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MIDWEST BASEBALL RECAP: MAY

MIDWEST U.S.A. (May 31, 1882) – The first month in the history of Midwestern league baseball is in the books. As the moon comes up over the final night of May, here is how each of the three Midwestern competitions looks.

MIDWESTERN BASEBALL ASSOCIATION STANDINGS

The Saints & Robins being two of the three best teams at the end of May was expected, but the Bluebirds being the other team wasn’t. St. Louis’ big team is 14-9 thanks to their offense, and Jacob Milburn is batting .358 (.924 OPS). However, it’s the Bluebirds who have the M.W.B.A’s #1 attack thanks to the league’s best baserunning, but at 6th in Average it’ll be interesting to see how long that production holds up. Detroit’s hurling & fielding are carrying them, as expected.

The Sluggers have won a number of close games but have frequently looked bad in losses. Chicago’s North Side team has the B.o.t.M., while the South Side team has benefitted from a league-best Hurling Rotation. In spite of the #2 offense, Indianapolis isn’t off to their expected start because their hurling & fielding are among the worst of the ten teams. Cleveland is struggling due to their Hurling Rotation, as is Cincinnati. Milwaukee, no surprise, is in last because their Outfield has really struggled.

M.W.B.A. MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Franklin Smith (CF, NCHI) - .392, 1.087 OPS, 17 R, 38 H, 5 2B, 7 3B, 1 HR, 21 RBI, 13 BB, 2.5 WPA, 1.3 WAR

HURLER OF THE MONTH
Arvid Summers (StLS) – 7-1, 2.58 ERA, 69.2 IP, 7 CG, 22 K, 1.0 K/BB, 1.28 WHIP, 1.1 WAR, 1.8 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Robert Drake (1B, CLE) – .427, .993 OPS, 19 R, 41 H, 8 2B, 1 HR, 21 RBI, 5 BB, 0 SB, 1.5 WPA, 1.4 WAR

An interesting opening month for the Batsmen. Cleveland 1B Robert Drake had the #1 Average (.427), teammate William Crim had the best On-Base (.490), Bluebirds RF Jack Tornow topped the Slugging charts (.634), and Gales RF Pat Mackey had the most RBI (23). However, it was Smith who topped the league in OPS, OPS+, & WPA, so he’s the league’s first B.o.t.M.

Unlike with the Batsmen, Summers was the only man seriously considered to take home the league’s first H.o.t.M. award because the Saints Hurler earned two more Wins than anyone else while putting up a fine set of statistical output. The unluckiest Hurler was Milwaukee’s Ammon Zedlacher, who had a league-leading 2.14 ERA & 1.8 WAR but went just 3-4.

And it’s NOT Jacob Milburn who takes the first G.o.t.M. honor. The Saints prodigy had an excellent month (.358, .924 OPS, 21 R, 15 RBI, 1.4 WAR) but Drake’s league-leading .427 Batting Average couldn’t be ignored, and thus the Cleveland man becomes the first young player honored by the M.W.B.A.

M.W.B.A. STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .427 by Robert Drake (1B, Cleveland)
OPS: 1.087 by Franklin Smith (CF, N. Chicago)
Home Runs: 3 by William Saylor (C, N. Chicago) & Oscar Wright (LF, Detroit)
Runs Batted In: 23 by Patrick Mackey (RF, N. Chicago)
Runs: 27 by Frank Connelly (LF, N. Chicago)
Stolen Bases: 12 by Oscar Kress (CF, StL Saints)
Batsman WPA: 2.5 by Franklin Smith
Batsman WAR: 1.8 by James Barlow (SS, Detroit)

Wins: 7 by Arvid Summers
ERA (50+ IP): 2.14 by Ammon Zedlacher (Milwaukee)
Strikeouts: 33 by Joseph Myers (Cincinnati)
Complete Games: 7 by seven different Hurlers
WHIP (50+ IP): 1.24 by Francis Brewer (StL Bluebirds)
Pitcher WAR: 1.8 by Ammon Zedlacher
Pitcher rWAR: 2.7 by Robert Hancock (S. Chicago)

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GREAT LAKES CONFERENCE LEADER

Evansville at 15-2 (Ft. Wayne/Toledo 2 GB, Grand Rapids 6 GB, Cook Co./Dayton 8 GB)

One month in and it’s looking like Evansville is going to be the dominant team in the G.L.C. They won their last dozen games in May, and their Run Differential of +52 is easily the best of any team. What’s scary is that they were projected as part of a three-way tie for 3rd based on the idea that they had a league-best group of young Batsmen who would need time to develop.

Ft. Wayne is playing very well, with their Hurling Rotation’s ERA of 1.94 leading the conference and all three members of the trio looking excellent. Toledo is 13-4 thanks to a quality offense led by 1B Charles “Captain” Morgan and fine fielding.

After the top three, it looks like there will be seven teams spending a lot of time playing for pride. The best-looking team among the seven has been Grand Rapids, whose impressive hurling & fielding have them above .500. The other impressive team of note has been Dayton, who has the conference’s #1 attack and has been a bit unlucky late in games. The disappointment: Columbus, as the conference’s other “big” club has seen its team start the inaugural season 4-13.

G.L.C. MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Clifford Gaul (2B, EVA) – .450, 1.064 OPS, 13 R, 36 H, 9 2B, 1 3B, 11 RBI, 1 BB, 0 SB, 0.4 WPA, 1.5 WAR

HURLER OF THE MONTH
Oliver Clark (EVA) – 5-1, 1.32 ERA, 54.2 IP, 6 CG, 1 SHO, 6 K, 0.7 K/BB, 0.99 WHIP, 1.0 WAR, 2.6 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Bailey Fleming (FtW) – 4-1, 2.17 ERA, 54.0 IP, 4 CG, 1 SHO, 15 K, 1.1 K/BB, 1.17 WHIP, 1.0 WAR, 1.9 rWAR

G.L.C. STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .450 by Clifford Gaul (2B, Evansville)
OPS: 1.064 by Clifford Gaul
Home Runs: 2 by three different Batsmen
Runs Batted In: 18 by Robert Baird (3B, Dayton)
Runs: 24 by three different Batsmen
Stolen Bases: 19 by Rudolph Andrews (LF, Ft. Wayne)
Batsman WPA: 1.6 by James Kilner (RF, Dayton)
Batsman WAR: 1.5 by Clifford Gaul

Wins: 5 by five different Hurlers
ERA (50+ IP): 0.96 by Jonathan Rush (Grand Rapids)
Strikeouts: 29 by Ben Long (Youngstown)
Complete Games: 6 by four different Hurlers
WHIP (50+ IP): 0.93 by Andrew Lahey (Evansville)
Pitcher WAR: 1.4 by three different Hurlers
Pitcher rWAR: 3.6 by Jonathan Rush

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PRAIRIE LEAGUE LEADER

St. Paul at 12-5 (Des Moines/Kansas City/Omaha 2 GB, Sioux City/St. Joseph 3 GB, Minneapolis 3.5 GB)

Surprisingly, it’s the Prairie League, where the four “big” clubs are supposed to dominate, that sees its standings closer together than the Great Lakes Conference after one month.

St. Paul is in 1st due to utterly dominant hurling, with their rotation sporting a collecting ERA of 1.84 during May. They’ve also been without star 3B Clay Wilkinson for the last week, so his return will place them back on a more dominant footing.

Kansas City has the league’s #2 Run Differential, and they’ve played well in every facet of the game. Des Moines is 10-7 thanks to some big bats in the middle of their lineup. Omaha started slow but won their last four games thanks to excellent baserunning & fielding. Sioux City is a bit lucky to be 9-8 as their RD is -8. St. Joseph’s Hurlers have been doing good work. Minneapolis has been the disappointment among the big clubs so far, but with their talent in attack that could change very quickly.

The one team that has faced major struggles is Dubuque, who were picked to finish last but their 3-13 May is a much worse win rate than their 47-61 projection by the Midwestern Writers Pool.

P.L. MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Jonathan Haug (CF, MPLS) – .406, 1.069 OPS, 10 R, 28 H, 7 XBH, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 7 BB, 5 SB, 1.1 WPA, 1.2 WAR

HURLER OF THE MONTH
Richard Levesque (StP) – 5-1, 1.13 ERA, 55.2 IP, 6 CG, 20 K, 1.7 K/BB, 1.13 WHIP, 1.5 WAR, 2.7 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Laurent Bourgeois (StP) – .338, 1.005 OPS, 13 R, 22 H, 5 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 7 BB, 0.7 WPA, 0.8 WAR

P.L. STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .450 by Clifford Gaul (2B, Evansville)
OPS: 1.064 by Clifford Gaul
Home Runs: 2 by three different Batsmen
Runs Batted In: 18 by Robert Baird (3B, Dayton)
Runs: 24 by three different Batsmen
Stolen Bases: 19 by Rudolph Andrews (LF, Ft. Wayne)
Batsman WPA: 1.6 by James Kilner (RF, Dayton)
Batsman WAR: 1.5 by Clifford Gaul

Wins: 5 by five different Hurlers
ERA (50+ IP): 0.96 by Jonathan Rush (Grand Rapids)
Strikeouts: 29 by Ben Long (Youngstown)
Complete Games: 6 by four different Hurlers
WHIP (50+ IP): 0.93 by Andrew Lahey (Evansville)
Pitcher WAR: 1.4 by three different Hurlers
Pitcher rWAR: 3.6 by Jonathan Rush