Los Angeles Leopards (16-5, .761, 1st NL West) @ Miami Herons (7-14, .333, 5th NL East)
With 21 games already in the rearview, it’s safe to say that these Miami Herons are directionally challenged, stuck in reverse, lost without cell service, or some combination of all three… hell, these guys, and their 10th ranked offense, may not even know that the season has started. Maybe they think we’re still qualifying, and that they’ll have time to get their wheels in alignment before the actual race begins. The reality, though, is that they just don’t have a good enough car, they’re not built for this, with their starting rotation boasting a collective 5.42 ERA, their defense allowing a National League worst 98 runs to get across so far, and their offense, to the degree that they have one, looking like they are hellbent on challenging Brooklyn for the right to be called the worst offensive club in our league. And, maybe the Majors as a whole. If we stay focused in South Beach, professional, this should be something akin to taking candy from a baby. A sleeping baby.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
LHP R. McGuire (3-0, 0.36 ERA) vs RHP C. Arnett (1-3, 7.27 ERA)
LHP O. Arce (1-0, 3.27 ERA) vs RHP D. Hornbrook (1-2, 8.24 ERA)
RHP R. Taylor (0-3, 4.91 ERA) vs RHP J. Fletchall (0-2, 4.58 ERA)
The top 5 players on their team are:
1. CL Tim Moses (Age: 24, Overall: 62, Potential: 67)
2. RF Neil Jahraus (32, 62, 62)
3. SP Christopher Arnett (24, 56, 66)
4. RP Cullen Craig (28, 55, 55)
5. RP Vincent Urquhart (31, 55, 55)
#22: Win, 10-0… Miami came out with their hands at their sides, chin up, and gave us no head movement to deal with… leaving themselves open to jabs, lead rights, check hooks, and, really, anything else we felt like throwing at them… two dingers from
Otto, both with 2 outs on the board, and win #4 for
McGuire after putting in 7-innings of work with 7 K’s.
#23: Win, 2-0… Our
8th straight win & now on the cusp of three sweeps in a row!
Otto sent his 6th ball out of the park,
Orlando entered his 2nd win into the permanent record, and
Humberto drove in our insurance run on a single during the top of the 8th.
#24: Loss, 2-8… Look, the Herons are a terrible club, not on our level, and a contender for the ‘worst club in the majors’ title – this much is true. But they’re still professional ballplayers and they still have their pride. They put a bad one on us here, dismantling
Rad to the tune of 5 earned over the first 3.1 innings of the game.
He’s 0-4 now… not sure what to do with the kid, honestly.
A look at our MLB batting leaders so far:
Batting AVG: Iosif Grischenko (Pittsburgh) -
390/419/540 - 1 HR - 19 RBI - 13 R - 0 SB - 0.9 WAR
On-Base %: Shane Fukumoto (Las Vegas) - 306/
469/419 - 1 HR - 3 RBI - 13 R - 1 SB - 1.3 WAR
Slugging %: K.J. Marcus (Dallas) - 293/371/
659 - 9 HR - 19 RBI - 15 R - 0 SB - 1.4 WAR
Home Runs: K.J. Marcus (Dallas) - 293/371/659 -
9 HR - 19 RBI - 15 R - 0 SB - 1.4 WAR
Runs Batted In: SATORU ONO (Mexico City) - 276/321/582 - 9 HR -
22 RBI - 15 R - 0 SB - 1.1 WAR
Runs: Ronaldo Guzman (Austin) - 318/415/466 - 2 HR - 9 RBI -
19 R - 1 SB - 1.1 WAR
Stolen Bags: Paul Fernandez (Buffalo) - 316/366/526 - 1 HR - 10 RBI - 13 R -
9 SB - 1 WAR
WAR:
OTTO ISAAC (Los Angeles) - 310/388/598 - 6 HR - 12 RBI - 16 R - 5 SB -
1.7 WAR
Even without the sweep, a winning set, on the road, is always welcome here in La La Land… with our 8-game winning streak extinguished, it’s time to turn our attention to the… Phoenix Coyotes? Yeah, they’re on something of a come up, winning 8-straight themselves with a chance to continue that trend as they visit the 2nd best team in all the land, the Charlotte Imperials, on the road in North Carolina. So, basically, their streak is likely toast. Things are tight in the AL West – only 2.5 games separate the division-leading Denver Miners and the 4th place Vancouver Mounties – and, while things will get sorted soon enough, it’s been fun watching things unfold over there so far. The Mad Russian,
Iosif Grischenko, of the Pittsburgh Pipers, is off to his best career start at 30yo with a 390/419/540 line, 182 OPS+, and 19 RBI. Hope he enjoys it while he can – his torrid pace will cool soon enough.
Record: 18-6, .750, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll make the trek north to Boston for a 3-game, interleague set against the lightly regarded Shamrocks. They do have Tom Franzone, tho… so, not all fun & games.