[Bub13]

April 18-20 @ SEATTLE
They reached .500 for the first time in five seasons in '54, although they stumbled after a hot April; this year they're off to an 8-4 start, so at least they're consistent. Seventh in runs for and against, with a +8 differential right now. Stars Paul Stough and Ger van Mourik are hitting the cover off the ball, and they're joined by DH Paul Cyr who's hitting three times his career average right now. Solid. And again...this is a team that largely eschewed free agency, only grabbing current #5 starter Conrad Robertson and average MRs Chris Salmela and Kerry Allen. (Robertson is only in the rotation due to injuries to projected SP Ron Rivera and Seb Mulholland.) Although I guess I can bring up ancient catcher Guillermo Diaz, brought over from LA but slowly expiring on the bench. Fifth-year manager Dwayne Cloninger had his first non-subpar season last year, so the jury is definitely still out on his capability. The other thing of note is that they're currently 2nd in the AL with 26 home runs, exactly twice what we've hit so far. Nice.

HAW pitchers: RH Travis Harris (1-0, 3.46) / RH Josh Irvin (2-0, 1.69) / LH Daniel Croft (1-0, 2.25)
SEA pitchers: RH Theo Soole (1-0, 3.77) / RH Daniel Newell ('55 debut) / RH Conrad Robertson (0-0, 8.25)

#13: LOSS 6-10 ... Harris gets bombed early, but we hang tough until giving up 4 late runs...Pederson and Medici homer, but we give up five in turn
#14: WIN 7-3 ... Tipping, Hed, and Matson go deep, and five players get two hits each...Irving solid again...two steals for Lynn, 8 on the season
#15: WIN 4-1 ... Matson's 2-run shot is the key hit...2 hits and an RBI for Simmons, and Gase throws out two runners at home...8 IP, 0 ER from Croft

Two wins: always good. We're 10-5 and a game behind the surprising Angels.... So we're winning, largely on the backs of our starting pitchers: first in the league. But the bullpen is 13th and may need some revising sooner than later.... We're also 6th in runs and 5th in OBP, but 10th in AVG and 11th in OPS.... Matson is flying at .328/6/16 and Simmons is hitting .410. Lynn, Hed, Royer, and Covington are still well below their career numbers.... ELSEWHERE: Eight wins out of ten for California, and William Swanson (.410/8/25) just won player of the week. Also hot: Tampa and the Mets (six straight), and Cincy (four). Not Hot: Philly's lost ten in a row, Oakland nine, and KC seven.... Swanson also hit the first cycle of the season, belting out five hits in a 14-13 win over Oakland.... LA is slumping, and also lost solid SP Homare Yano for two months. He joins ace Everett Cronk (out 3 more weeks), and closer Rick Ramirez (season). At least they've got 12 other closers to choose from to replace Ramirez.


April 21-23 vs HOUSTON
Back home for a six game stand. The 6-9 Astros are getting good hitting--8th in runs and 4th in AVG and HR--but are 10th in pitching ERA and their bullpen has been ever worse than ours. Five hitters are above .300, but two are stuck at .148 and .091. This is a team that grabbed a solid handful of players in free agency, including starting 2B Juan Rodriquez and LF Steve Wheatley (who's keeping Kevin Mazurowski--producer of 69 HR the last two seasons--on the bench), and catcher Juan Pizano, batting .364 but not starting. They also completely remade their rotation, adding Mat Caldwell, Ben Germann, and Robbie Camp via free agency, promoting rookie Alex Moya, and bringing swingman Jason Knight into the #5 slot. (Chris James and Ken Demers, two of last year's SP, are now in the pen.) Manager Alejandro Garcia is in his second season, and may be on the verge of losing team chemistry, so that's fun. Also, TIL their GM is one John Papp, in his third season here after seven years in Pittsburgh. He's 40. He also built a 90-game winning team four times and won a title in '51, but found himself unemployed after a 76-win '52 season.

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (1-1, 2.62) / RH Mike Bader (1-1, 2.92) / RH Travis Harris (1-1, 5.82)
HOU pitchers: RH Mat Caldwell (1-2, 3.74) / RH Robbie Camp (0-3, 6.62) / RH Ben Germann (2-1, 4.15)

#16: WIN 8-0 ... 4-hit shutout by Waugh, 11 K...4 hits from Simmons 2-run double by Ulkini, and HR from Hed and Espino...two injuries dampens the mood
#17: WIN 7-2 ... big hits from Collins, Gase, and Ulkini break open a 1-1 tie in the 4th...Ulkini hurt for 2nd straight game however
#18: WIN 5-2 ... HR from Tipping and Ulkini (still playing?), and a solid 8 IP from Harris, getting some mojo back

Very solid series keeps us a game ahead of Seattle and Texas.... Our pitching was very good, with Harris finally turning in another solid start. Only two IP from the bullpen, something we've really needed lately.... Ulkini suffered two dtd injuries, Tipping one; but both kept playing. The injuries are minor leg injuries, and they should be fine in a few days. Both are hitting great, .583 and .393, respectively.... Our top three minor league teams are off to a combined 10-15 start.... ELSEWHERE: Detroit's won 7 of 10 to pull up to 10-8 and into a four-way tie for first in the Central. But they lost rookie phenom CF Roberto Gomez for five months.... Remember when Oakland took two out of three from us a few weeks ago? They've dropped twelve straight since and sit at 3-15 overall.... Not only did Houston get swept in Hawaii, but Eddie Kinnison's league-best 20 game hit streak came to an end.... Third-year Tampa pitcher George Brorby has had a dream start to the season, winning all four of his starts while fanning 44 and walking just 3. Brorby gave up 51 HR in 196 IP last year, but only 3 in 33 innings thus far this time around.


April 25-27 vs TORONTO
The long-term rebuild showed signs of reaching bottom last year with a 69-win season, but they're off to a 6-12 start this time around. Only 16th in offense and 17th in pitching, with a -40 run differential. The lack of offense is surprising, given that they have five guys who've hit 30+ HR regularly over their careers. But then again they have new UFA Sam Wilhelm and his career .288 OBP at leadoff. On the mound, there's a whole lot of big numbers, made worse-looking by Gary Stamp's injury, since he's the only guy producing (2.11 ERA). During the winter, besides the aforementioned Wilhelm, they only went after a couple of middle relievers. And new manager Miki Simonich, a former MR with four teams in the '30s and '40s. This is his first managerial job anywhere. But the system ranks 7th, with a pile of nice looking pitchers...but very little anywhere else outside of a couple of low-contact power hitters. Still, they've got money and a motivated owner, so if the prospects develop and they ink some hitters, they should start to turn the ship around in a couple years.

HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (3-0, 1.93) / LH Daniel Croft (2-0, 1.50) / LH Matt Waugh (2-1, 1.91)
TOR pitchers: RH Jaden Buchanan (1-2, 6.15) / RH Greg Boedigheimer (1-1, 6.14) / RH Nick Palmer 2-2, 3.71)

#19: WIN 2-1 ... tied after both teams score in the 4th, then nothing until Matson's RBI double in the 13th wins it...complete 9 IP games for both starters
#20: WIN 5-1 ... CG with 9 K for Croft...3 hits each for Pederson (plus a HR) and Lynn, 2-RBI single for Covington
#21: WIN 7-2 ... 13 hits with 4 HR, including 2 by Medici...3 more hits from Lynn, with 2 RBI...Waugh goes 7.2, Ruiz closes it with 1.1 shutout innings

Another solid outing, putting us two games ahead of the competition. It's never too early for playoff consideration, lol.... More excellent pitching, and good-enough hitting even though we're not blowing the doors off anybody.... It's hard (maybe foolish) to mess around with something that's working, but three guys are still not producing at all: Hed in LF, Covington at C, and Royer at 3B. Ulkini has been a defensive sub for Royer, and is hitting, so might get some more regular starts now, too. And Collins will get some more AB at catcher, even though Covington is the much better defensive option. As for Hed, no other OF right now is hot off the bench, so I may tinker there a little less. We'll see.... ELSEWHERE: Oakland lost two more, then finally won one to get themselves to a booming 4-17.... Seven straight wins (and 9 out of 10) for the Cardinals, vaulting them into first in the NL Central.... Cincy 1B Lance Powell is 43 but still a powerful hitter, batting .324 in the young season. He just passed 100 career WAR and is tops in active hits (2674, 82nd overall) and home runs (584, 12th and just two behind Frank Robinson), and second in doubles (602, 20th all-time).


April 28-30 @ CALIFORNIA
BNN says they'll win 81 for the first time since '35, and so far they're 13-8. Early, yes, but still a good start. Ninth place--mid-pack--in offense, and the top third of the lineup is killing it: Dan Dellinger (.316), Preston Eckles (.324), and William Swanson (.361/9/27). But two in the middle of the lineup are under .200, and there's no real dynamism behind the top three (and cleanup guy Mauricio Marquez, who's been just okay so far). Pitching has been good, 6th in runs against, with good showings across the pen and rotation. Dellinger, a two-time batting champ, is new here this year, as is DH Jesse Brickell, who hit 26 HR with Atlanta last year. SP Shaun Ostrander and Joe Dawson are also new FAs, as are a handful of relievers. Add to that new manager Trent Johnson, who stepped into his first head role this year. So far, so good. Also good is the 3rd ranked prospect system, with seven players in the top 100. One player to watch is top guy Zackary Thornhill, third in MLB, who's stuff ceiling is the highest I've ever seen. The only non-pitcher in the lot is 1B Carlos Castro, already on the big club but only oh-for-four on the season. Future power hitter, should bat a consistent .280 with 30+ HR. Solid.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (2-1, 2.70) / RH Travis Harris (2-1, 4.68) / RH Josh Irvin (3-0, 1.67)
CAL pitchers: RH Joe Dawson (0-1, 6.23) / RH Nate Elder (4-0, 3.86) / RH George Millard (debut)

#22: LOSS 2-3 ... we're up 2-1 early but give up two late runs to lose...we outhit them 11-5 but spread them out too thin
#23: WIN 6-3 ... Pederson, Medici, and Tipping homer, and although we're outhit tonight we're able to score in bunches...Harris goes 8, Kearns fans two for the save
#24: WIN 6-3 ... Medici GRAND SLAM and holy cow a JJ Simmons home run alert!...Irvin goes 8 here and Kearns is money again, fanning the side in the 9th

We close out a solid month with two more wins, always a good thing.... Some nice power here, with Medici (7 HR) and Pederson (6) finally flexing a bit.... We're first in the AL with 38 steals, with Lynn and Simmons leading the way with 11.... ELSEWHERE: St Louis stays hot and is tops in the NL at 17-7, with LA right behind at 16 wins. In the AL, Hawaii has 18, with division mates Seattle and Texas right behind at 17.... Montreal and Toronto are making Canada sad with only 7 wins apiece, but no one has struggled like the A's, at only 4-20.... Tampa Bay still leads the AL East, but just lost ace George Brorby (4-1, 1.63) for four months.... Continuing the theme of old men hitting home runs, 44-year old Dan Starr seems to be finally slowing down, hitting just .221 with two HR, giving him 580 on his career. Like Lance Powell, he's a likely Hall of Fame candidate, but unlike Powell seems less likely to reach the 600 HR mark. Two other players have reached the 500 level--Erik Reed at 549 and Victor Sanchez with 534--but neither looks to have much gas left in the tank.

......

TL;DR Version: 15-2 to finish the month after a 3-4 start. Not bad.... Our run production has slipped a bit, to 7th, while we're still top four in AVG and OBP. We'll need to score more from here on if we're going to stay hot, frankly. To that end, I may start making some changes to the lineup starting with our next series: C Mike Covington is hitting .162 while backup Jamie Collins is at .391; 3B Caleb Royer is at .167 with 0 HR, while Lua Ulkini has gone 8-for-20; and LF Josh Hed is at .218 (but with 4 HR and a .338 OBP) so might lose to Nick Gase, slashing .312/.431/.396. Meanwhile, I'm very satisfied with our pitchers. The rotation has greatly exceeded my expectations with a combined 2.48 ERA. The bullpen has struggled some, with Yaung and Watanabe especially fragile in middle relief. But closer Nate Kearns has rebounded well from a shaky start, and the setup duo of Ruiz and Reyes has been spot on. Of course we can't expect to get this kind of starting pitching all season, which is why I want us to score more runs: gotta make up for the expected regression to the mean. Other positive notes: 1B Josh Matson (.330/6/19) and SS J.J. Simmons (.365) rebounding from off years, and rookie 2B Lucas Tipping hitting .320 with 4 HR. All in all, though, a very good month, with only a few quibbles here and there.