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ayaghmour2 · 12-28-2024, 06:18 PM

Weekly Record: 4-3
Seasonal Record: 33-25 (4th, 7 GB)
Stars of the Week
Henry Watson : 27 AB, 14 H, 2 HR, 11 RBI, .519 AVG, 1.404 OPS
Gene Case : 26 AB, 11 H, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .423 AVG, 1.222 OPS
Mooney Vetter : 25 AB, 7 H, 1 HR, 7 RBI, .280 AVG, .773 OPS

Schedule
6-11: Loss at Kings (4-6)
6-12: Win vs Imperials (1-9)
6-13: Win vs Imperials (5-9)
6-14: Win vs Imperials (3-12)
6-15: Win at Cannons (10-4)
6-16: Loss at Cannons (5-6)
6-17: Loss at Cannons (0-6)

Recap
On the bright side, we didn't play the Los Angeles Stars, it was actually the New York Imperials, and the pitiful 11-47 expansion team accounted for three of our four wins this week. We couldn't beat the Kings, and the red hot Cannons took two of three from us, so our barely winning week allowed us to remain seven back of the Foresters. Both the Sailors and Cannons are now within six, but at least the winless weeks seem to be a thing of the past.

We can thank Henry Watson for most of our wins this week, as the scalding outfielder took home the Continental Player of the Week. It was an outstanding week, as Watson was 14-for-27 with a double, triple, 2 homers, 5 runs, and 11 RBIs. Funny enough, his only hitless game was against the Imperials, but he had an excellent 3-for-5 with 2 homers, a triple, 3 runs, and 6 RBIs. He then followed that up with a perfect 4-for-4 in our lone win against the Cannons, adding a walk, double, and 4 RBIs. Even in the shutout, Watson picked up a pair of singles, and he's finally got his OPS+ (109) and WRC+ (113). The OPS+ corresponds with a decent .294/.325/.496 line, but he's making a serious case for Batter of the Month. Watson's monthly slash is a robust .373/.413/.627 (165 OPS+) with a double, triple, 4 homers, and 17 RBIs. The voters love those RBI numbers and he's got an elite 175 WRC+, but we have a few more weeks before a winner needs to be crowned.

Another hot hitter is Gene Case, who could have had the weekly award had Watson not hit so well. Case was 11-for-26 with a double, 2 homers, 7 walks, 7 RBIs, 13 runs scored, and a pair of steals. Case doesn't have the high average of Watson, but with the walks his .293/.408/.569 (150 OPS+) June line isn't too far away. With 10 homers on the season, he's the first of our players to reach double digits for bombs, and his .297/.384/.484 (123 OPS+) line is getting close to the .288/.399/.506 (139 OPS+) he hit as a rookie last year. Case and Watson did most of the work this week, but they got some help from Chappy Sanders (8-21, 2B, RBI, 3 R) and Mooney Vetter (7-25, 2B, HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, BB), while reserves like Bill Plunkett (3-7, RBI, R, BB) and William Buttry (3-4, R) made the most of limited time. Buttry has impressed since joining on waivers, hitting .467/.500/.567 (176 OPS+) in 32 PAs, and he may now get a start a week instead of Buddy Byrd. He shouldn't be hitting this well, but he's putting the ball in play and showing he's always ready to help the team out.

Bob Allen had another good start this week, going 8 against the Imps with 5 hits, a run, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts, picking up his 4th win of the season. Errors contributed to his third loss, as half of his six runs were unearned, causing him to leave after 5 with 7 hits, no walks, and 6 strikeouts. Through 10 starts, the former top ranked pitching prospect has a 5.01 ERA (90 ERA+), but as you can see that's only 10 percent worse then average. He's been allowing 5+ runs too often this season, but he's got a nice 14.7 K% and he's keeping the ball on the ground. Roy Ellis kept up his hot streak, improving to 4-2 with a strong 8 inning start. He allowed 6 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), and 2 walks with 7 strikeouts, putting together six straight starts with three or fewer runs. This has dropped his ERA to an impressive 3.36 (134 ERA+) in 80.1 innings, adding in 22 walks, 51 strikeouts, and a 1.20 WHIP. John Mitchell picked up a complete game win, allowing 7 hits, 4 runs, and a walk with 3 strikeouts in our 10-4 win in Cincinnati. Three homers did the damage, and he became our fourth starter with four wins. Arch Wilson threw four more shutout innings, allowing a hit and walk with three strikeouts to lower his ERA to a minuscule 0.34 (1339 ERA+) in 26.2 innings. Eventually, the luck will run out, but for now I'm just going to enjoy this incredible stretch!

Last little note on the draft, which will be inputed during Monday's sim. I still hate our draft class, but I have decided that if any of the scrubs crack the top 500, I'll do a regular writeup on them. But in all honesty, I doubt any of these guys will, and I'm still kicking myself for not making a makeshift list, but at least this class was on the weaker side and Bill Grimm is elite. Elite I tell you!

Please rank inside the top 25...

Looking Ahead
Our road trip continues with the other expansion team, as we'll face the 24-34 Wranglers in Dallas. They started the season okay, but they've fallen to eighth and the Saints are just a game behind them. Not much has gone right for them, but they may have uncovered a long-term piece in third basemen Ken Hudson. Just 26, Hudson was a 16th Round pick of the Eagles who worked his way up to FABL in 1959. He had a few games his first two seasons, and then hit an impressive .327/.417/.545 (160 OPS+) with 7 homers and 25 RBIs in 127 PAs last year, but with Tom Lorang (.365, 12, 47) firmly entrenched at the hot corner, they left Hudson unprotected. Their loss is Dallas' game, as he's hitting an excellent .302/.373/.595 (142 OPS+) with 11 homers and 26 RBIs. The power is legit, but there is some swing and miss in his game. It'll be interesting to see how he finishes this season off, but for an expansion team, getting guys like this are what these early seasons are about.

Turning towards the series itself, we'll have to take on 38-year-old Gene Amico (0-5, 8, 4.96, 31), who's transitioned from the pen to the rotation, talented young pitcher Butch Abrams (5-6, 3.74, 33), and former Minutemen and Gotham southpaw Steve Miller (2-3, 3.60, 33). Despite Miller's decent stats, the only guy I'm worried about is Abrams, but if we can get him out early, the pen is very vulnerable. On offense Hudson is the main threat, but Ray Hughes (.303, 7, 21) has led the order off well and Bill Harbin (.288, 6, 24, 3) isn't the worst center fielder out there. Lucky for us, there's a lot of bad bats in that lineup, and we really should leave town with the victory.

We're off after the Wranglers series, and will head home to host the red-hot Sailors for three. They've won nine straight, and have overtaken us as the #1 pitching staff in the Conti. They are running a four man rotation, and despite the back-end being scrubs they picked up from the Wolves, it's been working like a charm. One of the said scrubs is old friend Zane Kelley (6-2, 3.64, 44), who's having his best season to date at 36. Trademate Hank Lacey (4-2, 3.25, 47) has been even better, while their two talented young 23-year-olds are putting the league on notice. Chicagoan Charlie Lawson led the CA in ERA (2.91) and WHIP (1.07) last season, and he's trying to do the same this year. He's 6-3 with a 3.08 ERA (148 ERA+), 1.09 WHIP, 26 walks, and 62 strikeouts, and should be selected to his second All-Star game in two seasons. His 3.51 FIP (77 FIP-) might be the most impressive part, though he's also been worth 2.4 WAR already. George Fuller (5-5, 3.07, 45) is right on his trail in ERA and WHIP, a bit ahead in ERA and behind in WHIP, and because of their rotation, we're stuck facing one if not both of them. The off day makes both more likely, and then we'll also have to deal with a lineup of Edwin Hackberry (.273, 8, 36, 10), John Kingsbury (.333, 8, 40, 3), Heinie Spitler (.349, 4, 30, 9), Ernie Carter (.338, 3, 30), and Ray Rogan (.313, 4, 27). Add in the speedy Carlos Jaramillo (.265, 2, 23, 14) who can handle short like 'ole Skipper Schneider, and we are in a world of trouble.

At least if they sweep us, the Foresters will have a challenger!

Yeah... I'm going with that!

Minor League Report
RHP Humberto Fonseca (B San Jose Cougars): He may not be the most exciting pitcher in our system, but Humberto Fonseca can throw a lot of pitches in a game, and most of the time, they're pretty decent at the end! He was firing on all cylinders against Salem, twirling a 5-hit, no-walk, 4-strikeout shutout. After starting the season 0-3, he's now won each of his last four starts, dropping his ERA and WHIP to 3.38 (99 ERA+) and 1.07 in 69.1 innings pitched. Most impressive has been the command, as he's struck out 45 with just 5 walks, an elite 9 K/BB. A hard thrower too, he sits in the 94-96 range with his fastball, one of five average or better pitches. Dixie doesn't love his control, which is ironic considering his K/BB, but OSA thinks he can pitch his way into the back of a FABL rotation. They also like his control more, and rank him 22nd in our system and 422nd overall. With so few quality pitching prospects, he'll continue to make starts, and I'd love for the command he's showing now to stick with him as he develops.

12-28-2024, 06:18 PM	#1556
ayaghmour2 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 3,151	Week 9: June 11th-June 17th Weekly Record: 4-3 Seasonal Record: 33-25 (4th, 7 GB) Stars of the Week Henry Watson : 27 AB, 14 H, 2 HR, 11 RBI, .519 AVG, 1.404 OPS Gene Case : 26 AB, 11 H, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .423 AVG, 1.222 OPS Mooney Vetter : 25 AB, 7 H, 1 HR, 7 RBI, .280 AVG, .773 OPS Schedule 6-11: Loss at Kings (4-6) 6-12: Win vs Imperials (1-9) 6-13: Win vs Imperials (5-9) 6-14: Win vs Imperials (3-12) 6-15: Win at Cannons (10-4) 6-16: Loss at Cannons (5-6) 6-17: Loss at Cannons (0-6) Recap On the bright side, we didn't play the Los Angeles Stars, it was actually the New York Imperials, and the pitiful 11-47 expansion team accounted for three of our four wins this week. We couldn't beat the Kings, and the red hot Cannons took two of three from us, so our barely winning week allowed us to remain seven back of the Foresters. Both the Sailors and Cannons are now within six, but at least the winless weeks seem to be a thing of the past. We can thank Henry Watson for most of our wins this week, as the scalding outfielder took home the Continental Player of the Week. It was an outstanding week, as Watson was 14-for-27 with a double, triple, 2 homers, 5 runs, and 11 RBIs. Funny enough, his only hitless game was against the Imperials, but he had an excellent 3-for-5 with 2 homers, a triple, 3 runs, and 6 RBIs. He then followed that up with a perfect 4-for-4 in our lone win against the Cannons, adding a walk, double, and 4 RBIs. Even in the shutout, Watson picked up a pair of singles, and he's finally got his OPS+ (109) and WRC+ (113). The OPS+ corresponds with a decent .294/.325/.496 line, but he's making a serious case for Batter of the Month. Watson's monthly slash is a robust .373/.413/.627 (165 OPS+) with a double, triple, 4 homers, and 17 RBIs. The voters love those RBI numbers and he's got an elite 175 WRC+, but we have a few more weeks before a winner needs to be crowned. Another hot hitter is Gene Case, who could have had the weekly award had Watson not hit so well. Case was 11-for-26 with a double, 2 homers, 7 walks, 7 RBIs, 13 runs scored, and a pair of steals. Case doesn't have the high average of Watson, but with the walks his .293/.408/.569 (150 OPS+) June line isn't too far away. With 10 homers on the season, he's the first of our players to reach double digits for bombs, and his .297/.384/.484 (123 OPS+) line is getting close to the .288/.399/.506 (139 OPS+) he hit as a rookie last year. Case and Watson did most of the work this week, but they got some help from Chappy Sanders (8-21, 2B, RBI, 3 R) and Mooney Vetter (7-25, 2B, HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, BB), while reserves like Bill Plunkett (3-7, RBI, R, BB) and William Buttry (3-4, R) made the most of limited time. Buttry has impressed since joining on waivers, hitting .467/.500/.567 (176 OPS+) in 32 PAs, and he may now get a start a week instead of Buddy Byrd. He shouldn't be hitting this well, but he's putting the ball in play and showing he's always ready to help the team out. Bob Allen had another good start this week, going 8 against the Imps with 5 hits, a run, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts, picking up his 4th win of the season. Errors contributed to his third loss, as half of his six runs were unearned, causing him to leave after 5 with 7 hits, no walks, and 6 strikeouts. Through 10 starts, the former top ranked pitching prospect has a 5.01 ERA (90 ERA+), but as you can see that's only 10 percent worse then average. He's been allowing 5+ runs too often this season, but he's got a nice 14.7 K% and he's keeping the ball on the ground. Roy Ellis kept up his hot streak, improving to 4-2 with a strong 8 inning start. He allowed 6 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), and 2 walks with 7 strikeouts, putting together six straight starts with three or fewer runs. This has dropped his ERA to an impressive 3.36 (134 ERA+) in 80.1 innings, adding in 22 walks, 51 strikeouts, and a 1.20 WHIP. John Mitchell picked up a complete game win, allowing 7 hits, 4 runs, and a walk with 3 strikeouts in our 10-4 win in Cincinnati. Three homers did the damage, and he became our fourth starter with four wins. Arch Wilson threw four more shutout innings, allowing a hit and walk with three strikeouts to lower his ERA to a minuscule 0.34 (1339 ERA+) in 26.2 innings. Eventually, the luck will run out, but for now I'm just going to enjoy this incredible stretch! Last little note on the draft, which will be inputed during Monday's sim. I still hate our draft class, but I have decided that if any of the scrubs crack the top 500, I'll do a regular writeup on them. But in all honesty, I doubt any of these guys will, and I'm still kicking myself for not making a makeshift list, but at least this class was on the weaker side and Bill Grimm is elite. Elite I tell you! Please rank inside the top 25... Looking Ahead Our road trip continues with the other expansion team, as we'll face the 24-34 Wranglers in Dallas. They started the season okay, but they've fallen to eighth and the Saints are just a game behind them. Not much has gone right for them, but they may have uncovered a long-term piece in third basemen Ken Hudson. Just 26, Hudson was a 16th Round pick of the Eagles who worked his way up to FABL in 1959. He had a few games his first two seasons, and then hit an impressive .327/.417/.545 (160 OPS+) with 7 homers and 25 RBIs in 127 PAs last year, but with Tom Lorang (.365, 12, 47) firmly entrenched at the hot corner, they left Hudson unprotected. Their loss is Dallas' game, as he's hitting an excellent .302/.373/.595 (142 OPS+) with 11 homers and 26 RBIs. The power is legit, but there is some swing and miss in his game. It'll be interesting to see how he finishes this season off, but for an expansion team, getting guys like this are what these early seasons are about. Turning towards the series itself, we'll have to take on 38-year-old Gene Amico (0-5, 8, 4.96, 31), who's transitioned from the pen to the rotation, talented young pitcher Butch Abrams (5-6, 3.74, 33), and former Minutemen and Gotham southpaw Steve Miller (2-3, 3.60, 33). Despite Miller's decent stats, the only guy I'm worried about is Abrams, but if we can get him out early, the pen is very vulnerable. On offense Hudson is the main threat, but Ray Hughes (.303, 7, 21) has led the order off well and Bill Harbin (.288, 6, 24, 3) isn't the worst center fielder out there. Lucky for us, there's a lot of bad bats in that lineup, and we really should leave town with the victory. We're off after the Wranglers series, and will head home to host the red-hot Sailors for three. They've won nine straight, and have overtaken us as the #1 pitching staff in the Conti. They are running a four man rotation, and despite the back-end being scrubs they picked up from the Wolves, it's been working like a charm. One of the said scrubs is old friend Zane Kelley (6-2, 3.64, 44), who's having his best season to date at 36. Trademate Hank Lacey (4-2, 3.25, 47) has been even better, while their two talented young 23-year-olds are putting the league on notice. Chicagoan Charlie Lawson led the CA in ERA (2.91) and WHIP (1.07) last season, and he's trying to do the same this year. He's 6-3 with a 3.08 ERA (148 ERA+), 1.09 WHIP, 26 walks, and 62 strikeouts, and should be selected to his second All-Star game in two seasons. His 3.51 FIP (77 FIP-) might be the most impressive part, though he's also been worth 2.4 WAR already. George Fuller (5-5, 3.07, 45) is right on his trail in ERA and WHIP, a bit ahead in ERA and behind in WHIP, and because of their rotation, we're stuck facing one if not both of them. The off day makes both more likely, and then we'll also have to deal with a lineup of Edwin Hackberry (.273, 8, 36, 10), John Kingsbury (.333, 8, 40, 3), Heinie Spitler (.349, 4, 30, 9), Ernie Carter (.338, 3, 30), and Ray Rogan (.313, 4, 27). Add in the speedy Carlos Jaramillo (.265, 2, 23, 14) who can handle short like 'ole Skipper Schneider, and we are in a world of trouble. At least if they sweep us, the Foresters will have a challenger! Yeah... I'm going with that! Minor League Report RHP Humberto Fonseca (B San Jose Cougars): He may not be the most exciting pitcher in our system, but Humberto Fonseca can throw a lot of pitches in a game, and most of the time, they're pretty decent at the end! He was firing on all cylinders against Salem, twirling a 5-hit, no-walk, 4-strikeout shutout. After starting the season 0-3, he's now won each of his last four starts, dropping his ERA and WHIP to 3.38 (99 ERA+) and 1.07 in 69.1 innings pitched. Most impressive has been the command, as he's struck out 45 with just 5 walks, an elite 9 K/BB. A hard thrower too, he sits in the 94-96 range with his fastball, one of five average or better pitches. Dixie doesn't love his control, which is ironic considering his K/BB, but OSA thinks he can pitch his way into the back of a FABL rotation. They also like his control more, and rank him 22nd in our system and 422nd overall. With so few quality pitching prospects, he'll continue to make starts, and I'd love for the command he's showing now to stick with him as he develops.