April
The Bird's struggles continue as he has the worst month of his career so far. He posts an ERA of 8.42 and a record of 0-4. He also has a WHIP of 2.26. For the first time, he walks more batters than he strikes out in a month.
May
He makes a big improvement from last month, compiling a 3-1 record in six starts, with an ERA of 4.32. His WHIP is also down from last month at 1.49. He also walked less batters.
June
Fidrych is back to struggling this month. His record of 1-3 and 11.15 ERA proves that is the case.Not much change anywhere else statwise. Maybe the Dodgers need to send him back down to Double-A.
July
Once again Fidrych makes an improvement from the previous month in what has been an up and down season. He gets only one loss to his credit and compiles a 6.69 ERA. His WHIP last month was 2.15, this month it was 1.70. He struck out 20 batters as well. Hopefully this inconsistency won't hurt him in the long run.
August
I totally missed this while simming this month out, but on the 2nd, the Dodgers purchase The Bird's contract from the Dukes. This comes a day after yet another rough game as he gives up 6 runs, five of which are earned, and gets saddled with the loss. Thus he becomes a member of the
Los Angeles Dodgers, at least for the time being. However, he has to wait three weeks for his first taste of Major League action.
It finally comes on the 20th against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Fidrych is sent in to replace Doug Rau in the bottom of the 6th inning after he gives up 2 runs. The first batter The Bird faces is Tony LaRussa. Here is what happens:
That strikeout is the first thing any MLB fan sees of Mark Fydrich. That will be the only batter he'll face this game, as he's substituted for Geoff Zahn in the 7th inning. The Dodgers go on to lose the game 1-7.
Three days later, he is sent back down to Albuquerque Dukes, where he makes two more starts this month. Both of those are losses, one of which he gets credit for.
For the month in Triple-A, he posts a 0-2 record in three starts, an ERA of 6.75, and only strikes out 10 batters. Not surprisingly his WHIP goes back up as well at 2.20.
September
On the 1st of the month, Fidrych is made of the September call-ups. Once again, he is on the Dodgers but as a reliever.
He ends up appearing in only 2 games and pitching a total 5.2 innings, but he does quite well. He strikes out a batter each game, is credited with a win (his first Major League win) and posts an ERA of 3.00 and a WHIP of 1.17.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers post a record of 99-63 to win their second NL East crown in three years. They will face the Phillies in the NLCS. Perhaps The Bird will get some playoff experience, something he never got in real life?
Playoffs
Sadly, no playoff experience for Fidrych this year as the Phillies defeat the Dodgers in five games to go to the World Series.
The Phillies go on to down the Yankees in five games to win the Fall Classic:
Here is Fidrych's stats and rating as of the beginning of the offseason:
The good news is that Fidrych is now a Los Angeles Dodger. The bad news is that he had just a rough year in Triple-A. He couldn't get anything going all year. Perhaps it was because he played for a bad team, who knows. However, The Bird is in the majors and that's all that matters.
On to the offseason!