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Old 01-19-2020, 03:34 PM   #27
Ruwisc
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Southwestern Illinois
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Week 11: June 5-11, 2023



With the draft all done, let's get into Monday's game, which is (I guess) happening simultaneously with the draft.

June 5-6: Bees (34-26) vs. West Texas Blackbirds (29-33)
WTX embarrassed us in El Paso a few weeks ago, so I hope our boys are ready for revenge now that we're on our turf. This is the middle series on a 6-game road trip for them - they just split a series in Newark and will head to face the White Sox after, so it's a really tough group of games for them. CF Jordan Prendiz is injured at the moment, so the Blackbirds are using a pretty different defensive alignment, with Trout in CF, usual 1B Miguel Baca in left and usual 3B Jordan Verdon at first.

Game 1 - William Gonzalez (0-2, 5.40) vs. AJ Jones (3-2, 4.24)
WTX: SS Alexander, 1B Verdon, CF Trout, LF Baca, RF Rizer, 3B Rahier, 2B Merrill, C Barraza, P Jones
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, C Cottam, 2B Maezes, P Gonzalez

Jones was a rather unsuccessful Pirate for a few years before being acquired by West Texas in May 2021. As a Blackbird he's been quite a bit more successful, at least in the job of actually staying in the majors. He's not that interesting as a pitcher overall, but now has a positive record at least, thanks to his three wins in May. Last time out, though, was a lucky no-decision. He didn't get through the 5th inning against the Marlins on Tuesday, allowing 5 runs, but the offense bailed him out by tying the game even though they'd go on to lose... our first time seeing William in a Bees uniform since he lost to Hartford on May 7. He was actually not starting in Hawaii, which is interesting - wonder if I brought up the wrong guy. We're certainly not hurting for slightly-better-than-replacement-level pitchers... we got to Jones in the first inning by starting his day with three hits and a Guerrero RBI. Shirah added a sac fly later to make it 2-0... but West Texas would tie things up shortly. Johnny Rizer hit a solo homer, and Tanner Rahier walked and scored on an RBI hit from the pitcher Jones... Travis Maezes answered with a solo HR in our second, his 4th of the year, to make it 3-2 Bees... Gonzalez suffered an injury in the 4th and had to leave the game, so maybe he wasn't stretched out enough. Maybe I really did call up the wrong guy... at any rate he pitched well today for the time he had, but in comes Perez to soak up some innings... in the 6th we'd knock Jones out for good. Ishihara doubled and was followed by a Shirah walk, and that was all for AJ. Mesa singled off of Noel Rodriguez to load the bases, and although Cottam hit into a fielder's choice at the plate and Maezes struck out, pinch-hitter Zack Granite struck gold with a two-run single. Mota followed with an RBI single of his own and it was now 6-2... it became silly in the 7th. Cottam had an RBI single to score Ishihara, and Maezes yanked a ball out to right field for a 3-run shot, his second on the day and 5th of the year to make it 10-2... Trout would pad his stats out with a meaningless 2-run home run in the ninth.


W: Martin Perez (4-0) L: AJ Jones (3-3)
PotG: Travis Maezes

Gonzalez isn't gonna be out super long (about two weeks), but that's enough for an IL stint. I'm going to call up SP Ray Gaither, who will make his Bees debut when he appears - we acquired him along with Te'Kwaan Whyte in December in exchange for OF Mike Spooner.

Going into Tuesday, we found out that most of our draft class had already agreed to their bonus offers and signed on! In fact, it's just 2nd-round pick Malik Davis and 5th-round pick Kevin Cramer, both pitchers, whom we are waiting on.

Game 2 - Jack Flaherty (6-4, 4.07) vs. Bill Winchester (2-0, 7.88)
WTX: SS Alexander, 1B Verdon, CF Trout, LF Baca, RF Rizer, 2B Merrill, 3B Moniot, C Norris, P Winchester
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Phyo, C Phegley, P Flaherty

Winchester is a really highly-regarded prospect who hasn't found MLB quite as welcoming as he'd hoped. He grew up in Austin and went to school at Texas State in San Marcos, so when he was drafted 6th overall by this El Paso outfit in 2021 it was probably quite exciting. Didn't take him long to make the big leagues - his debut was this April, and he won his first two starts against two decent teams in New Mexico and Pittsburgh, but he's now gone six straight starts without a decision and hasn't finished the fifth inning in any of them. He's got pretty good stamina so not sure what's up there... Flaherty was a bit roughed up in his last start, allowing two home runs and getting the loss against the Rays... the Blackbirds got to him in the first, somewhat unusually doing so without Trout's help. Jordan Verdon doubled, Miguel Baca reached on a Phyo error, and Johnny Rizer singled, making it 2-0... it's two days, two starting pitching injuries, but it ain't us this time. Winchester left in the bottom of the second with a shoulder tweak. Jeff Riedel came in for him with a man on first, and we got going then. Mesa walked, and Phyo singled to score Shirah and make it 2-1... Flaherty helped himself by leading off the 3rd with a double pushed down the right field line, and Robles put us ahead by stroking his 6th home run... Flaherty escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning, with a relief pitcher coming to the plate at just the correct time... in the fifth inning, MK Phyo was knocked over by a baserunner and landed right on his elbow. Maezes had to come in to replace him... the second half of the game was rather boring, I think. Each team had a total of two baserunners from the 5th to the 8th innings... Miller on for the save, crucially not facing Trout's part of the lineup... Ryan Merrill strikes out... Travis Moniot hits a lazy fly ball to center, and Derek Norris hits a ball near the line in right, just where Robles can run right onto it. Ballgame!


W: Jack Flaherty (7-4) L: Jeff Riedel (3-5) S: Jared Miller (12)
PotG: Jack Flaherty

MK Phyo will be out for six weeks with an elbow sprain! Why is it that guys are still getting injured by sliding baserunners? We find ourselves in need of another middle infielder all of a sudden, so IF Te'Kwaan Whyte is back up from Hawaii.

June 8-9: Bees (36-26) vs. Colorado Rockies (21-43)
I wish OOTP allowed us to guarantee these sorts of series - an interleague rivalry! It's fun to have Salt Lake City and Denver battling it out for mountain supremacy, but I can't ensure it unless I come up with a schedule where we always play every AL Central team. (Which, to be fair, I could; I just haven't.) The Rockies have the worst record in the American League, but come into Utah having matched their longest win streak of the season at 3 games. They've beaten Milwaukee once and Sacramento twice, all three games at home and all won by exactly two runs. There's no sugar-coating it though - this team is freakin' awful. Worst in the AL in both scoring runs and preventing them, and there is no major offensive category in which they're outside the bottom quarter of AL teams. They also might be the league's worst defensive team, painfully enough.

Game 1 - Joey Lucchesi (6-4, 3.78) vs. Blake Adams (0-0, 5.73)
COL: 2B Guerrero, 1B Garcia, RF Austin, LF Allen, 3B D. Perry, CF C. Perry, C Alfaro, P Adams, 2B McCullough
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, P Lucchesi

Adams was the 20th overall selection by Colorado in 2019, and by 2021 was a fixture in the Rockies' bullpen. This is just his 2nd career start, though, and the first of this season. In fairness, he's expected to be a starter long-term, but he is not used to doing that at this moment in time... Joey Lucchesi celebrated his 30th birthday on Tuesday, so he's making the first start of a new decade for him. He finished his 20s with a pair of wins, beating the Rays last time out... this game started shakily for Joey. Luis Guerrero, Eudor Garcia and Tyler Austin all singled, and a fielder's choice brought in a run to make it 1-0 Colorado... we scored more efficiently, I'd say. With two outs, Adams walked Guerrero on four pitches and Ishihara took the first pitch to him over the wall in right for a two-run shot! Expedited that one... they'd get right back to a tie game, though, in the second. Jorge Alfaro singled, and went to second on Adams' bunt, to 3rd on a passed ball and scored on a grounder by Morgan McCullough... but no worry, we'd restore the lead immediately. Mesa and Maezes were on ahead of Kole Cottam's three-run blast in the 2nd to make it 5-2... when the first two Bees also reached to start the 3rd, Blake Adams was done. Just 2.0 innings for him today... off of reliever Brendan Spagnuolo, Mesa singled to load the bases, and Maezes' double then scored 2 runs. Cottam followed with a sac fly and Mota drove in Maezes with a hit to make it 9-2... Maezes would go deep his next time up, leading off the 5th, to put us in double digits... Lucchesi was done after 5 - no real need to push him with a big lead... Guerrero added an RBI single in the 7th, which completed the scoring.


W: Joey Lucchesi (7-4) L: Blake Adams (0-1)
PotG: Travis Maezes

CF Joe Breaux was hardly playing up here, and he cleared through waivers on Thursday, so we sent him back down to AAA Hawaii. Up in his place comes OF Willie Joe Garry Jr., who is a plus-plus defender all across the outfield and is finally showing himself at the plate. Don't know if he supplants Shirah or how much playing time he really will get in the outfield under Matheny, but I think it's time for him to get a shot. It'll be his major league debut when he gets into a game.

Game 2 - Griffin Canning (3-2, 7.76) vs. Miller Hogan (1-4, 7.49)
COL: SS Guerrero, 2B McCullough, LF Taylor, 1B Garcia, RF Allen, CF C. Perry, 3B D. Perry, C Alfaro, P Hogan
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, C Cottam, 2B Maezes, CF Garry, LF Granite, P Canning

So Garry actually gets into a game right away, at Mesa's expense, and I now find myself hoping that Victor Victor Mesa hasn't found himself in AI Mike's accidental doghouse... Miller Hogan was claimed off of waivers from the Dodgers in the season's first week, and he now finds himself in the AL for the first time. Like Blake Adams, he didn't start out in the Rockies' rotation, instead "earning" that role by accumulating a 11.88 ERA in the bullpen. Hogan has been slightly better in the rotation, it seems, but his last start was his worst: a week ago today, he was blistered by the Saguaros, giving up 8 runs in an eventual 15-4 loss... Canning hasn't been super great either of late, giving up 6 runs in back-to-back starts... it was a difficult first inning for Griffin. McCullough doubled and was driven in by Kennie Taylor, so 1-0 Rox right away. Connor Perry later made it up with the bases loaded and drew a walk to make it 2-0... Hogan got through the first inning in order unscathed, but very much did not do so in the second inning. Ishihara singled, Cottam walked, Maezes fouled off six pitches in a row before walking, and then Garry comes up for his first MLB plate appearance... and crushes the first pitch he sees in the bigs for a grand slam!!!! Wow! I know it's been done before by a couple of players (Kevin Kouzmanoff, Daniel Nava both did the same in their debuts) but that's pretty amazing. After a pair of outs, Mota follows with a home run of his own, his 3rd of the year; Robles is hit by a pitch and Guerrero singles. That'd be the end of the day for Miller Hogan, who lasts just 1.2 innings... Matt Barnes comes in to put out the fire, but Morio Ishihara has other plans, and ambushes his first pitch for another long home run! Just like that, it's now 8-2... Canning was really settled after that. The Rockies had a singular hit in each of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th but no scoring... we would add on in the 4th. Guerrero had a hit to score Mota, and both Robles and Guerrero would score on Cottam's later RBI single to make it 11-2... the game was well and truly settled at that point. Canning was done after 6 innings, a nice turnaround by him giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. The last real action would come in the 8th, when four singles produced an additional 2 runs for us.


W: Griffin Canning (4-2) L: Miller Hogan (1-5)
PotG: Luis Mota

Honorary PotG goes to Willie Joe Garry, who did something really special tonight in the 2nd inning (but didn't get on base at all the rest of the night). Overall, nice to get in a couple easy days at the office.

Saturday morning we heard back from our 2nd-round pick, Malik Davis, who signed his contract and has reported to our rookie ball team in Fountain Hills, AZ. The rookie leagues' seasons will start on June 20th (10 days from now), with our first series being against the rookie Mariners. We're in a division with the Cubs, 66ers, Blackbirds, A's and Saguaros. Gonna comb through the rookie roster over the next few days and hopefully make about 20 cuts - we have 86 players on that team right now! Every team's organization is pretty bloated at the moment so I think I'll be adding some minor leagues to the mix next offseason.

June 10-11: Bees (38-26) vs. Cleveland Indians (26-40)
Now that we're done playing the worst team in the AL, we move on to the third-worst. I mentioned in the season preview that this team was patiently waiting for Anthony Rizzo's contract to expire after the season (at $49 million, he's the highest-paid player in MLB). That's still true, but he's still a productive player - just ain't worth all that cash, more like... a third of that. The Cleveland offense has been alright as a whole. Rizzo and Paul DeJong have hit well, and the team has a breakout star in 28-year-old catcher Gage West, who in his 3rd year as the full-time starter has finally put it all together and become one of the league's 10 best catchers, and maybe the team's all-star representative. But the pitching staff is pretty bad overall, and they just traded probably their top starter, Chun-Mei Sun, to the Beavers.

Game 1 - Will Shirah (5-3, 4.88) vs. Adam Conley (4-5, 6.67)
CLE: LF Rivers, 2B Liput, 1B Rizzo, SS DeJong, C West, RF Fowler, CF Smith, 3B Thomas, P Conley
SLC: CF Mesa, P Shirah, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, C Phegley, LF Garry, 2B Maezes, SS Mota

An interesting lineup we're icing today. Love seeing the pitcher in the 2 spot... Conley has become a proper journeyman here at the age of 33. In the six years of this save, he has pitched for the White Sox, Rockies, Twins, Angels, Violets and now Indians (coincidentally, all AL teams, so we haven't seen him much). He began this year in Austin but was acquired in late April via the waiver wire. He's 3-3 with Cleveland in 7 starts. Another strange coincidence - this is his 5th consecutive start that's been an interleague matchup, so he's had the bat in his hands a few times. Last time out, he allowed 4 runs over 5 innings in a 6-4 loss to the rival Reds... Will took the loss in his last start, Sunday in Oakland, giving up 5 runs in 4.1 innings as we lost 7-1... the first few innings were rather quiet. Cleveland didn't record their first hit until the pitcher Conley singled with 1 out in the third, and he was left standing there at first... we only had 1 hit ourselves at that point, a first-inning Guerrero double, to go with a couple walks but nothing to show for it... by the fourth, it was clear we had an unexpected pitcher's duel on our hands. Shirah walked West with two outs but held them, and Conley similarly held us after Ishihara singled... for the first time all game, we had two runners get on base in the 6th, on back-to-back walks, but again we were held off the scoreboard. That's just two hits per side through six... Shirah would exit there, two hits and three walks scattered over 6 innings, alongside 7 K. Jonathan Holder pitched a scoreless 7th in his stead, but got a lot of help from his defenders. With one out and Dexter Fowler on second, Mallex Smith strokes a hard single into left field... Garry comes up throwing, though, and nabs Fowler at the plate to keep the game scoreless! Following that, Smith was thrown out trying to steal by Phegley... Conley walked two more in the 7th, his final inning, but again we wouldn't score... he walked 5 but also only allowed two hits... Ben Gamel led off the 8th with a pinch-hit single for us, and though Guerrero and Robles struck out, we finally broke the ice here late when Ishihara went up and out for a clutch home run! On comes Miller for the save against the heart of the order... Rizzo strikes out... DeJong strikes out... West walks, and so does Fowler, putting the tying run on. Is this another two-out implosion? No, it isn't - pinch-hitter Jose Pirela strikes out to end the game!


W: Jonathan Holder (3-1) L: Kyle Dietlein (1-2) S: Jared Miller (13)
PotG: Will Shirah

Not at all how I thought that game would go - in the preview it had all the looks of a 9-5 type of game. Let's go on to Sunday!

Game 2 - Ray Gaither (0-0, 0.00) vs. Samuel Coronado (1-4, 5.05)
CLE: LF Rivers, 2B Liput, 1B Rizzo, SS DeJong, C West, RF Fowler, CF Smith, 2B Thomas, P Coronado
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, CF Garry, P Gaither

AI Mike seems intent on getting Garry into the lineup - he's now started all three games since I called him up. We have another debutant in the lineup today, not making his MLB debut but making his Bees debut, it's Ray Gaither! Ray was the Rockies' 2nd-rounder in 2019, and made his MLB debut with our rival Astros in 2021. We had a glut of MLB-capable outfielders at the end of last season, and we sent one of them (Mike Spooner) to Houston for Gaither and Te'Kwaan Whyte... Samuel Coronado seems like he should be a really good pitcher, and I can't quite figure out why he isn't. Last time out, he only made it through 3 innings against the Dodgers, but didn't give up anything besides a solo HR, but he's not really lacking for stamina so I'm still lost... Gaither made it through his first Bees inning fine, thanks in part to a nice play by Shirah in left, pegging Griffin Rivers at second trying to stretch his single... the 2nd inning, less so. West led off with a walk, Mallex Smith singled, Toby Thomas walked, and Rivers/Deacon Liput put together a pair of hits that scored four runs. 4-0 Cleveland... we got one back in the second, Cottam delivering an RBI hit that scored Ishihara... Gaither worked around more trouble in the 3rd, a Fowler double and Smith walk not leading to anything more... Ray would eventually get through 5 innings, only allowing 1 additional hit over those two innings, so not an awful debut all things considered. We couldn't seem to get anything else past Coronado, as he held us in check through the middle innings... thankfully, he'd be done after the 6th. We have some regrets about our half of the 7th. With one out, Garry doubled off of new pitcher Noel Ortiz, but was then immediately caught stealing third base with us down by 3 runs! A textbook rookie mistake, as we went on to score two runs in the inning, but we didn't end up tying the game. Both runs scored on a double by Robles... we got the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the 8th but were held off by reliever Drew Parrish... In the ninth inning, though, we wouldn't even really get a chance at a comeback. Justin Wilson was on to pitch for us, and the Cleveland batters went single, sac bunt, single, RBI double, groundout, two-run home run to put four runs on the board and make it 8-3. The home run by Gage West was his 14th of the season... we also had Riley Ferrell leave with an injury, still unclear on how long that'd put him out for... with Wilson now out, the Tribe would actually get one more on the board, Smith driving in Fowler... we went quietly in the ninth.


W: Samuel Coronado (2-4) L: Ray Gaither (0-1)
PotG: Samuel Coronado

A frustrating 9th inning, but maybe I was getting greedy thinking we'd go 6-0 on the week. 5-1 is something I'll take any time. Perhaps more importantly, that 5-1 week means we pulled ahead a bit in the division. Houston was 3-3 and New Mexico 2-4, so we are now four games ahead of both of those teams!

Bees' Player of the Week:
I'm giving co-player of the week honors to 1B Morio Ishihara and 2B Travis Maezes. Both guys had 3 HR this week, Ishi having more hits overall but also more times at the plate. Maezes was huge this week with Phyo going on the IL.

On the Leaderboard:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 8th in average (.338), 3rd in RBI (60), 7th in hits (92), 9th in total bases (147)
Morio Ishihara: T-6th in RBI (57)
Victor Robles: T-4th in runs scored (53)
Victor Victor Mesa: T-2nd in triples (6)
Jack Flaherty: T-4th in wins (7), 8th in pitching WAR (1.9), 5th in innings pitched (84.1), 7th in K/BB (4.4), 7th in BB/9 (1.8), T-1st in quality starts (11)
Joey Lucchesi: T-4th in wins (7), 9th in pitching WAR (1.9), 8th in FIP (3.84)

Minor League Bees:
AAA Hawaii was 4-3 on the week. They won 2 of 3 from Edmonton (Beavers), lost 2 of 3 at St. Paul (Twins), but rebounded to win the series opener from Tacoma (Mariners). At 41-17 the Islanders are a game ahead of first-place Hollywood (Dodgers).
AA Monterrey saw their awful losing streak reach 13 before rebounding to win the final three games of a four-game set with Saltillo (Beavers). The Sultanes are in fourth place in the Mexican League.
A Burlington was 4-3 on the week. They finished a sweep of Peoria (Royals) before losing two out of three to Lansing (Blizzard) and splitting a pair with Lake County (Indians). The Baby Bees are 43-15 and have a four-game lead atop the MWL West.

All-Star Voting Update: no update, really. All Bees players were in the same spot they were last week, and the front-runners at each position in both leagues were identical. I'm guessing those are the lineups we're going to see when the game comes around on July 19.

Standings:



League News:
June 8: Reno continues to sell off assets, sending CF Charlie Tilson to Cincinnati for three prospects. None of the three players look like world-beaters, but then again neither is Tilson.
June 8: In a more minor trade, the Portland Beavers acquire SP Chun-Mei Sun from Cleveland in exchange for 3B Du-Yang Tao, a rare straight-up swap of Taiwanese players. Sun pitched the night before this trade was completed and the Cleveland bullpen blew a game that would've been his 5th win of the year, so he might be happy to find greener pastures in Portland.
June 9: The hitting streak of Braves SS Cooper Swanson reaches 25 games. I always double-take when I see the Braves playing Swanson at SS and having it not be Dansby (who is with Milwaukee). Similarly, I have to double-take whenever I see Corey Seager, not Kyle, is an important player for the Mariners.
June 11: Another hitting streak reaches 25 games, this time Yankees SS Mikey Perez. Perez has already hit for the cycle this season, and now we'll have to watch to see how long he can stretch this streak for. Cooper Swanson's streak, though, comes to an end at 26 games with Atlanta's loss in Portland.

Players of the Week:
Violets LF Adam Wesche - 13-26, 2 HR, 9 RBI. Wesche did not break camp with the Violets, and in fact didn't make his Major League debut until being called up on April 20 with the team languishing at 6-16. Since then he's made himself into an All-Star, most likely (no other obvious candidates on this Austin team) and the obvious front-runner for AL Rookie of the Year, all in a span of just 45 games. He was also AL player of the week two weeks ago. This strong week pushed him above a .400 batting mark for the season.
Silver Sox LF Connor Scott - 15-31, 1 HR, 6 RBI. On a team with two true superstars, Scott is... not that, but a capable leadoff man ahead of the two-headed monster of Brad Martin and Koshi Higuchi. Reno actually went just 2-4 on the week, but Scott had multiple hits in 5 of those games, and 3 or more hits in three of them.

Power Rankings:
It was a really good 5-1 week for us, but I guess because it happened against sub-par competition, we don't get the huge boost in the weekly Power Rankings that we otherwise might have. We were 17th last week, and we now find ourselves ranked 13th.

Next Week: we play the first six games of an eight-game trip. First, to Arlington for our final road interleague series of the season (Rangers), then finally our first matchup with San Antonio, and a weekend set in Hartford. Actually, between now and July 7, we'll play more games in Texas than we do at home (8 vs. 6).
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