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Old 09-02-2019, 06:41 PM   #13
Paulie123
All Star Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Manchester, England
Posts: 1,945
April 2055

Record
  • 11-17 (11-17 this month)
  • Runs scored: 122 (4th in Eastern League)
  • Runs allowed: 125 (12th)
  • Def: .701 (12th)

Central Division standings
Albany Firefoxes 16-12
Indianapolis Wildcats 14-14
Annapolis Mustangs 12-16
Richmond Eagles 11-17
Trenton Colts 11-17
Columbus Heatseekers 10-18

Month summary
  • After a dire 2-9 start, the guys have steadied the ship a little and essentially played .500 ball since then. But the failings of this team are clear to see, and made worse by some of the highly paid veterans not performing.
  • Our pitching has blown hot and cold, particularly the rotation. It’s a very inexperienced group and some degree of inconsistency is to be expected; we’re a young, rebuilding team and I must resist the urge to take innings away from these lads. I must be patient with them. The veterans in the bullpen have also been poor; Alejandro Suárez has been traded and Pancho Jaimes is also under the microscope.
  • The offense has been reasonable, although our runs scored tally is inflated by a couple of blowout wins. Defensively, however, we are really poor in some areas. We actually jointly lead the EL with only 12 errors, but I think that is because some of the guys aren’t even getting to balls that better fielders would. Some of our apparent pitching woes is really bad defense.

Who’s hot?
  • RF José Arroyo won EL rookie of the month after hitting .298/.352/.512 with 2 HR and 16 RBIs in 24 games. If he can increase his walk rate he’ll develop into one heck of a hitter.
  • MR Gerardo Rivera has been lethal out of the bullpen, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits over 11 innings while striking out 17, for a 0.82 ERA. He wants to take another spin on the free agent wheel of fortune in the winter, and if he carries on like this will earn himself a very nice deal.
  • 1B Robert Numbers (.277/.375/.627, 8 HR) has been the mainstay of the lineup. His power is impressive.

Who’s not?
  • C Pedro Rivas (.184/.263/.264) has been shunted down the order. Defensively he’s been more solid than I expected, but backup Jorge Flores is now starting one game every series.
  • LF David Miller (.208/.353/.302, 1 HR) has been dreadful by his own high standards, and I worry than the 42-year-old may finally be feeling his age. For now he remains an everyday player and hopefully we’ll benefit from a bounce-back next month.
  • MR Pancho Jaimes (7 IP, 7.71 ERA) hasn’t pitched much, because he has been rubbish. His decent peripherals (7.7 K/9, 3.00 K/BB) have stopped me trading him so far.
  • I hate to pick on young players, but SP Manny Clemons (6.11 ERA) has had a tough time. He’s given up 6 HR in just 28 IP, and has had only 1 quality start out of his 5. If his form continues I’ll consider whether a bit of time in the bullpen might help him regain his confidence.

Noteworthy individual performances
  • 16 Apr: SP Adrián Cortéz threw 8 scoreless innings on 4 hits and 2 walks in a victory over Albany. A rare quality start after a dire first fortnight of the season for our rotation.
  • 18 Apr: SP Ryan Hurley hopefully snapped out of his early season slump with a fine performance in a comfortable victory over the Cruisers, throwing 8.1 IP for 1 run.
  • 21 Apr: RF José Arroyo hit 3-5 with a HR and a DBL in a crazy 13-11 win over Boston. We had led 5-0 early on, fell 9-5 behind, only to come back again late on.
  • 23 Apr: SP Haden Monroe took a no-hitter into the 7th inning in our 4-1 win over the Heatseekers. He finished with an impressive line: 8 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
  • 28 Apr: 2B Bill Lloyd hit 3-5 with a triple, double and a walk in a blowout 13-1 victory over Concord.

Biggest worry
  • The performance of some of the big-earning veterans on the roster. Big names could be traded before the deadline if they fail to convince me to do otherwise.

Trades and transactions
  • Reliever Alejandro Suárez was in particularly awful form (11 hits and 8 walks from just 11 IP for a 6.55 ERA), and I was paying him $8m this year for the privilege. No thanks. I managed to work out a multi-player trade with Hartford to move him on. The Tarantulas had started well (15-9) and were looking for an experienced arm who could throw multiple innings to bolster their bullpen. Suárez fitted the bill perfectly in their view, and were prepared to give up a good prospect, SP Carlos Rangel, to get him. Rangel is the SCL #26 prospect and a hard-throwing righty, but the Tarantulas were known to be worried about his reputation for being injury-prone and missing game time, and were happy to let him go. We soon came to an agreement: Suárez and minor leaguers SS Rodrigo Jiménez and C Rafael Valenzuela went in exchange for Rangel (age 21, RHP, 0.5*) and SP Luis Mendoza (age 23, LHP, 1*). Both new guys will play this year on the minor league roster.

Roster moves
  • Free agent signing Héctor Alvarez was promoted to the active roster to replace the departed Alejandro Suárez as the longman in the bullpen. He can’t do any worse than Suárez. Surely.
  • Fan-favourite David Miller would like a contract extension for a further two years. Given his poor form, I’m not willing to consider an extension at this stage. Frankly, a trade is much more likely.

News from around the league
  • Phoenix’s Junji Tada threw a 4-hit shutout on opening day against Salem. It was Tada’s 12th career shutout, but remarkably he has never made an all-star roster.
  • Raleigh’s 22-year-old phenom Raúl Clemente threw a no-hitter against Concord. He already previously threw one last April against the Wildcats. He will be a lock for the Hall of Fame if he performs like this throughout his career.
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