The Denver Brewers of the W.P. Kinsella League

[BirdWatcher]

Houston's Atsushi Matsuda, who was the 4th overall pick in the 1984 draft out of Tucson College, is following up his 1986 SJL Rookie of the Year season with more of the same, if not better. The 22-year-old right fielder had a 3 home run day yesterday to give him 15 on the season and tie him with Boston's Kyle Adams (last year's SJL MVP) for 2nd in home runs in the SJL behind Washington's Donovan Hickson (the 1985 SJL MVP, who has 17 bombs this season). Matsuda also has the highest batting average among qualifiers in the SJL at this point and is 3rd in WAR with 2.5. And his 46 RBI are easily the league best at this stage.
Now, on the other hand, the youngster can't run or field and over time will almost surely be limited to designated hitter status and possibly part-time first base play, but he is developing into one of the best all-around hitters in the game and that should be true for many years to come.




Another rising star is Baltimore third baseman Alex Afanador. The 24-year old Cuban slugger is starting to show some signs of improvement in his defensive game as well and is getting praise from team management for his efforts (he is a high work ethic and high adaptability player). Afanador started his WPK career playing mostly right field two seasons ago and while his strong arm led to 16 outfield assists he put up a ZR of -7.0. Having switched to almost exclusively playing third last season, he wasn't any better, with a -7.4 ZR and 37 errors.
But although his ZR is still in the negative range (-0.4) this season he has only committed 7 errors and the numbers do seem to support progress for him as a fielder. He won't likely ever win any Gold Gloves but with his tremendous power bat and elite eye at the plate even average defense would be enough to make him a perennial MVP candidate going forward.

[BirdWatcher]

Denver Brewers Week 6 results:



Summary:

The Brewers were on the road for Week 6 and find themselves falling out of their perch in first place, where they sat only briefly.

First, they went to Phoenix to take on the red-hot, and reigning MGL West pennant winning, Speed Devils. That didn’t go well.

Game 1 of 3 saw Phoenix pull away in the 6th inning, knocking out starter Eric Maisch (2-2, 5.23), who lasted 5.2, giving up 6 runs on 9 hits. Willie Romero (.339/.386/.492) went 2 for 4 with 1 RBI in the loss and Chris Romines (.349/.366/.486) hit his 1st home run of the season in the loss.

In the middle game of the series, the home club took an early lead which they never relinquished. Yet another bad start by veteran Jim Atwell (4-2, 6.22). Atwell, who gave up 2 homers in this one, has been plagued by the long-ball this season, with a 2.0 HR/9, somewhat inexplicable (and hopefully a temporary anomaly) for the extreme groundballer with good movement and a career 0.8 HR/9. Myles Ford (.260/.318/.410), off to a slow start and losing playing time (especially to rookie Wayne LaCross) went 2 for 4 in this one.

And the Brewers are swept out of Phoenix in a back-and-forth game 3, with starter Stephen Brooks (0-3, 5.70) continuing his struggles, working 6 innings and giving up 5 runs on 8 hits. Willie Romero (.333/.378/.476) again went 2 for 4 and Heath Zweig (.311/.376/.473) hit his 2nd homer of the season.

The Brewers then travelled to the northeast to face the Brooklyn Aces for 4 games.

Their losing streak continued when the dropped a close one in game 1. Eric Fehrenbacher (1-4, 4.14) again deserved a better fate then he received, giving the visitor’s 6 solid innings, allowing 4 runs (but only 2 earned) on 7 hits, but absorbing another loss. Gene “Basher” Brasher (.235/.316/.529) was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI in the game, while hitting his 3rd double of 1987. And rookie left fielder Wayne LaCross (.333/.400/.644) hit his 7th homer.

The Brewers finally get a win again, thanks in large part to another strong performance from 5th starter Bernie Lopez (5-1, 3.97), who has pitched like the staff ace this year. Lopez worked 6 innings and gave up just 2 runs on 7 hits. The bullpen was also very good, with Dan Folk getting his 7th save of the year. Chris Romines (.350/.367/.504) led the way offensively, going 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, and hit his 2nd bomb of the season. And Jerry Lillie (.256/.326/.558) hit his team-best 10th home run and drove in a pair.

But in game 3 the Brewers couldn’t figure out 24-year-old rookie starting pitcher (out of Taiwan), Lao-che Chan, who went 8.1, giving up just 3 hits, and combined with veteran reliever Joey Johnson for the shutout. Eric Maisch (2-3, 5.13) started for Denver, and gave up 4 runs (3 ER) on 8 hits over 6 IP. The only extra base hit for the Brewers was a 5th inning double by Brandon Singer (.224/.250/.466). Singer also swiped his 3rd bag of the season and Kenny Brown (.348/.392/.487) picked up his MGL-best 15th steal.

In the Sunday evening game, the Brewers did manage to earn a series split, scoring 2 runs in the 8th inning to break a 3-3 tie and holding on for the victory. Jim Atwell (5-2, 5.91) got credit for the win (7 IP, 3 ER, 5 hits allowed but also an uncharacteristic 7 bases on balls given up). Dan Folk pitched the 9th for his 8th save. Heath Zweig (.310/.368/.452), brought into the organization as a free agent signed to a minor league contract largely for his defense and leadership, continues to hit well above his career norms, and he went 3 for 4 in this one, scoring a run and picking up his 9th stolen base (caught stealing twice on the season). Willie Romero (.314/.356/.464) hit his 4th homer and Jeremy Beeson (.305/.329/.426) his 2nd.



Brewers Game of the Week:

Given that it continues two of the main positive storylines for the Brewers this season- Bernie Lopez emergence as a quality starter and the sterling performance of the bullpen- we will go with Friday night’s win over Brooklyn as the Brewers GOTW.



Notes from Around the WPK:

The Seattle Alligators are now atop the SJL West standings, a rare occurrence, as they are winners of 4 straight and are now 24-15, tied with Washington for best record in the WPK at this point. El Paso has also won 4 straight and are in second place at 21-17, while the recently slumping Houston Cavaliers drop to 21-18 in 3rd place. The Chicago Fire, WPK champs two years ago and the SJL representative in the KCS last season, find themselves in last place at 16-24, having lost 8 of their last 10 games.

As mentioned, the Washington Night Train, at 24-15, lead the SJL East. Columbus has won 5 in a row and are in 2nd place with a 22-17 record. Boston takes up the rear in the division at 15-20.

The standings in the MGL West have been topsy-turvy of late, but at the end of week 6 the San Francisco Velocity have regained 1st place with a 22-15 record and St. Louis is 2nd at 22-17. Denver has dropped into a virtual tie with Portland and the L.A. Spinners remain the cellar dweller at 18-20, the only losing record in the division at this time.

Detroit has won 7 straight contests and is now back in 1st place in the MGL East with a 22-17 mark. Brooklyn is the only other team in this weak division over .500. They are 20-19 on the season. And Oklahoma City has dropped to the bottom with a WPK-worst 14-25 mark.



Players of the Week:



Despite his club’s recent struggles, sophomore outfielder Atsushi Matsuda continues to be an early favorite for SJL MVP.



Quincy Schultz, younger brother of veteran first baseman Josh Schultz, was the MGL MVP in 1984, when he was only 23 years old, and is the premiere defensive center fielder in the game. The biggest challenge for the 26-year-old superstar is staying healthy (he is currently day-to-day with a mild shoulder strain), unlike his ultra-durable 38-year-old older sibling. But when he is on the field he remains a force to be reckoned with

[BirdWatcher]

Gus Reyna is leading all of the WPK (among qualified batters), easily, in batting average at .417 but saw his 28-game hitting streak end yesterday.
Two players had longer streaks last season: Mike Lovett of Baltimore and Pat Thompson of Chicago each had 30-game streaks in 1986. But in the history of the WPK, only 7 players have exceeded Reyna's 28-game streak. (As some of you might recall, the longest consecutive game hitting streak belongs to former Brewer Bobby Erbakan, who put together a 45-game streak in 1977. And the second longest also belongs to a former Brewer, the recently released Antonio Acuna, who had a 35-game hit streak in 1980.)

[BirdWatcher]

Denver Brewers Week 7 results:



Summary:

The Brewers had two home series this week and not against the strongest of opponents and yet managed to lose them both.
They started on Tuesday with division rival Portland.

In game 1, swingman Austin Bond (2-1, 5.26) had his worst start of the season thus far, allowing 7 runs (6 earned) on 7 hits over 5 innings pitched. Not that he got much support from the offense either, as the Brewers only managed 3 hits, one of them being Jerry Lillie’s (.254/.338/.565) 11th home run of 1987, which drove in both Brewers runs in the game.

Game 2 saw the home team enter the bottom of the 9th trailing 3-0 and then mounting a rally that would produce 2 runs but ultimately fall short. Eric Fehrenbacher (1-5, 3.57) has certainly been the tough luck starter for the team this year. In this one he pitched a solid 7.1 innings, giving up 2 unearned runs on just 5 hits, but still suffered another loss. The Brewers frigid offense managed just 5 hits, 2 of them off the bat of rookie third baseman Jeremy Beeson (.306/.333/.422). Of the other 3 hits, a pair of them were home runs (Kenny Brown’s 3rd and Matt Turner’s 1st). A pinch-hit homer by Portland’s Toyohiko Yano in the top of the 9th off reliever Scott Evans ended up being the difference.

The Brewers did manage to avoid getting swept with a narrow 4-2 victory in the third game, on Thursday night. Surprise, surprise- Bernie Lopez (6-1, 3.78) was on the mound for another win. This was the Game of the Week so more details below.

Next up, the Brewers played host to the Baltimore Lords.

Game 1 was typical for a matchup with the good hitting, poor pitching Lords, with the Brewers getting the scoring started early (5 run 1st inning) en route to a 13-6 victory. Stephen Brooks (1-3, 6.19) got the victory, not really earned, as he allowed 6 runs on 10 hits. But the bullpen was excellent as it usually is and the offense was booming again. Kenny Brown (.343/.381/.492) led the way with a 5 for 6 day, hitting 2 doubles (12). Brandon Singer (.242/.288/.532) also had a big game, going 2 for 3, scoring 4 runs and driving in 5, hitting his 2nd double and 4th home run of the season. And outfielder Myles Ford (.271/.320/.458), starting to warm up after a slow start, clubbed a pair of homers to get to 5 and drove in 4 runs.

And then the middle game of the three-game series was a surprise pitching duel, with undistinguished veteran lefty Kevin Kitchen (3-5, 6.46) somehow keeping the Brewers from scoring over his 6.1 IP despite allowing 9 hits. Eric Maisch (2-4, 5.00) started for the hometown nine and struck out 8 batters while walking none, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits but gave up 3 bombs and ran out of gas after hurling 6.2 innings. Rookie left fielder Wayne LaCross (.333/.394/.613) was 3 for 4 in the loss and hit his 8th double.

Game 3 saw Baltimore win by the exact same score as game 2 (3-2). This time it was promising young (22 years old) righthander Nick Pasternak who stymied the Brewers hitters. Pasternak worked 7 innings and although he gave up 9 hits, he only allowed the 2 runs while striking out 9 batters and walking just 1. Jim Atwell (5-3, 5.64) took a tough loss, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits over 7.1 innings pitched. He did allow 2 more homeruns to get him to 14 given up in the early going. The recently promoted Matt Enders went 2 for 4 with a double in his first game with the big-league club this season. Wayne LaCross (.333/.397/.632) hit his 8th homer and veteran outfielder Heath Zweig (.312/.364/.438) was 3 for 3 in the loss.



Brewers Game of the Week:




Bernie Lopez, pitching at the back of the Brewers rotation, is looking more and more like the ace of the staff thus far. On Thursday evening he pitched another gem to help the Brewers avoid being swept by Portland. Lopez lasted 7 innings, throwing 110 pitches, allowing just 2 runs on 7 hits while recording 8 K’s and walking nary a batter. Rookie left fielder Wayne LaCross continued to make his case for increased playing time, going 3 for 4 in the game and hitting his 1st triple. And reliever Willie Ramirez was again excellent, earning his 5th save to go with an excellent 1.84 ERA.

Notes from Around the WPK:

The surprising Seattle Alligators stay hot and remain atop the SJL West with a 27-18 record. Houston moves into 2nd place at 25-20 while El Paso sits in 3rd, 3 ½ games back with a 23-21 mark. The not long ago mighty San Antonio Keys bring up the rear at 18-26.

The Washington Night Train are also 27-18 and lead the SJL East. Columbus has won 8 of their last 10 and now are in 2nd place with a 26-19 record. Boston is in the cellar with a 16-25 record.

The San Francisco Velocity (26-19) and St. Louis Redbirds (27-18) have both been hot lately and are 1st and 2nd in the MGL West. Denver, at 24-22, sit in 4th place, 4 games off the pace. And the L.A. Spinners, with a record of 20-24, are in last in this toughest of the WPK divisions.

Reigning WPK champs Detroit are in 1st in the MGL East with a 25-20 record. Brooklyn, in 2nd at 23-22, is the only other team in the division over .500. Oklahoma City has the worst record in the WPK at 16-29.

Players of the Week:



Philadelphia’s 27-year-old second-year first baseman John Thornton is one of the breakout players of this season and was named SJL Player of the Week this past week.



Meanwhile, Phoenix center fielder Dan Johnson, who was at or near the top of the best prospects list for several years before graduating to the bigs, is starting to show signs of living up to his great potential. His biggest challenge will be consistently getting bat to ball, but he is toolsy and a fine fielder (would probably be a Gold Glove left fielder but is good enough to stay in center for now), has great speed, plus power, and likely will have elite OBP skills. The next in a line of superstar outfielders for the Speed Devils.

[BirdWatcher]

Alex Afanador, the Baltimore Lords 24-year-old third baseman (and really multi-positional force) out of Cuba, is rapidly becoming one of the best players in the game.



And to think that Afanador originally signed a contract with the independent league (Iowa Baseball Confederacy) Albuquerque Airmen before having his contract acquired by the Lords.

[BirdWatcher]

While not a trade of big name players, the Boston Berserkers and El Paso Dawgs executed a trade yesterday that is not without impact for both teams.



Boston gets 25-year old right fielder B.J. Dyer, who was an All-Star last year, and given that their current starter at the position is 30-year-old Jose Meraz, whose body has been ravaged by injuries and who, although at one time a fine player, had a negative WAR season last year and is on pace for worse this season, Dyer is a clear upgrade for them.

Meanwhile, 28-year old second baseman Luke Griffith heads to El Paso, where he will almost surely take over as the starting second sacker from former Brewer utility-man Flip Van Dijk. Flip's a great guy and an excellent defender but he can't hit a lick and has a slash line this season of .236/.296/.292 and is on pace for a -1.2 WAR season. Although Griffith hasn't done much at the big league level yet there are signs that a change of scenery might lead to an untapping of his potential, which while not spectacular is at least that of a solid starter in the WPK.

It should also be noted that the El Paso Dawgs have a possible future Hall of Famer in left field named Jose Gutierrez and a 23-year old budding star named Adam Morgan (pictured below) who needs playing time and will take over in right. They also have a great young (25) center fielder named Josh Salzano in center, who is team captain. In other words, Dyer was expendable.
As for Boston, they have a veteran 2-time All-Star second baseman in Pat Mercado and a 24-year old named Devon Campbell who is pretty solid so Griffith wasn't really getting much playing time with the Berserkers.

(Note: I share this largely because it is the sort of logical and reasonable trade that I see often in the WPK. And it makes me think that those who often harp on how bad the AI is in terms of trades in OOTP are probably getting hung up too much on the names and reputations of historical/current players and not really looking at the bigger picture in a more pragmatic way. One might imagine that the fans of the WPK universe might look at this trade of a younger recent All-Star for a slightly older player who hasn't done much yet as ridiculous too, but when you look at the larger context more dispassionately, this is a trade that makes a great deal of sense.)

[BirdWatcher]

At age 36, the future Hall of Fame righthanded starting pitcher Aaron McNally is having a renaissance year pitching for the SJL East leading Washington Night Train. And yesterday he earned his 231st big league win to set a new high water mark in the 22 plus year history of the WPK.



McNally moves ahead of the now retired Jesse Hartong, who is more of a borderline HOF candidate, with 38-year old Mike Hiatt (the man with the most No-Hitters in WPK history with 3, one of them a Perfect Game) in 3rd with 228 wins. Hiatt is currently in AAA in the L.A. Spinners organization and trying to get back to the big leagues but there is a good chance he might not add any more to his career WPK total.
Among current pitchers in the WPK, the next closest is Baltimore's Sako Zakian, who at age 36 has 182 wins but is also having a pretty abysmal season (3-6, 6.89). It looks like McNally should finish his career with a pretty nice cushion at the top of the wins list and it could be many, many years before he has a challenger.

[BirdWatcher]

Well, this is a bit of a shocker.



Jim Atwell was considered an Iron Man and up until now had only had two very minor injuries in his more than a decade long big league career, and neither of them arm related.
But that ended a few days ago when he had to be pulled from his most recent start and was diagnosed as having suffered a torn rotator cuff.


This should mean that the Brewers top pitching prospect, Mike Warner, will now get his first taste of the big leagues. Warner is having a terrific season at AAA, going 7-2 with a 2.00 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. There are some concerns that he might be prone to the longball with a still developing movement profile. (And, indeed, I did promote Warner.)

[BirdWatcher]

Denver Brewers Week 8 results:



Summary:

The final week of May was much better for the Brewers as they won 5 of 6 games played.

The week began with a 3-game sweep of Oklahoma City in Denver.
In game 1, the Brewers broke a 3-3 tie with a 3-run bottom of the 8th, courtesy of a 3-run bomb by Willie Romero (.291/.328/.436), his 5th long ball of the season. Eric Fehrenbacher (2-5, 3.25) was very solid again and finally got some run support to get his 2nd win of the season. He worked 8 innings, giving up just 3 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits. Dan Folk worked the 9th for his 9th save.

Game 2 was mostly about the offense for both teams. Brewers starter Bernie Lopez had his worst start of the season, allowing 8 runs on 11 hits over his 5.2 IP, but was taken off the hook by his offense and got a no-decision. Jeremy Beeson (.333/.363/.452) continued his fine rookie campaign, going 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored, 3 RBI, and hitting his 10th double of 1987. Jerry Lillie, last year’s rookie star for Denver, was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored, 3 RBI and hit his team-leading 12th home run. Veteran lefty Scott Evans (4-2, 2.82) got the win and rookie reliever Cesar Perez pitched the final 2 innings to gain his 2nd save.

And Jeremy Beeson (.337/.366/.459) was once again in a starring role in the final game of the series, going 2 for 4 with a run and 4 RBI, hitting his 11th double, to help the team get the sweep of the visiting Diamond Kings. Stephen Brooks (2-3, 6.02) pitched respectably, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits over 7.1 IP in the win.

After an off day (travel day) on Thursday, the Brewers started a 3-game set in St. Louis against the surprising 1st place Redbirds.

They dropped game 1 to the red-hot Redbirds, with St. Louis starter Greg Grieve (5-2, 2.62) mostly shutting them down for 8.2 IP, giving up just a pair of unearned runs on 4 hits. Eric Maisch (2-5, 5.16) took the loss for the Brewers, having given up 5 runs on 7 hits over 7 innings, although he did strike out 8 batters while walking just a pair. Willie Romero (.301/.335/.457) collected 2 of the Brewers 5 hits in the game, but Denver did not manage even a single extra-base hit in the loss.

The Brewers bounced back in game 2. Jim Atwell (6-3, 5.24) was sailing along heading into the 7th inning, having allowed just 1 run on 5 hits, but then after getting the first out in the bottom of the 7th he was forced to leave due to an injury. (As we now know, it was a season-ending torn rotator cuff.) But unheralded veteran middle-reliever Paul Johnson (1.17 ERA!) hurled the final 2.2 IP to get his 1st save of the season. Jerry Lillie (.275/.362/.573) led the way on offense, going 3 for 4, driving in a pair of runs with his 13th homer. And rookie left fielder Wayne LaCross (.328/.403/.617) stays hot, going 2 for 5 and hitting his 9th homer of the season.

Game 3 was another win for the Brewers, with more Wayne LaCross heroics, but as this is the Brewers GOTW, more details will appear below.



Brewers Game of the Week:




Wayne LaCross, rapidly growing his reputation, hit his 10th homer of the season (in 154 PA) in the top of the 10th inning, a 2-run shot that would prove to be the game winner and give the Brewers the series against St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. Eric Fehrenbacher got his second start of the week and wasn’t at his best, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 11 hits over 5.1 IP. But the Brewers bullpen, as has been true nearly the entire season, was spectacular and set up the extra innings win by shutting down the potent St. Louis offense over 4.2 innings. Cesar Perez (3-0, 1.63) got the win while Dan Folk earned his 10th save.

Notes from Around the WPK:

Later I will update the standings around the league as we enter June in a separate post so won’t go into that too much here.
But suffice it to say that Seattle is trying to cling to 1st in the SJL West but have seen a surging El Paso catch up to them entering June, Washington stays strong and has a nice lead in the SJL East, San Francisco and St. Louis are in a virtual tie for 1st in the MGL West (with Denver in 3rd, 2 ½ games back), and the reigning WPK champion Detroit Falcons are atop the MGL East.

Players of the Week:



Donovan Hickson was the SJL MVP in 1985 and although he hit 39 bombs and drove in 100 runs in 1986, he saw his batting average dip to .228 and his WAR drop from 8.0 to 3.3. Thus far he is bouncing back well in 1987 and is once again a main contender for the MVP honors.



You might be getting tired of hearing the name Alex Afanador but you better get used to it. At age 24 the Baltimore slugger (who is also a very good fielder at several positions and has a near elite eye at the plate) will likely be one of the biggest superstars in the league for years to come (also has high work ethic).