[Ruwisc]

Week 7: May 8-14, 2023



This is going to be an awfully difficult series of games, I worry. New York and Ottawa would both be opening the playoffs at home if they began today, and while Houston is roughly even with us, they kicked our butts in Salt Lake when we played them in April. (It is definitely too early to be looking at who's in or out of the playoffs, but for those wondering we start the week a half-game out of the final wild-card spot.) The only solace is that we'll play both the Burros and Lynx at home.

May 9-10: Bees (20-17) vs. New York Burros (24-14)
Actually, there's one more piece of good news, and that's that the Burros are playing like absolute donkeys at this point. They have lost 5 of 6 on this current road trip of theirs, splitting a series with Louisville but losing pairs in Baltimore and San Francisco. While they're a pretty well-rounded team and have been playing exceptionally (+63 run differential in 38 games, compared to our +36) there's some evidence that maybe their pitching staff isn't as good as they've been so far. I've got to start the game now before I get too overconfident; this is still a team that went to the playoffs last year.

Before the first game of this series, I made a trade with Syracuse, acquiring RHP Paul Goodwin in exchange for 1B Jerry Callejas and OF Jason Welch. Callejas and Welch were spare parts for me (and getting rid of Callejas actually saves me a couple mil), and Goodwin is a promising young pitcher that could make it as a starter or a reliever. He can touch 101 with his fastball & gets a ton of grounders. I'd like to use him out of the bullpen, but we'll see if Matheny respects my wishes. To even out the roster numbers, RHP William Gonzalez went back to AAA Hawaii and OF Gabriel Perez was recalled. Perez is a toolsy 21-year-old from the D.R. who can play top-notch defense across the outfield and has blazing speed to go with a decent ability to hit for contact. 21 is young for sure, but he doesn't have hardly any developing left to do. When he gets into a game it'll be his Major League debut.

Game 1 - Jack Flaherty (3-2, 4.63) vs. Danny Duffy (4-0, 4.76)
NYB: SS Hinds, 1B Carpenter, LF Frisch, RF Springer, 2B Walker, C Dillard, 3B Valbuena, CF Anderson, P Duffy
SLC: CF Mesa, 2B Phyo, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, C Phegley, SS Mota, LF Perez, P Flaherty

Gabriel will actually get into this game from the jump! I'm excited to see how it goes. Duffy is coming off of a no-decision last Tuesday in Baltimore, so it's been a whole week since he pitched. Flaherty is going on normal rest, having thrown 8 strong innings in Sacramento on Thursday... a frustrating start for the Bees offense - we managed to load the bases without a hit via 2 HBP and a walk, but could not get the knock that would score a run... Perez's first MLB at bat would end in a fielder's choice following Mota's leadoff single in the second, with again no score. That's 4 LOB in two innings for those scoring at home... Flaherty allowed only two baserunners in the first four innings, and one of those came on an error by MK Phyo... in the fourth, we would again make a major threat without the benefit of a hit. Phegley walked, and after a passed ball advanced him, Perez was intentionally walked to get to Flaherty with two out. This time, though, we would convert! Our only hit of the inning was a double into the gap by our pitcher, scoring Phegley to give us the 1-0 lead... Jack would finally bend a little in the sixth. Consecutive singles by Daniel Frisch, George Springer and Neil Walker tied the game... more trouble in the 7th. Valbuena (RIP) led off with a solo HR to right, and Jordan Anderson's triple was converted to a run by pinch-hitter Thomas Keehn's hit. Flaherty got the next man out but would exit after 6.1... we would again leave the bases loaded in our half of the 7th, this time the fault of Ishihara flying out to center... Jonathan Holder would allow the game to slip further away in the 8th, Valbuena and Anderson cracking back-to-back home runs... but in the bottom of the 8th, we showed life. Mota singled with one out, and then with two out, pinch-hitter Travis Maezes was hit, Mesa doubled both runners home to make it 5-3, then Phyo's single made it 5-4... Jared Miller got through the 9th unscathed, and then the tough Archie Bradley came on to get the save for the Burros, facing 4-5-6 for us. Robles struck out, but Ishihara singled into the right-field corner. Winning run now at the plate, Phegley also struck out for the second out, and Mota put a lazy fly ball into left that ended the game.


PotG: Luis Valbuena

A difficult result. We left 12 men on base (the box score clearly gets this wrong and I don't know why - "Team LOB" is listed at 11) and only lost by a run. Stranding the bases loaded twice is not a fun way to lose a game.

Game 2 - Joey Lucchesi (3-3, 5.14) vs. Alejandro Chacin (2-2, 5.46)
NYB: SS Hinds, 1B Carpenter, LF Frisch, RF Springer, C Dillard, CF Dickerson, 3B Keehn, 2B Benes, P Chacin
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, C Cottam, CF Mesa, LF Granite, 2B Maezes, P Lucchesi

Chacin is a pitcher with IRL MLB experience, although I'll forgive you for not remembering him - he was a September callup for the 2017 Reds and pitched in six games, allowing 7 runs in 6 innings. He's still just 26 IRL, but he threw for the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League in 2019 so maybe an extended ML career isn't in the cards... here, though, he's put together a nice career as a swingman. He actually has black ink on his résumé, leading the NL with 88 relief appearances in 2021. He started this year in the bullpen but jumped to the rotation in early April... the Burros get two singles in the top of the first, from Rece Hinds and Daniel Frisch, but thanks to a double play come up empty... we got runners to 2nd and 3rd in the bottom of the second with an Ishihara single, a Cottam walk and a wild pitch, but no dice for us either... both pitchers set down the 3rd inning in order, including striking each other out... not much going on until we come up in the fifth. Maezes singled with one out, and Lucchesi successfully bunted him up. That was a perfect stage for Mota to deliver an RBI single to open the scoring! Robles followed with a double for good measure, which doubled our lead... Chacin would be done after 5, a nice start for him (2 runs on 4 hits, 5 K vs. 2 BB) but still possible he could get the L... Lucchesi, for his part, would exit after 6 shutout innings having struck out 8... Alexander Hermeling would escape trouble in the 7th, though maybe not through his own power. With two out and Shane Benes on first, Hinds singled through the hole at short. For whatever reason, Benes saw fit to try to go first-to-third on a five-time Gold Glover in Zack Granite, and would not be rewarded... we used the power of nature to assist us in the 8th. A rain delay was called with Robles on first and no out for us, and when we returned an hour later, reliever Dan Gray (who was pitching well) was replaced by Diego Tamariz, who did get Guerrero but walked Ishihara, served up a two-run triple to Mesa and another triple to Granite, increasing our lead to 5-0... New York would get one back in the ninth on a sac fly by Jordan Anderson, and with a bit of a jam it would actually become a save situation for Jared Miller, but he put the fire out.


PotG: Joey Lucchesi

We needed that one, definitely. Both New Mexico and Houston swept their series to start the week, so we fell a bit behind yesterday but kept pace today. Now the team with the best record in all of MLB comes to Salt Lake for a Thursday-Friday pair:

May 11-12: Bees (21-18) vs. Ottawa Lynx (27-13)
If there's any time to catch the powerful Lynx, I guess it's now? They just finished up an 8-game homestand on which they only went 4-4, and are coming off a loss yesterday to Oklahoma in which their powerful bullpen blew the save. Still, this is a pretty excellent team that excels at everything and any win we can get over them is precious. I'm scared to see how well their offense does at altitude.

Michael Pineda's DL timer ends today, as does Will Shirah's suspension, so very glad to have those two guys back. Griffin Canning is racking up some frequent flyer miles, he's headed back to AAA Hawaii. We also signed free-agent OF Ben Gamel to a minor-league deal and sent him to Hawaii - we'll probably see him with the big club pretty soon.

Game 1 - Michael Pineda (3-1, 3.00) vs. Cullen Dana (2-2, 6.62)
OTT: 3B Valenzuela, RF Fletcher, LF Fisher, C Langeliers, SS Davidson, 1B Toral, CF Cordero, 2B Weber, P Dana
SLC: CF Mesa, 2B Phyo, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, C Phegley, SS Mota, LF Granite, P Pineda

Despite Ottawa's rotation stats being quite good, we'd be facing the two starters with the highest ERAs, so a bit of luck there. Dana, who is a real Padres prospect, here made the 2021 Lynx out of spring training and has been in their rotation ever since. Last year was his better of the two, at 8-11, 4.34, but the Lynx are a much better team now than they were last year... it couldn't have been a better start for us - Pineda got the Lynx in order, and then two batters into our half we had a 2-0 lead! Mesa led off with a single, and Phyo muscled a ball over the left-field wall for his first home run of the year! Pineda would retire the first 6 Ottawa hitters in order, but they would put together a little small ball in the third. Franchy Cordero singled on the first pitch he saw, and then went to third base when Phegley put his caught stealing attempt into the outfield. With the pitcher up, Pineda uncorked a wild pitch allowing Franchy to score... in the fifth inning, the pitcher Dana would drive in a run for real, his single scoring Alex Toral to tie the game... Dana would be done after 6 innings, and Pineda after 7, so each would get a no-decision and both would lower their ERA... Holder would be a culprit in the bullpen again today, this time allowing singles to Andy Weber and Sahid Valenzuela before a Dominic Fletcher double scored one to give Ottawa the lead... but in the bottom half, Ottawa's fabled bullpen would take another hit to their reputation. Off of Josh Carver, Phyo led off with a single, Guerrero followed with a hit as well, and then Robles hit a ball to Valenzuela at third that he booted to load the bases. Ishihara next, and BANG! Ishi goes oppo-taco for a grand slam home run, his 9th HR of the year and a one-run deficit turns into a 6-3 lead! Riley Ferrell, not Jared Miller, came in for the save and got it 1-2-3! (Not a closer controversy, it seems... Miller had just pitched in both games vs. the Burros)


PotG: Min-Kyu Phyo

Game 2: Will Shirah (2-2, 6.58) vs. Brandon Finnegan (3-1, 6.02)
OTT: 3B Valenzuela, 2B Weber, C Langeliers, LF Fisher, 1B Uehara, RF Fletcher, SS Davidson, CF Cordero, P Finnegan
SLC: CF Mesa, 2B Phyo, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, P Shirah, C Phegley, LF Granite, SS Mota

It's especially fun to get to use Shirah against an AL opponent, since it's like we're turning the whole DH thing around against them. We get to use our "DH" in the #6 spot while their pitcher Finnegan never bats in a normal circumstance... emblematic of what it's like to pitch for this Ottawa team, Finnegan got the win last time out despite a subpar start, because his teammates gave him 19 runs of support... Shirah would have a tough first inning, walking three. The last of those, a walk to Fletcher, scored Weber who had singled... we left two men on in the third, but got our just due in the second. Shirah led off with a single, stole second, and then had that not matter when Granite cranked his first HR of the year... Shea Langeliers and Yukio Uehara would both get on in the 3rd, but no score for Ottawa... not too much happening in the middle innings... both starters would exit after five innings. In the 6th, we extended our lead to 3-1 via a Mesa sac fly which scored Granite... the Lynx would cut that lead straight back down to 3-2 on an RBI double by Austin Wilson (batting #9 after a double switch)... Sam Bennerman would load the bases after that but keep the lead alive... Ottawa would again leave the bases loaded in the 8th on consecutive singles by Logan Davidson, Franchy Cordero and pinch-hitter Alex Toral, but Valenzuela grounded out to end the threat... Toral stayed in the game, entering in RF, but almost immediately injured himself... we would get two men on in our half of the 8th but wouldn't score either...finally, Miller on for the save, 2-3-4 coming up for the Lynx...Weber strikes out, but Langeliers cracks a base hit through the left side... Fisher comes up and hits a nubber that nearly becomes a game-ending 1-6-3 double play, but beats it out at first for a fielder's choice... Miller gets Uehara to strike out, though, and complete a huge sweep!


PotG: Zack Granite

I definitely didn't think we'd win both games, but there you have it! Unfortunately, during our 3-1 stretch this week, New Mexico was 3-1 and Houston was 4-0, so we haven't gained any ground. In fact, that's extra bad news considering who's up next on our schedule.

On Saturday morning, we did recall OF Ben Gamel from Hawaii, and sent back down OF Gabriel Perez. I like that Gamel's a lefty, that'll be a help for us off the bench.

May 13-14: Bees (23-18) @ Houston Astros (24-18)
Houston has had it pretty easy this week, winning four straight from the Blackbirds and Cubs at home. Their pitching staff has been torn apart by injury - I mentioned they'll be without Kyle Grana and Felix Hernandez the whole season, and reliever Andrew Kittredge's 2023 is now over (also covered below) and Carlos Rodon has been out a couple of weeks as well (he won't be back until early June). After this weekend, 6 of their next 7 opponents are AL teams.

Game 1 - Paul Goodwin (2-2, 4.42) vs. Mark Leiter Jr. (0-1, 6.98)
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, C Cottam, 2B Phyo, P Goodwin
HOU: SS Irizarry, 3B Hartung, LF Martinez, RF Gutierrez, C Posey, 1B Bird, 2B Vaughn, CF DeLoach, P Leiter

Leiter is probably not MLB rotation quality, but he has been needed with all the Astros' pitching injuries. He replaced Felix in the rotation a couple of weeks ago and is making his 4th start. Last time out, he allowed 5 runs over 5.2 innings in Albuquerque, and got a no-decision as the Astros won in 10 innings... Goodwin goes into the rotation after all. That may be the right move ultimately by Matheny, but Paul's only got 45-rated stamina. Higher than Holder's, at least... It was an eventful top of the first inning. Mota hit a leadoff home run for his second dinger of the season, a real cheapie into the Crawford boxes, and after a Guerrero single and two outs, Shirah followed with a two-run blast to make it 3-0... Houston would get one in the bottom half, on consecutive singles by Tim Hartung, JD Martinez and Ramon Gutierrez... both teams were quiet in the second but loud again in the third. It was Mota starting us off again in our half, doubling to lead off and scoring on Guerrero's double. Looks like Vlad may have found his groove again... Buster Posey came up with an RBI single in the 3rd to make it 4-2, Hartung having scored both Houston runs... Goodwin would be done after 4, makes sense given he hadn't started a game for Syracuse yet this season. Gotta stretch him out a bit... Gamel would make his Bees debut pinch-hitting for Goodwin to lead off the fifth, and he drew a walk. Robles singled, putting two men on for Guerrero, but neither Vlad Jr. or Ishi could bring the runners home... The Astros would get within 1 on a Martinez sac fly in the 7th... we would answer with a sac fly of our own in the 8th, Cottam driving in Guerrero to make it 5-3... but pinch-hitter Chase Strumpf came up with an RBI single in the bottom of the 8th to make it 5-4. On to the ninth, and Matheny surprisingly puts Nolan Blackwood out for the save opportunity. Miller pitched yesterday but he's not too tired to be out there today, and his left-handedness is seemingly an advantage against this lefty-heavy lineup... Blackwood came into this year as just another guy out of the bullpen, a character I felt like I had about 15 of, but he's really maybe been our best pitcher, so it's not totally undeserved. Nolan coerces a 3-0 groundout from Martinez, strikes out Gutierrez and gets Posey to ground to short for the W!


PotG: Mark Leiter Jr.

Big division win for us. New Mexico also lost in Detroit, so we're just a half-game behind the Suns going into Sunday.

Game 2: Jack Flaherty (3-3, 4.58) vs. Yoelvis Guedez (3-1, 4.23)
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, C Cottam, 2B Phyo, P Flaherty
HOU: SS Irizarry, 3B Hartung, LF Martinez, RF Gutierrez, 2B Vaughn, 1B Bird, CF DeLoach, C Campbell, P Guedez

Yoelvis Guedez is an interesting character. Only 22, he seems to have already fully actualized himself as a back-of-the-rotation starter. He made a nice breakthrough as a member of the Houston rotation in 2022, and is pitching decently here in 2023, but doesn't really look like he's gonna get any better... a big fly ball pitcher doesn't seem like a great recipe for success at Minute Maid Park so maybe we can crack a couple of soft ones over that inviting LF wall... Guedez allowed four runs over 5 innings in Monday's win over West Texas, improving to 3-1 but raising his ERA above 4... Flaherty took the loss on Tuesday against the Burros, our lone loss so far this week, when our comeback charge came up one run short... not much going on early. The biggest threat in the first three innings came from us in the top of the third, when Flaherty and Mota each reached with one out but were stranded... two singles would become a run for the Stros in the fourth, when Flaherty's pickoff attempt on Andrew Vaughn was wild. DeLoach would drive him in seconds later... we would not wait long at all to tie the game. The first pitch of the fifth inning was pulled by Cottam into the Crawford Boxes! Later in that inning, we'd get three straight singles from Mota, Robles and Guerrero to put us up 2-1... That'd be the final inning for Guedez, who allows 2 runs over 5 and strikes out eight Bees... Flaherty would retire the final 7 batters he faced, finishing with just the 1 run allowed over six innings... we'd extend the lead to 3-1 in the 7th on a sac-fly from pinch-hitter Maezes... Bennerman gave us 1.2 innings and was shaky, allowing two baserunners in each frame, but no runs to speak of... we would pile on in the 9th. Mesa and Cottam began the frame with singles, and pinch-hitter Ben Gamel's second appearance in a Bees uniform became an RBI single. Mota's walk loaded the bases and Robles drove in two runners with a hit to make it 6-1. After a pitching change, in which noted reliever Max Scherzer came on, Guerrero made it 7-1 with a sac fly... Kenen Irizarry would get a solo home run off Wilson in the 9th but that would be all the scoring!


PotG: Jack Flaherty

What an incredible week for us! This was our toughest week yet and yet we went 5-1. We also got a bit of revenge for Houston winning both games in Salt Lake back on April 6-7. New Mexico won to split their series with the Tigers, so we finish the week a half-game out of first place and in possession of the third and final wild card spot in the NL.

Bees' Player of the Week:
A lot of nice whole-team performance this week with not a huge individual standout, but I think the player of the week is SS Luis Mota. He was a sparkplug for us in a lot of ways, leading the team in hits and runs scored and cracking a leadoff home run in Houston that set the table for that pair of games.

On the Leaderboard:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 1st in average (.374), T-1st in RBI (44), 5th in OBP (.428), 5th in slugging (.615), 3rd in OPS (1.042), 4th in WAR (2.2), 2nd in hits (67), T-3rd in total bases (110)
Victor Victor Mesa: 8th in average (.350), T-6th in hits (62), T-3rd in runs scored (38), T-3rd in stolen bases (11)
Jack Flaherty: T-2nd in innings pitched (59.0), 9th in K/BB (4.4), 1st in QS (8)

Minor League Bees:
AAA Hawaii had their worst week yet, which for them means they were just 4-3. The Islanders have a 4-game lead on second place Hollywood (Dodgers)
AA Monterrey was 5-2 this week to maintain their half-game lead on Monclova (Oilers). They're back up to 1st in the Mexican League power rankings
A Burlington split their week 3-3, losing a series at Kane County (Flyers) but rebounding to take two of three from West Michigan (Tigers). They fell to 3rd in the Midwest League power rankings

Standings:



League News:
May 11: Houston reliever Andrew Kittredge will miss at least a year with a torn rotator cuff, suffered in Monday's win over the Blackbirds. Kittredge is/was a pretty minor player in the Astros bullpen, but I mention it because they're a division rival and we saw them this week.
May 14: Las Vegas 1B Rhys Hoskins' hitting streak reaches 25 games

Players of the Week:
San Bernardino DH Juan Soto - 13-26, 1 HR, 11 RBI. San Bernardino has been a massive disappointment so far, in last place after being predicted to finish first in the AL West, but Soto has been quite good.
New Mexico LF Jonny DeLuca - 14-24, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 6 R

Power Rankings:
It was a big week for us going 5-1 over some top teams, and as a result we shot up eleven places in the rankings, to 8th this week from 19th last time.
1. Las Vegas Scorpions (30-14)
2. Columbus Explorers (29-15)
3. Oklahoma Oilers (28-16)
4. Louisville Colts (29-15)
5. Baltimore Orioles (28-15)
56. Boston Red Sox (14-29)
57. Cleveland Indians (14-30)
58. Chicago Cubs (17-28)
59. Colorado Rockies (14-30)
60. St. Louis Cardinals (16-28)

Next Week: the road trip continues in El Paso as we meet the West Texas Blackbirds for the first time this season, then interleague stops against the Newark Cherries and Oklahoma Oilers!