Return of the Rams

[Y0DA55]

This is the story of the Colorado Rams, a once proud franchise now forced to build from within to reclaim the glory of the past.

The NPBL has no finances, so the only way to improve is through the draft, trades, and timely talent bumps. I was lucky enough to take over the Colorado Rams before the 2011 season, just after they lost the National Cup Series (the NPBL World Series) 4 games to three against a very good Maryland Admirals club. After 5 years, which included one National Cup loss and 4 other League Championship losses, we won the big one in 2016. After two years of unsuccessfully defending our title, we decided to rebuild.

Currently in the middle of the rebuild, this is the story of my team, the Colorado Rams, and their path towards a brighter future.

Year  League    Team      W  L  WPct  Finish Notes
2011  GEL West  Colorado  93 69 .574  Lost in LCS to Illinois
2012  GEL West  Colorado  88 74 .543  Lost in NCS to Mississippi
2013  GEL West  Colorado 106 56 .654  Lost in LCS to Illinois
2014  GEL West  Colorado 103 59 .636  Lost in LCS to Illinois
2015  GEL West  Colorado 108 54 .667  Lost in LCS to Wisconsin
2016  GEL West  Colorado 109 53 .673  Won NCS vs Mississippi
2017  GEL West  Colorado  91 71 .562  Lost in WCS to Minnesota
2018  GEL West  Colorado 110 52 .679  Lost in WCS to Minnesota
2019  GEL West  Colorado  73 89 .451
2020  GEL West  Colorado  67 95 .414

We were having our draft the other night, and someone brought up Chappy's “Rebuilding a Champion.” I was totally surprised to see that some people who frequent the dynasty forum haven’t heard of it. He started a second thread in ’04, but the Great Crash of ’05 eventually killed off his passion for that one. He never could get the passion back for the third attempt. Chappy still has yet to capture that elusive National Cup for his beloved Freedom.

So I’ve decided to bring my own brand of “Rebuilding a Champion” back. We hope to do what Chappy couldn’t, and capture the title once again.

[ifspuds]

Whoa... the professional dynasty ranker is starting one of his own?

I'm definitely going to read this one!

[Y0DA55]

A Look at the Mountain we have to Climb

We are currently starting the 2021 season. Last year, we did well enough to get the 5th pick in the draft. I don’t expect much better this season. Here’s a quick breakdown of the major league team to whet your appetite. The goodies are in the minors, but we’ll get to them a little later.

Catchers
Christopher Baker – 29 – .170 career average
James Walsh – 28 - .265 career average

Walsh, as a fourth and final round pick in 2014, is a good defender and has far exceeded any of my expectations. His offense is nothing to brag about, but it’ll do for now. He’s just biding his time until we bring up our #2 prospect, Ross Lange.


First Base
Steve McLaughlin – 38 - .261 career average and on the downside of his career.
Nori Mutsuhito – 31 - .173 career average

Oh boy. McLaughlin was a throw in one of my big trades. He’s just not very good. Mutsuhito I picked up off the free agent wire. He’ll probably end up starting.


Second Base
Vin Koenig – 36 - .290 career
Jesus Carmona – 33 - .227 career

Koenig is getting a bit old, but he is going to start for us. Sadly, he and his 7 homers last year will bat in the middle of the order.


Third Base
Richard Jerkins – 27 - .244 career

The spot long held by Tyson Bacon was taken over by Jerkins last year. He can play, he actually won the Mays Award (Gold Glove) last year at 3B, but I hope he’s just holding this spot for one of my young guys, although, no one has become a front runner for this position.


Shortstop
Jake Kinchen – 27 - .235 career
Amos Oberlin – 29 - .219 last year

Jake is the starter. Not a whole lot of glove, but he’s at least semi-serviceable with the bat.


Outfielders
Oscar “Atomic” Oakley – 36 – .257 career - 27 HRs last year
Francisco Diaz – 39 - .269 career
Leandro Mingo – 35 - .268 career
Kenneth Biel – 26 - .184 last year

Biel won’t start. Don’t let the career averages fool you for the other three. They all hit worse than that last year. Oakley remains my only tradeable bat.

[Lastplaneout]

That lineup isn't going to be pretty. I'll be reading.

[Y0DA55]

Originally Posted by ifspuds

Whoa... the professional dynasty ranker is starting one of his own?

Yeah, I really miss Chappy's dynasty, and this is a type that I can totally keep up on.

Originally Posted by Lastplaneout

That lineup isn't going to be pretty. I'll be reading.

Nah, our lineup won't be pretty at all.

At least we have a little pitching to keep the scores down.... wait second.... we don't.

[Y0DA55]

The Mountain Doesn't Look any Smaller from Here

Yikes! And this is a slightly pitcher friendly league too.

Starting Pitchers
Chet McKie – 36 – Career 82-92 with a 3.81 ERA
Paul Long – 22 – Career (and 2020 season) – 8-16 – 4.33 ERA
Jermaine Crosswell – 31 – Career 9-14 – 5.05 ERA
Christopher Steelman – 24 – Career 20-42 – 4.54 ERA
John O’Parra – 32 – Career 3-2 – 4.41

What can I say about these guys?

I got McKie a year or two after winning the Championship. It hasn’t worked out too well. He sported a 9-17, 4.84 line last year.

Paul Long. *Halleluah!* You’ll hear more about him and his trade in future posts (he’s the guy I got for Ben Lamela). I can only hope that this kid improves, as I gave up a lot to get him. He WILL be my best pitcher this year.

Crosswell was a first round pick (8th overall) back in 2008. After bouncing around the minors for 12 years, he finally got his call. He’s a one star guy. Yuck.

Steelman is a guy I got in a trade. He’s nothing special, but I am going to need his innings.

O’Parra had to be brought up to replace Langlois. Three years ago, he was good, going 3-0 with a 2.96 ERA in the 4 games he started. Two years ago, he was wretched (0-2, 11.81, all out of the bullpen). I hope he can get some of his starter magic back.

Starting pitching is what is going to kill this team this year. Aside from Long and possibly McKie, our starters stink. This is why I have seven relievers.


Relievers
Jose Langlois – 39 – Career 206-166 – 3.48 ERA
Billy-Bob Suggs – 40 – Career 4.01 ERA
Ward Chee – 32 – Career 3.77
Rafael Souza – 39 – Career 3.16
Leroy Briscoe – 33 – Career 4.03
Arnie Stier – 35 – Career 3.35
Douglas MacKenzie – 34 – Career 4.06

Overall, our relievers aren’t too bad. We don't have any rock solid relievers who I can always count on. Most of them are getting a bit old, and we don’t have a whole lot in the minors, so this is something that I have been working on building through the draft. I think I’m beginning to get some solid pitchers at the single and double A levels though, so I guess help is on the way. But not this year.

Langlois was good once upon a time. He can still throw, but he’s 39, so age is catching up to him. I used him as a starter last year. He’ll pitch well this year, and then probably call it a career. His 3 in endurance means I had to move him to the bullpen.

Suggs, Souza, and Stier have all spent time as a closer at some point or another. Stier and Suggs have definitely seen better days, but they can get it done.

Souza is an interesting one though. This is the 21st season of the leagues existence. Rafael Souza has been on the major league roster of Colorado for every single one of those years. He’s one of only 6 players in the league who is still on their original team (and have played every year). And based on the drop in his ratings, I'd wager that this is his last year.

[Y0DA55]

Team Record: 2-3
Sim Record: 2-3

Games
4/6 – 7-1 loss @ Idaho – When your pitcher (McKie) has 3 hits and the rest of your team has 4, you’ve got to know that you probably aren’t going to win that game, especially when he doesn’t pitch well (9 hits and 5 earned runs). Granted, we were going up again 24 year old phenom Kevin Smith (16-9 and 2.71 last year).
4/7 – 6-5 WIN @ Idaho – Chris Steelman gave up one earned run in 6 innings of work and Oscar Oakley hit a 3-run bomb in the third inning, but we still needed Francisco Diaz to hit a two-run homerun in the top of the 9th to win this one.
4/8 – 1-0 loss @ Idaho – Crosswell pitched well enough to win, but when you don’t score any runs, you can never win. Vin Koenig had two hits, it’s just too bad he’s hitting in front of the pitcher.
4/9 – 5-4 loss @ Washington – Washington is the favorite to win it all this year, and we played them tight. Too bad O’Parra decided to turn in a 2019 performance rather than a 2018 performance (3.1 innings, 4 ER). The Philadelphia Freedom’s 2008 first round pick, Keith Tracey decided to hit a 3-run homerun and win player of the game honors. James Walsh had 3 of his own. Too bad his were singles.
4/10 – 6-2 WIN @ Washington – They had their ace today (Ramon Cordova), and we had ours (at the moment). McKie pitched beautifully and with a little help from Richard Jerkins (3 hits, 2 runs, 1 RBI), we took the big bad Griffins down.

Standings

Great Explorers League
East

Team	    W  L  PCT  GB  Stk  L10
Minnesota   4  1  .800	-   W2  4-1
Wisconsin   4  1  .800	-   W4	4-1
Kansas      3  2  .600	1   L2	3-2
Texas	    3  2  .600	1   W3	3-2
New Mexico  1  4  .200	3   L4	1-4
Illinois    0  5  .000	4   L5	0-5

West

Team	    W  L  PCT  GB  Stk	L10
California  3  2  .600	-   W1	3-2
Idaho       3  2  .600	-   L1	3-2
Washington  3  2  .600	-   L1	3-2
Colorado    2  3  .400	1   W1	2-3
Nevada	    2  3  .400	1   W1	2-3
Utah	    2  3  .400	1   L1	2-3

Small sample size and all, but it’s incredibly close in the West. Will it stay that way? Don’t count on it.

Pitching

   Name	        G GS W L SV  ERA    IP HA R ER BB K
s1 P. Long                   Injured
s2 C. McKie     2  2 1 1  0  3.77 14.1 13 7  6  2 4
s3 C. Steelman	1  1 0 0  0  1.50  6.0  6 2  1  3 1
s4 J. Crosswell	1  1 0 1  0  1.29  7.0  5 1  1  3 2
s5 J. O'Parra	1  1 0 1  0 10.80  3.1  6 4  4  1 1

mr L. Briscoe	2  0 0 0  0 15.43  2.1  4 4  4  1 1
mr D. MacKenzie	2  0 0 0  0  3.38  2.2  4 2  1  2 1
mr J. Langlois	1  0 0 0  0  0.00  0.2  0 0  0  0 1
su R. Souza	2  0 1 0  0  0.00  2.2  0 0  0  0 3
su A. Stier	1  0 0 0  0  0.00  2.0  1 0  0  1 2
cl W. Chee	1  0 0 0  1  0.00  1.0  0 0  0  1 0

Somewhere, somehow, Paul Long got injured. He’s out 1-2 weeks with a Strained Posterior Cruciate Ligament. Overall, I’m pretty happy with my pitching so far, aside from O’Parra and Briscoe.

On another note, Suggs and Langlois have announced their retirement, both of whom I received in big trades that pushed the Rams over the top to win the 2016 pennant. They'll be missed.

Batting

     Name	G AB H 2B 3B HR	RBI R BB K  AVG  OBP  SLG
1 LF L. Mingo	5 17 1	0  0  0	  0 3  3 5 .059 .238 .059
2  C J. Walsh	5 22 5	2  0  0   3 1  0 0 .227	.227 .318
3 RF O. Oakley	5 20 2	0  0  1   4 1  1 5 .100	.143 .250
4 SS J. Kinchen	5 18 4	2  0  0   1 2  1 2 .222	.300 .333
5 2B V. Koenig	5 19 6	0  0  0   0 1  0 4 .316	.316 .316
6 3B R. Jerkins	5 19 5	3  0  0   1 3  0 1 .263	.300 .421
7 1B McLaughlin	5 18 5	0  0  0   1 3  1 4 .278	.316 .278
8 CF F. Diaz	5 20 5	0  0  1   3 2  0 3 .250	.250 .400

     A. Oberlin	2  1 1  1  0  0   2 0  0 0 1.00	1.00 2.00
     Mutsuhito	1  1 0  0  0  0	  0 0  0 0 .000	.000 .000
     K. Biel	3  0 0	0  0  0	  0 0  1 0 .000	1.00 .000
     C. Baker	3  2 0	0  0  0	  0 0  0 1 .000	.000 .000

     Pitchers   5 11 6  0  0  0   1 1  0 3 .545 .545 .545

Not that we have any chance of winning this year, but the top of the order has to start hitting. We’ve been lucky the first couple of games with some key hits. Although, I have to give props to the bottom of the order. The order is pretty much going to stay the same next sim.

Can you believe how good our pitchers are hitting? McKie himself has 4 hits.

I also should mention that half of my outfielders will be retiring at the end of the year. Diaz and Oakley have both given notice. Diaz doesn't surprise me, but Oakley is only 36. Guess we'll have to plug in some of my youngin's next year.

Rankings
Batting AVG: .238 (15th)
Homeruns: 2 (16th)
Walks: 7 (23rd)
Stolen Bases: 1 (T-22nd)
Runs Scored: 17 (T-18th)

Pitching ERA: 3.64 (12th)
Opponents AVG: .253 (13th)
HRs Allowed: 4 (13th)
Walks Allowed: 14 (T-11th)
Runs Allowed: 20 (T-10th)

[Y0DA55]

Just to show you how far we’ve fallen, and how far we have to go, here’s the 2016 Championship team and where they are now. Compare these guys to what we have now. You won’t notice a difference.

You’ll definitely be hearing about some of these guys in future posts.

Starters
C – James Easson            .264 –  5 – 48 – Played last season in 2018
1B – Hal “Golden” Rehm      .243 – 27 – 80 – 2015 League MVP is plying his trade in Louisiana
2B – Vin Koenig             .280 - 11 – 73 – Still starting 2B for the Rams
3B – Tyson Bacon            .304 – 28 – 77 – Future Hall of Famer retired at the end of last season, but not as a Ram.
SS – Joseph “Fats” Gardiner .250 – 16 – 74 – Had a good season for Tennessee last year
LF – John Fleury            .251 –  7 – 33 – Retired after the 2017 season after basically falling off of a cliff.
CF – Leandro Mingo          .230 –  3 – 54 – Still in our outfield
RF – Oscar Oakley           .271 – 27 – 78 – Another still in our outfield


Pitchers
SP1 – Ben Lamela        18-5 – 1.64 – Won the Walter Johnson Award (Cy Young) for Massachusetts last year
SP2 – Clarence McNatt   16-7 – 2.16 – Retired after 2017 season
SP3 – Jose Langlois     16-9 – 3.17 – Still on our squad
SP4 – Rafael Souza      14-5 – 2.68 – Currently our set-up man.  Closed last year.
SP5 – Billy-Bob Suggs    6-6 – 1.48 – In our bullpen, somewhere.

MR – Genaro Anzalone    84 games – 3.20 – Retired after 2018
MR – Linwood Judy       59 games – 1.39 – Former closer retired after 2018 season
MR – Brad Mathers       67 games – 3.90 – Retired after 2018
CL – Arnie Stier        42 SV – 3.15 – Still in our bullpen


Other Notables
SP – Benny Suarez    3-1 – 1.11 – Traded away to Virginia
SP – Jacob Perl      1-0 – 0.81 – Traded away to Ontario

[ifspuds]

That looks like a seriously loaded rotation. How did it compare to the rest of the league?

[Y0DA55]

Originally Posted by ifspuds

That looks like a seriously loaded rotation. How did it compare to the rest of the league?

I was just going to list all the starting rotations of that year, but figured that it would be best if I just summed it all up and save you all from needless scrolling.

Keep in mind that we had a pretty decent offense. In the GEL, we were 4th (out of 12) in HRs, 1st in Stolen Bases, and 5th in Runs, RBI, and Average. But our pitching was spectacular.

We led the NPBL in pretty much all the significant pitching categories:

ERA - 2.55 - League ERA was 3.65 (Average in FFL was 3.40)
2nd in GEL - Kansas - 3.06
1st in FFL - Virginia - 2.97

Saves - 59
1st in FFL - Pennsylvania - 53

Hits Allowed - 1137
1st in FFL - Pennsylvania - 1151

Home Runs Allowed - 84
1st in FFL - Virginia - 105
2nd in GEL - Kansas - 144

Strikeouts - 1068

We were also third in the GEL in walks allowed.

I don't know if there is a way to compare pitching staffs from different era's, but I'd rank this pitching unit right up there. I'm not going to stay too long on my pedistal, because there have been better starting pitching staffs. But this one was great, no doubt.

[Y0DA55]

Prospect Watch

So if the Colorado Rams are going to be so horrible this season, lets take a look at what we have to look forward to.

We’ve come a long way. A year or two after our championship, I decided that we just didn’t have enough to compete anymore (this was after two losses in the first round). People were retiring, our pitching staff was getting old, and I didn’t have anyone to replace them with (our minor league system was ranked 23rd or 24th with no prospects). So I decided to tear this team apart. I traded almost all of our big names (Lamela, Bacon, Rehm, Gardiner) along with some others who I didn’t necessarily need right now for draft picks and prospects.

Our system now ranks 3rd in the league. Here is our top 10:

#1 – Paydirt James – SP - 18 years old - A

Rec  ERA  IP HA BB K
0-0 2.45 7.1  8  1 3

Origin: First pitcher taken in the 2021 draft (5th overall).
Outlook: His endurance isn't very high, but I couldn't pass up his talent. As he is rated higher than Long, I expect big things out of this guy.


#2 - Ross "Hamburger" Lange - C - 18 years old - A

 AVG HR RBI
.308  1   2

Origin: 10th overall pick in the 2020 draft.
Outlook: He's going to take a while to get to the Bigs, but he's going to be our catcher when he gets there. He's prone to injuries though, so we'll keep our fingers crossed. Posted a .272 - 12 - 49 in single A last year.


#3 - Paul Long - SP - 22 years old - Majors

Last Years Stats - Currently Injured
Year	G	GS	W	L	SV	ERA	IP	HA	R	ER	HR	BB	K	CG	SHO	WHIP	BABIP
2020	35	35	8	16	0	4.33	207.2	267	113	100	16	41	79	1	1	1.48	.335

Origin:Traded from Massachusetts along with 2B Richard Jerkins and MA's 1st (3B - Nightmare Massengill) and 3rd (P - Menace Pettengill) round picks in 2020
Outlook: As soon as he's healthy again, I expect him to be my best pitcher. He better be, because I gave up a sure thing Hall of Famer (Bacon) and one of the best pitchers in the league (Lamela) for him and the picks.


#4 - Bates Schatz - 2B - 21 years old - AA

 AVG  HR RBI
.263   0   1

Origin: Drafted 13th overall pick in 2021 draft. This pick came over from Virginia along with Christopher Steelman (who is in our starting rotation... barely) and their 3rd round pick for Benny Suarez (12-14 3.26 last year for both of us).
Outlook: I just drafted him, so we'll see how he does.


#5 - James Hennen - LF - 24 years old - AAA

 AVG HR RBI
.500  0   4

Origin: Drafted 3rd Round, 49th overall by Tennessee in 2015, then traded along with TN's 1st round pick in 2020 (Earl Schuh) for SS - Joseph Gardiner
Outlook: Hennen has developed a ton since I received him. He'll probably be starting in our outfield next year.


#6 - Earl Schuh - RF - 24 years old - AA

 AVG HR RBI
.353  0   1

Origin: 16th overall pick in 2020 (from Tennessee... see above)
Outlook: .274 - 10 - 88 last year. Looking good for the future.


#7 - Armando Renez - SP - 18 years old - A

Rec  ERA  IP HA BB K
1-0 2.35 7.2  5  3 4

Origin: 11th overall pick in 2021 from Ontario (in a big trade mostly involving picks and me giving up Jacob Perl)
Outlook: Another one with not so hot endurance, but could be very good.


#8 - Nightmare Massengill - 3B - 21 years old - AAA

 AVG HR RBI
.364  2   6

Origin: 19th overall pick in 2020 (Pick acquired in Hennen trade)
Outlook: .287 - 7 - 50 in AA last year. He's improving, but a year or two away from the big time.


#9 - Naldo Reyes - SS - 22 years old - AA

 AVG HR RBI
.350  1   4

Origin: 2nd Round pick in 2020
Outlook: .293 - 6 - 49 last year in AA. I hope he improves this year and eventually takes over the position in the bigs.


#10 - Aimon Gonzalez - SP - 23 years old - A

Rec  ERA  IP HA BB K
1-0 0.00 9.0  3  1 5

Origin: Traded, with OF Bob Hammer, from Virginia during the 2020 draft. In exchange, we gave up Bill Branch and the #23 overall pick (P - Rod Booth).
Outlook: In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have made this move. Hammer is 22 and still in Single A, while Booth will probably end up being a little better than Gonzalez. I'm not expecting all that much from this guy, although he did pitch a really nice game this week.

[Y0DA55]

Team Record: 7-8
Sim Record: 5-5

Games
4/11 - 1-0 loss @ Washington - Steelman threw another beauty today (5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H), but when the opposing pitcher (Danny Day) allows only 2 of your 3 hits, you're kind of SOL. On top of that, Steelman left the game with a minor injury.
4/12 - 6-2 loss @ Nevada - jeheinz72's team trashes us in our first meeting of the year. It didn't help that Crosswell allowed 6 runs in 2.2 innings. On the plus side, 7 different guys on our team got a single hit and the bullpen threw 5 scoreless innings.
4/13 - 7-3 loss @ Nevada - Trashed again. O'Parra can't pitch. Our offense was a little better as our 4, 5, and 6 hitters (Kinchen, Koenig, and Jerkins) each had two hits.
4/14 - 8-2 WIN vs Utah - Chet McKie continues to marvel going 8 2/3 innings AND hitting a homerun. As of now, I should probably plug him into the day-to-day lineup as he's batting .556 with 3 RBI.
4/15 - 6-5 WIN vs Utah - Our bullpen gets it done in this one (2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R) and our offense unloads as everyone regular had a hit and the top 5 had multiple hits.
4/16 - 5-2 WIN vs California - O'Parra finally pitches well, but the story is Jake Kinchen (2 HR, 4 RBI).
4/17 - 7-3 WIN vs California - Kenneth Biel hit a bases loaded, bases clearing double in the bottom of the 8th to win this for us.
4/18 - 7-2 loss vs California - James Walsh has 4 hits, but Crosswell pitches horribly.
4/19 - 8-5 loss @ Texas - Rafael Souza implodes in the 7th giving up 3 runs on 4 hits. So much for our bullpen being solid (not that we were actually winning the game before that).
4/20 - 3-1 WIN @ Texas - Where is Chris Steelman coming from? 6 IP, 4 H, and zero earned runs. Even though he allowed a home run, Ward Chee picked up his 4th save of the season.

Standings

Great Explorers League
East
Team	   W  L  PCT  GB Stk L10
Wisconsin 10  5 .667  -   W2 6-4
Minnesota  9  5 .643  .5  W1 6-4
Kansas	   8  7 .533  2   L2 5-5
Texas	   8  7 .533  2   L1 5-5
Illinois   5  9 .357 4.5  W2 5-5
New Mexico 4 11	.267  6   L2 3-7

West
Team	   W  L  PCT  GB Stk L10
Washington 9  6	.600  -   W3 6-4
California 8  6	.571  .5  L1 6-4
Idaho	   7  7	.500 1.5  L2 4-6
Colorado   7  8	.467  2   W1 5-5
Nevada	   7  8	.467  2	  W2 5-5
Utah	   6  9	.400  3	  L2 4-6

Utah being so bad has kind of surprised me. Expect to see Washington's name up top all year. In other news, Maryland is surprising everyone, especially Massachusetts, in the Northern Division of the Founding Fathers League and the FFL South is looking like its going to stay tight all year.

Pitching

   Name	        G GS W L SV  ERA   IP HA  R ER BB  K
s1 C. McKie     4  4 2 1  0 3.33 27.0 24 11 10  5 12
s2 C. Steelman  3  3 1 1  0 1.06 17.0 15  3  2  3 10
s3 J. Crosswell 4  4 1 3  0 9.00 18.0 25 18 18 12  5
s4 J. O'Parra   4  4 1 2  0 7.88 16.0 20 14 14  5  4

mr L. Briscoe   6  0 0 0  0 5.40  8.1 11  5  5  3  6
mr D. MacKenzie 7  0 0 0  0 4.32  8.1 12  5  4  6  1
mr J. Langlois  7  0 0 0  0 0.90 10.0  6  1  1  0  6
mr B. Suggs     1  0 0 0  0 0.00  1.0  0  0  0  0  0
su R. Souza     9  0 1 1  0 3.18 11.1  6  4  4  1  8
su A. Stier     7  0 1 0  0 0.00  7.0  3  0  0  4  2
cl W. Chee	4  0 0 0  4 2.25  4.0  1  1  1  4  3

Aside from a few blowups, our bullpen has been awesome. McKie and Steelman have been solid, if not spectacular. It will be a nice change to have Long come back from his injury. And wow, we need some help in the back end of our rotation. Crosswell and O'Parra just are not getting it done.

Batting

     Name	 G AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI R	BB  K  AVG  OBP	 SLG
1 LF L. Mingo	13 50  9  2  0	0   1 8  5 13 .180 .268	.220
2  C J. Walsh	14 58 18  4  0	0   8 6	 1  6 .310 .322	.379
3 RF O. Oakley	14 55 10  1  1	1   8 4	 6 13 .182 .262	.291
4 SS J. Kinchen	15 53 14  4  0	2   7 7	 3  7 .264 .328	.453
5 2B V. Koenig	14 51 15  1  0	0   4 5	 4  6 .294 .345	.314
6 3B R. Jerkins	15 57 14  5  0	0   4 9	 2  5 .246 .283	.333
7 1B McLaughlin	14 52 13  0  0	1   5 9	 2 12 .250 .278	.308
8 CF F. Diaz	14 48 13  2  1	2   7 4	 2  6 .271 .294	.479

     A. Oberlin	10 14  7  2  1	0   4 2	 0  1 .500 .533	.786
     Mutsuhito	 4 13  4  0  0	0   1 1	 0  3 .308 .308	.308
     J. Carmona	 5  4  1  0  0	0   0 0	 0  0 .250 .250	.250
     K. Biel	11 12  2  1  0	0   4 0	 1  4 .167 .214	.250
     C. Baker	 8 12  0  0  0	0   0 1	 0  4 .000 .000	.000

Oakley and Mingo have got to start hitting if we are ever going to get anyplace. I'm very happy with the way that Walsh and Koenig have been hitting. We need some power... somewhere.

Injuries
Paul Long is still out. He'll be back next sim.

Team Rankings
Batting AVG: .253 (14th)
Homeruns: 7 (19th)
Walks: 27 (24th)
Stolen Bases: 6 (20th)
Runs Scored: 58 (20th)

Pitching ERA: 4.16 (16th)
Opponents AVG: .256 (10th)
HRs Allowed: 11 (16th)
Walks Allowed: 43 (14th)
Runs Allowed: 62 (T-11th)

Notable Ex-Rams

Hitters
   Name	       Team       G AB 	H 2B 3B	HR RBI	R BB  K	 AVG  OBP  SLG
1B H. Rehm     Louisiana 14 63 16  3  0	 2   4 11  4 13	.254 .299 .397
SS J. Gardiner Tennessee 15 68 24  5  1	 0   9 13  3  7	.353 .389 .456

Pitchers
Name	  Team          G GS W L SV  ERA   IP HA  R ER BB  K
B. Lamela Massachusetts 3  3 3 0  0 0.41 22.0 10  1  1  2 24
B. Suarez Virginia      3  3 1 2  0 5.30 18.2 22 12 11  9 10
J. Perl	  Ontario       3  3 1 1  0 2.33 19.1 16  5  5  4 12

You may or may not notice that all these teams are in the other league. No WAY was I going to face these guys all season.

Lamela is spectacular as always. But these are my guys, and always will be.

[Y0DA55]

So I forgot to mention this in the post above. Last sim, Ryan Turner threw a no-hitter!

"Why is this so amazing?" you might ask. Let me give you a little background here.

Turner was one of the best pitchers ever in the NPBL. He won 20 games in 5 straight seasons and had a total of 268 at age 34 when he had a Torn Ligament in his elbow. It was a career ending injury which forced him to retire after the 2016 season.

Then this preseason, low and behold, we all get mail notifying us that "Nuke" Turner is coming back to play. He took four years to recover, and now is back (the first player in the NPBL to unretire) with pretty much the same ratings.

So, basically, this guy took four years off and then comes back and throws the first no-hitter of his career at age 39.

[ifspuds]

Holy crap. That's a terrific story.

[Y0DA55]

Team Record: 10-12
Sim Record: 3-4

Games
4/21 - 8-4 WIN @ Texas - Amos Oberlin went 2 for 3 with a Homerun and a Double knocking in 3 while Chet McKie allowed 4 runs in 8 innings to get the win.
4/22 - Off Day
4/23 - 7-1 loss vs Minnesota - Paul Long picked the wrong day to come back as James Yim (the winningest pitcher ever) held us to 1 run over six innings. Long didn't pitch poorly (6.2 IP, 7 hits, 2 Runs, 0 walks, 2 K's), he was just outmatched and lost his 6th straight decision dating back to last year. Of course, our bullpen didn't help any, allowing 5 runs in the last 2 innings.
4/24 - 7-5 loss vs Minnesota - Crosswell lost again. Bah! James Walsh did go 2 for 4 with 3 RBI though.
4/25 - 3-2 loss vs Minnesota - Steelman pitched well, but David Echegaray won the 294th game of his career. A late Francisco Diaz pinch hit homerun couldn't save us.
4/26 - Off Day
4/27 - 2-1 WIN vs Wisconsin (10 Innings) - Vin Koenig won it with a solo shot in the bottom of the 10th. He was our entire offense today as he doubled in our first run in the bottom of the second.
4/28 - 8-3 WIN vs Wisconsin - Yay offense! Guys were hitting. Guys were scoring. Jake Kinchen hit a 2 run jack. But the real story is the 8.1 innings that Paul Long put in. He gave up 10 hits, but only allowed 3 runs. Good to see you back, bro.
4/29 - Off Day
4/30 - 7-0 loss vs Kansas - Walsh and Diaz combined for 2/3 of our hits. Steelman just gets rocked. We never had a chance in this one.

Standings

Great Explorers League
East
Team	    W  L  PCT  GB Stk L10
Minnesota  14  9 .609   -  L1 6-4
Wisconsin  13  9 .591  .5  L3 5-5
Kansas	   12 11 .522 2.0  W2 4-6
Texas	   12 12 .500 2.5  L1 4-6
Illinois    9 14 .391 5.0  W1 5-5
New Mexico  7 16 .304 7.0  L1 3-7

West
Team	    W  L  PCT  GB Stk L10
Washington 15  8 .652	-  W3 8-2
Idaho	   13 10 .565 2.0  W1 6-4
California 12 12 .500 3.5  W1 4-6
Nevada	   11 12 .478 4.0  W4 6-4
Colorado   10 12 .455 4.5  L1 4-6
Utah	   10 13 .435 5.0  L2 4-6

Not an auspicious end to our sim. We are right where I thought we would be (hovering near last place). We're still in it though.

Pitching

Name	         G GS W	L SV  ERA   IP	HA  R ER BB  K
s1 P. Long	 2  2 1	1  0 3.00 15.0	17  5  5  1  3
s2 C. McKie	 6  6 3	1  0 3.27 41.1	43 16 15  9 24
s3 C. Steelman	 5  5 1	3  0 3.42 26.1	27 11 10  6 18
s4 J. Crosswell	 5  5 1	4  0 9.13 22.2	35 23 23 15  8
s5 J. O'Parra	 4  4 1	2  0 7.88 16.0	20 14 14  5  4
 
mr L. Briscoe   10  0 0	0  0 3.38 13.1	13  5  5  4 10
mr B. Suggs	 1  0 0	0  0 0.00  1.0	 0  0  0  0  0
mr J. Langlois  11  0 0	0  0 3.14 14.1	12  5  5  2 10
mr D. MacKenzie	 9  0 0	0  0 3.48 10.1	12  5  4  7  3
su R. Souza     14  0 2	1  0 3.31 16.1	11  6  6  3 11
su A. Stier     10  0 1	0  0 3.12  8.2	 8  3  3  4  2
cl W. Chee	 5  0 0	0  4 1.59  5.2	 4  1  1  4  5

The back of our rotation is just ugly. The good news is that O'Parra didn't have to pitch this last sim. The bad news is that he will have to pitch this next sim. When I get my external hard drive back, I'm going to fiddle with my bullpen. Chee should NOT have pitched less than 6 innings this year. He's the best guy in my bullpen. I'll have to get him some more innings somehow.

Lineup

        Name	     G  AB  H 2B 3B HR	RBI  R	BB  K  AVG  OBP	 SLG
1 LF L. Mingo	    20	80 17  3  0  0	  1 13	 7 16 .212 .284	.250
2  C J. Walsh	    20	78 25  4  0  1	 11  8	 3  8 .321 .346	.410
3 RF O. Oakley	    21	82 16  3  1  1	 11  5	 9 19 .195 .275	.293
4 SS J. Kinchen	    22	81 19  4  0  3	 10 10	 4 12 .235 .295	.395
5 2B V. Koenig	    21	73 24  2  0  1	  8 12	 5  8 .329 .372	.397
6 3B R. Jerkins	    22	83 16  5  1  0	  4 10	 4  7 .193 .239	.277
7 1B S. McLaughlin  20	69 17  0  0  1	  7 11	 5 14 .246 .307	.290
8 CF F. Diaz	    21	73 23  2  2  3	 12  6	 2  9 .315 .329	.521

     A. Oberlin	    14	20 10  3  1  1	  7  3	 1  2 .500 .545	.900
     J. Carmona	     7	 6  2  0  0  0	  0  0	 0  0 .333 .333	.333
     N. Mutsuhito    7	18  4  0  0  0	  1  1	 0  3 .222 .222	.222
     K. Biel	    15	17  3  1  0  0	  4  0	 1  5 .176 .211	.235
     C. Baker	    12	20  1  0  0  1	  2  3	 2  6 .050 .136	.200

We don't have one guy in the GEL top 10 in any offensive category save for Diaz and his 2 triples. Somehow Mingo is leading the team in Runs scored, even with his atrocious OBP. Wow, we really need to take more walks, or hit better. What does it say that our #8 guy is probably the best hitter on the team right now?

Milestone Notes
Oscar Oakley is 5 stolen bases away from 800 (300 more than any active player) which is 7th on the all time list.

Summer Nelson, age 39, is 92 hits shy of 4,000. He already has 150 more hits than the 2nd place guy all time (Mr. Tyson Bacon, ex-Ram and future Hall of Famer). But there is a story behind this one. Nelson, who began his career with Colorado, was traded from his long time home in Mississippi to Minnesota with the provision that he be traded back at the end of his career to finish out his days in the uniform that he made famous. He announced his retirement earlier this year. However, if he did go back to Mississippi, there is no way he'd reach that 4,000 hit plateau. Will he end up back in Mississippi or will he continue his trek towards 4,000? And if he stays, will he make it there? His ratings are falling fast.

Team Rankings
Batting AVG: .250 (16th)
Homeruns: 13 (T-15th)
Walks: 44 (24th)
Stolen Bases: 12 (T-17th)
Runs Scored: 84 (22nd)

Pitching ERA: 4.30 (18th)
Opponents AVG: .273 (19th)
HRs Allowed: 16 (14th)
Walks Allowed: 60 (8th)
Runs Allowed: 94 (12th)

Top Prospects Report

   Name                Age Pos Lvl  AVG HR RBI
2  Ross Lange           18   C   A .215  2   6
4  Bates Schatz         21  2B  AA .284  0   7
5  James Hennen         24  LF AAA .356  2  13
6  Earl Schuh           24  RF  AA .287  1  10
9  Nightmare Massengill 21  3B AAA .326  3  21
10 Eugene Grimes        24  LF  AA .333  7  21

  Name         Age Pos  Lvl Rec  ERA   IP HA BB  K
1 Paydirt James 18  SP    A 1-1 2.31 35.0 35 10 15
3 Paul Long     22  SP Bigs 1-1 3.00 15.0 17  1  3
7 Chip Herold   24  SP   AA 3-0 3.15 34.1 28 13 20
8 Armando Renez 18  SP    A 1-2 4.70 30.2 25 17 20

Hennen and Massengill are hitting quite nicely and Chip Herold is pitching really well down in AA. I'm also really excited about Paydirt James, as he seems to be adjusting well. Massengill can also play first, so if he keeps hitting, he'll absolutely be starting 1st basemen for us by years end.

The real story is Eugene Grimes though. I had to look back to see where I got him from. Originally drafted by Ontario, he came over in the trade for Jacob Perl. I know its early, but he's leading the GEL AA in SLG (.690), HR (7), and Runs (21). He's also 2nd in RBI (21) and Stolen Bases (7). I must say that I am slightly excited about this. If he gets his contact up, he'll see some time in the bigs.

[Y0DA55]

Team Record: 14-17
Sim Record: 4-5

Games
5/1 - 2-0 WIN @ Kansas (13 Innings) - Leandro Mingo doubled in the go ahead run and then scored on Oscar Oakley's two out single in the top of the 13th inning that gave us a lead that Leroy Brisoe held on to. Crosswell pitched 6 innings of shutout ball, allowing only 3 hits as he was named player of the game.
5/2 - 2-1 WIN @ Kansas (10 innings) - McKie pitches another beauty (7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 K), but we were saved this game when James Walsh doubled in the top of the tenth followed by a Leandro Mingo triple to give us the lead that Briscoe holds onto for the second straight day.
5/3 - Off Day
5/4 - 8-4 WIN vs Washington - James Walsh doubled, tripled, and had 3 RBI to lead our 8 run attack. Paul Long pitched a nice game, but wasn't spectacular (6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 K).
5/5 - 14-4 loss vs Washington - Steelman and MacKenzie get lit up (a combined 6 IP, 12 H, 10 ER, 1 K). MacLaughlin (1 H, 2 RBI) and Walsh (2 H, 2 R) starred for us.
5/6 - 5-4 WIN vs Washington (10 innings) - Crosswell (8 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 K) pitched well enough to hold Washington down so that we could take advantage. After Souza allowed a solo homerun to Bobby Whittaker in the top of the 10th, it could have been over. But then in the bottom of the 10th, Kenneth Biel singled to center, followed by a double for Leandro Mingo, followed by a 2-run single by James Walsh to win the game.
5/7 - 11-2 loss vs Idaho - Kevin Smith beats us again in a complete game effort. McKie and the pitching staff pitched awful. The lone bright spot was a 2-run homerun by Jake Kinchen in the bottom of the 9th.
5/8 - 7-2 loss vs Idaho - O'Parra finally showed his ugly face (4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 HR) and we couldn't recover. Walsh and Koenig each had 2 hits.
5/9 - 13-2 loss vs Idaho - Long get hammered (2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER) and the rest of the bullpen doesn't fair too well either. No one was doing anything on offense aside from solo homeruns from Oakley and Diaz.
5/10 - 9-3 loss vs Nevada - Steelman can't even get an out before allowing 5 runs on 5 hits. Kinchen had an 2 RBIs and a triple to lead our offense.

Standings

Great Explorers League
West
Team	     W  L  PCT   GB Stk L10
Washington  20 12 .625    -  W2	6-4
Idaho	    16 15 .516	3.5  L1 4-6
Nevada	    16 15 .516	3.5  W1	7-3
California  16 17 .485	4.5  L1	5-5
Colorado    14 17 .452  5.5  L4	4-6
Utah	    14 18 .438	6.0  W1	4-6

East
Team	     W  L PCT    GB Stk L10
Wisconsin   20 11 .645    -  W1 7-3
Texas	    20 13 .606  1.0  W3 8-2
Minnesota   16 15 .516  4.0  L3 3-7
Kansas      15 16 .484  5.0  L1 5-5
Illinois    14 18 .438  6.5  W1 6-4
New Mexico   9 23 .281 11.5  L1 2-8

Washington has a nice little lead right now even though we beat them 2 of three this sim. We looked awful the last 4 games after looking somewhat decent on the front half of the sim. Our Pythagorean Record is three games worse than we are, so the future does not look bright.

Pitching

   Name	         G GS W	L SV   ERA   IP	HA  R ER BB  K
s1 P. Long	 4  4 2	2  0  5.09 23.0	30 14 13  6  4
s2 C. McKie	 8  8 3	2  0  3.73 50.2	53 22 21  9 27
s3 C. Steelman	 7  7 1	5  0  5.93 30.1	38 21 20  9 18
s4 J. Crosswell	 7  7 1	4  0  6.14 36.2	40 25 25 24 18
s5 J. O'Parra	 5  5 1	3  0  7.84 20.2	26 18 18  7  8

mr D. MacKenzie	12  0 1	0  0  7.47 15.2	21 16 13  9  4
mr L. Briscoe	14  0 0	0  2  2.37 19.0	15  5  5  4 14
mr B. Suggs	 3  0 0	0  0 10.80  3.1	 4  4  4  4  1
mr J. Langlois	16  0 0	0  0  4.29 21.0	19 10 10  7 16
su R. Souza	20  0 2	1  0  3.76 26.1	22 11 11  6 20
su A. Stier	14  0 1	0  0  2.25 16.0	17  4  4  5  4
cl W. Chee	12  0 2	0  4  4.11 15.1	13  7  7  8  7

Ouch! This was the sim that our pitching fell apart. Wow, what can I say. It was ugly. A few nice starts, but each nice start was followed by a horrible pitching performance. And check out the back half of our rotation, a 3-12 record.

Lineup

     Name	    G  AB  H 2B	3B HR RBI  R BB	 K  AVG	 OBP  SLG
1 LF L. Mingo	   28 109 25  5	 1  0   5 17 12	23 .229	.317 .294
2  C J. Walsh	   27 106 35  8	 1  1  16 14  6	13 .330	.366 .453
3 RF O. Oakley	   29 114 23  3	 1  2  15  7 11	25 .202	.270 .298
4 SS J. Kinchen	   31 116 28  6	 2  4  15 15  4	16 .241	.285 .431
5 2B V. Koenig	   30 104 32  2	 0  1  12 15  5	15 .308	.345 .356
6 3B R. Jerkins	   31 117 24  6	 1  0   7 13  8	14 .205	.262 .274
7 1B S. McLaughlin 27  97 22  1	 0  1  10 13  6	22 .227	.279 .268
8 CF F. Diaz	   30 109 32  4	 2  4  13  8  3	23 .294	.310 .477

     J. Carmona	   11   9  4  0	 0  0	0  0  0	 0 .444	.444 .444
     A. Oberlin	   20  26 11  3	 1  1	8  3  1	 2 .423	.448 .731
     K. Biel	   20  24  5  2	 0  0	4  1  1	 6 .208	.231 .292
     N. Mutsuhito  12  30  4  0	 0  0	1  1  1	 7 .133	.161 .133
     C. Baker	   20  33  2  0	 0  1	2  3  5	 8 .061	.184 .152

Mingo had some timely hits this sim and Walsh has turned into our best hitter. One of these days I may have to give Oberlin some more at bats as he's been on fire. Jerkins is the guy who I want to step it up now.

Milestone Watch
Oakley had a few more Stolen bases this sim and needs only two more for 800.

Team Rankings
Batting AVG: .244 (20th)
Homeruns: 16 (T-20th)
Walks: 64 (24th)
Stolen Bases: 21 (T-12th)
Runs Scored: 114 (19th)

Pitching ERA: 4.89 (21st)
Opponents AVG: .276 (20th)
HRs Allowed: 31 (22nd)
Walks Allowed: 98 (14th)
Runs Allowed: 157 (20th)

Notable Ex-Rams

   Name        Team       G  AB	 H 2B 3B HR RBI	 R BB  K  AVG  OBP  SLG
1B H. Rehm     Louisiana 31 133 34  5  1  5  12	23 13 29 .256 .322 .421
SS J. Gardiner Tennessee 31 138	46  8  2  0  14	24  5  9 .333 .361 .420

I miss Gardiner's on base percentage, badly.

Name      Team	        G GS W	L SV  ERA   IP	HA  R  ER BB  K
B. Lamela Massachusetts	7  7 5	1  0 1.58 51.1	33  9	9  2 53
B. Suarez Virginia	7  7 4	3  0 3.02 50.2	44 18  17 22 33
J. Perl   Ontario	7  7 2	2  0 4.40 47.0	54 23  23  7 21

May man, Ben Lamela, suffered a ruptered elbow ligament and will be out five weeks. He's having a pretty good year.

[Y0DA55]

Team Record: 17-23
Sim Record: 3-6

Games
5/11 - 9-2 loss vs Nevada - Francisco Diaz had two hits. That's it. That is all the good that came from this game. 5 straight losses now.
5/12 - 5-1 loss vs Nevada - James Walsh has hit safely in 11 straight games and Billy-Bob Suggs pretty much doubles his innings total for the season (4 IP, 2 H, 0 R), but McKie gets shelled in 2 2/3 innings. Also, McLaughlin (who isn't my starting first baseman anymore) got 3 hits.
5/13 - 5-2 loss vs Utah - John O'Parra actually pitched pretty well (7 IP, 8 H, 3 R), but was outdone by Cory Bayne of Utah (8 IP, 8 H, 2 R).
5/14 - 6-4 loss vs Utah - Our 8th straight loss, Paul Long gets beat up in 4.1 innings (8 H, 5 ER) to raise his ERA to 5.93. Oscar Oakley hit his 3rd homerun of the year.
5/15 - 5-3 WIN vs Utah - Hooray! A Win! Chris Steelman, of all people, pitches well (6.1 IP, 9 H, 3 ER) and the bullpen locked it down. But the star was Oscar Oakley who hit 2 solo homeruns in the 4th (to give us the lead) and 6th (to give us some insurance) innings
5/16 - 4-1 loss vs Utah - Crosswell (7 IP, 9 H, 4 ER) pitched as well as we could hope for, but our offense didn't do jack squat. The sad part is, we only left 2 guys on base the entire game (we had 7 hits).
5/17 - Off Day
5/18 - 2-1 loss @ New Mexico - Chet McKie pitches well enough to win (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER), but our offense doesn't help him out. Vin Koenig's 1st inning homerun was all the scoring that we did.
5/19 - 5-4 WIN @ New Mexico - We scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th inning with Francisco Diaz going 3 for 3 with a key 2-run single in the top of the 9th that tied the game. Oscar Oakley also stole a base, which put him at 799 for his career.
5/20 - 3-1 WIN @ New Mexico - Chris Steelman wins his second straight game (and also wins PoG honors) and James Walsh picks up 3 more hits to take the team lead in that category.

Standings

Great Explorers League
West
Team	    W  L  PCT   GB Stk L10
Washington 27 14 .659    -  L1 8-2
Idaho	   23 17 .575  3.5  W6 7-3
Nevada     20 20 .500  6.5  W2 5-5
Utah	   18 23 .439  9.0  L3 5-5
California 18 24 .429  9.5  W1 2-8
Colorado   17 23 .425  9.5  W2 3-7

East
Team	    W  L  PCT   GB Stk L10
Wisconsin  26 14 .650	 -  W1 7-3
Texas	   25 17 .595  2.0  W3 6-4
Kansas     22 18 .550  4.0  L1 7-3
Minnesota  20 20 .500  6.0  L2 4-6
Illinois   16 25 .390 10.5  L6 3-7
New Mexico 12 29 .293 14.5  L2 3-7

8 straight losses. Yikes! We ended the sim on a high note, winning two of three (of course, those 3 games were against the worst team in the league).

Also, just a note for you all. The top two teams in each division make the playoffs. So if the season ended today, Washington (the 1 seed) would play Idaho (4 seed) and Wisconsin (2) would play Texas (3).

Pitching

   Name	         G GS W	L SV  ERA   IP	HA  R ER BB  K
s1 C. McKie	10 10 3	4  0 4.11 61.1	67 29 28 11 30
s2 P. Long	 6  6 2	3  0 5.40 33.1	45 21 20  7  5
s3 C. Steelman	 9  9 3	5  0 5.06 42.2	49 25 24 14 24
s4 J. Crosswell	 9  9 1	6  0 6.70 47.0	58 36 35 27 20
s5 J. O'Parra	 6  6 1	4  0 6.83 27.2	34 21 21  7 10

mr D. MacKenzie	16  0 2	0  0 5.26 25.2	27 18 15 12  6
mr L. Briscoe	19  0 0	0  2 2.63 24.0	20  7  7  6 18
mr B. Suggs	 5  0 0	0  0 5.79  9.1	 9  6  6  8  2
mr J. Langlois	17  0 0	0  0 4.09 22.0	19 10 10  7 16
su R. Souza	22  0 2	1  0 3.45 28.2	22 11 11  6 21
su A. Stier	16  0 1	0  1 2.00 18.0	17  4  4  5  7
cl W. Chee	15  0 2	0  6 3.93 18.1	16  8  8  8  9

I moved Long down in the starting rotation. It seems like he is feeling too much pressure up there. I have a feeling this is going to be a long year for this pitching staff. Check out their ERAs. Aside from Herold (who I don't want to bring up just yet, there is no immediate help in the minors.

Lineup

Name	            G  AB  H 2B	3B HR RBI  R BB	 K  AVG	 OBP  SLG
1 LF L. Mingo	   35 136 31  8	 1  0	6 21 15	25 .228	.314 .301
2 CF F. Diaz	   38 138 41  4	 2  4  16 14  5	28 .297	.322 .442
3 2B V. Koenig	   39 136 41  3	 0  2  17 17  7	18 .301	.340 .368
4 SS J. Kinchen	   40 152 39 10	 2  4  19 18  4	27 .257	.294 .428
5  C J. Walsh	   36 141 43  9	 1  1  21 15  8	18 .305	.342 .404
6 RF O. Oakley	   38 144 31  4	 1  5  19 11 13	31 .215	.278 .361
7 3B R. Jerkins	   40 150 25  6	 1  0   7 14 10	19 .167	.224 .220
8 1B A. Oberlin	   28  47 14  3	 1  1	8  5  3	 2 .298	.346 .468
     
     J. Carmona	   18  17  7  0	 0  0	1  0  0	 2 .412	.412 .412
     S. McLaughlin 33 109 28  2	 0  1  10 13  6	22 .257	.302 .303
     K. Biel	   22  31  7  2	 0  0	4  2  1	 6 .226	.242 .290
     N. Mutsuhito  15  38  4  0	 0  0	1  1  2	 9 .105	.150 .105
     C. Baker	   23  35  2  0	 0  1	2  3  5	 9 .057	.175 .143

Moved Oberlin into the lineup because I wanted to see what he could do. Turns out, not much.

I'm so very close to benching Jerkins and throwing Nightmare to the wolves in a trial by fire situation. The Jerk is getting on base less than 25% of the time. Blah!

Milestone Watch
Oscar Oakley needs but 1 stolen base to reach 800 in his career.

Team Rankings
Batting AVG: .239 (20th)
Homeruns: 20 (22nd)
Walks: 80 (24th)
Stolen Bases: 28 (T-11th)
Runs Scored: 138 (22nd)

Pitching ERA: 4.76 (21st)
Opponents AVG: .275 (20th)
HRs Allowed: 42 (23rd)
Walks Allowed: 118 (12th)
Runs Allowed: 196 (21st)

This is all out of 24 teams. Ouch!

Top Prospects Report
Feast your eyes on the top 10 of the #1 rated minor league system in the NPBL!

Batters
#  Name	               Age Pos Lvl  AVG HR RBI
2  Ross Lange	        18   C   A .240  3  10
4  Bates Schatz	        21  2B	AA .301  1  10
5  James Hennen	        24  LF AAA .316  4  29
6  Earl Schuh	        24  RF  AA .255  2  16
9  Nightmare Massengill	21  3B AAA .302  3  26
10 Eugene Grimes	24  LF  AA .300 10  42

Pitchers
#  Name	         Age Pos  Level Rec  ERA   IP HA BB  K
1  Paydirt James  18  SP      A 1-2 2.74 62.1 58 17 32
3  Paul Long	  22  SP Majors 2-3 5.40 33.1 45  7  5
7  Chip Herold	  24  SP     AA 5-0 3.00 60.0 45 26 37
8  Armando Renez  18  SP      A 2-4 4.77 54.2 44 31 29

Lange and Renez need to pick it up a bit. Grimes continues to impress. I think it might be time to bring Herold up a level. He's almost fully developed, but needs to improve his control.

I'm excited that we are now the #1 minor league system. But we don't have any HUGE minor leaguers coming up through the system. Here's the top 5 guys and where they rank overall as a prospect:
Paydirt James - 16th
Ross Lange - 28th
James Hennen - 29th
Bates Shatz - 33rd
Chip Herold - 36th

So overall, we've got some good kids, but not great kids coming up. Our big boys (James, Lange, and Long) are still young though.

[jeheinz72]

Keep it up Yoda, glad I finally noticed this bad boy.

And man, that Nevada team is putting a little poVVnage down on you this year, aren't they?

[Y0DA55]

Originally Posted by jeheinz72

And man, that Nevada team is putting a little poVVnage down on you this year, aren't they?

There's a first for everything.

[jeheinz72]

Originally Posted by Y0DA55

There's a first for everything.

Hey, I was 10-8 against you in 2019!

But yeah, you're basically right.