NABO48 w/ MLBPA ... Updated for '26

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Gonna do just basic updates, with limited commentary, until we get to week 12, because I have an idea I'd like to try to focus on each player and recent performance trends.

4-3 week could have reasonably been a 6-1 week, but we'll take the winning week.

WEEK W-L : 7-3-0
SEASON W-L : 36-31
COMEBACK W-L : 12-11

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Dahl was a great acquisition in the offseason. He's outproduced the other C acquisition, FA signing Quero, and has taken over most of the catching duties. Quero, to this point, just provided a bit of a bump in fan interest.

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A 3-4 week see the Boars drop behind a little further.

Last game of the week, the bullpen gives up 10 runs in the top of the 9th, leading 3-1 before that. This is the 3rd time this season that the bullpen has given up 9 or more runs in a single inning. It's kind of crazy, 30+ runs in 3 IP ... that'll really wreck your overall bullpen stats.

WEEK W-L : 7-4-0
SEASON W-L : 39-35
COMEBACK W-L : 14-12

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A 4-2 week, including a series win against 1st place Indiana, narrows the gap a little from division leader, Caroline, and the wildcard.

WEEK W-L : 8-4-0
SEASON W-L : 43-37
COMEBACK W-L : 16-12

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A variety of batters have been winning the Batter of the Week award. That means (1) Roberson's MVP caliber season has slowed, and (2) other batters are stepping up. I like that, I prefer depth over star power.

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After a few good starts in the minor leagues, Martinez Jr returned to the big club and delivered a great pitching outing in his 1st opportunity. Hopefully, this is going to be similar to O'Neal's return to ML last year .... where he just took off and established himself as a very good every day player.

Dave Angeli heads to the bullpen.

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Dahl, acquired in the offseason in a trade with Tampa was expected to be the starting catcher, with Andrade (starting C from last year, now in 3A), was then moved to backup catcher when the Boars signed FA C Jefferson Quero for a 40/2 contract.

However, Dahl has outperformed Quero, and nearly every other catcher in the East, producing slightly below All-Star caliber, and has taken over the bulk of catching duties. Dahl has been particularly destructive vs LHP with a 1.060 OPS against lefties.

After signing his FA contract, Quero was expecting to be the primary catcher and a featured star player for Birmingham, but after some early success his production dropped, and that coincided with an upswing in Dah;s performance. Quero has seen himself lose significant playing time, and he's not happy about it. The reality is that he's not outproducing Dahl behind the plate, nor is he close to outperforming Roberson as a DH candidate.

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After his good production at the end of last season, O'Neal was rewarded with the starting job this year, and has produced more than expected. When Maddox was struggling with the bat, the team gave O'Neal some games at 3B and he held his own, and his batting just got better. The team eventually moved him to 3B fulltime, giving Sharp the starting job at 1B, and Maddox a utility role.

Sharp, a reliable producer, found himself in a starting role when O'Neal was moved to 3B, and he's served the team well. He's more or less league average, provided he doesn't bat vs LHPs, but when he does he's just slightly below average. Sharp at 1B and O'Neal at 3B makes the team overall more productive, and the team is sticking with that until forced not to.

Last year's Gold Glove winner at 3B, while providing 15 HR and 30+ SB, Jason Maddox, found himself playing his way out of a starting role at 3B. But then an interesting thing happened, Lombard struggled hitting while playing SS, and Maddox filled in for a few games and held his own. Then 2B Zachary Kortz had a nagging injury for 3 weeks and Maddox filled in at 2B and he held his own ... and before you knew Maddox had become a reliable utility infielder, rotating around the diamond, and the role suits him. Inversely from last year, this year Maddox is hitting Lefties better than he is hitting righties (.733 OPS; .540 OPS)

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Last year's breakout rookie season had the team thinking that Kortz would be a staple for the team, and an ascending star. But his sophomore season has been a bit of a struggle, even though he has been playing much better as the season has gone on. He's producing above league average as a starting 2B, allowing Roberson to remain at DH, and stay healthy.

The team is really hoping that Kortz continues to develop into the borderline All-Star quality middle infielder they thought he would become. Until then, he'll continue to start at 2B, while also playing some SS in place of Lombard, and occasionally Maddox.

Lombard, the team's defense first starting SS has went through bouts of being a great producer and more likely, a below average producer. His great defense has remained stable and is a candidate for GG consideration. But, his bat has been well below average, hurting his overall value, and Maddox and Kortz have been called on more than usual to provide some better production at the SS position.

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When starting LF Matt Baker's production fell well below team expectations, below league average to be exact, David Castro stepped in and took the starting job by force, and the leadoff role. While he has been exposed a little against LHPs, Castro's overall production remains better than expected and he's solidified his role as the starting LF.

Pack Jr's batting is up and down like a yo-yo, and even at its best, he's still a well below average batter ... but he makes up for it with his elite defense in CF and good base stealing ability. Every so often Jon Curd will fill in against LHPs, but Pack Jr has been the Boars' every day CF, and will continue to be.

Beverly started out great, then experienced a dip that caused him to lose some playing time while both Baker and Castro were performing well. But, once Baker slipped, Beverly jumped right back into the starting role and has produced as expected, above league average. The team really hoped he continues to develop both his gap and home run power, while keeping his base running and defensive ability that make him a valuable starting outfielder.

While the team did not expect Baker to continue with his .400 OBP and .900 OPS pace from last year, they were expecting an above average bat in LF ... and they have not gotten in from Baker. He now serves as the backup corner outfielder, and at times, his bat has shown some of the production from left year. He doesn't add great defense nor great baserunning, so his playing time reflects his bat's production. With 22yo LF prospect Kevin Brown tearing up 3A this year, Baker's role for next year is not safe. The team needs to see that while last year wasn't a fluke, that Baker can hit enough above league average to keep him on the roster.

Curd has found himself as the odd man out in the Birmingham outfield. His bat just isn't good enough to get regular playing time. So, he'll get a start here and there in CF against LHPs, and a PR opportunity and sometimes enters the game as a defensive replacement. With the emergence of Kevin Brown in 3A, Curd's spot with the team and there future is in jeopardy.

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While his ERA this year is about 0.25 higher than last year, Melchor has pitched similarly, according to his peripherals. He's on pace for another 2.4 WAR season and has been solid in the rotation.

Taki's 3.79 ERA is very similar to his 3.63 ERA of last year, where he produced 3.0 fWAR. This year he's improved his peripherals, namely by reducing his walks per 9 a whole walk per every 9 innings. He's on pace for a 4.3 fWAR season and continues to be successful by not allowing walks, suppressing home runs, and getting batters to beat the ball into the ground.

Steward was solid last year with a 3.80s ERA and this year his run prevention is a full run per game higher than last year. He's continued to struggle with walks, this year walking more batters than he strikes out, but he's ability to get out of jams this year is diminished. Some might refer to that as regression to the mean or "luck evening out". Whatever the case, Steward is going to have to reduce his walks (we tried in dev lab, but he did not improve).

Martinez Jr was sent down to 3A for poor performance, but after a handful of good starts, combined with some pitchers in the bullpen failing at the ML level, and Angeli struggling as a starter, Birmingham recalled Martinez Jr and he was outstanding in his one and only start. The team is hopeful that he will continue to develop and become more stable as a starting pitcher, but most realistically, this is who he is ... hot and cold, consistently inconsistent.

31yo Justin King was having a very good season in Orlando (5-2, 3.16) when 'Bama spotted him on the trading block, checked his contract, and made the trade. Since coming to Birmingham, he's been even better (4-1 2.77 ERA) and has been a stabilizing, calming, force in the rotation. He is under contract for one more season (arbitration) and then a decision about his future will need to be made.

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Injured all of last year, Heronemus started off this season on a heater. He had 6 wins through the first month and a half, leading the East in the category. It looked like Birmingham was going to have a lights out combo of stoppers with he and Tony Harris. Since then Heronemus has struggled to be consistent, as relievers often do. He's currently struggling and looking to regain his form and consistency. While he's doing that, Paniagua has stepped up us another RH RP option.

Stevens was reliable last year, not so much this year. He's struggled at times, with both control and allowing HR. At this point, his usage has to be influenced by the number of RHBs coming up for the opponent, because that has been the source of his struggles.

Rookie Kyle Wells has done okay in his limiting innings. The team is exploring the idea of rotating Martinez Jr, Angeli, and Wells in the starting rotation so that all 3 can get a semi-regular start and compare how they're developing, while also allowing the team to stay competitive in the pursuit of the playoffs.

Birley has to be used against LHBs exclusively. It's not that easy to get many situations where 1-2 LHBs are going to be the last batters of the inning, and the lead is secure enough.

Coming off last year's successful, then failure, season ... Gauer has pitched okay. His strikeouts are down, walks are up, but he hasn't allowed a HR yet. He's had one major implosion that has wrecked his ERA, but there's still times for his season to be an outright success.

Just like last year, Harris has been a bullpen ace, a throwback to when relievers were "firemen". Now, they're called Stoppers and he's one of the best. He'll go through bouts of allowing Home Runs, but as long as they're not the 3-run HR variety, he's fine. He's presently in the top 5 for "Shutdowns" which is impressive because all the other relievers on the leaderboard are the 1-inning variety ... and Harris pitches 2 innings (at least) each appearance. He's on pace for a 2 fWAR season, as a reliever, and should once again find himself as a vote getter for Reliever of the Year.

Angeli was likely rushed to ML based on an 8 game dominant stretch in 2A at the end of last year. His performance has been good and bad, but more of the latter. He'll likely move in and out of the rotation for the remainder of the season while the team evaluates 3 of its young, struggling SPs.

Willie Paniagua has been effective in his limited use. The longer he pitches well, the more innings he will get. As Heronemus struggles, Paniagua has found himself in more intense situations ... and so far he's handled them okay.

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The 3-3 week keeps Birmingham about where they've been, in 3rd place, 4 GB, and within a shot of the wildcard.

WEEK W-L : 8-4-1
SEASON W-L : 46-40
COMEBACK W-L : 16-12

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This takes us to the end of the 1st week in July, so we'll update the rest of NABO for June and get back to the Boars pursuit of the first playoff appearance in franchise history.