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Old 01-27-2020, 11:53 AM   #34
Ruwisc
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Southwestern Illinois
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Week 16: July 10-16, 2023



Before Monday's game we actually made one more trade, swapping RP Brad Hand to the Pirates for RP JB Wendelken. Hand is now dealt for the second time this season - we acquired him from the Dodgers in late April. Pure cost-cutting move - the three trades we've made in the last few days have now totally offset us financially, which is big. Now I can have the solace that I won't get fired over not reducing the payroll. I still might try to ship Phegley out as well, but not a necessity.

July 10-11: Bees (60-31) vs. Memphis Lions (43-49)
I mentioned at the season's outset that Memphis was a team that it looked like the preseason projections were hugely overrating, but this is even a bit worse than I thought they'd be. They're still positionally imbalanced - letting one of their best hitters (Will Holland) rot on the bench because he's the second-best 2B, while getting sub-replacement production at C and 3B. The pitching staff has been average as expected, with a good rotation propping up a not-good bullpen. Memphis comes in having won 4 of 5 against the Phillies, Dodgers and Reds.

Game 1 - Will Shirah (7-5, 4.46) vs. John Henry Styles (2-2, 4.95)
MEM: RF Weaver, 2B Holland, SS Delgado, 1B Walsh, CF Alford, 3B Owens, LF Ailstock, C Z. Smith, P Styles
SLC: CF Mesa, C Cottam, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, P Shirah, 2B Maezes, SS Mota, LF Granite

Will Holland actually gets a rare start at 2B for the Lions - normal 2B Raynel Delgado is at short today. Styles is the weak link in the Memphis rotation, making his 5th start of the year. He came up with the Rounders, appearing in just 10 games spread across three different seasons, before being claimed on waivers by three different teams over the span of a week last December. From Indianapolis, he was claimed by Nashville, Colorado and Memphis in succession. He got the win for Memphis last Wednesday when they beat the Phillies... Shirah was battered around by the Marshals last time out, which was last Monday... the game's first baserunner came for the Lions in the 2nd, and he didn't have to run very fast. Anthony Alford went deep to left-center to put Memphis up... in the 3rd, though, we hit back. Mesa was hit by a pitch, then the next three batters all singled, producing 2 runs to put us ahead... Holland led off the next inning with a solo shot, though, which tied things back up 2-2... in the 5th, we were slightly embarrassed. John Henry Styles, not much of a hitter even by pitcher standards, smashed a Shirah pitch deep to right center and gone, just his 2nd major league hit and first home run! Cabera Weaver doubled following him and would later score on a wild pitch making it 4-2... Shirah left in that inning, having completed 4.2 innings with 4 runs allowed, similar to his start in San Antonio (1 fewer run)... pinch-hitting in the 6th, Kyle Kasser made his season debut and singled. After a HBP and infield hit loaded the bases, Kasser came in on a wild pitch, and Mesa singled to score the other two runners and give us a 5-4 lead... in the 7th, Zeke Young came on to make his MLB debut, but it wouldn't be a totally happy outing. He surrendered our lead via Zack Smith double and Holland RBI single, 5-5... JB Wendelken also made his Bees debut tonight, pitching perfect 8th and 9th innings... On to the bottom of the 9th. Tyler McKelvin on to pitch for Memphis, facing Guerrero, Robles and Ishihara... Guerrero hits a 1-0 pitch all the way to the wall for a leadoff double... Robles fouls off a couple of tough 3-2 pitches but McKelvin gets him to pop up... Ishihara is being pitched around, it seems, and draws a walk... now Te'Kwaan Whyte on to pinch-hit, and he pops up the first pitch in foul territory for out #2. Maezes hits a grounder to second, and for the first time all season, we head to extra innings... Miller a perfect tenth, and we wasted a leadoff walk by Mota in our own 10th. Holder a perfect 11th, and we wasted a leadoff hit by Guerrero in our own 11th. Bennerman pitches around a walk in the 12th, and then we finally got it done. Mota singles with 1 out, steals 2nd with two out and Mesa batting, and then Mesa bloops a single into right-center to bring him all the way home! That's a winner!


W: Sam Bennerman (6-2) L: Nick Andress (0-3)
PotG: Victor Victor Mesa

Finally, in our 92nd game, we go to extras for the first time. TBH I was kinda rooting for a whole season without it ever since noticing we hadn't had an extra-inning game yet.

North Korean amateur Min-Sik Yaung signed with the Phillies - we miss out on another target. Both of the Venezuelan catchers seem to like us, though - more to come on that front.

Game 2 - Jose Quintana (9-4, 2.95) vs. Austin Schulfer (7-2, 3.91)
MEM: RF Weaver, SS K. Smith, 2B Delgado, 1B Walsh, CF Alford, 3B Owens, C Banfield, LF Diorio, P Schulfer
SLC: SS Mota, 1B Ishihara, 3B Guerrero, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, RF Gamel, LF Granite, C Phegley, P Quintana

This is the first day off all season for Victor Robles - he, Guerrero and Ishihara had all been in the lineup for the first 92 games... Schulfer hasn't lost a game since the month of May, but I think it's often just because he doesn't go deep enough to factor into the decision. His last 5 starts have all been decided by 1 or 2 runs... of course, the headline for this game is about Quintana's Bees debut. He actually didn't pitch very well in his last start, allowing 6 runs in 5 innings to the Thunder last Thursday in a 9-3 Nationals loss... a difficult beginning for Q. Weaver and Kelvin Smith got on to start, leading to consecutive RBI groundouts by Raynel Delgado and Connor Walsh... we might have tied the game in the first if not for a strong throw by Anthony Alford, catching Ishihara trying to go 1st-to-3rd on Guerrero's hit. Mesa followed with a triple to get us within 2-1... both teams left men on third base in the 3rd inning... Phegley did tie the game in the 4th with a single to score Maezes... Memphis' Kelvin Smith appeared to pull something while beating out an infield hit in the 5th inning. Suddenly their glut of middle infielders comes in handy. Delgado was up next and delivered a single to put the Lions back in front, but not for long. Travis Maezes went up and out for his 16th HR in the bottom half of the inning, a 3-run shot to give us a 5-3 lead... in the 6th, we made outs on the first two pitches, but still put together a rally. Ishihara and Guerrero had consecutive RBI hits with two out to make it 7-3... Quintana pitched into the 7th. Matheny went out to get him with two outs and with 107 pitches thrown, I think partially so the Bees home faithful could shower him with applause... neither team had a baserunner after the 7th-inning stretch.


W: Jose Quintana (10-4) L: Austin Schulfer (7-3)
PotG: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Really wanted to get Q a win in his first start with us, so mission accomplished.

July 12-13: Bees (62-31) vs. Reno Silver Sox (36-58)
Reno must be feeling really reinvigorated right now - they just went into Petco Park and won two straight against the division-leading Padres. They're 3-1 on this road trip that has also seen them play Omaha, but immediately before that they'd lost 16 in a row. Still, this brief uptick has seen them climb out of last place in the NL (right now that's Hartford). Reno's team is, mostly, absolutely awful, but they still somehow have two of the game's best players, Brad Martin and Koshi Higuchi, who will both probably start the ASG next week, and a third pretty good piece in John Valente. Those guys are scary, and Reno ranks high in offensive production, but every team feasts on their pitching staff to a pretty extreme extent.

Game 1 - rained out! Both teams had Friday scheduled off, though, so the series will just be shifted back by one day.

On Thursday morning, Joel Avanzo signed with us! I don't think he's a future star but can be a starting catcher in the bigs. Victor Negron, though, is now asking me to double my previous offer, so no deal. He says the Nationals are offering him $3.5 million, and if they are, then good for Victor. There are only six international players left, including Negron, and he was the only one interesting enough to offer IMO, so we're just gonna pocket the $2 million or so we have left.

Game 1 - Joey Lucchesi (9-4, 3.65) vs. Patrick Decker (3-3, 6.34)
REN: LF Scott, 1B Wielansky, 2B Martin, RF Higuchi, 3B Valente, CF Sur, SS Robertson, C Hawkins, P Decker
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, P Lucchesi

Decker is actually kinda promising as a pitcher, but he should still be in the minor leagues IMO, and on a better team he would be. He's got one of those interesting profiles - a soft-throwing righty who doesn't have a 4-seamer and tries to get everyone to pound the ball into the ground... It's been a week since we saw Joey - last Thursday he helped us beat the Mets and picked up his 9th win... we certainly tried to let Reno score early. Guerrero and Ishihara each made errors in the first couple of innings, and we were probably lucky not to allow any runs. I half-expect any Reno game to end up about 15-11, so it was to my surprise that the first few innings were scoreless... Robles made a run for himself in the 4th. He singled, stole second and third, and then scored when Valente made an error... the 5th was similar. Maezes led off with a hit, went to second and then third on groundouts, but then scored on an error by Michael Wielansky. Two unearned runs have us up 2-0... Wielansky atoned in the 6th though, tying the game with a two-run shot... But we hit back quickly. Guerrero led off the next half inning with a single, and the next pitch was a line-drive home run for Ishi, his 19th. Back up 4-2... Valente tripled in the 7th and scored on a wild pitch to get within 1... Decker was done after 6, Lucchesi after 7... Reno's Maikel Sepulveda got the first 2 out in the 8th, but Mesa walked, Maezes singled, Cottam doubled home both men, and Granite singled him in. Mota followed with another RBI against Mark Melancon. Brad Martin finally asserted himself once the game was out of hand with a 9th inning HR.


W: Joey Lucchesi (10-4) L: Patrick Decker (3-4)
PotG: Joey Lucchesi

Tough-luck loss for Decker, if not for the two unearned runs he would have left with the lead. Good for us though - I guess that's what matters.

Game 2 - Ray Gaither (2-1, 4.45) vs. Charles Brewer (7-5, 3.93)
REN: LF Scott, 1B Wielansky, 2B Martin, RF Higuchi, 3B Valente, CF Sur, C Castillo, SS Robertson, P Brewer
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, P Gaither

35-year-old Charles Brewer has real-life MLB experience, but you'd be forgiven for not knowing - he pitched 6 innings for the 2013 Diamondbacks. He's pitched for five different major league teams since this save began - the Braves, Lynx, Colts, Marlins and now Silver Sox. Brewer just recently joined this Reno team, actually - he was on the Marlins for most of the season so far. In 4 starts with Reno he finds himself 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA... Gaither was excellent last Friday in New York, getting a win over the Mets with 7.1 innings of 2-hit ball... Guerrero made another error in the 1st on a slow ball from Martin. I hope that doesn't become a real issue for him at 3B but I'm guessing it's just dumb luck... we opened the scoring again today, this time in the 2nd on a Shirah blast, a long home run to right-center that scored Ishihara and made it 2-0... in the 4th, Gaither felt something in his leg and left the game. It doesn't appear serious but we're taking precautions. William Gonzalez in for some long relief, and he allowed a two-run homer to Byung-Sik Sur that tied the game... Mesa led off the 4th with a solo shot, though, and Mota later cashed in with an RBI single to make it 4-2... Ishihara led off the 5th with a solo shot, his 20th homer of the year, and two more runs would come in for us on RBIs from Cottam and pinch-hitter Zack Granite. 7-2... 8-2 in the 6th, Shirah's sac fly scoring Guerrero... we'd need all those runs to feel safe in the 7th. Two of the newer Bees, Shane Watson and Zeke Young, combined to allow 4 runs in that frame, punctuated by a Koshi Higuchi 3-run homer... but we'd get more insurance in the 8th on another Ishibomb. Bennerman gave one back in the 9th on a wild pitch but that'd be it.


W: William Gonzalez (1-2) L: Charles Brewer (7-6) S: Sam Bennerman (2)
PotG: Morio Ishihara

July 15-16: Bees (64-31) vs. Buffalo Beacons (54-41)
The Beacons have had our number so far this year, beating us both times we've had to make a trip to Buffalo. They've alternated wins and losses over the past 9 games, dating back to their win over us in the makeup game last Wednesday. Buffalo currently occupies the 2nd of 3 wild card spots, 3 1/2 games ahead of the chasing pack.

Game 1 - Jack Flaherty (11-5, 3.74) vs. Bryan Mitchell (4-6, 3.96)
BUF: LF Swaggerty, SS Franco, 1B Toglia, RF Gonzalez, 2B Albies, CF Siani, 3B Groshans, C Krause, P Mitchell
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, LF Granite, P Flaherty

Bryan Mitchell hasn't won since back on June 18th against the Mets. He's the same guy he is IRL - an OK pitcher, who would be an amazing pitcher if he had any idea where the ball was going. Distressingly, he was on the Blue Jays team that beat us in the World Series in 2019... Flaherty beat the Blackbirds in his last start on Sunday - he pitched the game in Buffalo last week and got shelled, so... maybe he'll be more familiar with the hitters? We'll see... the Beacons had a hit in each of the first two innings, but via a caught stealing and double play, Flaherty still faced the minimum... Mesa's triple scored Ishihara in the 2nd inning, and Maezes hit the next pitch for a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0... Mota singled in the 3rd, stole second and scored on Guerrero's base hit. Ishihara then hit safely again before Mesa went deep to left for his 4th home run of the season, and it's suddenly 6-0! Mitchell's now done for the day, and we get to go on cycle-watch. Mesa's got the two hardest ones down... Buffalo recorded an unearned run in the fifth thanks to an error by Mota at short... Mesa came up again in the 5th but walked... another Bees error, this one by Maezes, let Buffalo score again in the 7th. Sammy Siani reached on the error and scored on Jordan Groshans' double - then, the second out became a sacrifice fly to make it 6-3, but that would've been the third out sans error so it's unearned as well... Mesa doubled with two out in the 7th, so we'll all be watching to see if he gets another chance to bat in the 8th. Looking slim at the moment... well, until it wasn't. Flaherty ceded to Jonathan Holder starting the eighth, and Holder allowed two singles to precede a three-run shot by Siani that tied the game at 6... here comes the bottom of the 9th. Mesa would bat 4th, and needs a single for the cycle. Of course, we need to win the game as well, and it's 6-6. Robles first, against new pitcher Brandon Woodruff... a really gutsy job at the plate by Victor, drawing a ten-pitch walk. Guerrero chases a low pitch, though, and gets under it popping up to 2nd... Ishihara strokes a single over the first baseman's head, and Robles motors around to third... Mesa will get his chance to not only be the game's hero but to complete his cycle at the same time... but he doesn't. Groshans makes a nice play at 3B to get him and hold Robles at the bag, 2 out... Maezes is caught looking and we head to extras... Nolan Blackwood can handle a scoreless 10th... Cottam leads off the 10th with a hit for us. Kyle Kasser, in on a double-switch earlier, fouls off 8 consecutive pitches, all back into the screen, before hitting a ball too slow to turn a double play on... Mota follows with a single, putting men at the corners for Robles with two out... Victor scorches a ball up the middle that Albies can only knock down and Kasser scores! Ballgame!


W: Nolan Blackwood (4-0) L: Brandon Woodruff (2-1)
PotG: Victor Victor Mesa

Shame we couldn't get VV the cycle, but it would've had to go another inning to get him up to the plate again. Let's go on to our last game of the first half!

Game 2 - Jose Quintana (10-4, 3.00) vs. Mitch Stallings (8-4, 2.93)
BUF: LF Swaggerty, SS Franco, 2B Albies, 1B Toglia, RF Gonzalez, 3B Groshans, CF Siani, C Krause, P Stallings
SLC: CF Mesa, C Cottam, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, 2B Maezes, SS Mota, P Quintana

Stallings pitched the game against us in Buffalo 11 days ago, that happens to also be the last time that we lost. He didn't pitch that well against us, going just 4 innings, but in between he beat the Mets, giving up a single run over six innings... we generally don't fare well against lefty starters in general, but we've got our own big lefty going this afternoon in Q... both pitchers appeared to be rolling early. Through 3 innings, each team has two hits, but spread out harmlessly... we had two men on in the 4th, and a man at third base in the 5th, but didn't have any finishing blows... Buffalo's first threat of really any kind came in the 6th. Franco and Albies singled with 1 out, and a walk to David Gonzalez loaded the bases for Groshans. Quintana painted two straight corners to catch him looking and end the inning, though... the way to break through in this game was probably always gonna be the long ball, and in our half of the 6th Vlad Jr. confirmed my theory, smashing one to deep left center and gone for his 17th... the Beacons had two 7th inning hits but again Quintana got out of it. That'd be his final inning, 7 hits scattered over 7 with 12 K. Excellent... also excellent, we got a much-needed insurance run on a solo shot by Shirah in the 7th, his 16th of the year... three Bee relievers combined for two painless innings to finish off a perfect week!


W: Jose Quintana (11-4) L: Mitch Stallings (8-5) S: Sam Bennerman (4)
PotG: Jose Quintana

I love, love, love having this guy on my team already. Quintana picks up wins in his first two Bees starts and we head into the break having won 10 straight, and just a half-game behind Las Vegas for the best record in all of MLB.

Bees' Player of the Week:
TBH, there are four pretty solid choices here. I am gonna disagree with the game's choice (as you'll see later) and go with SP Jose Quintana. 2-0, 13.2 IP, 3 ER, 21 K. But, Guerrero, Ishihara and Mesa all had pretty incredible weeks as well.

On the Leaderboard:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 9th in average (.333), 2nd in RBI (88), T-5th in hits (133), 9th in total bases (212)
Victor Victor Mesa: 7th in average (.336), T-3rd in triples (9)
Morio Ishihara: 8th in OBP (.408), 8th in OPS (.952)
Zack Granite: T-6th in triples (8)
Jose Quintana: 4th in ERA (2.86), T-1st in wins (11), 1st in WAR (5.3), 1st in innings pitched (145), T-1st in CG and shutouts (3/2), 1st in K (154), 9th in K/BB (4.4), 7th in WHIP (1.16), 1st in FIP (2.97), 1st in quality starts (16)
Jack Flaherty: T-1st in wins (11), 4th in WAR (3.1), 4th in innings pitched (125), 8th in K/BB (4.6), 6th in BB/9 (1.8), 4th in WHIP (1.14), T-2nd in quality starts (14)
Joey Lucchesi: T-4th in wins (10)
Jared Miller: 8th in Sv% (21-23, 91.3%)

Minor League Bees - tough week for our minor leaguers overall:
AAA Hawaii was 3-4 this week, but rival Hollywood did even worse, so the Islanders pull into a first-place tie. Our guys won a series at Calgary (A's), lost two of three to Iowa (Cubs), then lost the series opener to Kelowna (Cascades).
AA Cedar City played just 5 games this week and was 2-3. Most of that consisted of a 4-game series in Flagstaff (Saguaros) in which we lost 3 of 4, including a 16-inning series finale that saw Bees C prospect Xavier Valentin get six hits. Cedar City is now solidly second place in the Desert League, 9 games behind Grand Junction (Oilers).
A Burlington had a terrible 1-6 week, losing twice each to Florence (Rounders), Schaumburg (Saguaros) and Windy City (White Sox). Combine with some other MWL teams on a hot streak and our Bees now find themselves tied for first in the MWL West.
The AZL Bees were 2-5 this week and fell back to 5th in their 6-team rookie division. Lost a pair of series to the Royals and Padres.
And the PRSL Bees were 2-4, winning a three-game set against Las Vegas but getting swept by the Red Sox.12-13 overall, 5th in the PRSL.

Standings:



League News:
July 11: The White Sox' Michael Wacha had Tommy John surgery today. He'll be out for well over a season, estimated return next August. He's on a pretty fat contract ($21.6 million per, thru 2026), so this won't impact him financially but it's a bummer.
July 12: For reasons unclear, the Colts have traded RF Daniel Amaral to division rival Atlanta, getting 34-y-o reliever Kevin Munson and a minor prospect in return. Amaral was going to become somewhat redundant in a couple of weeks, with Giancarlo Stanton set to return from injury for Louisville, but I still wouldn't have traded him.
July 13: The Cardinals fill one of their biggest needs as a team, acquiring OF Max Kepler from the Blizzard. Kepler has been available via trade for a while, but that's because he's making $20 million this year and next. He's a good hitter, but the Cardinals are in last place (at least on the 13th, they were), and it might be too late to save their 2023.
July 14: Emblematic of the Violets' season, LF Adam Wesche hits for the cycle, and was part of a dramatic go-ahead rally in the 8th, but the Austin bullpen blew the game in a 9-8 walkoff loss at Yankee Stadium. Wesche, one of the AL RoY frontrunners, is the sixth player to hit for the cycle this season. All six, though, have happened in AL or interleague games.
July 15: There's another one! Right at the same time we were cheering for Mesa to get a chance at his cycle, Detroit RF Marquise Doherty accomplished it against the Saguaros! He cinched his up early, finishing with a 6th-inning double. Doherty had his triple and single in the Tigers' 6-run 4th inning. Obviously, that's now the 7th cycle in MLB this season, and they're still basically confined to the AL.

Players of the Week:
Nashville 1B Justin Bour - 14-28, 3 HR, 10 RBI. The 35-year-old Bour is enjoying a career resurgence here in 2023. This weekend he reached 27 HR on the year, matching his output from last year in Milwaukee. I think the person most responsible for Nashville being above .500.
Salt Lake 1B Morio Ishihara - 11-23, 3 HR, 6 RBI. Ishi was held hitless on Sunday but had 4-hit games on both Friday and Saturday.

Power Rankings:
We remained 1st in this week's Power Rankings, and in fact are starting to build up a little points lead.
1. Salt Lake Bees (66-31)
2. Louisville Colts (65-33)
3. Las Vegas Scorpions (67-31)
4. Monarques de Montréal (59-39)
5. Ottawa Lynx (60-38)
56. Washington Nationals (39-58)
57. Boston Red Sox (36-62)
58. Reno Silver Sox (37-61)
59. Austin Violets (44-54)
60. Colorado Rockies (32-65)

Next Week: next post will cover the All-Star Game in its entirety, with voting results, rosters and then the game. We then begin play again on Saturday the 22nd, so the next regular post will cover eight games - our road trip through Arizona, Columbus and Vancouver, and then a home series against New Mexico.
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