[Paulie123]

Record

• 62-77 (18-10 this month)
• Runs scored: 538 (13th in Eastern League)
• Runs allowed: 573 (10th)
• Def: .709 (7th)

Central Division standings
Albany Firefoxes 80-59
Annapolis Mustangs 79-60
Richmond Eagles 62-77
Indianapolis Wildcats 60-79
Trenton Colts 54-85
Columbus Heatseekers 52-87

Month summary

• A fantastic month that included a 12-2 run during the middle fortnight. The pitching has been excellent, the defense has improved, and the offense has been more consistent. We sometimes struggle to get on base, particularly against left-handed pitching, but the team is clearly moving in the right direction.
• It all bodes well for next season. I don’t believe in tanking and I’m keen for the team to display good form down the stretch to take momentum into next season. But if we carry on like this we might end up not having a protected (top 10) draft pick next June. I have masses of budget room and think a couple of top quality free agent signings could be enough to really put us in contention for a wildcard spot. But I would have to think twice about doing that if it would cost me my first round pick.

Who’s hot?

• DH Ben Phipps had a sensational month, crowned with winning Eastern League batter of the month. He hit .326 with 9 HR, 23 RBIs and a .470 OBP. Unsurprisingly he also took home the EL rookie of the month honours. Calling him up was a fine decision - he ain’t goin’ back down!
• SP Butch Davis (10-10, 2.91) has the 4th lowest FIP, 3.01, of all SCL starting pitchers.
• MR Wes Adams (5-0, 1.62) has displayed his fantastic stuff all month. But he’s riding an unsustainably low .192 BABIP so some regression is overdue.

Who’s not?

• Young lefty MR Joe Mathis (0-1, 4.73) has fallen away after making a good start to his major league career in May. He has given up too many extra base hits.
• 2B Ed Shelton (.225/.271/.275) has continued to offer easy infield outs. He seems to have trade value, but is only 25 so I’ll have to decide in the offseason whether to give him another chance next year.
• 3B Fernando Galván (.189/.290/.337, 57 BB) has a great eye, but has struggled to get base hits with any regularity. Love the defense, but I want my hitters to, y’know, hit.

Noteworthy individual performances

• 11 Aug: SP Manny Clemons showed us that the talent is there to play at this level, throwing 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K in a 1-0 victory over Trenton. He just needs to display his skills more frequently.
• 15 Aug: C John Wooten hit 3-3 with 2 HR, a walk and 5 RBIs in a one-sided 13-1 win over Indianapolis. The game took him to 20 HR on the season.
• 17 Aug: SP Adrián Cortéz (9-10, 3.97) threw 7 scoreless innings as we completed the series sweep against the Wildcats.
• 20 Aug: SP Ryan Hurley (3-8, 4.01) made a spot start and was magnificent, throwing a 2-hit shutout as we beat Tallahassee 1-0. If Hurley had been this good more often he wouldn’t be in the bullpen and heading for free agency.
• 22 Aug: SP Haden Monroe (10-10, 3.11) threw 9 scoreless innings, and MR Wes Adams (5-0, 1.65) threw 5 scoreless innings of relief, in a ridiculous 3-0 victory over Annapolis, where all our runs came in the 16th on a Jorge Flores walk-off HR. That was part of a streak of 37 innings swhere we didn’t concede a run.
• 29 Aug: DH Ben Phipps hit 2-2 with 2 homers and 3 walks in a defeat to Hartford. What a month he’s had.

Biggest worry

• The most surefire way to beat us is to start with a left-handed pitcher. Our lineup has some really strong, young left-handed batters, but we are significantly weaker hitting from the right side. I feel we are now really not that far away from contending for a wildcard, so I plan to address this weakness over the winter.

Roster moves

• When rosters expanded at the end of the month, I made just one call-up, fringe outfield prospect Lou Knox to be a specialist pinch runner. His blazing speed is insane.

News from around the league

• Des Moines’s outstanding slugger Earl Becker walloped 3 HR against the Magpies’ arch rivals, the Madison Brown Bears. It moved him to the top of the SCL leaderboard for home runs, with 35.
• The Magpies’ veteran starter Donnie Lee became the 9th SCL pitcher to reach 250 career wins. Lee is third among active players behind only Tony Casas (Brown Bears, 275 wins) and William Wright (Columbus, 255 wins) but is still some way off the all-time leader Jorge Carbajal (314).
• Former Eagle David Miller hit his 500th career homer. He has hit to a .968 OPS since joining Lansing, so has given them the offensive boost they wanted. They are tied for the second WL wildcard spot.
• Salem’s 21-year-old pitching superstar Cristo Pérez is done for the season after hurting his shoulder. This is why I try to stay away from pitchers with a fragile injury reputation.