[Bub13]

June 2035
This month bested us, as we went 11-16 and slid further back in our division. Although, to be fair, we did have a juicy six game slide in the middle of the month, getting swept in interleague play by Atlanta and Richmond. 1B Jeremy Dunklee cooled off a bit, only batting .266 with 4 HR, and his first OPS below 1.000. He's still hitting .331 for the season, and 3B Ryan Hebert is still chugging along at .314. RF Chris Wiggins now has 11 triples, and is hitting over .300 since coming over from KC. He could be a keeper. But 2B Jamie Forbes, a nice surprise last year, is fast playing himself out of a job, hitting below the Mendoza Line this month and with a ZR of -11.

My 'vaunted' rotation is still taking it on the chin. No one has an ERA better than 4.34, and Oscar Wiggins and Bobby Anderson are over 5. Anderson's season then comes to an end on the 19th when he ruptures a finger tendon in the first inning against the Nats. At least my bullpen is pulling its weight, with closer Jay Yates continuing to dominate (21 SV, 2.41 ERA, 0.85 WHIP). And waiver pickup Michael Bridenbaker (see below) makes two starts after Anderson's injury, going 10.2 IP with 3 ER and 13 K.

NOTES: We went oh-for-Tuesday this month, losing all four games. Going back to May, we've now lost eight straight Tuesdays. And that six game losing streak? All of those games were played at 2:05pm, and were the only day games we had all month. What does it mean? We need better sunglasses? Dunno....The Eric Lane injury follies returned for another extended engagement. Remember he was injured (again) on 5/3, and out for a month. His return was delayed nearly two weeks by a setback, and when he did play he hit .191 in 17 games on rehab in AAA. And then got injured again, this time for another month. He'll be back in late July. Sigh....Rookie Travis McArthur is starting to flex his muscles. In limited play, he hit .294 with 5 HR and an OPS of 1.070. Only 34 AB, so a small sample size. Encouraging, nonetheless....You think you have a bad minor league team? Our AA affiliate in Lewiston is now 13-57, deeply, deeply mired in last place....And, WE ARE STILL NOT IN LAST PLACE.

TRANSACTIONS: More moves to help our pitching. After last month's acquisition Ricardo Balderas struggles, on the 7th I claim RP Ivan Lopez off waivers from Houston. Lopez is 34, and his ratings are nice but modest. He's a team leader, tho, and I thought we could use another one of those. He pitched for me in Richmond nearly ten years ago. Then I try to be sneaky and get Balderas through waivers to AAA, but he's claimed by Miami. He didn't make much of an impression for us, with an ERA over 7 in 8 appearances, but I hate to lose a decently-rated arm like that. All's fair tho. On the 15th I then claim P Michael Bridenbaker off waivers from Richmond. He's tiny and charismatic and the fans love him. He's got big-time stuff, tho, and an elite change. Two other good pitches, with quality movement, but poor control. Stamina is not great, but he gets pressed into the rotation with Anderson's injury and no one on the farm pitching well at the moment.

One final deal with month, to address our 2B issue with Forbes not hitting and playing like a statue in the field. So, with McArthur playing better, and Moreno back from injury and maybe even Long (!) returning one day, I deem an outfielder expendable. On the 20th we send OF Bruce O'Brien to Washington for 2B Ki-Nam Kim. We got O'Brien in May from Cincy, and in 42 starts he went .240/.269/.413. Mediocre. Kim is 39, ancient. He's been in MLB since signing with Milwaukee in 2025, at the age of 30. He's never been spectacular, but has hit .300 six times, and has a sticky glove and good range for an old man. He makes contact, will hit some doubles, take some walks, and refuses to strike out. He will not hit a home run for us, guaranteed. He's like a Korean Duane Kuiper right now.

......

STANDINGS
SEA 58-26 -- ... went 21-8 this month
LAA 44-39 13.5
OAK 40-42 17
TEX 40-43 17.5
HAW 37-45 20
HOU 35-46 21.5

Around the league, Toronto leads the AL East by 8 over Boston; Minnesota is up by 1 over Cleveland in the Central. Philly leads Atlanta in the NL East by 1; Pittsburgh has the league's best record (57-24) and a 7.5 game lead over Montreal; and Portland leads San Diego in the West by 8.5. Fellow expansion team New Orleans is playing like ass, sitting at 25-57, 32.5 games behind the Pirates. It feels good to be way better than they are right now. Pretty damn good.

Next up: 2035 Draft Report