starting pitcher, but he's instead been a lockdown late inning reliever. He's a three pitch pitcher, but likely doesn't have either the stamina or pitches to start. He gets a ton of movement on his pitches, especially his curve. That's his best pitch and the one he leans on the most, but he also has a low 90s fastball. His change isn't any good, but if it was, Ferrara would be starting games and not just 2-3 innings relief outings.

EDIT: Forgot to update end of month pictures:

08-19-2021, 03:02 PM	#574
ayaghmour2 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 3,032	Week 7: May 30th-June 5th Weekly Record: 5-2 Seasonal Record: 26-21 (t2nd, 7 GB) Stars of the Week Rich Langton : 22 AB, 9 H, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .409 AVG, 1.116 OPS Billy Hunter : 20 AB, 8 H, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .400 AVG, .935 OPS Leo Mitchell : 24 AB, 7 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .292 AVG, .804 OPS Schedule 5-30: Win vs Foresters (5-6) 5-30: Win vs Foresters (3-4) 6-1: Win vs Cannons (3-7) 6-2: Loss vs Cannons (7-3) 6-3: Loss vs Cannons (3-0) 6-4: Win vs Stars (5-6) 6-5: Win vs Stars (2-4) Recap Three out of four! No, we didn't win three of four, but we now have gotten duds in three of our four lottery picks. The dud we got this year was Adolph Jacobson, the second basemen in group six which was a pretty rough group. And while we didn't get Donnie Jones (those darn Wolves...), we did end up with an exciting young catcher in Solly Skidmore. He has one of the highest signing bonuses in the pool, which I'll take as a good thing, as the 18-year-old looks to be a future FABL catcher and money is plentiful. I'm really excited to see what he can do in our system, and he'll be getting everyday reps in La Crosse the rest of the season. The rest of the draft kicked off in the morning, and we'll likely see a few picks made before the weekend. I'm not quite sure who I want to use with my picks, but we'll have a trio of 4ths and then we pick 11th in each other round. On the field, we played well, sweeping the double header against the Foresters and winning five of seven to sneak into second place. It did suck dropping two of three to the Cannons, but they were on a rough stretch and took it out on us. Rich Langton was a big part of our successful week, 9-for-22 with a double, homer, two steals, five runs, and six RBIs. Billy Hunter continued to heat up, 8-for-20 with a triple and three more runs driven in. Leo Mitchell was 7-for-24 with a double, homer, steal, and four runs scored and driven in. Dave Rankin had a big week, a pair of complete games and a relief outing. He evened his record to 5-5 and worked to a 3.15 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 20 innings pitched. Milt Fritz made two starts and a relief outing, but had a little less success. He was 2-1 to Rankin's 2-0, but allowed 23 hits and 11 runs (9 earned), 10 walks, and 8 strikeouts in 17.2 innings pitched. Both have sub 3.50 ERAs and sub 1.30 WHIP and have been outstanding in the top two spots of our rotation. Oscar Morse had another good start, a complete game win with 7 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Morse continues to pitch well, now ranked as our best starting pitcher and his name is the one next to our 9th rated starting pitching. Morse is pitching a little worse then the top two, but he's 4-3 with a 3.61 ERA (115 ERA+), 1.37 WHIP, 24 walks, and 15 strikeouts in 77.1 innings pitched. The Chicagoan has found himself again with the Cougars, and even though he'll turn 35 this month, he's shown no signs of slowing down. Cy Sullivan did alright in his first week, saving three games in 2.2 innings with three hits and a run. I'm debating whether to give him a start or not, but I think I'm going to keep Pug in the rotation at least for one more week. Looking Ahead We'll look to sweep the now 17-29 Stars, and we're scheduled to face Chicagoan Les Zoller. He's back in the rotation, but still owns a 7.63 ERA (53 ERA+) and 2.03 WHIP with almost twice as many walks (30) as strikeouts (16). This is definitely a must win game for us, as these are games we cannot afford to lose. Even though we are in second place, we're already seven games behind the Kings and I'd prefer not to drop any further. The Stars do have some decent hitters in the lineup, so we'll need a little pitching, but if we're able to score runs off Zoller like we should, it may not matter. Next is Montreal, three in Chicago with the 21-26 Saints. Walker Moore has really turned things around, now 3-3 with a 3.49 ERA (123 ERA+), 1.37 WHIP, 26 walks, and 17 strikeouts in 67 innings pitched. It makes up for George Thomas' struggles, who's now 4-5 with a 4.57 ERA (94 ERA+), 1.44 WHIP, 24 walks, and 15 strikeouts. Of course, Jake DeYoung is still dominating CA hitters, his ERA and WHIP down to 2.45 (174 ERA+) and 1.08 with 13 walks and 36 strikeouts in his 10 starts. The offense hasn't gotten off to a great start, with one of the surprises being Adam Mullins. He's hitting just an adjusted league average .280/.393/.385 with 9 doubles, 3 triples, and 20 RBIs. Vic Crawford has been struggling even more, batting just .254/.330/.399 (86 OPS+) with 13 doubles, 4 homers, and 28 RBIs. They'll need a boost from them if they want to move up into the second division, as Lass and Bond can't do it themselves. Our week, homestand, and stretch of games without an off day ends with three against the first place Kings. At 33-14, they are leaps and bounds ahead of the pack and they just finished a 13 game win streak. Chicagoan Bob Cummings is on a hot stretch, now 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA (149 ERA+), 1.50 WHIP, 22 walks, and 18 strikeouts. Shockingly, his ERA is the third best on the staff, behind both Murphy and Shaffner. Shaffner is on a dominant stretch of his own, now 7-2 with a 2.55 ERA (167 ERA+), 1.17 WHIP, 24 walks, and 18 strikeouts in 77.2 innings pitched. Murphy is 4-1 with a 2.72 ERA (157 ERA+), 1.15 WHIP, 13 walks, and 18 strikeouts. Tom Barrell, however, had his issues, despite being 5-1. His ERA is up to 4.64 (92 ERA+), but he still has a great 1.28 WHIP, 13 walks, and 50 strikeouts in 83.1 innings pitched. If Barrell starts to get back on track, things could get really ugly in the CA, as it's going to be next to impossible to score on the Kings. Other then Frank Vance, who's absolutely killing it, the rest of the Kings offense isn't blowing the world away. Al Wheeler is having a "down" year, batting just .263/.393/.425 (111 OPS+) with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers, and 31 RBIs. This will easily be the toughest series of the week, and maybe one of the toughest of the season. I have faith in the team, and a lucky sweep could bring us in striking distance. Minor League Report RHP Bob Saltzman (B San Jose Cougars): He was just an out away in the second game, but "Knuckles" first two starts in San Jose were almost both complete game shutouts. The first was a 6-hitter against Fresno, allowing just one walk with two strikeouts. The second was against first place Bakersfield, who is 23-14 and now just a game ahead of the Cougars. He allowed 3 hits and 3 walks with 6 strikeouts. A 1935 7th Rounder, he just came up from La Crosse where he allowed just 5 hits, 4 walks, and struck out 7 in 8 more scoreless innings there. After a rough showing last season, he's on a 25.2 scoreless inning streak with a sparkly 0.86 WHIP. He's not one of our top pitching prospects, but performances like this are always exciting and could be the start of something more. OSA thinks he added another mile to his cutter, and my scouting accuracy dropped, so there is a chance he got a little talent boost. I'm hoping his new scouting report will be exciting, as it never hurts to have pitching depth. You never know who else is going to pull a Bill Scott (my money is on Danny Hern...). Minor League Report RF Chick Browning (C La Crosse Lions): What a month for Chicago's Chick Browning! The Batter of the Month in May, Browning hit .411 with 8 homers, 27 RBIs, and 19 runs scored. He's now slashing an astronomical .402/.476/.759 (210 OPS+) with 9 homers and 29 RBIs. The lefty potentially now slugger turned 20 on May 11th, but endured a terrible 1937 season that saw him fall from every day right fielder to platoon bat to basically a bench bat. His batting line is nowhere near that .182/.261/.280 (62 OPS+) line and he may be ready to move up to San Jose shortly. None of our outfielders are struggling in San Jose, but AA and A center fielders John Johnson and Doug Bennett are really struggling. I'm rather shocked none of our outfielders have gotten hurt yet, but I can't imagine Chick will still be a Lion once the new draft class hops in the system. LHP Joe Ferrara (C La Crosse Lions): Here is a weird one; Browning's teammate took home Pitcher of the Month despite not starting a single game. The southpaw stopper was near unhittable in 26 innings, working to a 0.69 ERA and 1.35 WHIP with 13 walks, 15 strikeouts, and 4 saves. I don't usually follow relief arms that much, but his performance was definitely worth pointing out. Our 10th Rounder in 1936, I selected Ferrara because I was hoping maybe he could turn into a starting pitcher, but he's instead been a lockdown late inning reliever. He's a three pitch pitcher, but likely doesn't have either the stamina or pitches to start. He gets a ton of movement on his pitches, especially his curve. That's his best pitch and the one he leans on the most, but he also has a low 90s fastball. His change isn't any good, but if it was, Ferrara would be starting games and not just 2-3 innings relief outings. EDIT: Forgot to update end of month pictures: Attached Images Last edited by ayaghmour2; 08-20-2021 at 02:20 PM.