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ayaghmour2 · 08-23-2022, 03:44 PM

Weekly Record: 1-6
Seasonal Record: 68-50 (3rd, 5.5 GB)
Stars of the Week
Dick Walker : 27 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .333 AVG, .980 OPS
Billy Hunter : 27 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .333 AVG, .741 OPS
Clark Car : 31 AB, 7 H, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .226 AVG, .702 OPS

Schedule
8-16: Loss vs Wolves (3-1): 11 innings
8-17: Loss vs Wolves (3-2)
8-18: Loss vs Cannons (10-4)
8-19: Win vs Cannons (8-13)
8-20: Loss vs Cannons (4-2): 10 innings
8-21: Loss vs Cannons (4-1)
8-22: Loss vs Sailors (3-2): 10 innings

Recap
Well, that was disappointing... If there is any consolation, it's that the Cannons only beat us this week, but they did it three times and are only win was against them. The Wolves took the last two in Chicago and the Sailors took the first of three, dropping to third place and 5.5 games out. Our old nemesis, one run losses, came back to bite us, as we dropped four of them. And to make matters worse, three of them came in extras. I didn't think we were having much of an issue with those this year, but turns out we're now 13-19 in those pesky one run outings. Because of that, our 68-50 actual record falls well short of our 74-44 expected record, which of course, would put us in first place. The weirdest thing, however, is that 5 of our 7 decisions came from our relievers, who generally don't get many innings. Before this week, we only had 14 decisions go to our pen arms, with over 25% of the season total coming this week. Obviously, it's not completely over, but a return to the postseason is not looking too likely for the Chicago Cougars.

Who to blame... Who to blame...

Well, the pitching was inconsistent, as some of the starts were great, but they tended to end in a loss. Of course, there were also the two from Jim Lonardo and Johnnie Jones, that couldn't have gone much worse. Lonardo went 5.1 and was charged with 14 hits, 8 runs, and a walk with just a single strikeout. Jones went just 3, allowing 9 hits, 7 runs, 3 walks, and a strikeout. Jones has had a rough August, going 1-2 with a 6.20 ERA (55 ERA+), 1.70 WHIP, 10 walks, and 8 strikeouts. He's now 14-5 with a still respectable 2.90 ERA (117 ERA+), 1.28 WHIP, 81 walks, and 76 strikeouts. Art White and Joe Brown both made two strong starts, but neither was able to pick up a win. White actually lost one, charged with 17 hits, 5 runs, and 7 walks with 3 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched. Joe Brown had a pair of one run starts, tallying 14.2 innings with 8 hits, 2 runs, 8 walks, and 8 strikeouts. The pen was shaky, with both Angel Lopez and Ben Curtin losing two games. Lopez really struggled, 9 hits, 6 runs, and 5 walks with 2 strikeouts in 5 innings. Curtin was more unlucky, going 7.1 with 7 hits, 2 runs, 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Pug looked good, 5 scoreless with 4 hits, 2 walks, and a strikeout, while picking up the only win of the week. The last innings went to Cal Knight, 2.2 innings with 3 hits, a run, and a walk. Consistency will be more important if we want to make up any ground, but I'm worried that there isn't quite enough time to reclaim first place.

Crazy enough, the offense wasn't bad, and we continued to get surprisingly strong results from Orlin Yates. He's still not playing every day, but the veteran went 3-for-6 with a double, walk, and 2 RBIs. Don Homer decided this was his only week of production, 1-for-3 with a pinch hit two run homer. Unfortunately for Homer, that raised his season line to .192/.276/.308 (69 OPS+), and he'll hit waivers as Rich Langton returns from AAA. We had a few other surprising good weeks, with Harry Mead actually hitting the ball. The backstop went 5-for-19 with 2 doubles, a run, RBI, and 5 walks. Dick Walker continued to be our most valuable hitter, going 9-for-27 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 2 RBIs, 5 runs, 5 walks, and a steal. Clark Car went just 7-for-31, but with a double, 2 homers, 5 runs, and 7 RBIs. Billy Hunter was 9-for-27 with 2 doubles, 2 runs, and 2 RBIs. He'll see some time go to Langton, but his versatility will keep him in the lineup if he can stay healthy or continue to hit. We'll need to get back on track, and adding Langton may be a big help to jumpstart the lineup.

Looking Ahead
An off day to start the week is huge, as we really need a chance to catch our breath. And with a lot of off days, we don't need a 5th starter, so Johnnie Jones will work out of the pen this week. Our long, yet unsuccessful homestand ends with two against the Sailors, who are now 64-57 and as far behind us as we are to the Cannons. We're stuck facing their top two, the talented Karl Wallace (11-12, 2.84, 67) and strikeout machine Tom Cipolla (6-6, 1, 4.17, 67). Wallace will be tough, but even with our strikeout tendencies, I think we should be able to beat Cipolla. Of course, I also thought we'd win more then one game last week, so what do I know... The Sailors are always a tough test, and with our slump it will be tough, but this could be what we need to get back on track.

We're then off for two days before three games in two days with the New York Stars. The Stars are on a nice little hot streak, now 51-70 and 24 games out of first. A lot has gone wrong in the Big Apple this season, but former Cougar draftee Chubby Hall has finally started to hit. The 26-year-old is hitting .318/.394/.443 (138 OPS+) with 3 doubles, a triple, 2 homers, and 9 RBIs in August. His season line is now up to .273/.353/.356 (102 OPS+) with 10 doubles, 3 triples, 7 homers, and 39 RBIs, with a lot more walks (52) then strikeouts (31). Rookie Elijah Bourdeau was recently brought up, and the 23-year-old top prospect is hitting an impressive .270/.356/.426 (122 OPS+) with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homers, and 16 RBIs in his first 39 FABL games. Not much has gone well for them, but Henry Jones (.259, 11, 46) has had an excellent season at 39, making up for an average season from Dave Trowbridge (.273, 4, 42). The staff has had it's struggles, with Billy Riley (3-14, 3.94, 61) completely falling apart and Vern Hubbard's (13-8, 3.52, 95) drop in productivity. Waiver claim Hank Mittan (8-9, 3.37, 43) has somehow been their only productive pitcher, so we really should be able to pile on the runs against a struggling team.

08-23-2022, 03:44 PM	#882
ayaghmour2 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 3,028	Week 18: August 16th-August 22nd Weekly Record: 1-6 Seasonal Record: 68-50 (3rd, 5.5 GB) Stars of the Week Dick Walker : 27 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .333 AVG, .980 OPS Billy Hunter : 27 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .333 AVG, .741 OPS Clark Car : 31 AB, 7 H, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .226 AVG, .702 OPS Schedule 8-16: Loss vs Wolves (3-1): 11 innings 8-17: Loss vs Wolves (3-2) 8-18: Loss vs Cannons (10-4) 8-19: Win vs Cannons (8-13) 8-20: Loss vs Cannons (4-2): 10 innings 8-21: Loss vs Cannons (4-1) 8-22: Loss vs Sailors (3-2): 10 innings Recap Well, that was disappointing... If there is any consolation, it's that the Cannons only beat us this week, but they did it three times and are only win was against them. The Wolves took the last two in Chicago and the Sailors took the first of three, dropping to third place and 5.5 games out. Our old nemesis, one run losses, came back to bite us, as we dropped four of them. And to make matters worse, three of them came in extras. I didn't think we were having much of an issue with those this year, but turns out we're now 13-19 in those pesky one run outings. Because of that, our 68-50 actual record falls well short of our 74-44 expected record, which of course, would put us in first place. The weirdest thing, however, is that 5 of our 7 decisions came from our relievers, who generally don't get many innings. Before this week, we only had 14 decisions go to our pen arms, with over 25% of the season total coming this week. Obviously, it's not completely over, but a return to the postseason is not looking too likely for the Chicago Cougars. Who to blame... Who to blame... Well, the pitching was inconsistent, as some of the starts were great, but they tended to end in a loss. Of course, there were also the two from Jim Lonardo and Johnnie Jones, that couldn't have gone much worse. Lonardo went 5.1 and was charged with 14 hits, 8 runs, and a walk with just a single strikeout. Jones went just 3, allowing 9 hits, 7 runs, 3 walks, and a strikeout. Jones has had a rough August, going 1-2 with a 6.20 ERA (55 ERA+), 1.70 WHIP, 10 walks, and 8 strikeouts. He's now 14-5 with a still respectable 2.90 ERA (117 ERA+), 1.28 WHIP, 81 walks, and 76 strikeouts. Art White and Joe Brown both made two strong starts, but neither was able to pick up a win. White actually lost one, charged with 17 hits, 5 runs, and 7 walks with 3 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched. Joe Brown had a pair of one run starts, tallying 14.2 innings with 8 hits, 2 runs, 8 walks, and 8 strikeouts. The pen was shaky, with both Angel Lopez and Ben Curtin losing two games. Lopez really struggled, 9 hits, 6 runs, and 5 walks with 2 strikeouts in 5 innings. Curtin was more unlucky, going 7.1 with 7 hits, 2 runs, 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Pug looked good, 5 scoreless with 4 hits, 2 walks, and a strikeout, while picking up the only win of the week. The last innings went to Cal Knight, 2.2 innings with 3 hits, a run, and a walk. Consistency will be more important if we want to make up any ground, but I'm worried that there isn't quite enough time to reclaim first place. Crazy enough, the offense wasn't bad, and we continued to get surprisingly strong results from Orlin Yates. He's still not playing every day, but the veteran went 3-for-6 with a double, walk, and 2 RBIs. Don Homer decided this was his only week of production, 1-for-3 with a pinch hit two run homer. Unfortunately for Homer, that raised his season line to .192/.276/.308 (69 OPS+), and he'll hit waivers as Rich Langton returns from AAA. We had a few other surprising good weeks, with Harry Mead actually hitting the ball. The backstop went 5-for-19 with 2 doubles, a run, RBI, and 5 walks. Dick Walker continued to be our most valuable hitter, going 9-for-27 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 2 RBIs, 5 runs, 5 walks, and a steal. Clark Car went just 7-for-31, but with a double, 2 homers, 5 runs, and 7 RBIs. Billy Hunter was 9-for-27 with 2 doubles, 2 runs, and 2 RBIs. He'll see some time go to Langton, but his versatility will keep him in the lineup if he can stay healthy or continue to hit. We'll need to get back on track, and adding Langton may be a big help to jumpstart the lineup. Looking Ahead An off day to start the week is huge, as we really need a chance to catch our breath. And with a lot of off days, we don't need a 5th starter, so Johnnie Jones will work out of the pen this week. Our long, yet unsuccessful homestand ends with two against the Sailors, who are now 64-57 and as far behind us as we are to the Cannons. We're stuck facing their top two, the talented Karl Wallace (11-12, 2.84, 67) and strikeout machine Tom Cipolla (6-6, 1, 4.17, 67). Wallace will be tough, but even with our strikeout tendencies, I think we should be able to beat Cipolla. Of course, I also thought we'd win more then one game last week, so what do I know... The Sailors are always a tough test, and with our slump it will be tough, but this could be what we need to get back on track. We're then off for two days before three games in two days with the New York Stars. The Stars are on a nice little hot streak, now 51-70 and 24 games out of first. A lot has gone wrong in the Big Apple this season, but former Cougar draftee Chubby Hall has finally started to hit. The 26-year-old is hitting .318/.394/.443 (138 OPS+) with 3 doubles, a triple, 2 homers, and 9 RBIs in August. His season line is now up to .273/.353/.356 (102 OPS+) with 10 doubles, 3 triples, 7 homers, and 39 RBIs, with a lot more walks (52) then strikeouts (31). Rookie Elijah Bourdeau was recently brought up, and the 23-year-old top prospect is hitting an impressive .270/.356/.426 (122 OPS+) with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homers, and 16 RBIs in his first 39 FABL games. Not much has gone well for them, but Henry Jones (.259, 11, 46) has had an excellent season at 39, making up for an average season from Dave Trowbridge (.273, 4, 42). The staff has had it's struggles, with Billy Riley (3-14, 3.94, 61) completely falling apart and Vern Hubbard's (13-8, 3.52, 95) drop in productivity. Waiver claim Hank Mittan (8-9, 3.37, 43) has somehow been their only productive pitcher, so we really should be able to pile on the runs against a struggling team.