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Old 01-14-2020, 02:40 AM   #23
Ruwisc
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Southwestern Illinois
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Week 8: May 15-21, 2023



Before we get into our first series, RP Alexander Hermeling cleared waivers on Monday and was optioned to AAA Hawaii. SP Griffin Canning was recalled, and he'll take Goodwin's place in the rotation. This is definitely a better overall staff than we had previously.

May 16-17: Bees (25-18) @ West Texas Blackbirds (19-25)
What a strange team WTX is. I covered this in their preview, but with updated numbers: this is a team with a payroll of $80.3 million, and they're spending $45.5 million on Mike Trout. That's over 56% of the team payroll! Trout's two highest-paid teammates are minor league relievers who are pulling in around $1.5 million each this year. It's truly baffling that he'd agree to sign with a team that can barely afford him like this, and with $45.5 million being the price tag he's very difficult to trade. This is Trout's 5th year in El Paso (he played 2018 for the Royals) and each year they've been worse than the Troutless 2018 Blackbirds were. He's the best player in the league bar Harper and the early frontrunner for NL MVP (Guerrero would probably be 2nd if voting were today) but has absolutely no help that isn't on the major league minimum. To the Blackbirds' credit, they've been able to find some decent hitters to pair with him (3B Jordan Verdon, CF Jordan Prendiz and RF/closer Chad Keenan are all capable and cheap) but as soon as they get into their second year of arbitration they're too expensive!

Game 1 - Joey Lucchesi (4-3, 4.39) vs. Eric Walker (2-5, 6.95)
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, C Cottam, 2B Phyo, P Lucchesi
WTX: CF Prendiz, SS Alexander, LF Trout, 1B Baca, RF Keenan, C Norris, 3B Moniot, 2B Wawoe, P Walker

Walker is, theoretically, the Blackbirds' ace, but has yet to have a start this season with fewer than two earned runs. Last Tuesday (so, seven days ago) he took the loss in Houston, allowing every run in a 6-2 loss while going just 4.1 innings... Joey, meanwhile, is coming off one of his best starts of the year, six shutout innings in our win against the Burros... it didn't take long for Trout to make his impact felt - he hit a looong home run to dead center in the first inning, his league-leading 16th of the season... and the Blackbirds' supporting cast is making me eat a little crow as well. In the second, Travis Moniot doubled with one out and scored on a hit by Gianfranco Wawoe. Jordan Prendiz would then come up with a two-out RBI triple to make it 3-0... Cottam and Mota both singled in the third inning, but no scoring from us still... there was a total of one hit through the 4th, 5th and 6th innings, and when Ishihara got it he was immediately erased on a double play by Shirah... WTX would knock out Lucchesi in the 7th with Blaze Alexander's two-run double that made it 5-0... we finally got one back in the 8th when Mota drove Maezes around with a triple... but that'd be it.


W: Eric Walker (3-5) L: Joey Lucchesi (4-4)
PotG: Eric Walker

I think the West Texas players heard me bad-mouthing them here, and went out wanting to prove me wrong. Hopefully they're a bit nicer on Wednesday.

Game 2 - Michael Pineda (3-1, 2.68) vs. Cole McKay (2-3, 3.59)
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, CF Mesa, C Cottam, 2B Phyo, LF Granite, P Pineda
WTX: CF Prendiz, 3B Verdon, LF Trout, 1B Baca, RF Rizer, SS Alexander, 2B Merrill, C Barraza, P McKay

McKay is an interesting pitcher, one who would be really good if he could get his walks down. He was thrust into a starting role as a 21-year-old by Nashville in 2018, and it wasn't pretty. After years in Nashville and Jacksonville, he didn't accrue a positive WAR total until last season, split between Austin and West Texas. This is looking like his best season by far at age 26 - he has probably been the Blackbirds' best starter... Pineda got a no-decision against Ottawa last Thursday in the first game of that pair... again, West Texas would strike in the first, but this time without Trout's involvement. Instead, he was the out as they loaded the bases with one out, and singles by Johnny Rizer and Blaze Alexander scored a pair of runs. And to make matters worse, Pineda picked up another minor injury, already his third of the year, and would exit for Perez... we would have at least a hit in each of the first four innings against McKay, but nothing to show for it... Perez pitched very well, getting us through five with no runs allowed, but we were still down 2-0... Jose Barraza smashed a two-run homer off of Nolan Blackwood in the sixth to double the WTX lead... just seems like we don't have it today. After the 4th, we wouldn't have a runner reach base until the 9th. McKay was stellar, racking up 10 K in 7.1 innings, and allowing just 5 hits... Jordan Verdon would tack on a two-run single in the eighth.


W: Cole McKay (3-3) L: Michael Pineda (3-2)
PotG: Cole McKay

Blech. We just got flat dominated today. We're now 2 1/2 games behind New Mexico, since they won two games from a down 66ers team. Michael Pineda's injury is an oblique strain - not a major one, but I'm gonna use this opportunity to give another kid a shot. Our AAA team is so good that almost every player on it would probably be above replacement level for us, and this time I'm gonna give SP Ryan Kirchner the call. He has pitched a bit for us the past two seasons, both in the rotation and the bullpen, but this'll be his first time up this year.

May 18-19: Bees (25-20) @ Newark Cherries (24-22)
The Cherries have been an up-and-down team in 2023, but right now they're up. They've won five of six against a set of middling competitors (Syracuse, Vancouver, Memphis) and with Ottawa slipping (you're welcome), they suddenly find themselves only 4 games back. They are really missing 3B Jonathan India right now, and he won't be back until next week, so we caught a break there.

Game 1 - Will Shirah (3-2, 5.81) vs. Daniel Lynch (2-0, 3.16)
SLC: CF Mesa, 2B Phyo, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, DH Cottam, C Phegley, SS Mota, LF Granite
NEW: SS Cordoba, LF Collard, RF Kelenic, 1B Segedin, C Krennrich, DH Harrer, CF Coulter, 2B Hebert, 3B Salcedo

Ironic that Shirah's turn in the rotation comes up as soon as we're hitting in an AL ballpark, so he won't be in the lineup. We're playing 4 games this week with the DH, so it would've been nice if we could pitch him yesterday, but no dice... Lynch only got a shot in the Cherries' rotation starting May 1, this being start #4... last time out, he was handed a win on a silver platter. When he made his last pitch, Newark trailed Syracuse 5-2, but the Cherries' offense came out strong and scored 7 runs the next inning to make him a winner... within three pitches, we had a lead. Mesa smashed a 1-0 pitch to the wall in left-center for a triple, and Phyo hit a slow grounder to first on his first pitch that scored Mesa. Newark wasn't too slow in getting it back, though, because by Shirah's ninth pitch we were trailing. Allen Cordoba was hit by a pitch, and Jarred Kelenic took him deep, a ball hit down the line the other way... Guerrero would come up with an RBI double in the third, though, scoring Phyo to tie the game at 2-2... we would take the lead in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Granite and single by Mesa, scoring Phegley and Mota to make it 4-2... another run came in in the 5th, Cottam's RBI single scoring Robles. That'd be the last inning for Lynch, 5 runs allowed over 5... Shirah would also exit after 5, with 5 hits and 2 runs allowed... Blackwood was tagged for two runs in the sixth on back-to-back RBI doubles by Edward Salcedo and Allen Cordoba making it 5-4... Justin Wilson was effective for us today, bailing out Blackwood and then pitching a scoreless seventh... Jared Miller on for the save, and things get interesting. With two outs (shocker), Kelenic singled and so did Rob Segedin, putting runners at the corners. Jared then walked Brandon Krennrich on four pitches to load 'em up and put the winning run in scoring position. Up comes the DH Justin Harrer, and he... smacks a ground ball right at Phyo to record the final out. Phew!


W: Will Shirah (4-2) L: Daniel Lynch (2-1) S: Jared Miller (9)
PotG: Jarred Kelenic

Back on our feet, at least. The Suns lost in a 15-11 shootout to Tucson, so we're back to within 1 1/2.

Game 2 - Griffin Canning (2-1, 5.12) vs. Tyler Myrick (4-3, 4.53)
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, DH Gamel, C Cottam, 2B Maezes
NEW: SS Cordoba, LF Collard, RF Kelenic, DH O'Neill, 1B Segedin, C Lueck, CF Coulter, 2B McFarland, 3B Salcedo

Myrick is a tough customer. He threw a no-hitter at Yankee Stadium in the season's opening weekend, really dampening the atmosphere on the defending champs. He's a real up-and-comer, a short 24-year-old righty with a nasty changeup in his 4th full MLB season. IRL, he's entering his junior season with the FIU Golden Panthers and so is draft-eligible this year... Canning's last start with the big club was back on May 6, a no-decision in our 2-1 win over Hartford... Myrick may have no-hit the Yanks, but he sure won't be no-hitting us. Mota hit the first pitch of the game over the shortstop's head for a single. After an out, Guerrero hit another single, and Ishihara did as well, which scored a run for us. Mesa reached on a two-out error by 2B Chris McFarland to load the bases, and Ben Gamel made them pay, pulling a ball just inside the first-base line for a two-run single and a 3-0 Bees lead! Newark would have a man on third base with no out after a Cordoba double and a wild pitch, but Griffin Canning was able to keep him there, helped by a caught stealing of Jarred Kelenic! Ballsy of Cottam to make that throw with a man on third base, but he got him... The Cherries would get one on the board in inning number 2. Segedin led off with a hit and was scored on a double by Jim Coulter... they got another in the third, Kelenic driving in Cordoba on a groundout... a worrying streak came to an end in the fifth inning, when Guerrero hit his first home run in about 3 weeks! This was a 2-run shot to score Robles and extend our lead to 5-2. When he hit his 10th, he was the NL leader in the category, but now at the time of his 11th the league lead is 16 or 17 HR... a 12-pitch walk to Mesa in the 6th definitely helped us get Myrick out of the game, as he'd be done after that inning... the lead went up to 6-2 in the 8th on Kole Cottam's sixth home run, but down to 6-4 in the bottom half. Rob Segedin and pinch-hitter Josh Bowman had RBIs in that inning. Kelenic would again reach with two outs in the ninth off of Miller but the rally would go no further!


W: Griffin Canning (3-1) L: Tyler Myrick (4-4) S: Jared Miller (10)
PotG: Griffin Canning

A really nice series from us overall, and a big rebound after two frustrating games in El Paso. Now, our longest road trip of the season so far concludes in Oklahoma City. Whatever happens there, we've at least clinched a .500 road trip (4-2 so far)

May 20-21: Bees (27-20) @ Oklahoma Oilers (31-17)
To conclude our week, we're running in to one of the best teams in the league, at their ballpark, and doing it while they're on a pretty incredible hot streak. This Oklahoma team has won 8 of 9 and 10 of 12, and sit tied with division rival Las Vegas for the AL's best record. They're doing this without 2B Ketel Marte as well. No doubt, the Oilers are a two-man show: SP/RF Shohei Ohtani and 3B Alex Bregman. We'll also be facing the two best Oklahoma starters this weekend, Ohtani and Sam Tuivailala. Luckily we're sending our top two guys to the bump as well - let's get to it!

Game 1 - Jack Flaherty (4-3, 4.27) vs. Shohei Ohtani (4-4, 5.37)
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, C Cottam, 2B Phyo, DH Granite
OKC: CF Moritz, 2B Lewis, 3B Bregman, DH Pasquantino, 1B Cuellar, RF Zabala, SS Bracho, C Dalesandro, LF Sniatynski

Despite his high ERA, Ohtani has been quite a good pitcher this year. He's fighting a career-worst BABIP of .362 against & has struck out more than a batter per inning... last time out snapped a string of three straight losses for Shohei, when they beat the Rockies 11-2... it's not necessarily unlucky that we're encountering Ohtani on one of his pitching days, because he can't/doesn't hit on these days. The Oilers' lineup is probably weaker without him compared to the benefit he provides pitching... Flaherty beat the Astros on Sunday to put his record back above .500, allowing just 1 run in 6 innings... both teams went down in order in the first, so when Ishihara led off the second inning with a home run it was the first hit of the game... that's Ishi's 10th, and neat that he gets the better of his countryman... both teams would also go down in order in the 3rd... two Oilers would single off of Jack in the 4th, but no scoring... a two-out rally sparked something for us in the sixth. Robles, Guerrero and Ishihara all singled, the last producing a run... Flaherty was now through six innings with just three hits allowed, and working on a string of 7 straight retired... Jack allowed a single in the seventh that was erased on a double play, and a double in the 8th that would be stranded... in the top of the 9th, we would get a big insurance run on Cottam's 7th home run, and second in as many games... Riley Ferrell came on for the save - Miller had saves in both games against the Cherries and so wasn't fully rested today - and he got them out 1-2-3!


W: Jack Flaherty (5-3) L: Shohei Ohtani (4-5) S: Riley Ferrell (4)
PotG: Jack Flaherty

Masterful from Flaherty today - 8 shutout innings, 5 hits, no walks and 5 K.

Game 2 - Joey Lucchesi (4-4, 4.72) vs. Sam Tuivailala (4-0, 2.67)
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, DH Gamel, C Cottam, 2B Phyo
OKC: CF Moritz, 2B Lewis, 3B Bregman, RF Ohtani, LF Zabala, 1B Cuellar, SS Bracho, DH Schwellenbach, C Martorano

These Oklahoma lineups have had some names that are tough to type accurately, names I haven't seen before... Martorano, Pasquantino, Bracho, Schwellenbach, Sniatynski... anyway, this lineup looks a lot scarier with Ohtani in than it did without... Tuivailala was a successful closer for the Oilers in the first four years of this save (led the AL with 40 saves in 2021) but last year made a just as successful transition to the rotation. With that accomplished, he cashed in in a big way, signing a long-term deal that will keep him an Oiler until he's 37. Well, they don't regret the deal yet, two months in, but there's six and a half years to go, so we'll see. Tui has a perfect record this year, as noted above, and hasn't allowed more than 4 runs in any single start all year. He even had a perfect 5-0 record in spring training, so he's been locked in since mid-February! Lucchesi took the loss on Tuesday in El Paso, but has alternated wins and losses his last five starts, so a good sign? Who knows... We let a golden opportunity slip away in the first inning. Oklahoma made two errors allowing Mota and Ishihara to reach (by the 2B, Jason Lewis, and the 3B Alex Bregman) but we couldn't bring them in. Mota, though, would get an RBI the hard way in the second inning. Mesa singled, and Gamel and Cottam both drew walks. After Phyo made an out, Mota was plunked by a 3-2 pitch to score the game's first run... Lucchesi had a good first hour on the mound, allowing just a hit and a walk through three frames... two hits and a walk in the fourth, though, would load the bases ahead of Aaron Bracho's sac fly that tied the game at 1-1... Tuivailala walked Robles to lead off the fifth and that was surprisingly it for him - 2 runs on just 1 hit over 4 innings, but more than 80 pitches needed to do it... Guerrero singled off of Julian Smith, and then in a lefty-lefty matchup, Ishihara yanked a double inside the first base bag to score both runners! That made it 3-1, but Andrew Moritz homered off Lucchesi to get one back in the bottom half... Lucchesi would be done after 5 innings, 2 runs allowed on 4 hits... Out for his second inning of work in the 7th, Bennerman would run into trouble. Spencer Schwellenbach led off with a triple, Brandon Martorano walked, and though Bennerman got the next two on Ks, Bregman came up with a clutch two-run double to turn the lead around and make it 4-3 Oilers... we had 3 hits in the 8th off of Felix Diaz but because of a double play, no runs to speak of... Oklahoma closer Kevin Milam on for the save, facing Guerrero, Ishihara and Shirah, and Mesa if someone reaches... Milam catches Guerrero looking... gets Ishihara to hit one right at Enmanuel Zabala for out number two... but walks Will Shirah on five pitches to bring up the go-ahead run. After 3 pickoff attempts, Mesa slaps the first pitch he sees into left for a base hit and the two-out rally is maybe under way? Gamel next, in the position to really endear himself to his new team... Ben instead passes the envelope down the line, not even taking the bat off his shoulder in drawing a walk! Cottam now... and a 2-0 pitch goes straight back at Milam for a ground ball out.


W: Felix Diaz (2-0) L: Sam Bennerman (0-2) S: Kevin Milam (10)
PotG: Alex Bregman

Bleh. A disappointing ending to a medium week. Can't sweep every road series, though, especially against a team that looks like they're going to the playoffs. 3-3 overall this week, which actually means we keep pace with the Suns, who were swept by the White Sox this weekend.

Bees' Player of the Week:
No obvious candidate so I'll take SP Jack Flaherty, who threw a spectacular game in our Saturday win over the Oilers.

On the Leaderboard:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 3rd in average (.360), 2nd in RBI (47), 9th in slugging (.591), 4th in OPS (1.005), 8th in WAR (2.2), T-4th in hits (73), 5th in total bases (120)
Victor Victor Mesa: T-7th in hits (68), T-5th in runs scored (40), T-8th in stolen bases (11)
Jack Flaherty: 4th in pitcher WAR (1.6), 2nd in innings pitched (67.0), 4th in K/BB (4.8), 6th in BB/9 (1.6), 1st in QS (9, of 11 starts)

Minor League Bees:
AAA Hawaii lost 2 of 3 at Iowa (Cubs) but won their other three games, 1 vs. Calgary (Athletics) and two vs. Kelowna (Cascades). The Islanders are 29-9, two games up in the PCL's Pacific Division.
AA Monterrey swept Durango (Suns) but lost two of three at Aguascalientes (Cascades). The Sultanes are 28-15, first in the Mexican League.
A Burlington lost two of three at Cedar Rapids (Twins) but swept River City (Rangers). The Baby Bees are 27-11, good for a 1-game lead atop the Midwest League West Division.

Standings:



League News:
May 16: A marquee series at Camden Yards is more than a sweep for the Orioles, it also means the end of Rhys Hoskins' hitting streak at 25. That's the longest one this year, but it falls short of the longest seen in this save, 38 games accomplished by Colorado's Eudor Garcia in 2021.
May 16: In a rare three-game series caused by a makeup game, the Yankees salvage a win in the final game against the lowly Red Sox, but achieve something bigger when SS Mikey Perez hits for the cycle! Perez, last year's World Series MVP, got his triple in the 7th and double in the 8th, so he left it late.
May 18: Dodgers SP Kenta Maeda is done for the year - the 35-year-old suffered a torn rotator cuff and will miss not only all of this season but about half of 2024 too. Lucky him, though, he's under contract through 2025 at $18 million per.
May 19: White Sox SS Andrelton Simmons was suspended 3 games for going after an umpire in yesterday's loss to the Giants
May 19: Oakland SP Zack Greinke is done for the year, torn UCL. This may have been his final act - at age 39 he's not under contract for next season, which he'll miss the first two months of even if signed. He had been 3-3 in his second season with the A's
May 21: Buffalo Beacons LF Travis Swaggerty hit for the cycle as his team destroyed the Red Sox 17-1. He didn't finish it until a meaningless 8th-inning double put the 17th run on the board, so good news for the fans who stuck around.
May 21: A crushing blow for San Antonio - 1B/SP Triston Casas is done for the season, after tearing a flexor tendon in his pitching elbow during Saturday's win over the Monarques. Casas was the Marshals' best player by far, & this is going to be extremely tough for San Antonio without him.
May 21: The fire sale is on for Boston, as the Sox ship closer Evan Rutckyj to the division rival Cherries in exchange for three hitting prospects. The best of those players looks like 3B/SS Jason Willow

Players of the Week:
NY Yankees SS Mikey Perez - 15-29, 4 HR, 9 RBI. Not only did Perez hit for the cycle Tuesday, he blistered the whole week. He tripled his season HR total from 2 to 6, and raised his OPS by more than 100 points with this week's performances!
Columbus LF Kameron Misner - 12-25, 5 HR, 17 RBI, 9 R. Columbus now has the best record in the league - huge from a team predicted to finish 5th in the NL North - and Misner's a good reason why.

Power Rankings:
A 3-3 week for us, but we played a couple of really good teams on the road so not a big drop. Last week we were 8th, now we're 11th.
1. Columbus Explorers (34-16)
2. Toronto Blue Jays (29-21)
3. Las Vegas Scorpions (33-17)
4. San Diego Padres (31-17)
5. Oklahoma Oilers (32-18)
56. Milwaukee Brewers (20-30)
57. Boston Red Sox (17-33)
58. Washington Nationals (19-31)
59. Arizona Diamondbacks (17-33)
60. Colorado Rockies (15-35)

Next Week: We'll play our whole next homestand, against Vancouver, Minnesota and San Diego. Two division leaders in that bunch, so there'll be some tough games!
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