GM turned Manager

[Fyrestorm3]

November 16, 2016

Big news out of Tampa Bay today: their search for a new manager is over... but it's not who you'd expect.

In one of the most bizarre personnel decisions in recent history, Bryan Westmoreland, GM of the Rays since 2012, will be slipping on a jersey and taking the field with the team he has spent the last five seasons putting together. The news was announced at a press conference this afternoon.

"I understand that a lot of fans are going to question this decision," said Rays owner Stewart Sternberg, "But I'm putting my faith in Bryan, and I want the entire Rays family to do so as well."

Shortly after the Rays' season came to a shocking end at the hands of the Oakland A's, long-time skipper Joe Maddon announced his retirement from baseball, to the dismay of fans across the state. It was a poorly-kept secret that Maddon and Westmoreland didn't always see eye to eye, and Westmoreland had expressed on more than one occasion that he felt he could run the team better than good ol' Joe. And now, it appears he'll get his chance.

"I know this is unprecedented in today's MLB," Westmoreland said, "But then again, I've always been an outside-the-box thinker, haven't I?"

Westmoreland is noted for his sometimes unbelieveable transactions and has been criticized for being "out of touch" with the fans (having traded away fan favorites such as Evan Longoria and James Shields). He hopes that this move will prove to the fans that he does care about the team.

"These are my guys," he said. "This is my team. Almost all of these players have been hand-picked by me. There's a reason they're on the team. I think this is one of the best teams in baseball, and this season, I'm going to prove it."

Westmoreland will reportedly continue his GM duties as well as providing the on-field managing, though it is speculated that he will most likely turn over the more minor responsibilities to the rest of his staff. Some fans have become completely exasperated with Westmoreland, while others have grown to embrace his often-eccentric approach to baseball operations. It will certainly be interesting to see how he fares in the dugout.

[Fyrestorm3]

So yeah, the basic idea is, I've been playing as GM-only in my current MLB game, but I was growing a little tired of it, finding myself desperately wanting to play out games. Thing is, I am determined not to abandon this game until I build the Rays to a World Series championship. Plus, I've gotten attached to the players, and I don't feel like confusing myself by starting another file just to manage a few games.

And then, at the end of the most current season, Joe Maddon surprised the hell out of me by retiring. And I saw an opportunity. I edited an existing manager to be my doppelganger (so that "Bryan Westmoreland" could function as both manager and GM), giving him below-average ratings in all categories. The article above sums up the in-game justification for the move. I plan on playing out all 162 games and posting the results here, along with my running commentary as "Westmoreland" (not actually my name, but it's the pseudonym I use for all my digital alter egos).

I will be using a random-event generator based off of the idea in THIS THREAD at various points throughout the season, to give myself some extra storylines and make this Dynasty Report more interesting. But first, I need to sum up the changes in my 2017 version of the MLB:

Before the 2015 season, the Baltimore Orioles moved south and became the Carolina Breakers. Details on this, as well as the interesting finish to 2016 can be found HERE.

In 2016, the Mets unveiled new, ultra-modern uniforms, which can be seen in THIS THREAD.

At the upcoming Winter Meetings this year, the Cleveland Indians are set to officially change their name to the Cleveland Spiders, and you can read about that HERE.

Finally, if you want to understand the backstory of my character not getting along with Maddon, THIS THREAD has the details.

(I find it cool that this Dynasty Report is kind of the culmination of a lot of my recent activity on the forums)

Anyway, just wanted to get this opening out of the way. Tomorrow, I'll start by introducing the players to give a bit more backstory.

[Fyrestorm3]

Two quick things I should note about the actual operation of the league: it is stats-only, and this preseason, the minor league options rule was removed entirely. Anyway, onto the players. First, the pitching staff.

Starting rotation:

SP Alex Torres

Hot damn, did this guy come out of nowhere. He was first called up shortly into the 2014 season to fill an injury; he went 6-9 in his rookie year with a 4.20 ERA. Similar numbers followed the next year, though his ERA dropped to 3.90. And then last year, I don't even know what happened. He absolutely blew opposing hitters away, posting a 2.39 ERA with a 1.14 WHIP, and won the Cy Young award in a landslide, being the only pitcher in the majors to win 20 games (20-7). Right now, he's my ace, and I'm really hoping that last year wasn't a fluke. We could be in trouble if it was.

Also, he has a kickin' mustache.

SP Julio Teheran

Contrary to Torres, I am really hoping that Teheran's last season WAS a fluke. He was lights out for the Braves for three years, even winning the Cy Young at the age of 24. He was my huge acquisition at the trade deadline last year, and even though I had to give up Matt Moore to get him, I felt it was well worth the price. But he fizzled with us. It wasn't like he was bad - in the 12 games he started, he posted a 3.25 ERA, but he wasn't what he should have been, and seemed to alternate between dominating and getting shelled. We've got him under contract for four more years, though, so here's hoping the kid wasn't a one-hit wonder.

SP David Price

One of only two carry-overs from when I inherited the Rays in 2012, Price has consistently proven that he CAN put up some very good numbers, but he has been just plagued by injuries, and only once in the last four years has he been healthy for a complete season. Regardless, he's worth keeping, due to his sheer potential.

SP Brian Matusz

Matusz is an enigma. His stats tell one story, while his performances tell another. He's got a career 4.41 ERA, and yet he somehow turns into a superstar when it counts. He fashioned a four-hit complete game in Game 2 of the ALDS last year, and it wasn't all that surprising. He's got this competitive drive that makes him one of my top big-game pitchers. If only he could find a way to make that last all season...

SP Dallas Beeler

I traded for Beeler in his rookie year of 2015. I was desperate for starters, and a kid posting a 3.67 ERA in his rookie season sounded good to me. He's really not all that great, though - a serviceable back-of-the-rotation guy.

[Fyrestorm3]

Bullpen:

MR Evan Crawford

I love this guy, simply because he's a Rule 5 draft pick that actually panned out. He had some ups and downs in his first year with us, but he has turned into a very solid arm in the bullpen. Nothing spectactular, but reliable.

MR Josh Edgin

I'm really not sure what to think about Edgin. We picked him up off of waivers last year, and he turned in some surprisingly good outings. Still, his minor league stats don't exactly translate to a major league pitcher, so he'll probably be the first one on the chopping block should a minor leaguer start tearing up AAA.

MR Yensi Magallanes

Magallanes was a September call-up last year, but his numbers were marred by a single horrific outing in which he let up 6 runs. He settled down after that, though, and quickly proved himself to be extremely reliable. He even helped us clinch a playoff spot by hurling 4 no-hit innings after Torres got chased in the 3rd. I am very excited to see him in action again this year.

MR Carlos Palma

Palma came over in the same trade that got us Matusz (I consider it one of the better moves I've made), and quickly turned into Maddon's golden boy out of the bullpen. He threw just over 100 innings last season (3 starts). Still, he's young, and while he could eventually turn into a very good starter, he's going to have to seriously impress me if he wants to see that much playing time this season.

MR Zachary Quate

Now HERE'S the guy that should be anchoring our 'pen. Quate spent a long time in our minor league system, but from the day he got called up, he has turned in quality outing after quality outing. And yet, he was constantly overlooked by Maddon in favor of the younger arms. That won't happen with me in charge. Quate's time in the minors has strengthened his resolve, and though he's only 30, he has fallen into the role of the seasoned vet in what has become a very young bullpen.

CL Sergio Romo

The closer spot was the single biggest decision I had to make this off-season. I had traded for Romo halfway through last season, despite already having a very competent closer by the name of Vinnie Pestano. Ultimately, Romo won the job for two reasons: first, money. He was guaranteed $7M this year, while Pestano was headed into Free Agency with back-to-back 30+ Save seasons under his belt. (Sure enough, he got picked up by the Yankees for ~$10M a year). Second, I couldn't stop thinking about Game 4 of the ALDS, in which Pestano came in with a 2-run lead in the 9th and a chance to send us to the ALCS... and completely and utterly broke down. Call me vindictive, but the fact that we lost that series severely hurt Vinnie's chances of returning. Thus, Sergio Romo is our closer. He's getting on in age, but still looks to be dominant.

[Fyrestorm3]

Starting Infield:

C Kyle Skipworth

Skipworth came over as part of a minor league trade with the Marlins, but he put up some serious numbers in AAA and earned the starting spot when Russell Martin collapsed (see below). He's not really good, overall, but should hit around .260, which I'll take at the bottom of the lineup. Catcher is, I think, the one position on this team that could use an improvement. No offense to Skipworth, who seems like a good kid.

1B Bill Carson

Carson is my boy. He was the very first amateur that I ever drafted for the Rays, and he has not disappointed in the least. I called him up halfway through the 2014 season, and he immediately became one of the best players on the team. He has a career .296 batting average, with 101 home runs in 2.5 seasons. He is the anchor of our lineup, and should be for years to come.

2B Cole Figueroa

Cole's a real fan favorite around Tampa. He doesn't have the raw ability of some of his teammates, but he is a scrapper, a total dirt dog. And my goodness, is he consistent. He has played 4 consecutive seasons with us without getting injured, and every year puts up numbers around .275/.350/.400. He might not be a star by any means, but he is super-reliable.

3B Cameron Seitzer

Former Rookie of the Year in 2015, Seitzer is a 1B-turned-3B with some serious raw power. The fans absolutely love this guy, but I'm not completely sold. One of my main goals when I took over the team was to eliminate the low-average, high-power players like Carlos Pena and Luke Scott. And I thought Seitzer had the tools to hit for average as well as power. I was wrong, but I suppose a single pure power hitter in the lineup isn't going to kill me.

SS Elvis Andrus

The best acquisition I've ever made. Without a doubt. In the 2014 offseason, I shocked the fan base by making a trade with the Rangers, giving up Evan Longoria in return for Andrus. The fans were calling for my head, but the thing was, I had Bill Carson AND Cameron Seitzer both coming up through the minors, and Longoria had turned into one of those low-average, high-power guys that I had sworn to get rid of. Longoria proceeded to hit .220 over the next two years with Texas, while Andrus has hit .298 for two straight seasons atop our lineup. Elvis is signed through 2020, while Longoria is a free agent. I'd say I made the right call there.

[Fyrestorm3]

Infield Bench:

C Russell Martin

I've made some bad personnel decisions in the past, but this one takes the cake. I had been looking for a good catcher after I decided to let Victor Martinez walk at the end of his contract, and Martin had been batting an average of .272/.355/.446 over the previous four years with the Yankees. When they offered him to me in a trade at last year's Winter Meetings, I decided to bite the bullet on his $20M-a-year contract to have a competent catcher. ...Martin proceeded to bat .200 and actually lost the starting job to Kyle Skipworth. The good news is, he seems to be okay with his new role as backup and defensive replacement, and the other players look up to him as a leader and mentor. Still, I'll be so relieved when his contract expires at the end of next season.

1B Kendrys Morales

Morales was a recent acquisition this off-season. I signed him for fairly cheap, and the idea of a switch-hitter available off the bench is extremely appealing to me. Morales hasn't done much in recent years, but he should be an okay backup for Carson.

3B/1B Addison Maruszak

Maruszak had been a staple in the Yankees' lineup for the past three years before I traded for him this offseason (giving up reliever Andrew Bailey and a prospect). He strongly reminds me of our own Cole Figueroa - not spectacular, but extremely reliable. If anything happens to Carson or Seitzer, I will be glad to have this guy on my bench.

Out-of-character note: Maruszak confuses me. For three seasons, he batted around .300/.330/.440, with about 15 homers and 90 RBI. And yet the computer seems to think he's worthless. Arbitration gave him a contract of $750,000 two straight years, and the Yankees have been seemingly desperate to get rid of him. I actually intervened in Commish Mode a few times when they traded him for next to nothing. Finally, I just decided I'd take him in a trade, giving up a very good reliever in Bailey, to stop this nonsense.

IF Sam Office

This guy's just your standard backup player. He can play second, third, and short competently, but he's really not that great overall.

[mpejkrm]

What are you AI player evaluation settings? those directly affect arb. numbers.

[Fyrestorm3]

Originally Posted by mpejkrm

What are you AI player evaluation settings? those directly affect arb. numbers.

0% on ratings (stats-only), then 67/22/11. His VORP dramatically dropped last year, which I'm sure had something to do with it, but otherwise he's consistently had similar numbers to Cole Figueroa, who's been awarded $6M and $7.5M in arbitration so far.



Outfield:

OF Leonys Martin

When the Rangers contacted me, interested in trading for backup infielder Jed Lowrie, I initially wasn't too high on the deal (Lowrie had been a solid contributor off the bench). But, after a little negotiating, we hammered out a deal that got me Leonys Martin. Martin's played for the Rangers for five straight years, and has put up some solid numbers (career .292 average). He joins an outfield here in Tampa that has some significant depth all around, but he will (at least initially) be getting the start in left.

OF Josh Sale

Sale surprised the crap out of everyone last year; it was his first year in the bigs, and he made an impact with 32 home runs. His average left a little to be desired, but he should improve on that with time. He was Maddon's starting DH last year, and will continue in that role with me at the helm, though he'll probably also see some play in the outfield as well.

OF Desmond Jennings

Along with Shields, Jennings is the only hold-over from the 2012 iteration of the Rays. I signed him to a cheap, long-term deal, and although his offense hasn't really shown up much, his defense in center field has been spectacular. He'll actually have some competition this year, as Leonys Martin can play CF as well, so we'll see if that ups Jennings's game any.

OF Drew Vettleson

Vettleson was called up halfway through the year last year, and has proven competent as a backup outfielder. My scouts are really high on this guy, though, so we'll see if he's any better this time around.

OF Ramon Garcia

If it weren't for Alex Torres, Garcia would have been the biggest surprise of last year. He was a 7th round pick in 2012 who clawed his way up to the majors. He had a decent season with us in 2015, enough so that I was comfortable trading away Starling Marte in the Russell Martin deal (still never should have done it, though). But I never expected him to come back in 2016 firing on all cylinders like he did. He went .323/.383/.492, with 25 HR and 96 RBI. But his value extended far beyond his stats: he was the single most clutch player on the team, hands down. If Garcia was at the plate in a big spot, he was almost guaranteed to deliver. It was perhaps this aspect of his game that earned him the 2016 MVP Award, much to my surprise.

[Fyrestorm3]

Last, and potentially least, we have the...

Prospects:

SP Carlos Perez

I didn't initially think Perez would be ready for this year, but he pitched brilliantly in Spring Training, and will most likely be the first guy in line to be called up, should the need arise.

SP Parker Markel

Markel is that one guy that every team has who is constantly bouncing up and down between the big leagues and the minors. He's just good enough to be a spot starter if I need the extra arm, but not good enough to stick around for longer than a month or so.

MR Jerry Griffith

Griffith has also been up and down in the system, though he tends to spend time in AA as well as AAA every year. He's so remarkably inconsistent. He's a September callup every year; two years ago, he was fine, but last year, he absolutely blew up. I mean, it was disgraceful: 11 ER in 4 IP. Needless to say, he's a bit of a last resort.

CL Glen Henry

As well as being the owner of a fine, old-school mustache, Henry is also one of the top prospects in my organization. This year will be the first year he's played above A-Ball, so it will be interesting to see if he lives up to the sparkling stats he posted in Single-A.

C Brent Menteath

Menteath was a first-round draft pick in 2015, and quickly rose up to AAA-Ball. Unfortunately, he severely underperformed in Spring Training this year, so I think he's going to need one more season under his belt before he gets his shot at the Rays.

2B Will Rhymes

I find myself wondering when Rhymes will ever go away. He's really not good at all, he's getting on in years, and yet for some reason, Maddon would always ask for him when the bench ran short. I mean, I understand why - we don't have a lot of good infield prospects, and he's been up and down in the system so many times that he really knows how things work. But still, I really hope I don't have to use him.

SS Jake Hager

Hager is a strange case. He pretty much sucked at the Single-A level, but managed to earn a call-up to AA in spite of it, and started lighting pitchers up. It was enough to earn himself an invitation to Spring Training, but he really did horrible. Unfortunately, we're short on minor league infielders, so you never know.

OF Justin Fradejas

This kid has real baseball smarts. Unfortunately, that alone may not be enough to get him into the big leagues, since our outfield is as deep as we've ever had. I'll be keeping an eye on him throughout the season, though, just in case.

OF Byron Buxton

Buxton was a hot-shot prospect when I got him in a trade from the Tigers, but he's pretty much languished in our minor league system since then. He's worked his way up to AAA, and could still prove to be a competent player, but with our current outfield situation, he's more than likely going to be trade fodder.



That's that for the players. The preseason predictions are in, and we're forecasted to win the division by a single game over the Carolina Breakers. But we've got a long way to go to get there...

[Fyrestorm3]

--Scratch that - game crashed while saving, and I'll have to replay the season opener. Note to self: make sure game saves before posting results--

[Fyrestorm3]

April 4, 2017

We've got a two-game series against the Carolina Breakers to open the season. The Breakers are quickly becoming a decent rival, and we're projected to go toe-to-toe with them all year long once again.



Overall, a very mediocre performance from nearly everyone. The exception would be Josh Sale, who was responsible for all three of our runs, including a two-run bomb in the 9th. You wouldn't think a single run in the top of the ninth would make so much of a difference, but it proved to be the winning run in this case. It's not all bad - we held together and were in it until the final out - but everyone could have played better. Ah well, on to tomorrow.

Zachary Quate also left the game after facing a single batter, complaining of a sore shoulder. I'm hoping it's nothing serious.

[Fyrestorm3]

April 5, 2017

Time to see what former Cy Young winner Julio Teheran can do. I have decided to play Russell Martin against left-handed pitchers, after he was a pleasant surprise in Spring Training, batting .305. Who knows? If he can turn his game around, he could win back the starting spot.



Quite the second game of the season, if I do say so myself. I was very impressed by Teheran's 9-inning effort, even though he does not get the win to show for it; a single mistake pitch to the ever-dangerous Nick Delmonico cost him. He also got some serious help from his defense, as they turned three double plays over the course of those 9 innings. Meanwhile, Russell Martin and Addison Maruszak both fell flat in their debuts. I am very disappointed in Maruszak, who came to bat with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the 6th, and promptly grounded into a 6-1-3 double play. And Cole Figueroa put on a show early in the game, that was great to see. So far, the top of the lineup has done fine; the bottom has some catching-up to do.

NOTE: I'm trying to decide which style of box score I want to be posting. This one requires far less cutting-and-pasting to put together than the one above, but I fear it's a bit too big. I'll be experimenting with this over the course of these first few games.

[Fyrestorm3]

April 7, 2017

Got the news yesterday that Zachary Quate has a partially torn labrum. He's going to miss up to 3 months. What a lovely way to start the season. Well, time to see what Carlos Perez can do in the big leagues! Today, we begin a series with the Kansas City Royals. It's still hard for me to view the Royals as actual contenders, but they have come a long way in recent years. They still have trouble competing against the AL's elite, but they've actually been finishing with winning records, and even made the playoffs in 2014, led by Jose Flores and his career .320 batting average. Before the season, they also picked up Jordan Walden, the former shut-down closer of the Angels. We're going to want to be ahead BEFORE the 9th inning if we hope to get some W's.



Well, Price started out really good, notching a bunch of K's. But he also plunked 3 batters, which likely didn't help him much, and I wound up pulling him from the game much too late to make a difference. The good news is, being down 6-0 in the 8th gave me an excuse to put Carlos Perez into the game. He did pretty darn good for his first Major League experience: his control was a little shaky (likely nerves), but he didn't allow a hit in a full two innings. The offense came alive late in the game, including a home run by Seitzer... would have been nice to see that earlier, though. We also got our first taste of Jordan Walden, who got all three outs in the 9th on just 7 pitches. Meanwhile, Desmond Jennings has yet to get a hit this year. I'm contemplating starting Drew Vettleson soon, but we'll give it another game or two. Leonys Martin has been playing such good defense in Left Field that I'm hesitant to move him out of that position.

[Fyrestorm3]

April 8, 2017

While there have been some good aspects to take away from our first three games, overall things could be better. We've had some seriously mediocre starting pitching so far; I'll be interested to see if Brian Matusz can start to turn us around.



Error - Double - Wild Pitch - Sac Fly - Home Run. Yeah, that's not a good start, and it didn't get better from there. Matusz imploded, and Josh Edgin didn't help him out, by allowing his two inherited runners to score after Brian left in the 3rd. Matusz was thus charged with a whopping 9 runs, 8 of them earned. We had a little spark of offense in the fifth, but it wasn't close to enough. Tomorrow can't come fast enough to get this game out of my memory.

[Fyrestorm3]

April 9, 2017

We'd better win tonight. I don't want to be swept by the Royals. To try and stop our skid, we hand the ball to... Dallas Beeler? Oh dear. The good news is, we're facing Danny Duffy, who has been remarkably inconsistent over the past few years. He got the win in his first start of the season, but allowed 12 hits over 6 innings. Hopefully we can string a few together ourselves.



Oh dear lord, something's going to have to change here. Beeler held us in the game for a few innings, but the offense just couldn't get anything done. On the other side of the ball, Duffy was spectacular. The only reason we scored two in the first was because Eric Hosmer botched a pop foul, allowing Bill Carson an extra pitch, which he promptly bashed out of the park. Were it not for that error, we'd have been shut out. We're now 1-4 in our first 5 games. This has to change. Now.

[Fyrestorm3]

April 10, 2017

The first weekly power rankings are out, and yep, we're ranked 29th out of 30. The only team worse is the Mariners, also 1-4 on the season. We travel to Milwaukee today to face the 4-3 Brewers and recent Player of the Week winner Bill Bates. The good news is, it's our top 3 pitchers against their bottom 3, and their team ERA ranks 12th in the NL. The bad news is, we're the Away team, which means no DH. Although, Alex Torres has actually hit a home run each of the past two years - maybe he can do it again tonight.

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Ho boy, it took quite a while, but we finally strung some hits together tonight! It was one heck of a pitchers' duel through 5 innings, as both Torres and Zack Wheeler had each only allowed 1 hit. That changed quickly in the bottom of the 6th, with a Ryan Braun home run, and all I could picture from that point forward was another game in the Loss column. But somehow, miraculously, the team pulled together and staged a spectacular ninth-inning comeback, starting with a 3-run bomb by Bill Carson. It was Josh Sale who then tied the game with a double, and Elvis Andrus who came through to put us ahead. Sergio Romo then shut the door, no problem, and we got ourselves our second W of the season. Finally.

[Fyrestorm3]

Whoo, three updates today. I'm finally getting going on this. Also, I think I've settled on posting the full boxscores - you might notice that I use Left On Base instead of Errors in the linescore, because I feel like that's a much more important stat to know. It tells you a lot more about the game than the number of errors does, in my opinion.

April 11, 2017

Well, here's my first test as manager. Desmond Jennings let me know today, in no uncertain terms, that he didn't appreciate my "vote of no confidence" in him last night. It was in the top of the 7th: Garcia singled and Carson doubled to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Neither Seitzer nor Leonys Martin could bring them home, and Jennings was due up next. Jennings has gone a whopping 0-for-14 on the year so far - not to mention a .000 OBP - and so I pulled him for Josh Sale. Sale didn't bring home the run, and (as lame as this sounds) I think it hurt Jennings's feelings a bit. He's not a bad hitter overall, and I know that, but he's in a serious slump to start the season. Anyway, he left my office before I could really articulate a response, and now I've got a decision to make. I COULD bench him, but I'm afraid that would cause more of a problem. I think I'll give him the rest of this series to turn things around, but if he doesn't have a hit after tomorrow night, I've got to at least consider starting Drew Vettleson.

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Now that's more like it! For the first time this season, my boys played like winners. From Garcia's ringing RBI double in the 1st to Drew Vettleson's pinch-hit, bases-loaded single in the 8th, we had this game locked up the entire way. Teheran pitched brilliantly, and definitely could have lasted longer than 7 innings, but I lifted him in the 8th for Vettleson in an attempt to cash in a few insurance runs (the bases were loaded). I am extremely pleased with Bill Carson, who absolutely crushed the ball every time he stepped to the plate. Even the outs he made sent the outfielders backpedalling. Leonys Martin is also paying huge dividends on the other side of the ball. He made a spectacular, leaping catch in the third inning that easily saved a run, and he threw Evan Gattis out at the plate in the fifth, also preserving the shutout. On the Jennings front, he actually got on base in his first at-bat with a walk, and then proceeded to steal third without my permission, possibly as a show of "see, I can play." I wasn't too happy about that. Later in the game, he also picked up his first hit, though it was a lucky one as he beat out the throw from deep short. I'll be watching him closely tomorrow.

[Fyrestorm3]

April 12, 2017

So far, it's looking like that 5-run 9th has really lit a fire under the players. Let's hope they can keep it going tonight - a sweep would go a long way towards regaining the fans' confidence in both me and the team.

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Price was shaky as hell today, but he got the Win anyway, as our offense absolutely steamrolled the Brewers. Everyone got in on the action - Jennings got a hit, Price drove in a run, Morales hit a home run, Sale was nigh unstoppable. Milwaukee actually went through 8 different pitchers, and only Danny Salazar seemed to be able to temporarily hold down this lineup. I don't know if this series says more about us or Milwaukee, but either way, I'll take the sweep and I'll take us being .500 on the season.

[Fyrestorm3]

April 14, 2017

We arrived in Philadelphia after having a day off for travel. The Phillies are 4-4 on the year, although they were just swept by Seattle (yes, both Seattle and us managed a sweep after going 1-4). Working in our favor is Gio Gonzalez - or rather the Phillies' lack thereof. It came out yesterday that he'll be undergoing Tommy John surgery and will be out for the year. But we'll still have to be very wary of Buster Posey and the rest of the Phillies' lineup, especially since they're righty-heavy, and our rotation is 3/5 southpaws.



Well, it wasn't a good game, but it wasn't bad, either. No one performed particularly badly, but we just couldn't get it done. The only thing I'm concerned about is, again, Desmond Jennings. We were down by 1 in the 7th, with a runner on third and 1 out. All we needed was a sacrifice fly. We got a strikeout. Not good, not good at all.

[Fyrestorm3]

April 15, 2017

Tonight, we go up against Jonathan Pettibone, who was the Phillies' surprise star last year, posting a 2.45 ERA over the course of the half-season that he was in the bigs. This year, he's pitched two games, gone seven innings in each one, and hasn't allowed a single run. Let's change that.

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A disappointing loss tonight, no doubt. Torres had a bizarre start in which he allowed 5 runs in the first (including a grand slam by Tyler Austin), and then started pitching perfectly. His pitch count caught up with him in the 6th, though, and he tired out pretty quick. The bullpen picked him up, though, and have now thrown 19.2 straight innings without allowing a run. If our starters could take a few lessons from our relievers, we'd be golden. Anyway, the 5-run deficit proved too much to overcome, though we did hand Pettibone his first ERs of the season.