Cape Cod Baseball League

[Bigfish1287]

Oh yeah I mean I'll take this start as I really didn't expect to compete at all with this team. I just have a gut feeling it's all going to fall apart soon, kinda like the Mariners last season after their start.

[Bigfish1287]

April Recap

Best Teams:

20-7 Bourne Atlantics
The Atlantics have been the best team in baseball as they were absolutely dominant in April. Bourne has had the most prolific lineup in the league, as they lead the entire CCBL in runs scored and OPS for the team. New acquisition RF Derek Lawson is putting up a 162 OPS+ and has been a great piece to this great lineup. (I have no idea why Barnstable would trade him away) While the Atlantics don’t have the greatest rotation right now, ace Dave Wentz has been excellent but we will talk about him later. This is a team that went from being seen as the second best team behind Falmouth, to being a CCBL Series favorite here in the early part of the season.


18-9 Harwich Anglers
To me the Anglers seemed to be the best team on paper in the entire CCBL, but early on they started the season 6-6 and looked sluggish. Obviously I took too much stock in a small sample size, and they ended up playing up to form and finishing with an 18-9 record in April. Unlike Bourne, this team has been all-around dominant in the Eastern League, leading in Batter WAR and bullpen ERA while sitting in 2nd in starter ERA. Orellana had a good but unusually less productive month, but the rest of the team really stepped it up as both Bourne and Harwich look to be the favorites for the CCBL Series this season.


Worst Teams:

8-20 Barnstable Sharks
When my Blue Sox played their opening series in Barnstable, this team looked like a young and decent squad, maybe like 75-80 wins. But things have gone really bad quickly in the “capital” of the Cape. I talked a lot about the Sharks young rotation full of potential, but two of the three have really struggled early, with both holding an ERA above six. The bullpen has been just as bad, as they really have no option to close ball games and have lost more than they really should have. While a 93 loss team last year would be normally expected to be bad, I thought these guys would be a little better than that and would have improved.



8-19 Brewster Buzzards
The Buzzards have been the laughing stock of the league thus far, but I think a lot has to be said about their current situation. They have an incredible six players on the IL, and five of the six would be guys that I would take right now and put them in our lineup and staff, so it explains a lot as to why it’s been so bad. This team also does not have the depth to replace these pieces and are currently starting players that should probably be in AAA. Their #2 starter and starting RF will be back this week which will help, but this could be a lost season for the Buzzards.


April Players of the Month:


WL

Rookie of the Month
21-year-old 1B Ricardo Dominguez, Bourne (.289, 131 OPS+, 0.8 WAR)

Pitcher of the Month
27-year-old SP Dave Wentz, Bourne (4-0, 2.77 ERA)

Batter of the Month
28-year-old 2B Greg Fabian, Bourne (.375, 173 OPS+, 2.2 WAR)


EL

Rookie of the Month
29-year-old 1B Jack Augustin, Provincetown (.298, 131 OPS+, 0.7 WAR)

Pitcher of the Month
28-year-old SP Heath Woodall, Provincetown (4-2, 2.04 ERA)

Batter of the Month
35-year-old 1B Carlos Ochoa, Eastham (.364, 164 OPS+, 1.8 WAR)


April Thoughts

First of all it was nice to see Ochoa win the Batter of the Month award, as he has been the best hitter in the Easter League this early on. Ochoa is playing like an MVP for our Blue Sox, but like a lot of what I’ve been saying, I don’t think it’s sustainable.

While May has started badly for us, the month of April was honestly pretty nice. Our three new rotation acquisitions have been excellent thus far, especially Santoyo who is 4-0 with a 2.66 ERA. Salas has been talented as well and had a big start against Falmouth to shut them out. Kim has also been a great Rule 5 pickup as he’s played much better than Horvath and has been an above average starter thus far. Speaking of Horvath, boy has he been a disappointment. But here’s the thing, I see that 5.12 ERA and cringe but his FIP is at 3.65 which is lower than his 2030 season, so there is some hope to be had. I feel like I’ve been judging this team too harshly on such a small sample size, so I should wait and see with Horvath, as the advanced stats say he should be coming back to the norm.

The lineup is a pretty simple diagnosis, the top four hitters have been carrying the rest of the team offensively, while the rest have been disappointing at best and unplayable at worst. Shue was struggling before the injury at right, but now with Andre Davis leading off, right field has been much better, as he is holding an OPS+ of 152 in 86 plate appearances. Ochoa has been an MVP candidate at first, while Keffer and Abramson have been looking good in their respective positions.

Leal has been such a disappointment though, as he went from an all-star caliber catcher to a bonafide scrub. Looking at the 44 OPS+ and $8 million a year contract makes me want to throw up. Luckily it expires after this season. I’ve also learned that cheap can really suck, as Eric Anderson was a massive disappointment in center and we have now replaced him with Morales in the lineup who has started the season 4-10 at the plate. Horton and Rosales have also been pretty bad as both are right around the Mendoza line and I’m considering putting in Britt at second and maybe finding another option to replace Morales at short. It is early though and I can’t be so willing to make sudden moves after a small sample size.

The bullpen has been interesting to say the least. The guys I thought would be good, have been good. But Abrahamante has been terrible for us and I recently realized I had him set to a middle reliever, when he should have been in long relief with no leverage situations needed. Emilio Ramirez has been good in his new setup role after the Crabtree injury, while Mike Wray has been an above average closer for us after a couple of rough appearances.

Next week, we start our 12 game road trip, as we travel west to play at Yarmouth for three interleague games, then we continue to the next town over and play Hyannis for three more.

Attached are the statistics of our players, both batting and pitching.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Week 7

We begin our 12 game road trip here with two series against interleague foes Yarmouth and Hyannis.

Eastham Blue Sox (16-18) vs Yarmouth Gulls (11-23) May 5-7, 2031
Yarmouth has really struggled thus far into the season, and this is a team with a lot of talented but inexperienced players. 21-year-old 3B Carlos Trejo looks to be a superstar already for Yarmouth and is one of the best players in the league. They have promise and in a year or two I could see them competing, but right now, it looks ugly for them.

Game 35 - EAS 12 YAR 9 (12) Davis (4-7, HR, RBI) Keffer (2-7, HR, 2 RBI)
What an offensive showdown in Yarmouth as both teams combine for 37 hits and 21 runs! The game ended when in the top of the twelfth inning, Andre Davis hit a solo shot and we tacked on two more as we held on 12-9 in a slugfest.

Game 36 - EAS 1 YAR 7
Horvath imploded early and only lasted three innings and gave up six runs. It was kinda over by then as the offense didn’t bother to show up. Not much else to say.


Game 37 - EAS 11 YAR 7 (11) Ochoa (3-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB) Morales (2-6, HR, 2 RBI)
Another extra innings win as our offense has another ridiculous game while our pitching falters for the third straight game. Ochoa was excellent and new signing Morales has been such a great replacement in center. Morales hit a big homer early on, then gave us the lead in the top of the eleventh with a clutch RBI single as we won a big series in Yarmouth.

We had to make some moves though as we lost Abramson in the second game with a strained hip. He’ll be out for six weeks and now the injuries are starting to pile up. Abrahante (similar names, very confusing) our terrible reliever, will also be out for a week with joint irritation, but I am looking to replace him for good at this point as he’s blown too many games and has been a net negative.

We decided to bring in Mario Mondragon from AAA to the rotation as I think he’s a much more capable starter than Earl Bailey right now. Bailey for now will be in long relief, replacing the pitiful Abrahante. I also signed free agent LF Tim Gallup who surprisingly didn’t get signed after a decent season in Orleans. He will take over for Abramson for now and honestly will probably take the backup outfielder spot from Eric Anderson when Abramson comes back from his injury.


Eastham Blue Sox (18-19) vs Hyannis Hawks (20-16) May 8-10, 2031
Hyannis had been the top team in the Mid-Cape Division for most of the season thus far, but an ugly start to May has had them lose their lead and they now sit tied with Dennis for the division lead going into this series. SP Jose Ortiz is by far the Hawks best player as he is seen as a top three starter in the entire league. Luckily we shouldn’t be seeing him in this series, and he is currently on pace for a ridiculous 9.8 WAR season!

Game 38 - EAS 4 HYA 6 Santoyo (4 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 K) Keffer (2-3, 2 RBI, BB)
We started this game off well, scoring two off back to back RBI singles, but the Hawks would score one in the first and two in the second to start with an early 3-2 lead. Keffer hit a big two RBI double in the fifth for us to take the lead back, but again Hyannis answered back with two more of their own, keeping it 5-4. We gave up another run late and fell 6-4 on the road.

Game 39 - EAS 1 HYA 8
Just a pitiful game, really nothing else to say other than that. Offense couldn't do anything and we imploded almost immediately out of the gate.

Game 40 - EAS 6 HYA 0 Kim (6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 K) Ochoa (2-5, HR, 2 RBI)
Kim is quickly becoming a fan favorite here in Eastham as he shuts out the Hawks while the bullpen closes out this one in perfect fashion. To go from a game where we were absolutely terrible to a game where we were brilliant is something that has occurred a lot this season.


Thoughts: A very common 3-3 week here as we take two of three from Yarmouth and lose two of three from Hyannis. I know baseball is a very random sport and that the better team doesn’t always win, but it’s been frustrating to play a team like the Gulls who are falling apart, and win two close extra inning games and get smoked in another. I’m probably being too harsh though. The Hyannis series was inconsistent as usual, but I’ll take winning a game on the road like that against a contender.

I talked a lot about Horvath and how he could bounce back after a rough April, but he had one of his worst starts in that 7-1 Yarmouth loss and I am beginning to think that me even putting him as our “ace” wasn’t the smartest evaluation, especially with Santoyo, Salas and Kim being pretty good starters thus far. Mario Mondragon has yet to start after being promoted from AAA, and the 24-year-old will be looking to impress here. The kid has some potential that could come to fruition if he can perform up to it, but he was lackluster in his eight starts for us last season in the majors. Next week I’ll be seeing how he can perform to start his 2031 season.

New signing LF Gallup hasn’t done anything of note really, but that’s a good thing to me as he hasn’t been struggling at the plate and has looked like a better addition in the outfield compared to Eric Anderson.

But the real position I want to talk about is at catcher. I’m in a real predicament here as Leal, our all-star catcher last year and presumed starter has been terrible at the plate and we have a 24-year-old prospect in AAA Ben Van Sickle who my scout grades around the same level as Leal. SIckle has worse contact but only slightly, while he is much better at hitting balls into the gap and taking walks. While Leal is above average defensively, Van Sickle is great, especially at framing and calling games. Our current backup Del Risco is nowhere near the hitter that the other two are, and while he’s great defensively, the gap between their hitting abilities is much larger than the gap between their defensive abilities. Van Sickle has been good in AAA, and by next week I will look to have him promoted as the backup (for now) while we figure other options for Del Risco.

In summary, I plan to promote Van Sickle and keep Leal as the starter for now, but things could easily change here if Leal continues this sharp decline.



Power Rankings and Standings:
We stay in the tenth spot this week after a 3-3 road trip. With Harwich and Orleans thriving both teams take the first and second spots, overtaking the Bourne Atlantics who now fall to third. A surprise this week is the Porvincetown Pirates jumping into fourth as they had a 4-2 week.


Bourne struggled more than usual this week and the Sandwich Colonials are actually coming up and may surprisingly start competing for the division. And I still have no idea what is going on in Falmouth, as the defending champions have a 2-4 week. But looking at it, it was on the road against Hariwch and Orleans, the two best teams in the CCBL. It could be a schedule issue or just not living up to expectations. I will be focusing on them a ton honestly as I had saw this team as the best in the entire Western League, and seeing them under .500 is baffling to me. Dennis now sits only a game back of Hyannis in the Mid-Cape Division and I’m seeing this team as much more of a contender than I had thought in the preseason. They play each other to start the week for a quick two game series in Dennis so that could be interesting.

Other than the struggles in Falmouth, one of the biggest storylines in the CCBL thus far is the ridiculous race between Orleans and Harwich in the Upper Cape Division. The same thing happened last year as both team ended up winning 101 and 98 games, but this seems even greater, as both teams have been dominant. The two don’t play each other again till early June, but when it comes, the whole league will be watching. The Outer Cape is beginning to settle even more, as Provincetown now holds a 3.5 game lead over second place and could make it even larger here. Eastham, Truro and Wellfleet haven’t been horrible, but they have been below average at best and Provincetown looks to be on another level in comparison.

Next week we continue our road trip by coming back east to face our northern rival Wellfleet for a short two games, then we continue north to Truro to play a four game set against the Sea Dogs. A divisional week like this will be a big test as to where this team can go in the standings here.

Attached are the league standings.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Week 8

This week will be an all divisional week, as we head to Wellfleet for two games, then we travel north to Truro to face the Sea Dogs in a four game set.

Eastham Blue Sox (19-21) vs Wellfleet Beacons (17-23) May 13-14, 2031
The Beacons hit a rough patch as it turned from April to May, losing five in a row and falling out of the division fast. But after taking two of three from both Barnstable and Dennis last week, Wellfleet looks to move past their bad run of form and try to start catching Provincetown. We played one series in Eastham but this will be the first series in Wellfleet. In that first series, we took two of three games but all three games were one-run games and I expect another tight two game series here.

Game 41 - EAS 8 WEL 4 Horvath (5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 K) Morales (2-3, 2 RBI, BB) Davis (1-5, HR, 3 RBI)
Horvath had a decent outing but still struggled to prevent runs early. The Beacons jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first off a two run homer by Gouch, but from then on it was all Eastham. We scored three runs in the second off a Morales double and an RBI single from the pitcher, then Davis and Morales combined to bring home four runs off a three run shot by Davs and an RBI triple from Morales. Our bullpen gave up two runs but we held on 8-4.


Game 42 - EAS 0 WEL 2 Salas (6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 K)
A pitching duel to end this series as our offense didn’t even bother to show up for this one. Luna hit a solo shot in the top of the second and Gouch hit a RBI single in the fourth as we lose this one in a tough manner.


Eastham Blue Sox (20-22) vs Truro Sea Dogs (20-23) May 15-18, 2031
The Sea Dogs have been improving as the month has begun and they just won both games against division leader P-Town to start the week, so this four game series will be a huge test for us to see if we can compete here. Provincetown also will be travelling to Wellfleet for four games and if P-Town struggles and we play well, we could be close to the top, but that means a lot will have to go right here. This is our second series against Truro and the first in their stadium. We split the first four game series two weeks ago, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar result here.


Game 43 - EAS 1 TRU 0 Santoyo (8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 K)
Santoyo pitched a great game here, as he shut out the Sea Dogs in his eight innings of work, while Wrat closed the game out in the ninth. Santoyo also scored our only run in the seventh off an RBI single so I guess you could say he was the biggest contributor to both facets of the game.


Game 44 - EAS 8 TRU 7 (11) Davis (3-5, HR, 2 RBI)
We pulled this one out in extras after a clutch RBI single from new acquisition TIm Gallup in the top of the eleventh. We gave up two runs in the ninth after a 7-5 lead, but luckily the bullpen played well enough for the win.


Game 45 - EAS 6 TRU 5 Keffer (2-5, HR, 3 RBI)
Another high scoring game and another close win, as a Palafox RBI single in the eighth gave us the 6-5 lead. Our bullpen was excellent in the last three innings as we held on for the victory. Our scoring started with a run in the top of the second, then another RBI single in the third and a three run homer from Keffer gave us a nice 5-0 lead early. In the bottom of the third they scored two and then tied it up at 5 after an RBI double and a two run shot from Hughes in the sixth. We have already guaranteed that we won this series in Truro here, but we will fight for the sweep tomorrow.


Game 46 - EAS 0 TRU 3 Horvath (7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 6 K)
A tough way to end the series as our offense only gets four hits all game and Truro starter Mike Braud dominated. For a guy that our scout sees as a AAA talent starter, Braud has been great for the Sea Dogs, currently having a 2.32 ERA in four starts thus far. Morales had two hits in this one, two players had one hit each and that was literally it. Would have liked to see a sweep but I am still impressed that we played this well and won three really close games right in a row like that.


Thoughts: This week went a lot better than expected as we split our two game series with the Beacons and took three of four from the Sea Dogs. I think this has been one of the few weeks where the team has been better than 3-3 and I’m hoping this could be a trend. I didn’t think we would be sitting at .500 by the middle of May, so I can’t say that things have been bad, cause this team was expected to be bad immediately. I am still expecting some sort of fall off into irrelevancy, but so far it’s been nowhere to be seen.


Power Rankings and Standings: Our 4-2 week has us jump from the tenth spot up to eighth for the week. The top three of Harwich, Orleans and Bourne stay constant while Dennis jumps to fourth after a 5-1 week against the division.

The Lower Cape is now looking like it belongs to Bourne as they now hold a four game lead over second place Sandwich. Bourne split a two game set with Sandwich, but took three of four from Mashpee. After the Bourne series, Sandwich went to Falmouth and lost three of four to the defending champions. While I think it will take a lot for Falmouth to be truly back, they had a really nice 4-2 week and have already jumped Mashpee for third in the division.

The Mid Cape Division saw a massive shift in power as Dennis started the week by taking both games against Hyannis, then proceeded to take three of four from local rival Yarmouth. Hyannis on the other hand completely collapsed this week, as they lost both games against Dennis, then lost three of four from the lowly Barnstable Sharks. Dennis now has a 3.5 game lead over Hyannis and it seems that things have changed massively from this one week alone.

In the Upper Cape, both Harwich and Orleans played series against the other two division foes but not each other. Both had 4-2 weeks and are still neck and neck for the division lead. June 5 will be the start of a massive four game set in Orleans between the two, and it should have a massive impact on the division. Chatham isn’t really in the mix at this point and have seemed to settle as a above average team that isn’t good enough to win the division, but that could maybe change.

The Outer Cape has had all four teams pretty close for the start of the season, but both P-Town and Eastham seemed to have pulled away, as Eastham now sits three ahead of third place Truro and Provincetown sits three ahead of Eastham for the division lead. A big series to watch will be the four game set in Eastham on June 5, between the Pirates and Blue Sox. Like the Harwich-Orleans series, this could have a huge impact on the division and could give the Blue Sox some chances to narrow the Pirates lead.


Next week will be an Upper Cape week, as we head back home to host the dominant Orleans Ocean for three games. Then we travel west to the bay to play the Brewster Buzzards for three games. Going from playing a 30-16 team to a 17-31 team will be an interesting dynamic, and I'm hoping we can at least take two in Brewster.

Attached are the league standings.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Week 9

We start the week back in Eastham to host the Orleans Ocean for three games, then we travel west to play the last place Brewster Buzzards for three more games.


Orleans Ocean (30-16) vs Eastham Blue Sox (23-23) May 20-22, 2031
The Ocean have been the best team in the CCBL but they have division rival Harwich only a half game back in the Upper Cape. Led by Alex Patino, the best catcher in the league, Orleans will be looking to dispose of us easily here. Being second in runs scored and first in runs allowed shows that this team is just an overall juggernaut. The bullpen has the best ERA in the EL while the starters sit at third. Taking a game here would make me happy.

Game 47: ORL 1 EAS 0

Game 48: ORL 6 EAS 4

Game 49: ORL 3 EAS 2

To only be outscored 10-6 throughout the series doesn’t seem too bad, but we still lost all three games in devastating fashion. Salas pitched well in the first game but gave up an RBI double in the fourth for the only run all game. The next game sucked as well, as we held a 3-1 lead going into the seventh, but we proceeded to give up five runs as we blew our chances away. In the final game, an RBI double from Patino and another run driven in got us in a 2-0 deficit by the fourth. We would trade runs in the seventh but it wasn’t enough offensively, as we get swept on three very winnable games.


Eastham Blue Sox (23-26) vs Brewster Buzzards (18-32) May 23-25, 2031
We last played Brewster back in mid May and things really haven’t changed for the Buzzards since then. May has been a little more kind to Brewster here, as they have been 8-11 compared to their 8-19 April, but fans have been spending less time in the stands and more time on the beach. Like fans in Eastham, there wasn’t much hope in Brewster to see a winning team in 2031, but at least our Blue Sox have been fairly competitive thus far. The player that does have fans cheering is LF Isiah Fleming, a 25-year-old stud who is looking to make another all-star appearance. Hoping we can redeem ourselves after that pitiful series at home.

Game 50: EAS 1 BRE 5

Game 51: EAS 5 BRE 6 (11)

Game 52: EAS 9 BRE 2





Thoughts: What an absolute joke of a series in Brewster and a week as we now finish 1-5 and lose a lot of ground in the division. Did I really expect this team to win games against Orleans? No. But to play them close and still not take a game is tough for this team to handle. I don’t even know what happened in Brewster though. Starting off by only getting five hits total in the first game was bad enough, but to give up a walk-off in the second game just drained this team of any confidence.

I have been saying for weeks that there will be a week where this team will begin to fall into the 2030 Blue Sox and this may be that point. An interleague week against Mashpee and Sandwich is next and then the week after is a pivotal week where we go to Orleans and play the Ocean again for three, then head home to play Provincetown, the one team we’ve been trying to keep up with. If we play like how we played this week for those games, we will be no better than the 97 loss team last season.

Power Rankings and Standings: As expected, we fall in the rankings after our 1-5 week. But we only go down to eleventh as we weren’t punished as much as I thought. The top three again stays constant as Harwich, Orleans and Bourne have been absolutely dominant this season. In the fourth spot are surprisingly the defending champions, who are looking to get back in the Lower Cape and finally compete with Bourne.

The story of these past two weeks have to be the Falmouth Tides. In the past two weeks, the Tides have gone 10-2 and are currently on a seven game winning streak. They jumped from fourth to third last week, and after another great week they now sit in second and are only three and a half back of Bourne. Sandwich has faltered a lot, going from being 18-11 in April to now sitting at 28-26 and falling fast. While I think Bourne has been great thus far, it’ll be hard for them to keep their lead if they don’t hold pace with the Tides.

The Western League in general has seen some wild changes, as the Mid-Cape has been just as intriguing as the Lower. Dennis looked great last week as they had a decent lead, but things in the CCBL change fast and the Destroyers had a miserable week, going 1-5 and negating most of the progress they made before. Hyannis is still falling, so Dennis is still in the lead by three games, but there’s an unexpected team getting back in. The Barnstable Sharks were 9-22 on May 1st. They are now 22-30 on May 26th. I knew that this team wasn’t as horrible as their April record, but this turnaround has been extreme. The Sharks are quickly becoming a part of contention in a division that nobody seems to want to win.

The Eastern League has been a lot more standard, as Harwich and Orleans are battling close in the Upper Cape, while Provincetown continues to pull away in the Outer Cape. The Anglers are currently on a five game winning streak and are looking to continue it to finally start pulling away from the hated Orleans Ocean. Chatham has continued to be good, but not good enough to contend while Brewster seems set on being a bottom three team in the CCBL.

The Outer Cape has been pretty lackluster competition wise, as three of the four teams in the division have been awful. Truro sits at the bottom and currently hold a six game losing streak. Wellfleet surprisingly took two of three games from Orleans, but still sits far behind the Pirates. Eastham also struggled, going 1-5 this week and they are losing ground fast to the Pirates who now sit in first with a four and a half game lead. The Pirates haven’t done anything special lately, going 6-6 in the last two weeks, but the rest have been so bad that they are still gaining ground.

Next week we travel to the Lower Cape to play the Sandwich Colonials for three and then we come back home to face the Mashpee Sailors for another three game series. These next two weeks will be a test to see if this team can hold on and avoid the fall out that I am expecting. Our delusional owner thinks these guys can be a playoff team, but I am starting to see the cracks in this squad as I doubt we will ever catch the Pirates.


Attached are the league standings.

[Bigfish1287]

The Falmouth Times - Monday May 26th, 2031


The Boys Are Back!

It has been a struggle to watch baseball this season for the fans in Falmouth. The season started on a 14 game road trip for the Tides, and as the 2030 Cape Cod Series banner was ffinally raised at Falmouth Fields, the excitement for the 2031 season had already diminished. Many ecstatic fans expected a lot, but to come back home at 8-6 and not dominating like the season prior, fans seemed to be skeptical.

The month of April would only get worse, as the rival Bourne Atlantics began winning, and winning fast. A month ago from today, the Atlantics sat at 19-6 while the Tides sat five back and were hovering around .500.
After a tough loss to the Atlantics back on the 26th of April, young star Nelson Hernandez sounded off. "We have all the talent in the world and yet here we sit five out already." Most teams wouldn't take a slow start like that too seriously, but these guys are the defending champions and are trying to keep that same level of winning on the field.

Things began to turn around in May, as the Tides have been 14-8 since the start of the month and are currently riding a seven game winning streak. Captain and superstar third basemen had a lot to say on the sudden change of form. "When the season started, the team seemed off and I think we may have gotten too comfortable with how good we thought we are. It took hours and hours of every single day to get to the point where we could win a championship, and we need to continue that effort this season if we really want to compete."

These guys know they aren't destined for anything, especially with a dominant Bourne still four and a half in front of them. The usually temperamental manager Joe Wilson said it best, "We may be looking to get back on track, but we can't get complacent because these Atlantics are an extremely talented team and there are no guarantees in baseball."

The Tides currently sit at 29-25 and will be looking to win some games this week against some Eastern League opponents like the Sea Dogs and Beacons. The Tides have a way to go but for many fans, they can finallly say that the boys are back and ready to get back to their championship pedigree.

Attached are the current stats of the Tides, and the results and schedule from the month of May.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Week 10

We start this interleague week travelling out west to play the Sandwich Colonials for three games, then we head back to Eastham to host the Mashpee Sailors.


Eastham Blue Sox (24-28) vs Sandwich Colonials (28-26) May 27-29, 2031
The Colonials have been falling apart in May, going from 18-11 in April, to 9-13 in May as their hopes of contending with Bourne and Falmouth start to fade. Both of these teams have been struggling as of late, but the Colonials seem to have more talent and will look to pull back into contention somehow.

Game 53: EAS 5 SAN 3
Game 54: EAS 8 SAN 5
Game 55: EAS 8 SAN 1

Our first sweep of the season! Our offense surprisingly was dominant as we averaged seven runs per game in this series. Kim pitched insanely well in the third game, ending with seven innings pitched, five hits allowed, one run allowed and seven strikeouts. Britt has also been an upgrade over Horton thus far as he is hitting a .291/.328/.391 slashline and is hitting for good contact. He isn’t the greatest hitter but he is a definite replacement over Horton.


Mashpee Sailors (28-28) vs Eastham Blue Sox (27-28) May 30 - June 1, 2031
It’s very weird to see two teams with such a different talent level sit around the same place in the standings. Mashpee have been in the mix for second with Sandwich and Falmouth, but lately Falmouth has been surging for the division lead while both Mashpee and Sandwich have faltered. This Sailors team could probably win our division but with such a loaded Lower Division, they look a lot weaker in comparison. Hoping to not get swept and lose all progress made from the Sandwich series.

Game 56: MAS 0 EAS 3
Game 57: MAS 13 EAS 3
Game 58: MAS 3 EAS 2 (11)

A really great start to the series at home as Horvath pitched eight innings, allowing four hits and no runs. Bret has started the season really slow and this was his best start yet. I am hoping he can use this performance to improve and get back to his expected form. The second game was bad, but they added on five extra runs in the ninth and it was only 2-0 until the fifth. Salas had a bad start here, but I can’t really complain as he’s been a lot better than I thought he’d be thus far. The final game was a tough loss, we were down 1-0 up until the ninth, when a John Anderson solo shot gave them a solid 2-0 lead heading into our last inning. With two outs and Eric Anderson as the pinch hitter, he hit a two RBI single to tie the game and to play in extras. We’d lose in the eleventh off a Ralli double though sadly, but I respect the comeback. The first game’s performance gave me some confidence, but the remaining two were tough. Can’t fault the team though as Mashpee has more talent and we’ve already played better than expected this week.

Thoughts: Honestly this has been a great week for us, compared to most Going 4-2 against two interleague opponents who have more talent than the Sox is a win to me. We are not Orleans, Harwich or even Provincetown and we should celebrate a week like this. The sweep in Sandwich has probably been the highlight of the season thus far, as we dominated them in all three games. We could have probably been better at home against Mashpee, but I can’t complain after a positive week like this.

Transactions: I have completed my first trade as a general manager on Tuesday, as we are now mixing up our plans at catcher. We promoted Ben Van Sickle from AAA to the active roster to be our backup catcher for Leal. In turn that means we had to get rid of del Risco.

TRADE: The Eastham Blue Sox trade 25-year-old catcher Jose del Risco to the Dennis Destroyers for 31-year-old reliever Matt Young.

We needed a solid reliever after the Bailey injury and we really lucked out with Young. Young was decent in 2030 for the Destroyers, but he’s had an excellent start to 2031 and will be a massive upgrade over Abrahamante and Bailey in the pen. He’s overpaid but his contract ends at the end of the season, so there’s no long term investment involved.

Power Rankings and Standings: After our 4-2 week, we jump from eleventh to eighth place in the power rankings. Harwich and Orleans stay in the top two spots and Falmouth jumps to the third spot after a 5-1 week and are quickly looking like they are going to overtake Bourne soon.

The Lower Cape is looking to be a two team race as while Bourne is still winning, Falmouth is catching up fast and have won the last four games in a row. Mashpee is hovering around .500 while Sandwich is falling apart fast and are looking to be out of contention sooner than later. The Mid Cape has been similar to last week, as both Dennis and Hyannis are continuing to lose games. Barnstable is still improving, but they are still 4 and a half back behind Dennis.

The Upper Cape is still a bloodbath as Harwich and Orleans both sit at 38-20 and are the two best teams in the entire CCBL. Many around the league see the winner of the division as the presumptive title favorite and this could be a race that would be talked about for years. Not much has changed in the Outer Cape either, as the Pirates still hold the division lead by three and a half. Eastham and Wellfleet have been staying at their respective positions in the standings and haven’t had much success or failure. Truro is falling apart though as they have lost eight of their last ten and currently have the second worst record in the entire CCBL

Next week will be make or break for our Blue Sox, as we travel to Orleans for three against the 38-20 Ocean. Then we travel to the tip of the Cape to play division leading Provincetown for four pivotal games. If we can win three of four in P-Town, we could make a gain in the standings and put some sort of pressure on the Pirates. I think this is the toughest week of the season thus far, even worse than Week 4 where we played both Falmouth and Bourne on the road.

The amateur draft is next week as well, but I will do a recap on that after the week is completed. With May ending this week, I will post a recap of the month next before we begin our next week of the season.

Attached are the league standings and the profile for our new acquisition, Matt Young.

[Bigfish1287]

May Recap

Best Teams:

18-9 Harwich Anglers and Orleans Ocean

On May 1st, both the Anglers and Orleans were sitting at 20-11 and exactly a month later, both still sit tied at 38-20 and both leading the CCBL in wins. The Anglers have been excellent and all of their extremely talented players look to be coming back to last year's form. Orellana is on pace for a 10.6 WAR season somehow, and their staff has been excellent, leading the EL in starter ERA and placing second in bullpen ERA. The Ocean are not going to let another season go to waste losing the division to Harwich again and their team is stepping up massively. Like Harwich, both their hitters and pitchers are dominating, with the Ocean leading the EL in runs scored, bullpen ERA and landing in second for starter ERA. This is the Red Sox vs Yankees of the CCBL and only one team can win the division and hoist the title.

18-9 Falmouth Tides

The Tides have really “turned the tide” here as they have gone from a last place team to a team that are quickly pushing for the Lower Cape. Last year's WL MVP David Howe has looked to slow down a bit, but CF Juan Estrada has been killing it, holding a .358 average and is now on pace for an insane 9.6 WAR season. Many Tides fans expected Howe to be the true force and while he has still been playing at an all-star level, Estrada looks like an WL MVP favorite.

Worst Teams:

7-19 Hyannis Hawks

Fans in Hyannis were finally looking to see their Hawks in the playoffs when the WL was split into two separate divisions. By May 1st, things looked to be going their way as they were 19-11 and looking to beat down on a lowly Dennis squad. Well things have completely blown up in their faces as they began losing constantly, at one point losing seven in a row in the middle of May. While many in Hyannis are furious with the team’s performance and rightfully so, they are only three back of Dennis as the Destroyers haven’t been great either. Hawks fans are now worrying about the Barnstable Sharks too, who have been flying up the standings and only sit a game back. Fans across the Cape have been wondering what has been going on in Hyannis and June will have to go better for this team to compete.



9-18 Truro Sea Dogs

While the month of April wasn’t great for the Sea Dogs, there was still hope as everyone knew that the Outer Cape was wide open and that any team could really win it. When May started, Truro was only three games back but now they are already nine back and are the second worst team in the CCBL record wise. I can’t say it’s just been Truro either, as Wellfleet has floundered massively and sit only a game in front of Truro in the division. Many saw Eastham as the weakest link, but both Truro and Wellfleet have been pretty horrible thus far.



May Players of the Month:

WL

Rookie of the Month
21-year-old 1B Ricardo Dominguez, Bourne (.266, 108 OPS+, 0.5 WAR)

Pitcher of the Month
29-year-old SP Jose Galvan, Falmouth (5-3, 2.18 ERA)

Batter of the Month
33-year-old LF Tyler Perkin, Yarmouth (.371, 175 OPS+, 2.9 WAR)


EL

Rookie of the Month
23-year-old SP Danny Melendez, Wellfleet (4-3, 3.40 ERA)

Pitcher of the Month
25-year-old SP Bobby Masquerada, Orleans (7-2, 3.62 ERA)

Batter of the Month
25-year-old LF Isiah Fleming, Brewster (.329, 166 OPS+, 2.8 WAR)



May Thoughts:

It’s very odd how similar the past two months have felt. We went from going 13-14 in April to 13-14 in May and are still hovering right around that .500 mark. All-star voting wise, both Ochoa and Keffer sit in second place for the first base and third base lists respectively, while Andre Davis is in third place for right fielders. I’d assume Keffer and Ochoa will make the team while I don’t really know about Davis but we will see.

On the injury updates, Shue will look to be back on the team in a week and Abramson will be back in two weeks. Crabtree still has 6-7 weeks before he can finally come back as he will be needed ASAP for our bullpen. Bailey is out for 2-3 months and I don’t think he’ll have a spot on the team when he comes back, while Downey is out for ten months and will be a free agent by the time he is ready to play baseball again.

I’d say the most surprising part of this team this season has to be the pitching. To rank fourth in the EL in almost every major pitching statistic is a major success to me and I am glad we have seemed to upgrade both the bullpen and rotation to a competent level. Nelson Santoyo has been our best starter and is on pace for a crazy 7.1 WAR season. I doubt he will be at this level for the whole season, but this signing so far has looked to be a steal. Salas has been good as well, holding a 3.66 ERA and is pitching better than league average. Kim has slowed down a but he has still been extremely valuable for a Rule 5 pick and has been a serviceable #4 option. In my April thoughts, I lamented on Bret Horvath and his bad performance in April. Well, in May things haven’t gotten any better. His last start at Mashpee was a great one, but I keep thinking Bret will be better than he is and I had my preseason expectations way too high. Horvath is an average starter and yet I saw him as the team’s best, which hasn’t been anywhere close to the truth. Other than Horvath though, this rotation has been good and I am happy with it.

New signing LF Tim Gallup has been a decent replacement for Abramson, but would not be an everyday starter for most ball clubs. Leal is still struggling to hit the ball at even a decent clip. I may try to alternate more between Leal and Van Sickle for the catcher spot, but Van Sickle hasn’t impressed much hitting wise either. Shortstop has been another dire position for the Sox as Rosales has also been struggling to hit the ball. Dude can play great defense but he needs to be able to hit and I should have probably gotten a better option at short. Hullman has been a decent backup, but I trust his bat even less than Rosales and I’m not really willing to give him that chance.

A quick note on the bullpen, my preseason hot take on Emilio Martinez is looking more and more accurate as he currently is dominating as the setup man and holds a 1.77 ERA. He is looking to be a key part of the pen for years and I’m very happy thus far how he’s been performing. Wray has done a good job filling in as the closer for Crabtree but he could be better. The bullpen in general has been a mixed bag, but compared to the 2030 season, it’s been a massive improvement.


Next, we play on the road in Orleans for three, then travel to play rival P-Town for three more games. The draft is during the week and I will recap our class when the next week ends.


Attached are the statistics of our players, both batting and pitching.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Week 11

This week we begin a seven game road trip, first by travelling south to play the Orleans Ocean for three games, then we travel up to the tip of the Cape to play the division leading Provincetown Pirates for four pivotal games.


Eastham Blue Sox (28-30) vs Orleans Ocean (38-20) June 2-4, 2031
We last played the Ocean only two weeks ago at home, and got swept in a brutal series. It will be even harder than before as we now play in Orleans and we face the very young and talented Rob Morrison in the second game. I would be happy with winning one game here, and I don’t really expect to win more than that especially after the pitiful performance we had two weeks ago.

Game 59: EAS 1 ORL 5
Game 60: EAS 10 ORL 3
Game 61: EAS 3 ORL 4

Not a bad series here, as we absolutely crush them in the second game to my absolute delight. Usual good starter Rob Morrison was pretty bad, allowing five runs and six hits in five innings of work. The first game was rough though, as they were up 4-0 pretty early on and the offense never bothered to show up. The third game ended on a double play sadly and it looked like we had a shot with a man on first with only one out. We traded runs through most of the game, but an added run in the sixth gave them a 4-3 lead which we couldn’t come back from. As disappointing as the third game was, I’ll take winning only one in Orleans.


Eastham Blue Sox (29-32) vs Provincetown Pirates (32-28) June 5-8, 2031
Provincetown has been our nemesis for most of the season, as they have been the team we’ve been trying to keep up with in the Outer Cape Division. New signing Barry Meighan has been really solid for the Pirates, but hasn’t been as good as he was in Hyannis last season. LF Luis Aguilar looks to be having an excellent season though, as he is currently hitting .351, holds an OPS+ of 153 and is on pace for a 7 WAR season. I think this will be a tough series, but best case scenario would be to split the four games or even win three.


Game 62: EAS 1 PT 2
Game 63: EAS 6 PT 7 (13)
Game 64: EAS 6 PT 3
Game 65: EAS 7 PT 4

After the first two games in P-Town I was devastated. Losing two one-run games back to back like that can really hurt a team’s morale and I wasn’t expecting things to go well after that brutal 13 inning loss. But luckily things turned around fast, as our offense dominated and our staff did a much better job of holding leads and preventing runs. In both games three and four, our bullpen only allowed five hits and no earned runs in seven innings of work which is crazy to me. A bad start sucked a lot of life out of the team, but I respect the fact that these guys still played hard and won the next two games in a tough environment. It sucks that we didn’t gain any ground in the division from this series, but our Sox could have easily folded here and been crushed on the road, so I can’t complain and I like the fight.


Thoughts: In most circumstances a 3-4 week would be frustrating to me, but this was a tough week schedule wise and I expected to see us get swept in Orleans and not split the series in Provincetown. The fact that we could hold our own well enough in these seven games makes me feel like we are more of a below average team than the pitiful squad last season that we inherited. I still don’t expect us to finish the year at 81-81 or better, but maybe 85-90 losses is more in our future and I’m perfectly okay with that.

Power Rankings and Standings: After our 3-4 week we drop slightly from eighth to ninth in the power rankings for the week. Orleans switches spots with Harwich but they stay at the #1 and #2 spots. Falmouth and Bourne stay at three and four as well, as the top teams stay where they were the week before for the most part.

The Lower Cape has been Falmouth surging towards the top of the standings, and after winning three of four games at home against Bourne, they now only sit a game and a half out of the lead. Mashpee is still sitting around .500 and Sandwich is falling apart still, now sitting five games back out of breaking even.

The Mid Cape has been another crazy division where the top team is currently sitting at 33-33. Dennis has been struggling but is still holding on to the top spot for now. Barnstable is continuing to rise and now has overtaken Hyannis for the second spot, while the Hawks have been bad and have lost seven of their last ten games. The Yarmouth Gulls have been on a slightly upward trajectory, but are still the worst team in the CCBL record wise.

The Upper Cape has been pretty bland really, as both Harwich and Orleans seem to both want to win the division together,as there is still no space between the two in the standings. While Chatham has been winning, they still sit five and a half back of both the Anglers and Ocean. Brewster has to suffer as a result of all this winning in the division, and are currently on a four game losing streak.

Nothing has really changed in the Outer Cape as the Provincetown Pirates still have the division lead by three and half games. Eastham has been sitting around .500 for the longest time and they will need a big push to start to catch up to the Pirates. Both Truro and Wellfleet sit far back of both the Pirates and Blue Sox, but both aren’t completely out of it and with a good winning streak, they could start to be more of a contender to win this wide open division.

Next week we come back home to Eastham to host our rivals, the Wellfleet Beacons for three games. Then we travel south to the “elbow” of the Cape to play the surging Chatham Admirals, which will be a really tough series for us.

I will recap the amateur draft before I start the next week of games though,as we had the second pick.

Attached are the league standings.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Amateur Draft Recap

Since we finished with 97 losses in 2030, I knew we would have a high pick in the amateur draft, but we actually got the second pick due to us having a worse record than every team in the league besides the Dennis Destroyers.

I wasn’t too fond of the draft pool as my scout only rated one player at a 65/80 potential rating. 19-year-old SP Tim Matias was the best player in the draft and since Dennis had the first pick, I assumed he would be drafted to the Destroyers. So I looked for the second best option to pick. Devin Mrozczek was the second best player that my scout evaluated. A 21-year-old college first baseman, he could be an excellent starter for the team’s future.

Selections

Round 1 Pick 2 - 21-year-old 1B Devin Mrozczek
Mrozczek was the best name available by far as I previously stated, so it was a pretty easy decision. Ochoa is the starting first baseman for now, but he’s older and will not be around for the future. Jeremy Guttirez is our other prospect at first, but he’s already 25 and I’m not certain he will live up to his potential. Devin isn’t elite at anything but can do a lot well. His contact ability isn’t great for now, but he has the potential to be a hitter that can hit for both average and good power. His defense is average at first and he has a pretty good eye at the plate. This was the pick and I couldn’t justify doing anything else.

Round 1 Pick 11 - 19-year-old SP Aaron Barnes
I wanted more starters in the organization and I think Barnes would be a good fit in Eastham. I don’t see him as a future ace, but I think he could hold a spot in the rotation for a decent amount of time. I need his curveball to develop so he can have three good pitches and I also worry he may give up too many home runs to start. He needs to work on some things but if it works out he could be a valuable starter.

Round 2 Pick 3 - 18-year-old LF Sean Tamplin
Tamplin could be a good option in the outfield for us but I worry about his ability to hit for any kind of average. Defensively he could be an above average corner outfielder and his power potential is definitely pretty good, he just needs to have a massive jump in his potential to hit for average. Tamplin is someone I could see making the roster at some point, but he’d have to make a huge jump in potential to be seen as a real top prospect for us.


Round 3 Pick 2 - 18-year-old 3B Steve Macari
It’s crazy to compare Macari with Tamplin, as both really worry me with their ability to hit balls in play. Both can play their positions at an above average level defensively and both can hit for power. But to me, when my scout rates a player’s contact potential as a 40/80, I worry if they can contribute offensively. Like Tamplin, I need to see a major jump in Macari’s ability to hit for me to consider him as a great prospect. .

Round 4 Pick 2 - 21-year-old 2B Mitch Desmond
Desmond was picked off his defense and eye alone and I don’t know why so many hitters in this draft class have such low hitting ability. Desmod is seen as an even worse hitter than Macari and Tamplin and it seems like only Mrozczek and Barnes could be seen as top prospects.



From the fifth round onward, the talent pool really fell off in this draft and I think these five players will be the most likely to make the majors at one point.


Next week we head back home to play local rival Wellfleet for three games, then we travel down to Chatham for three more games. This should be a tricky week, but I am even more scared of the one after, where we host both Falmouth and Bourne.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Eastham Prospect Review
I realized that I had yet to really go over the prospects that we have in the organization. While the Sox have been pretty bad to start the CCBL, the prospects that were in the system when I arrived in Eastham are pretty highly touted. Our system is not really loaded with talent, but we have four to five players who are seen as top 100 prospects and two that are seen in the top five.
I really need to focus on my youth and overall development of these prospects, because that is what will get us to be a contender, not free agent signings. Here I will highlight our top five prospects which are all ranked in the league’s top 100.

19-year-old LF Rafael Casares Level: AA Expected Year to Reach Majors: 2032 Org. Rank: 1 CCBL Rank: 3
When I first arrived in Eastham, Casares had just been promoted from the international pool to Single A, and in his short time playing last season, he dominated the league. When this season started I decided to keep him there for a bit to get a larger sample size, but he began to dominate like last season, so in May I brought him up to AA. Casares is ranked as the third best prospect in the entire CCBL and is destined to be a real star in the league.

Rafael is already a pretty solid hitter and could probably contribute already to our team, but there’s no point in rushing him to the big leagues. His biggest weakness as a hitter though has to be his strikeouts. Casares can hit well but has struck out a lot, 33 K in 28 games started in AA. The CCBL is a league where pitchers can really dominate, and Casares needs to stop striking out if he wants to be in the majors soon.
His defense is below average as well, but he is such a highly praised prospect because of his hitting ability and not his defense at the corner outfield positions. He is projected to be a great hitter, someone who can hit around .300 and hit 20-30 homers a year at least. Also, while we have yet to see it develop, our scouts project him to have an elite ability at drawing walks and will be a major facet to his hitting game.

21-year-old 2B Carlos Chamorro Level: AAA Expected Year to Reach Majors: 2031 Org. Rank: 2 CCBL Rank: 4
While Casares is seen as our top prospect, I have been watching Chamorro much more intently, as he is very close to making the majors here. He will be our first great second basemen in Eastham and I am incredibly excited for him to come up. He could easily start over both Britt and Horton as of right now, but I want to wait a bit before promoting him to the majors here.

Like Casares he is not going to be a great defensive option, but he will be an excellent hitter for the team. Charmorro is projected to have elite contact ability and should hit for a high average and he has solid power to where he could be a threat to hit around 20 a year. I think he will probably be seen as the best second baseman in the league at one point, and could be our top hitter for years to come.

25-year-old 1B Jeremy Gutierrez Level: AAA Expected Year to Reach Majors: 2032 Org. Rank: 3 CCBL Rank: 27
Gutierrez is my main prospect at first and with the drafting of Mrozczek, I am starting to realize that Jeremy may not be the full time answer at first. It’s hard to call him a prospect when he is already 25. There are a lot of late bloomers in baseball, but at 25 the potential you still have may easily just fade away.

This could be someone I could see on paper being in the majors, but his performance and numbers don’t show me that he can even succeed in AAA. In 56 games in AAA, he holds a 74 OPS+ which is just terrible for any first basemen. First basemen need to be at least offensively competent, and Gutierrez just hasn’t shown that. I don’t know if I’d even consider him as a prospect right now.

22-year-old 1B Shane Smith Level: A Expected Year to Reach Majors: 2033 Org. Rank: 4 CCBL Rank: 48
Smith is ranked lower than Gutierrez, but I’d argue he has a much better shot to be a contributor for the Sox than the older option. Smith is 22, but he will be around 23-24 when he will be ready to be promoted to the big leagues hopefully. While he hasn’t been lighting the world on fire in Single A, I decided today to promote him to AA since he’s already 22. Smith will probably not be a great starter at first, but he could be a part of the team at some point.

22-year-old SP Avery Henderson Level: AA Expected Year to Reach Majors: 2033 Org. Rank: 5 CCBL Rank: 83
This is the top starter in our prospect pool, and I think he could be in our rotation at some point. He does not project to be a power pitcher, but he seems to be pretty good at limiting homers and walks. His control right now is an issue, but our scouts project that he has the potential to get it to above league average. He throws around 94-96 and is mainly a ground ball pitcher as this point, as he really does not have a great ability to strike out batters. Henderson has been decent in AA thus far, but I feel like he will need to improve his performance before I can really start thinking about him coming to AAA.

After looking at what my scout and the numbers say, I think our prospect pool is extremely top heavy but not very deep. Casares and Chamorro look to be stars in the league and will be big pieces for our rebuild, but I worry that the other three will have a minimal impact here and not live up to their projected ability.

I wanted to get into some actual baseball, but I forgot to mention this from the start and I thought now after the draft would be the perfect time to start talking and evaluating our prospects in the system.

Next week we come back home from a tough week on the road to host the Wellfleet Beacons for three games, then we travel down to Chatham to play the Admirals for three more. Hoping to beat up on the Beacons and not get swept by the Admirals.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Week 12

This week we come back home to Eastham to host our rivals, the Wellfleet Beacons for three games. Then we travel south to play the streaking Chatham Admirals.

Wellfleet Beacons (26-39) vs Eastham Blue Sox (31-34) June 10-12, 2031
We have only played five games against the Beacons thus far into the season and have gone 3-2. Back in mid April we played them in a short two game series and split it. They have been 19-31 since and have really fallen out of contention in the Outer Cape. Star first baseman Tim Doughty has really had a slow start to the season and while he is still one of the best hitters on the team, he hasn’t performed up to his 150 OPS+ season last year. RF Eric Wieringa has been an excellent option for the Beacons, but the rest of the lineup besides Doughty and Wieringa have struggled. Hoping we can take advantage here and start to push back to .500.

Game 66: WEL 2 EAS 5
Game 67: WEL 5 EAS 6
Game 68: WEL 0 EAS 7

What a series here! We sweep the Beacons at home in three really memorable games as we reach the .500 mark. The first game was really just a great performance from my usual punching bag, Bret Horvath. He went seven innings, allowed three hits and one earned run. Jason Keffer was also excellent as he drove in four of our five runs off a three run homer and another solo shot.

The second game was even crazier, as we were beaten pretty badly early on and were in a 5-2 deficit by the ninth inning. We grabbed a run early but then quickly were down to our last out. With two outs and two men on base, newly promoted Ben Van SIckle hit a three run homer to left to walk us off and win a crazy comeback. Scoring four runs in the ninth to win the game isn’t something that is seen a lot, especially in Eastham. The fans went absolutely nuts and many fans “called in sick” after a night of celebration.

The final game was the ascendance of Nelson Santoyo, as he went eight innings of allowing only two hits and no earned runs. Santoyo has been our ace and has really been a great signing for us thus far. Santoyo jerseys have been the most popular in the club shop this season and he is gaining a lot of recognition here in Eastham. Very happy about this series, now I’d like to be competitive against a challenging Chatham squad.


Eastham Blue Sox (34-34) vs Chatham Admirals (37-32) June 13-15, 2031
We now travel to Chatham after they started the week getting swept by the Harwich Anglers at home. This is our only second series against the Admirals and the last time we faced was in late April where they swept us brutally at home. Our Sox are currently riding a five game winning streak after taking two in Provincetown and sweeping the Beacons at home. Chatham has a legit one-two punch in superstar 2B Fernando Alvarado and the really young and talented 21-year-old CF Diego Lopez. Both of these hitters are seen as the best or second best players in the entire league at their respective positions, and are on pace to have 7.9 and 9.1 WAR. I see Chatham as a team that could be winning titles in the next couple years and this team has a lot of talent. It’s too bad they share a division with Orleans and Harwich, cause I could see them winning our division easily if they were there.


Game 69: EAS 2 CHA 5
Game 70: EAS 1 CHA 4
Game 71: EAS 4 CHA 6 (13)


Thoughts. Actually Just Ranting After This Collapse:
My God. This is exactly what I had feared and I can’t believe we lost all that momentum from that wonderful Wellfleet series. I swear this team is toying with me. They go from looking like they can slide into a playoff spot in this weak division, to looking like that same garbage squad as last season. The last game was exceptionally painful, as we give up a two run homer in the bottom of the thirteenth after an excellent performance from our bullpen. The same lack of runs that we struggled with throughout most of April and May has hit this team again, as we score seven runs and 18 hits in three games. I really have little to say after such a demoralizing series like that nor do I really know what to expect moving forward here.

Power Rankings and Standings: We drop from ninth to tenth after our rough 3-3 week. In general nothing has really changed in the overall standings and records of the teams in the CCBL as really Barnstable and Chatham are the only teams that have been moving up. Somehow Harwich and Orleans still remain tied for first in the Upper Cape as neither seems to be getting any space at all. Bourne and Falmouth are still battling in the Lower Cape and Dennis and Barnstable are getting very tight in the Mid Cape as well. The Outer Cape is still being held by the Provincetown Pirates and Eastham has not done much to change that outlook.

Next week we come back home as we will spend the week playing two potent interleague foes, the Bourne Atlantics and the Falmouth Tides. Both teams are seen as some of the best in the entire league and will definitely be giving us a ton of trouble here. When we faced both on the road back in April, we surprisingly went 3-3. If we can do that again at home here I’ll be ecstatic but I wouldn’t be surprised to go 0-6 either after that horrible Chatham series.

Attached are the league standings.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Week 13

Unlucky week #13 here as we host the ridiculously good Bourne Atlantics and Falmouth Tides at home for the week. Last week zapped a lot of the hope I had for this team and I’m expecting this to go as badly as expected.

Bourne Atlantics (44-28) vs Eastham Blue Sox (34-37) June 17-19, 2031
The story in the Lower Cape has been the Falmouth Tides, but it’s not like Bourne has suddenly fallen off as a true title contender here. They have started the month of June at 7-7, but Falmouth has cooled off since the month began and Bourne is still steady with the division lead. The usually talented Atlantics rotation has struggled pretty badly this season, as they rank 5th in the WL in starter ERA.

Ace Dave Wentz has still looked up to his same form as last year, but normally good pitchers like Mike Goshen and reigning WL Pitcher of the Year Rogelio Rivera have struggled massively. Rivera has been truly terrible for the Atlantics, as he’s gone from a 2.35 ERA in his POTY campaign, to now currently having an ERA of 5.42. I could see him having a bit of a bounce back later in the season, but this has been a really rough first half of the season from an otherwise fantastic pitcher.

Game 42: BOU 10 EAS 3
Game 43: BOU 2 EAS 6
Game 44: BOU 5 EAS 3

Tough series but I can’t say I’m surprised. The first game was cancelled so we played a double header on Wednesday. Luckily we got Abramson back from the IL and we sadly had to waive Tim Gallup as he was our weakest outfielder and refused to be demoted. Gallup did a serviceable job in left but Abrmason will help generate some more offense and play much better defense at left. Our only win in the series came in the form of another excellent Santoyo start, as he’s proving to be an extremely reliable ace for us. He is 7-1 with a 2.54 ERA and leads the entire Eastern League in ERA, yet he’s not even top five in all-star voting. What a joke. Salas has been falling apart here though, as he was slaughtered in the first game of the series and has now been 0-2 with a 6.53 ERA in three starts in June. Next we host the Tides and like with this series, I can’t complain if we can take at least one game.

Falmouth Tides (42-34) vs Eastham Blue Sox (35-39) June 20-22, 2031
Since the start of the month, the “surging Tides” narrative has kind of fallen apart, as the team still sits four and a half back of the Atlantics and haven’t made too much progress. They started the week in P-Town where they lost two of three and now come down south to play us. This Juan Estrada kid amazes me honestly. The Tides 22-year-old CF is currently dominating the league in his second season and he’s doing it in a pretty interesting way. He has no power at all and doesn’t have a great eye at the plate, but the dude can just flat out get on base. Sabermetrics aren’t going to make him look as great due to his low power numbers, but he is also an elite center fielder and can run on anyone. Just a really unique player that I would love to have on our team.



Oh and things get bad FAST. Andre Davis went down in the last game of the Bourne series, and the diagnosis came back today. He broke his elbow and will be out for four months. So he’s done for the year. How incredibly frustrating. Andre was leading the entire EL in batting average and was on pace for a 6.1 WAR season. While he was good last season, he really broke out this season and it sucks to see the season end for him. I brought Gallup back from waivers and now Shue will be playing at right. Heading into the season I preferred Shue, but Davis was excellent when Shue was injured and now to see him out just really bums me out.

Game 45: FAL 10 EAS 3
Game 46: FAL 10 EAS 11 (12)
Game 47: FAL 12 EAS 3

Thoughts: A tough week, but these are the best of the best in the CCBL and I really shouldn’t have expected any better. I see an eminent collapse here as we have lost seven of the last ten games and are falling further into the abyss they call irrelevancy. The Davis injury was a massive sucker punch for our season and while I still have faith in Shue at right, I don’t think he can even come close to replacing the elite numbers Andre was putting up. The regression of our pitching staff is the main reason we are falling apart here, both in the rotation and the bullpen. Gone are the days where they were ranking as an average staff as now both the starters and bullpen ERA are ranked fifth and sixth in the EL. Santoyo is the only starter with a sub-4 ERA and Horvath and Mondragon have been huge disappointments.

Leal has been absolute trash and I will be putting Van Sickle in his spot ASAP. Sad to see an all-star catcher regress to a literal AAA player in the span of half a season. Shortstop has been a black hole for us as well, as Rosales couldn’t hit a beach ball, let alone a baseball. Hullman has performed well in his extremely small sample size here, but I could see him being a negative asset immediately when I give him more playing time. Britt has done a decent job at second actually and is having his best month so far, but this team is just incredibly frustrating.

Power Rankings and Standings: After our 2-4 week, we drop from tenth to eleventh in the power rankings. The top four of Orleans, Harwich, Bourne and Chatham stays the same, but Mashpee has moved up into the fifth spot.

The Lower Cape continues to be a madhouse as now the Mashpee Sailors are looking to challenge for the division crown. The Sailors are 7-3 in their last ten and currently hold a four game winning streak. They are now only a game and a half back from the Falmouth Tides and are looking to push towards the Atlantics. In the Mid Cape, the Dennis Destroyers still hold the division lead over Barnstable after the Sharks lost three in a row to end the week. Hyannis is falling even further out of contention, as they now sit five back and look lethargic.

In the Upper Cape, there is finally a true leader, as the Orleans Ocean have jumped forward and now hold a two game lead over the Harwich Anglers. I assume the Anglers will cut that lead short soon, but for now the Ocean are in front. The Outer Cape has not changed much, but the Provincetown Pirates look to be the only true competent team in the division, as Eastham, Truro and Wellfleet have all been pretty bad as of late. One of the three will need to make a push soon if they want to be anywhere close to contention by the end of the season.

Next week we have a tough challenge to start, as we head to Harwich to play the dominant Anglers for three games. Then we come back home to Eastham to face our fellow struggling division foe, the Truro Sea Dogs. Maybe with a surprising showing in Harwich and a dominant performance against Truro, maybe we can look to be in the race again. But I doubt it after these past two dismal weeks.

Attached are the league standings.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Week 14

We start the week on the road against the Harwich Anglers for three games. Then we come home to play our divisional foe, the Truro Sea Dogs for four games. I don’t expect much success against Harwich, but Truro is a team we should be consistent against.

Eastham Blue Sox (36-41) vs Harwich Anglers (49-38) June 23-25, 2031
After going 18-9 in both April and May, the Anglers haven’t been up to that same pace, only going 12-8 in June. In most divisions this wouldn’t matter, but Orleans has won more as of late and now holds a two game lead over the Anglers. Orellana has really been amazing since we last faced him, and is now on pace for a 11.3 WAR season. Javier has spent the month of June hitting .403 and having an OPS of 1.344! This team will be motivated to shred us here and I’m not looking forward to it.

Game 78: EAS 2 HAR 1
Game 79: EAS 6 HAR 8
Game 80: EAS 8 HAR 11

An excellent performance from Salas in the first game here, but the other two games have been commonplace as of late, where the offense shows up and produces, but the starters and especially the bullpen blow it. Santoyo was pretty bad in the second game, but we actually had a 6-5 lead going into the ninth. Usually reliable Emilio Martinez gave up two hits to start, then we put in Almaguer and literally on the first pitch, Alex Morales hit a three run homer to end the game. The third game was also brutal as we scored five runs in the top of the eighth to tie the game at 6, but then allowed them to score five runs in that same inning to lose it. Frustrating, but I’m hoping to take three of four from Truro.

Truro Sea Dogs (33-48) vs Eastham Blue Sox (37-43) June 26-29, 2031
We have actually had some success against our division opponents, going 5-3 against Truro and 16-10 against all three total. We last faced the Sea Dogs in mid May where we took three of four from them in a pretty rewarding series. Truro has actually been decent in June though, going 11-12 during the month and still only sit eight back of first. This should be an interesting series and a good test to see if our team is actually at a level above both Truro and Wellfleet in the division.

Game 81: TRU 1 EAS 3
Game 82: TRU 5 EAS 1
Game 83: TRU 2 EAS 5
Game 84: TRU 5 EAS 9


Thoughts: Really impressive way to end the week as we again take three of four games from the Sea Dogs. To only give up 13 runs in four games is extremely impressive and our staff seemed to bounce back after a really crappy series in Harwich. I think our pitching staff can succeed against some offenses, but with all around talented lineups like Harwich, Orleans and others they tend to struggle mightily and give up a ton of runs.

Van Sickle has had a hot start to his career at catcher, as he holds an OPS+ of 130 and an average of .294 in 17 starts and 78 plate appearances. Ochoa and Keffer look like they will be our all-stars and I think Andre Davis may as well even though he will be out for the rest of the year.

Looking back at the del Risco trade with Dennis is making me smirk for now. Our former backup catcher is starting for the Destroyers, and has been valuable on the defensive side but still struggles offensively. I don’t understand why they are starting del Risco with his horrible hitting ability but it hasn’;t worked out horribly for them. The reliever we got back for him though has been our best bullpen arm next to Emilio Martinez, as he holds a 2.52 ERA in his 17 appearances with us and a total ERA of 2.31 for the whole season. So thus far it’s been a great trade for us.

Power Rankings and Standings: We stay in eleventh after our 4-2 week while Harwich and Chatham take the top two spots respectively. Orleans drops to third and Bourne drops to fourth to round out the top four teams in the league.

The Lower Cape has been crazy as now last place Sandwich are starting to come back into the standings after winning five games straight and sweeping Falmouth in a three game set. Bourne still has a large lead for the division, but Falmouth has struggled as of late and is only falling further away from the Atlantics. The Mid Cape hasn’t changed much as both Dennis and Barnstable are sitting around .500 and competing for the top of the division. Hyannis is still falling out of contention, while Yarmouth has been terrible as usual.

The Upper Cape has been crazy as now the Harwich Anglers hold the division lead after taking all four games from the Brewster Buzzards. The Chatham Admirals have also been gaining ground in the division as they swept the Orleans Ocean in four games. Chatham is still not truly in the race, but they are gaining and only sit five and a half back of first place Harwich. The Outer Cape hasn’t changed much as P-Town and Eastham have been decent but not great while Wellfleet and Truro have still been sliding out of contention.

Next week is the last week before All-Star Weekend and we play Provincetown for four games at home, then we travel up to Wellfleet to play our biggest local rivals for three games. These seven divisional games will tell us how close we actually are to the Pirates and if we can make some kind of playoff push here.

Attached are the league standings.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Week 15

We start this divisional week by hosting the division leading Provincetown Pirates for four games, then we travel out to Wellfleet to finish the week going into the All-Star Break.

Provincetown Pirates (42-40) vs Eastham Blue Sox (40-44) June 30 - July 3, 2031
If we sweep the Pirates here, we can actually grab a game lead in the division. I don’t expect that happening here, but the fact that it’s possible makes me hope for the best. I really thought the Pirates would be ahead by a lot by now, but they have struggled in June, going 11-15 and have been just as bad as we have in that span. Looking forward to a good series here but who really knows anymore.

Game 83: PT 3 EAS 5
Game 84: PT 4 EAS 7
Game 85: PT 2 EAS 6
Game 86: PT 0 EAS 1


Eastham Blue Sox (44-44) vs Wellfleet Beacons (34-52) July 4-6, 2031
The Beacons have been falling further and further out of contention as the season progresses. A miserable 9-17 month of June has had a horrid effect on fans in Wellfleet, and a team who was projected to win the division looks completely out of it. After our wonderful series against the Pirates, I hope we can grab a lead in the division.


Game 87: EAS 3 WEL 4
Game 88: EAS 1 WEL 3
Game 89: EAS 2 WEL 9


Thoughts: Probably the craziest week of the season here as we win all four games against our main competitor Provincetown. As we left the field after each win, I kept thinking how is this even possible? I know that P-Town isn’t some real great team, but I was just amazed we were finally tied for the division lead at 44-44. Well I think maybe the morale was way too high after that sweep as the team barely showed up in Wellfleet.

I think we have a ways to go if we can sneak into the playoffs here, as we have to be able to beat up on divisional opponents. We are much less talented than most teams in the Upper Cape and the Western League. Provincetown has faltered as of late and winning that series in Wellfleet would have been the perfect opportunity to take the division lead.

Power Rankings and Standings:After our 4-3 week, we jump up one spot from eleventh to tenth in the power rankings. Harwich stayed at the top of the rankings, but the Dennis Destroyers jumped to second, as they had a 5-2 week and swept the Hyannis Hawks. Chatham took third, the Bourne Atlantics took fourth and the top five was rounded out by Orleans.

The Lower Cape is still being held by the Bourne Atlantics, as they have really yet to be challenged for the lead. The Mashpee Sailors have jumped back into contention and have now grabbed second away from the Falmouth Tides. The Tides have begun to slow down as they have been 16-17 since the start of June. They were a team that I thought could win this division again and I also thought they could catch Bourne, but they need to have a spectacular second half to take the division and defend their championship.

The Mid Cape has also still been led by the Dennis Destroyers, as they now sit two and half in front of the Barnstable Sharks. My preseason pick Hyannis has been falling apart still, as they have currently lost three in a row and now sit ten games out of .500. Barnstable can still catch the Destroyers, but Dennis has been a top five team in the past couple weeks here.

The race for the Upper Cape looks to be blown into pieces as the Harwich Anglers have been dominating the league. A current win streak of 13 games has propelled them over the Ocean and the Admirals to have the division lead by a massive seven games. The Ocean have lost nine of ten games and now could even lose second place to Chatham. It is truly crazy how fast things have changed and Orleans will need to be their absolute best in the second half to catch Harwich.

The Outer Cape is looking more competitive now, as the Eastham Blue Sox took all four games against the Pirates and after a rough series in Wellfleet, only sit one game back for the division. Wellfleet has been better to start this month, but they have a way to go if they are going to grab the division title.

Next week is the All-Star game, then we finish the week travelling to Brewster for three games.

Attached are the league standings.

[StLee]

Bad break on those last three with the chance to take the division lead!

[Bigfish1287]

2031 All-Star Game

I really missed this save and writing about the CCBL so I will be continuing the narrative of my favorite fictional league! On to the 2031 All-Star Game!

The 2031 All-Star Game was held at Falmouth Fields, the home of the defending champion Falmouth Tides. We have four all-stars going to the game this year, SP Nelson Santoyo, RP Emilio Martinez, 1B Carlos Ochoa and 3B Jason Keffer. This is the first appearance for Santoyo, Martinez and Keffer where Ochoa made the team last year as well for the CCBL inaugural all-star game.

The Eastern League defeated the Western League in a close 4-3 game. All four of our players featured for the Eastern League team. Santoyo and Martinez both pitched an inning each and allowed no runs for the East. Both Ochoa and Keffer started for the East team as well, with Keffer at the DH spot instead of his usual third. Ochoa went 0-2 and was then subbed out where as Keffer had a huge impact on the win for the Eastern League. With a 1-0 East lead in the bottom of the fourth, Keffer hit a two run homer to extend the lead and help the East hold on. It’s always nice to see Eastham players show up on the biggest stage and maybe they can be a part of the playoffs in October as well.

At the all-star break the division is still in limbo. Truro and Wellfleet look out of contention for now but it’s not like any of these four teams have been any good. Our team in Eastham only sits one game back of the Provincetown Pirates and it can be possible to clinch a division title here. I think whoever wins this division will be crushed by Harwich, who came into the break with a 13 game winning streak and have really started to cruise past Orleans and Chatham. Coming into this season, getting into a division race seemed unlikely for our Blue Sox but expectations have been surpassed thus far and I am looking forward to battling with P-Town for the next couple months.

We have a quick three game series in Brewster to end the week after the All-Star game next.

Attached are the league standings and the box score for the 2031 All-Star Game.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Week 16

We only had three games to play this week, as the All-Star game was on Tuesday and then we had a weekend series with the Brewster Buzzards.

Eastham Blue Sox (44-47) vs Brewster Buzzards (34-58) June 11-13, 2031 .
Brewster has been the worst team thus far in the Eastern League and they have really been spiraling out of control. They were 8-20 in June and while they’ve started the month of July 3-3, things still do not look on the up for the Buzzards. LF Isiah Fleming has been the star in Brewster as he currently holds a 146 OPS+ but somehow did not make the all-star team this year. 2B Stephen Canady has been solid as well, as he made his first all-star appearance this season but they do not have much else. They are last in the EL in runs against, starter ERA and are seventh in bullpen ERA. The offense is slightly better than the pitching staff, but neither have been good enough to even get to .500. We haven’t been that great against Brewster this year though, only going 3-3 against them in two series. I am hoping we can at least take two of three here and gain some ground on Provincetown.


Game 92: EAS 4 BRE 7
Game 93: EAS 14 BRE 2
Game 94: EAS 5 BRE 4

Thoughts: Andddd... we take the division lead after this series! The first game was pretty disheartening as we kept it really close early. We held a 3-2 lead in the fourth but by the sixth it was 4-3 Buzzards and an extra three runs in the eighth put it out of reach for us. The second game was a complete domination as Ochoa hit a grand slam and the team combined for six doubles throughout this one. Horvath was good as well as he struck out 11 (career high) and only gave up three hits and one run. The rubber game was the true test though as we entered the ninth down 2-1. A big two out single by Leal tied the game at 2 and we went on to add three more runs as we were getting big hit after big hit in the clutch. Brewster came close to coming back as Mike Wray was really lackluster, but we held on.

Power Rankings: We jump up one spot to ninth in the power rankings after the Brewster series win. Harwich stays in the top spot even though they finally ended their winning streak at 14 games. Chatham and Bourne sit at the second and third spot as both teams have continued to win and stay near the top of all CCBL teams. The Yarmouth Gulls stay at the bottom of the standings as they get swept by Sandwich and are the worst team in the entire league record wise.

We finally grab the division lead in the Upper Cape Division as P-Town gets swept by the Chatham Admirals. It’s only a one game lead and we are bound to lose it quickly but it feels good to have the lead after season expectations were extremely low. In any other division, this team would not be anywhere near the playoffs but the Upper Cape is incredibly weak.

Next week we play three in Orleans and then we come back home for three games against the Hyannis Hawks.

Attached are the league standings.

[Bigfish1287]

2031 Week 17

We start the week heading down south to Orleans to play the Ocean for three games, then we head back home for three games against interleague foe Hyannis. Orleans will be a really tough series and while Hyannis has lost six straight and look out of contention, they have a lot of talent on their team. Should be a tricky week of baseball.

Eastham Blue Sox (46-48) vs Orleans Ocean (57-37) July 14-16, 2031

Like last season, Orleans finds themselves in an intense division battle with the Harwich Anglers. Last season they came three games short of tying Orleans but things have gotten worse this year. Throughout most of the first half the battle between the two was very close but as of late Harwich has really pulled away. If Orleans struggles here they could actually fall to third as Chatham has also been catching up fast here. We have really struggled against the Ocean this year as we are 1-5 against them in two series so far. The only team in the Eastern League who we have been worse against is Chatham who took all six games in our two series against each other.

Game 95: EAS 1 ORL 2
Game 96: EAS 6 ORL 5
Game 97: EAS 1 ORL 4

Series Recap: A tough series in Orleans but I can’t complain as these guys are much much better than us. The first game was a good pitching duel as we held the game tied at 1 until the eighth when a Seth Davis RBI single gave them the lead that they would eventually hold. The second game in the series was a nice win as Abramson hit a three run shot in the top of the fifth to give us a 6-4 lead.

The bullpen was good today as well. We now have Chris Crabtree back from the IL as our closer, and he gets his second save of the year for us. Crabtree if you remember, went down with a bone spur in his elbow in the third game of the season and now he’s finally back. Mike Wray was a decent replacement but Crabtree looks to be a big piece to have back on this team..

Ocean starter Bobby Mosqueda had our number in the rubber game as he went eight innings of three hit ball, only giving up one earned run. Mondragon has struggled all year for us but he wasn’t that bad today as he only allowed two runs in seven innings of work. Frustrating game that I felt like we couldn’t really come back from once we gave up the lead.

Not a great three game series here but Orleans are still a top-5 team in the entire league so it’s not the end of the world to lose two of three here.

Some real bad injury news though after the final game of the series though. CF Dave Morales went on the IL in late June due to some torn ankle ligaments, but he was supposed to come back by early August. Well, he had a big setback and it’ll now be four months till he is back so his season looks to be over here. Our replacement at CF, Andrew Aud, is not any good but has honestly played at a replacement level which is all I can really ask for here. Morales was pretty good for us in his 200 AB sample size (92 OPS+, 1.0 WAR, +0.5 ZR) but he is 33 and his hitting ability is only going to decline as he gets older. He will be a free agent and I will have to maybe look for a better CF on the open market.

Hyannis Hawks (40-56) vs Eastham Blue Sox (47-50) July 18-20, 2031

Hyannis has gone from a 89 win team in 2030 to a team 13 games back of the division lead. Their decline has been occurring recently as well, as they are a pitiful 2-10 in the month of July. These guys were my pick for the division but man have they fallen apart. The Hawks are in dead last in the Western League in almost every major hitting category, hits, average, runs scored, WAR, homers. Their pitching has been pretty good as both the starters and bullpen ERA are in the top half of the WL, but the hitting has been so abysmal it doesn’t really matter. Hopefully we can take some games here against a team who’s really been falling apart.

Game 98: HYA 7 EAS 5
Game 99: HYA 7 EAS 11
Game 100: HYA 3 EAS 4

Series Recap: A big series win at home here as we score 20 runs in three games. The first game was a real heartbreaker as we held a 4-1 lead going into the eighth inning, Sadly we left Horvath in to start the inning and he proceeded to give up four earned runs off a double and some RBI singles. Mike Wray would then come in to replace him and give up two more runs as we went down 7-4. A consolidation run in the eighth did nothing for us as we got shut down in the ninth in a real bad loss.

Luckily our offense exploded in the second game of the series as we had a three run first inning and a five run seventh. Jason Keffer hit a three run shot to give us the early lead in the first inning, and Tim Gallup hit a pinch hit grand slam in the seventh! We needed that big seventh inning to pull ahead and win this one.

The deciding game went well for us in the end as we pulled out a tight 4-3 game. Two runs in the first gave us the early lead as Keffer hit another home run, bringing in two. A run in the third and a two run homer in the fifth brought the Hawks to a 3-2 lead over us. The seventh inning is what turned it around for us as an RBI triple by Abramson tied the game at 3, then a RBI double by Ochoa gave us the 4-3 lead. Our bullpen played excellent to close this one out as Matt Young went two innings of hitless ball and while Crabtree gave up two hits in the ninth, we were able to hold on for the win.

Thoughts: Not a bad 3-3 week as we lost two of three to a great team and took two of three from a bad one. We still hold onto the division lead as Provincetown is collapsing before our very eyes. They lost two of three to Harwich, the best team in the CCBL, but then also lost two of three to Yarmouth who are the worst team in the CCBL. It doesn’t really feel right to have a two game division lead while sitting at 49-51 but that is kinda how the season has been in the Upper Cape.

I think the Morales injury is really going to hamper us for the rest of the season. I really don’t have a reliable option who can play center at even a decent defensive ability except for Aud. I haven’t really talked much about Aud but it’s understandable because he’s been pretty non-existent. We signed him as a minor league free agent in late June and we called him up as our Morales replacement in CF. For a guy who has little hitting ability to speak of, I am actually impressed with his 85 OPS+ and 100 wRC+. It is only 65 at-bats, but I am pretty impressed he hasn’t been a complete disaster thus far.

Power Rankings: We stay put at ninth after our 3-3 week. Harwich stays at the top after a 4-2 week and Orleans jumps to the second spot after a 4-2 week as well. I kinda feel bad that teams as good as Orleans and Chatham are probably gonna miss out on the playoffs where as below average teams like us and P-Town have a real shot at the playoffs due to our terrible division. Brewster falls to the bottom spot in the rankings after a 1-5 week and Yarmouth are surprisingly not the worst team in the league anymore by a half game.

We start next week back at home against the terrible Yarmouth Gulls for three games, then we head north to play our division rival Wellfleet for three more games. This should be a week where we can increase our division lead as both Yarmouth and Wellfleet have been bad. But who really knows? Wellfleet has actually been 9-6 thus far in July and they aren’t completely out of contention in a division as weak as ours.

Attached are the league standings.

[StLee]

I'm happy this is back!