[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 5-1
Seasonal Record: 15-4 (1st, 3.5 GA)
Stars of the Week
Leo Mitchell : 25 AB, 13 H, 0 HR, 4 RBI, .520 AVG, 1.138 OPS
Art White : 2 Wins, 18.0 IP, 3 BB, 4 K, 1.50 ERA
Ben Curtin : 1 Win, 1 Saves, 2.1 IP, 1 BB, 0 K, 0.00 ERA

Schedule
5-2: Win vs Kings (1-6)
5-3: Loss vs Kings (6-0)
5-5: Win vs Stars (1-2)
5-6: Win vs Stars (2-15)
5-7: Win vs Stars (6-9)
5-7: Win vs Stars (2-3)

Recap
Now I can get used to this! The Cougars keep on rolling, and after splitting with the Kings, we swept the Stars right out of town. Two of those wins were of the one run variety, and somehow, someway, we have managed to win all five of our one run games this season. After dropping 27 of them last year, we've almost reached a third of our one run win total (18) from last season, and we've been scoring far more runs then we've allowed overall. Our lead has now grown to 3.5, as the Sailors dropped five and a row and fell behind the Cannons. Our 15-4 record is the best early on, but the biggest news of the week goes to Cliff Moss. Not only is the veteran outfielder having a hot start, but he became the 76th player in FABL history to record his 2,000th career hit. It came early, as the 37-year-old hit a hard grounder to second that Red Moore couldn't quite handle, beating out the throw to reach base in the first. Moss later drove in two with a single, and finished his historic day 2-for-5. It came in his 1,981st career game and 336th as a Cougar. Taken 1st in the 1927 draft by the Saints, Moss own an impressive .291/.366/.462 (125 OPS+) career line with the Saints, Chiefs, and Cougars, tallying 296 doubles, 253 homers, and 1,054 RBIs. He's off to a hot start this season, hitting .333/.386/.708 (211 OPS+) with 4 doubles, 4 homers, and 13 RBIs.

We got some injury news too, but if it had to be any player, I'm glad it was the guy who got hurt. It's a minor injury, just a finger blister, and it happens to have happened to our Rule-5 Pick Lyn Trease. This is almost a blessing in disguise, as I can IL the 24-year-old, and then send him on rehab once healthy. Trease had to leave our 15-2 blowout with two outs in the ninth, and will miss at least the next two weeks. He's walked 6 in 6.1 scoreless frames with 3 hits and 5 strikeouts, and Trease should get plenty of more innings with Milwaukee once healthy. This will allow us to carry another hitter, as we were carrying ten pitchers so Trease could stay on the roster. Coming up from AAA will be Chick Browning, who is off to a rather slow start with the Blues. Browning has hit just .263/.341/.289 (75 OPS+) in his first 44 PAs, but he's already on the 40 and hit .281/.395/.426 (136 OPS+) in 94 games with he Blues last year. He can cover left, right, and first, and gives us a lefty bat off the bench. I debated bringing Don Lee up, as Orlin Yates has really struggled, but I don't want to burn an option of his and Yates has tremendous range in center. Plus, things have gone well leaving him where he is, and there's no reason to mess with a good thing.

Speaking of good things, how about Leo Mitchell!?!? The defending batting title winner just turned 31 on the 1st, and had himself a week to remember, going 13-for-25 with 2 doubles, 4 runs, and 4 RBIs, increasing his season line to a whopping .486/.524/.568 (214 OPS+). His .486 average is best in the entire FABL, and he's struck out (8) just as frequently as he's walked. He's hit safely in 8 straight games, and just broke a 7 game streak of two or more hits with a 1-for-4 to finish the week. Mitchell has 11 multi-hit games on the season including three four hit games already. For a player who's initial call to fame was being high school teammates with Harry Barrell, Mitchell may be taking the next step this season, going from most consistently above average to the early favorite for the 1944 Whitney. It wouldn't be the first time Mitchell got off to a hot start before eventually settling back down, but he's on a blistering 10.9 WAR pace while providing a huge spark in the middle of the order.

Mitchell wasn't alone in having an excellent week, as backstop Harry Mead has really started to heat up. After a dreadful 1943 season, Mead owns a 131 OPS+ after slashing 7-for-19 with 4 doubles, 6 runs, and 2 RBIs. He has yet to homer, but he's already got 9 doubles while doing a superb job behind the plate. Rich Langton was not affected by his hip flexor strain, going 5-for-16 with a steal, double, triple, homer, 4 runs, and 5 RBIs. Dick Walker added 6 more walks, going 5-for-21 with a double, 3 RBIs, and 4 runs scored. Walker is still on pace for over 200 walks on the season, with 25 in 19 games. His .457 on base percentage is elite, and then consider the fact he's struck out just once in 94 PAs, and it's quite clear the 37-year-old is having a very special start to his season. Even some of our bench players got into the fun, with Mike Taylor 3-for-4 with a double, run, and RBI and Jimmie James 4-for-6 with a double, walk, run, and 2 RBIs. Our middle infielders Skipper and Billy Hunter didn't hit much, just 9-for-39 between them, but we had more then enough support from the rest of the lineup, as we continue to wreck havoc on Continental Association pitchers.

Another week of really solid pitching, as just Rusty Petrick had a rough start. It hasn't been a great start to his Cougar career, this week charged with 9 hits, 6 runs, and 3 walks in a no decision. He went just 7.1 innings, but did strike out 5, but he's really had a tough go in his first three starts. He's allowed a homer and six earned runs in each start so far, but it's not all bad. I expect the homers to come down, as he had allowed just 10 in each of the past two seasons, but his walks (3.7) are down and his strikeouts (5.8) are up. I'm hoping this is just a mix of bad luck and a small sample, but with how good our top four has been, he may see his starts start to decline. Dick Lyons had a very weak start, as a mix of bad defense and bad offense sabotaged him. After getting a pair of groundouts to start the third, Skipper made an error, and the flood gates were opened. They then piled on five runs, including a three run homer from Hal Reynolds, before Lyons finally got out of it. No more runs to finish his six innings, but he finished with 8 hits and 3 walks, with three of the hits and one of the walks coming in that extended 3rd. It didn't matter too much, as they got a six run in the 9th and we couldn't score off Jim Kenny or Bobby Horner. Lyons is susceptible to bad luck at times, as when you don't really miss bats, one bad play can ruin an outing.

Looking at the good, Art White was brilliant, tossing two more complete game victories to improve to 4-0 on the season. He kept his former team in check, allowing just 7 hits and 1 run in our 6-1 win over the Kings. He then helped us survive the Stars in the second game of the double header, allowing 11 hits, 2 runs, and 3 walks with 3 strikeouts. Harry Parker also improved to 4-0, but no complete game as he left the 15-2 blowout with just 112 pitches. Parker was extremely sharp, striking out 9 with 5 hits, 2 runs, and 3 walks in 8 excellent innings. Parker's 22 strikeouts are the best in the CA, and his 1.59 ERA is tied for second. The last start of the week went to Mike Murphy, who was crucial in our 2-1 win over the Stars. He needed Ben Curtin to get the last two outs, but Murphy left with 7 hits, a run, 4 walks, and a strikeout. The top four in our rotation has been brilliant, combining to go 11-2 with a 1.87 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. The WHIP's are high and Parker is the only one with a FIP below 3.50 (1.95), so some regression is expected, but our defense is really good, and should help keep the pitcher's stat lines looking pretty.

Looking Ahead
We get two off days to start the week, and we'll use one of those days to travel to Toronto. The Wolves got off to a slow start, but they're back even to 9-9, and it will definitely be a tough four game series. Even though the Wolves are without George Garrison and Joe Hancock, but Bernie Johnson has stepped into the position of staff ace. He's an unlucky 2-2 despite an elite 1.61 ERA (224 ERA+) with 9 walks, 6 strikeouts, and a 1.07 WHIP. They've gotten decent starts from Jimmy Gibbs (2-2, 3.33, 12) and Bob Walls (2-0, 2.40, 1.23), as the Wolves once again have a lot of reliable pitchers starting games. They'll want to get better outings from rookie Jim Laurita (1-1, 4.74, 11), who's first four starts haven't gone great, but he's got the skills to start in the big leagues and as he gets his feet wet his results should improve. The offense has had its issues, as they've scored the fewest runs in the league, while Walt Pack (.194, 2, 5) has had a slow start after a season where he hit .282/.360/.461 (145 OPS+) with a league high 22 homers and 95 RBIs. Despite that, the rest of their infield has hit really well, with Charlie Artuso (.300, 2, 8, 1), Ockie Holliday (.304, 4), and Hal Wood (.323, 1, 5) all hitting over .300. These games are important, as this week will be our toughest test yet.

And it gets tougher, as we finish the week with a double header in Cincinnati. The Cannons are now 11-7 and our closest competitor, but they fell a little different without Rufus Barrell. Barrell isn't the only notable missing from the squad, as both Adam Mullins and Fred Galloway entered the service this offseason. But even without all those top quality players, the Cannons are still 2nd in runs scored and 3rd in runs allowed to start the year. The lineup has gotten a lot of production from the outfield, as corner infielder turned left fielder Denny Andrews' (.297, 1, 8) 151 WRC+ is the lowest in the starting outfield. Bob Griffith (.365, 1, 11, 1) is at 197 and Sam Brown (.405, 1, 8) is one point higher. Once Billy Dalton (.222, 2, 11) gets on track things will get real tough for opposing pitchers, as Chuck Adams (.325, 1, 17) and Jack Cleaves (.286, 5) have been well above average. Even Buster Farrar (.318, 7) has done great, almost replicating the bottom rung of a potential Adam Mullins season. And it's not all you have to worry about, as Butch Smith (2-2, 1.75, 12) is one of the top starters in the league and Roger Perry (1-1, 1.89, 7) and Jake Smith (2-0, 1.00, 3) are doing their best Barrell impressions. With four games, including a double header, we'll have to deal with most of the rotation, but I trust our offense against anyone. This will be one of the toughest series of the season, and winning the double header would secure at least a split.

Minor League Report
1B Bob Griffen (B San Jose Cougars): This was the first week of Class B and C baseball, and we got Player of the Weeks in both. The first came from Bob Griffen, who was a key part in getting the Cougars off to a 5-0 start. Their #3 hitter went 9-for-20 with 2 doubles, a triple, homer, and 9 RBIs. Griffen had many weeks like this down in La Crosse, but after his promotion to San Jose last year he hit just .233/.284/.340 (80 OPS+) with 10 doubles, 2 homers, and 15 RBIs. The former 16th Rounder is one of many young players who were given an opportunity because of the war, and he's done his best to take advantage. An all-bat no-glove prospect, Griffen has decent power and could hit for a high average. He still has some holes in his swing, but he has a decent foundation to build off of and the more he hits, the more likely he is to stick around when everyone comes back.

1B Billy Biggar (C La Crosse Lions): Could this be the spark he needs? After hitting .521 as a senior, Canadian Billy Biggar hit .266 in 67 games with La Crosse following his high school season and then just .243 in his first full season last year. He actually improved his WRC+ from 55 to 87, but the still 19-year-old may finally be on the right track at the plate. The former All American took home the first Player of the Week in the UMVA, 9-for-22 with 3 doubles, a homer, and 4 RBIs. It's not the first time he's won Player of the Week, and he's shown promise in small samples at times last year, but this is a huge step forward for Biggar. He hasn't flashed the elite contact potential yet, but he's shown improved discipline, walking 56 times in 471 PAs with the Lions last year. I'd like to see Biggar up in San Jose once the draft finishes, but with a few more weeks like this he may book his ticket a bit early.