The IBL's Chicago Iron Pigs

[gehrig38]

Predictions for our new 'home'.
First thing that jumps out is the prediction for expansion GB to be an over 500 club??? Wow. Especially looking at Alaska. No respect for Chicago either, that's fine.

[gehrig38]

For our former league... Philly with a push from Pittsburgh? Not Baltimore?
The two former Frontier League teams come into the Lone Star and take over? I'm openly rooting for former rival Houston to make that not happen!
LA pretty firmly in the West again....

[gehrig38]

Interesting... Some familiar names for the FL (top list) in both pitching and hitting, but the pundits seem to love the new guys too, Helton with a batting title? Arod with a monster season. Spike Davis is my pitcher they call out? Interesting. Alexander getting a little love, finally. Hill to bounce back, Rios to hit 50? Thompson to threaten 300 k's again?
Over in the CL, glad if I never see Arredondo again, but that season at 38? Whimster to make another MVP run, Bray to stay healthy and dominate. Gonzalez (HOU) back in form. Soto (LA) with another batting title?

[gehrig38]

2015 Season OPENING DAY!!
WEEK 1
3 vs Michigan (58-104 42 GB CL West ’14)
3 @ New York (71-91 8.5 GB FL East ’14)
1 vs Buffalo (68-94 11.5 GB FL East ’14)

A team we know, and 2 we’ve never seen, all had horrible seasons last year. Wes Morgan is due back tomorrow but it feels weird to not see him at 1st on opening day. Alfredo Alejandrez with his 4th opening day start (He’s 1-1 with 21IP 20 hits 6 earned runs 20K’s and 9 walks on opening day)

GAME 1
Raul Feliz has the first Iron Pig hit of 2015, a lead off solo shot (1) in the bottom of the third. A 3-0 lead evaporates as Alejandrez tires in the 6th and the pen fails to hold it (I fear this could be an early season theme). Potts (0-1) Pennington and Pacheco can’t keep inherited runners from scoring and the game turn to a 7-3 losss. Alejandrez goes 5.1-7-3-3-3-5 after throwing well early. Feliz hits another solo HR (2) in the 5th, Franco goes 2-3 and Chartier steals his 1st.
MICH 7 CHI 3 (0-1)

MOVES
Morgan is activated and Sotolo will head to Tulsa to play everyday. His LH bat is overkill, and his ability to just play 2nd makes Ferrer a more valued keep.

GAME 2
A schizophrenic pen? They come in to hold the line today before a 10th inning bad pitch costs us the game. Spike Davis (4.1-9-5-4-1-1) is bad but the same cast nails it down for 4 innings today. 3 Chicago errors were the difference. Lorenzelli drove in 3 with his 1st HR, Collins hit his 1st as well. Chartier and Riggs had 2 hit days.
MICH 6 CHI 5 (0-2)

GAME 3
A 9th inning error by defensive replacement Ignacio Ferrer allowed Ken Johnson to blow the save after a 2 out triple from W Bell. KJ struck out the side otherwise in his first appearance for Ernesto Cruz. Ryan Pennington then loaded the bases on his own error but Riley Potts escaped any damage. Chartier and Alexander singled to lead off the 10th, and against ALL instinct Jared had Collins sac bunt them over. It looks like a failed ploy after Hudson pop up by Wes Morgan stroked a line drive double down the LF line for a walk off game winning double. Chartier went 2-5 with 2 runs and a HR (1) and Bill Alexander got on the board with his 1st in a 2-5 day. Morgan was 2-5 with 2 RBI’s.
CHI 6 MICH 5 (1-2)

INJURY NEWS
2014 Frontier League Champion San Antonio will be without ace Steve Copeland for the 2015 season. The 32 year old (14-9 5.13) underwent elbow reconstruction today and will miss the next 12-13 months.

And Columbus today learned they’d lost new bullpen arm (acquired from Michigan this winter) Ryan Murphy after he was diagnosed with a tear of his UCL, and will undergo surgery that will keep him out at least a year.

GAME 4
Williams never had it (0-1) going 6-9-8-6-4-2 but another Chicago error opened the flood gates. Riley Potts allowed his 2 inherited to score and gave up 3 more in a 5 run 7th to blow it open. Knights starte Jesus Romano (1-0) went 9-4-2-2-3-7 for the win. Jean Chartier kicked it off with his 2nd HR, a 2 run shot in the 1st.
NY 11 CHI 2 (1-3)

NEWS
New Hampshire SP Junior Harvey shut out Baltimore 6-0 on a 3 hitter. Harvey is coming off a 10-14 4.94 season.

GAME 5
Jeff Bentley (1-0) went 5.1-2-2-2-2-2 before 2 hit batters and 2 wild pitches in the 6th ended his day. The pen went 3.2 scoreless and the offense broke out for the 1st time this year. Collins 3-5 2 runs an RBI and his 2nd HR, Riggs 2-6 with 2 runs, Alexander 2-5 3 runs 3 RBI’s on his 2nd HR, Wes Morgan 2-4 with an RBI and Jean Chartier went 3-5 with a run and an RBI. Ernesto Gutierrez hit his 1st, a 3 run shot, in the 7th.
CHI 10 NY 2
(2-3 2 GB)

INJURY NEWS
Raul Feliz came out with an early injury and word is now that he tore an ab muscle and will miss the next month most likely. The injuries continue to mount. Newly acquired Ron Miller will get the call, his RH bat will help the offense against lefty pitching.

GAME 6
Ken Johnson appears to be a hungry dude. 2 more punchouts in a perfect 9th for his 2nd save. Alfredo Alejandrez (1-0) overcame early wildness to go 7-5-1-1-4-5 and Paul Riggs drove in 2 with 2 hits. Alexander went 2-5 with an RBI and Bob Barbour went 3-4 with a run scored.
CHI 3 NY 1
(3-3 2 GB)

NEWS
Maybe the pundits got this one right. Vince Bray came out of his 2nd start of the year with a clean slate, a 0.00 ERA as he punched out 11 Patriots in a 7-0 win. Bray has gone 15.1 IP, and struck out 18 in his 2-0 start.

World Series star Kenny O’Gorman went 5-6 yesterday, in AAA… Apparently he needs more seasoning behind 23 year old budding start Ed Thomas? San Antonio must be stacked to send a kid hat hit .369 in 160 AB’s last year, back to AAA.

GAME 7
A 3 run 6th and 7th against a tiring Spike Davis doomed Chicago today. Carrying a 3-0 lead into the top of 6 he gave that up and Jared Smith tried to squeeze one too many hitters in the 7th out of him, and it backfired. Davis (0-1) went 6.2-7-6-6-4-5 in the loss. Chartier went 2-4 with a double and his 3rd HR and Gutierrez went 2-3.
BUF 6 CHI 4 (3-4 2GB)

WEEK 1 RECAP
Columbus Clipper Kurt Peterson went 11-24 with 3 HR’s and 12 RBI’s in the seasons first week to win FL PotW.

San Antonion 3rd Baseman Pat Peters went 9-23 with 4 HR’s and 8 RBI, and scored 7 times, to win CL PotW.

IBL Power Rankings
1) Pittsburgh
2) El Paso
3) Dayton
4) Colulmbus
5) Arizona

Chicago is 17th

Bottom 5
22) West Michigan
23) Edmonton
24) Brooklyn
25) Las Vegas
26) Sacramento


ORG NEWS
Tulsa OF Alfredo Lozano went 12-23 with a HR and 5 RBI’s to win PotW.

[gehrig38]

And I love what Orcin does with his reports, and I am wondering if we are using different versions or if you are using paint to cut and paste the team template you update with? Here's the one I made.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

And I love what Orcin does with his reports, and I am wondering if we are using different versions or if you are using paint to cut and paste the team template you update with? Here's the one I made.

I use Paint Shop Pro 7. It's a really old program (2001?) but it still works even under Windows 7. I like it because I can use layers, resize, and save as jpg file (smaller file size than bmp). The new version is now owned by Corel. It's about $30. I am sure there are competitors that would do the same thing. There's a small learning curve but it wouldn't take much effort to learn to paste your screenshot, select a section of it, copy, "paste as layer", and save. It's probably worth the effort to upgrade from Paint if you plan to keep doing this for a while.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 2
2 vs Buffalo (4-3)
3 @ West Michigan (2-5)
Off day
1 vs Brooklyn (2-5)

STUFF
Attendance is up 4.5%, after being up a tic in the first week (avg 46,125 per game), fan interest remains in the high 80's (87)

GAME 7
Ken Johnson walks the tightrope, but manages to stay up. Coming in to a 2nd and 3rd 0 out 9th he walks 3, but K’s 2, that last with the bases loaded up a run, to save his 2nd. Mike Davis (2-0) struggled with his command 5-4-4-4-6-5 and Potts (H1) Sanchez (H1) and Pacheco (H1) wiggled around enough to get it to the 9th. (I am seriously concerned with this pen, the righties, except for van Bodegraven, are wild as hell. Alexander went 3-4 with 3 runs and 2 RBI’s on his 3rd HR, Collins was 2-5 with his 3rd HR and Wes Morgan finally got on the board with his first in a 1-2 2 walk day. Jean Chartier went 3-3 and is hitting .424.
CHI 7 BUF 6 (4-4 2 GB)

INJURY NEWS
Edmonton lost 30 year old 2B Tim Davis for the next 2-3 weeks with a concussion, it could be longer though. Davis hit 37 HR’s and drove in 118 last year.

GAME 8
Riley Potts (1-0) and Mike Moore (SV1) bailed out a tired pen. Potts relieved Williams (6-5-3-3-3-5) and gave up the lead but they held enough to let the offense regain it’s footing, and grab the game. Hugh Collins went 1-3 with 2 runs and his 4th HR, Massi Lorenzelli went 3-4 with a run and an RBI and Chartier and Hudson had 2 hit days.
CHI 6 BUF 3 (5-4 2 GB)

GAME 9
2 separate rain delays took Jeff Bentley 3-3-2-2-2-1 out of this one early and a clutch 4-0-0-0-1-5 pickup from Ryan Pennington (1-0) saved it. Van Bodegraven and Moore, though tired, put up a scoreless inning each. Chartiers 1st inning grand slam opened the scoring and Paul Riggs went 3-5. Collins and Barbour had 2 hit 2 RBI days.
CHI 9 BUF 2 (6-4 1 GB)

LEAGUE NEWS
Fresno righty Antonio Espinoza tossed a 6 hitter en route to an 8-0 win over Corpus Christi. He moved to 1-0 2.45 in 2 starts this year.

INJURY NEWS
Green Bay 1B Todd Helton was injured yesterday and will miss the next 1-2 weeks. Helton is off to a hot start, hitting .360 in his first 25 AB’s.

Greyhound slugger Luis Rios will miss the next month after straining his intercostal. He’s hitting 229-3-7 on the season and came into this year with 112 career HR’s.

GAME 10
Alejandrez (1-1) was shaky but holding, until he tired in the 6th (5-9-5-5-2-4) and White Caps ace Shaun Calhoun (3-0) tossed 7-8-3-3-2-7 for the win. Riggs and Lorenzelli had 2 hit days.
WMI 6 CHI 4 (6-5 1 GB)

GAME 11
Spike Davis (1-0) went into the 9th (8.1-4-1-1-1-7) before 2 straight hits ended his day. Sib van Bodegraven got the final 2 outs for his 1st save. Bill Alexander kicked off the scoring with his 4th HR in the 1st in a 1-4 2 RBI day. Ernesto Gutierrez went 3-4 with a run in the leadoff spot and Wes Morgan drilled a 3 run HR (2) in the 6th.
CHI 5 WMI 1 (7-5 1 GB)

LEAGUE NEWS
Corpus Christi righty Jason Green moved to 2-0 1.47 in 3 starts after his 4-0 6 hit win over Fresno. He punched out 7 and walked none, coming off a 15-12 5.17 season for the Hooks last year.

OFF DAY NEWS
But the news got bad the next day for the Hooks. Losing ace Cecil Watts for what looks like the rest of the 2015 season when the 32 year old underwent exploratory shoulder surgery. Watts was hoping to bounce back from his sub-apr 8-18 5.17 2014 campaign.

GAME 12
Mike Davis is hurt again, no idea how bad, but it doesn’t look good. Out after 2 innings the bullpen clutched up and Pennington won with another 4 inning relief appearance and Johnson worked his high wire act in the 9th for his 3rd Save. Massi Lorenzelli went 4-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s on his 3rd triple. Bill Alexander drove in 3 with a triple and Paul Riggs scored 3 times. Wes Morgan had a 2-4 day with an RBI. Dave Norfleet went 2-3 with 2 HR’s (8) and 2 RBI’s in the loss.
CHI 8 BRO 6 (8-5 tied for 1st)

WEEK 2 RECAP and Standings
28 year old El Paso 1B Tommy Henry took home FL PotW honors for his 13-19 4 HR 10 RBI week. He’s 23-43 (.535) with 6 HR’s and 19 RBI’s through the seasons first 13 games.

Pat Peters of San Antonio took home his 2nd PotW Award in 2 weeks by going 7-18 with 5 HR’s and 6 RBI’s. In 11 games he’s hitting .390 with 9 HR’s and 14 RBI’s.

INJURY NEWS
Roughrider fans were devastated to learn that Houston 3B Millard O’Reilly will miss the next 5 months after breaking his kneecap last Wednesday. Houston has recalled 29 year old Carlos Pereira to take over at 3rd for the rest of the season.

IBL Power Rankings
1) El Paso
2) Pittsburgh
3) State Island
4) Chicago
5) Los Angeles

Bottom 5)
22) New York
23) San Antonio
24) Edmonton
25) Alaska
26) Brooklyn

[gehrig38]

WEEK 3
2 vs Brooklyn
3 @ Columbus
2 vs Green Bay

STUFF
The Mike Davis injury could be a back breaker if he misses any length of time, and based on the recent history it’s a great bet.

GAME 14
Dave Williams (1-1) tosses a gem 9-8-1-1-1-7 and the offense is heating up. Jean Chartier went 3-4 with 2 runs and 4 RBI’s on a single and an FL record tying 2 triples and Bob Barbour drilled his 2nd HR. Gutierrez had 2 hits, a run and a SB (3) and Hugh Collins went 2-3 with a triple (but was taken out after apparently hurting himself on the play).
CHI 9 BRO 1 (9-5 Tied for first with Columbus)

INJURY NEWS
Collins will be out 4-5 days with a sore quad.

LEAGUE NEWS
Silver Stars slugger Dave Williams drilled Houston for 5 hits in a 5-6 day with 2 doubles leading San Antonio to a 6-5 win.

GAME 15
Bentley tosses 5-6-1-0-4-6 and the pen Pacheco (1-0) Pennington (H2) van Bodegraven (H2) get it to KJ for a perfect 9th (SV 4). The pen goes 4-3-1-1-0-2. Paul Riggs goes 2-5 with a run, 2 RBI’s and his 2nd HR, Chartier goes 2-2 with a run and a double and Franco 2-4 3 RBI’s and Gutierrez 2-4 anchor the bottom of the lineup. Still making too many errors….
CHI 5 BRO 2 (10-5 +1)

INJURY NEWS
Yep, he’s hurt again. This time it’s 7 weeks at least, to have bone chips removed…… Dan MacFadden will be recalled. And former #1 Anthony Martin is hurt again as well, no word yet but he was off to a 1-1 2.74 start in 4 AA games. Our Rotation now features Alejandrez as the lone righty, and 4 lefties.

GAME 16
Alejandrez (2-1) keeps the nice start streak alive going 8-5-0-0-4-6 before a leadoff single ends his day in the 9th. The makeshift bullpen is taking the job given to them and running, Pennington tonight with a perfect 9th for his 1st save of the year. Eric Hudson’s 2 out 2nd inning Triple was the offense, driving in 3.
CHI 3 COL 0
(11-5 +2)

INJURY NEWS
Cyclone 23 year old fireballer Tony Villanueva’s 2015 season is over. After a poor 0-3 7.20 start Brooklyn learned he would need Tommy John surgery and miss the next 11 months. Command remains an issue but there was hope with some of the best pure stuff in the game he would help right the rotation, maybe next year.

STUFF
Pat Peters (SAN) now has 11 HR’s and 20 RBI’s through their first 16 games.

GAME 17
Spike Davis (2-1) goes into the 9th (8-4-0-0-1-2) and yields back to back singles, and a gut wrenching mound meeting (he only had 86 pitches) ends up pulling him. Jose Sanchez (H3) punches out the 2 lefties he sees and Ken Johnson get’s a pinch hitter, whom he punches out for his 5th save. Gutierrez drives in Miller for the games lone run. Will Cannon (2-1 3.13) goes 8-7-1-1-1-4 in the loss.
CHI 1 COL 0 (12-5 +2)

GAME 18
The bullpen and D flop, costing us a game late. Pacheco and Sanchez (0-2) relieve Williams in the 7th (6-5-3-2-0-4 and on short rest no less, a great outing) and Pacheco serves up a HR to the first hitter he sees (Haqverdi Hamidov who went 3-4 with 3 RBI’s) to lose the lead. Sanchez hits the two batters he faces and van Bodegraven walks the one he sees. Lorenzelli goes 2-4 with his 4th triple and Eric Hudson hits his 2nd HR in the loss.
COL 6 CHI 4 (12-6 +2)

GAME 19
Wow what a game. Both starters battle to a 7 inning draw MacFadden (on short rest as well) goes 7-8-3-3-1-6 yielding a HR to young Josh Hamilton (can’t believe they have him up already!) and Riley Potts comes in behind him and continues his miserable start yielding 3 runs without an out after Andrew Jones doubles (his 3rd of the game). Green Bay takes the lead in the top of 9 but a 2 out wild pitch scores Riggs in the bottom. Anduw Jones (4-6 3 runs 4 RBI’s) drills a 12th inning HR (2) off van Bodegraven (1-0). In the bottom half Chartier drills a solo shot with 1 out (5) and Collins goes back to back (5) for the walk off win! Paul Riggs went 3-5, Chartier 2-6 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s and Lorenzelli had 2 hits and 2 RBI’s. Hamilton was 3-4 and Scott Rolen was 2-6 in the loss. Blizzard SP Howard Crane (2-1 2.48) went 7-7-3-3-0-3. (This GB offense is scary!)
CHI 9 GB 8 (13-6 +2)

INJURY NEWS
The Tulsa Drillers learned they will be without young starter Edison Sisson for the next 4 months. The 23 year old will have radial nerve decompression surgery today. He was 2-1 2.55 in 5 games (3 starts) after going 8-6 with a save in 63 games (2 starts) last year with a 5.02 ERA.

STUFF
Going into Sunday’s game our starters league the FL in ERA… Not something I’d have guessed on.

GAME 20
8 solid innings from Jeff Bentley (2-0) as he goes 8-4-1-1-2-5 and the offense gets 9 on 13 hits led by Ernesto Gutierrez’s 3-4 2 run day. Chartier goes 2-4with a double, run and RBI, Colling 2-4 with his 6th HR and 4 RBI’s and Alexander hits a solo HR (5). Barbour gets 2 hits with a triple and 2 runs and Riggs hits his 3rd HR, driving in 3.
CHI 9 GB 1 (14-6 +2)

WEEK 3 RECAP
Mario Orosco (SI) went 16-28 in a monster week to take home FL PotW honors. He hit a HR and drove in 7.

Dave Williams (SAN) won the CL PotW award after he went 12-22 2 HR’s and 5 RBI’s.

IBL Power Rankings
1) El Paso
2) Chicago
3) Staten Island
4) Pittburgh
5) Columbus

Bottom 5
22) Alaska
23) Brooklyn
24) Edmonton
25) Baltimore
26) Green Bay

[gehrig38]

A peek at the club, with Alexander 'struggling' in the .230's and the sheer volume of injuries, I wouldn't expect a 14-6 start from this team. The bullpen's buckled down, but it's tenuous at best.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 4
1 vs Green Bay (6-14 8 GB MW)
3 @ Dayton (10-10 4 GB MW)
Off Day
2 vs Staten Island (14-6 +3 EMP)

GAME 21
A gem of a game from both mounds. Alejandrez goes 8-5-2-2-1-8 and I SWEAR I was holding on to hit the pitch key in the 8th with 2 outs, he was tired, up 2-1, lefty up, and I said ok, 1 more……homer, tie game. Jorge Sanchez threw 2 dominant innings 2-0-0-0-0-4 and KJ (1-0) continued to excel. Chartiers 1 out fielders choice that Riggs beat the throw home on was the game. Collins hit his 7th and Riggs went 3-4.
CHI 3 GB 2 (15-6 +3)

STUFF
Yankee OF Roberto Vasquez went 5-5 in a 15-2 win over Brooklyn today. The 26 year old is hitting .339 with 2 HR’s and 15 RBI’s in 17 games.

Mehpare Isfahani (BAL) is at it again. The 25 year old 1B hit for the cycle in a 14-11 win over Philly today. He’s hitting .359 with 6 bombs so far this year.


GAME 22
First look at 2012 Triple Crown Winner Bill Hill! And of course we draw ace Ernie Kelly (2-1 4.98) game 1.

Nothing a 5 hit shutout and 15 hits won’t solve. Spike Davis (3-1 2.72) was dominant, going 9-5-0-0-1-2 and getting 2 double plays as the offense pounded Kelly (2-2) for 6 runs on 8 hits in 3.1 IP. Ernesto Gutierrez went 3-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s, Chartier went 2-6 with 2 runs and 4 RBI’s on a double and his 6th HR, Hugh Collins went 2-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s and stole 2 bases (5) (team stole 5) and Massi Lorenzelli went 1-5 with a run and 3 RBI’s. Ron Miller went 3-5 with 3 runs, 2 RBI’s and his 1st HR and Eric Hudson broke out of his early season doldrums going 3-5 with 4 runs and 2 RBI’s. BTW this was without Alexander, who was ‘tired’ today. Or ducking Kelly????
CHI 17 DAY 0 (16-6 +3)

STUFF
Diablo 1B Gerald Wright went 5-5 with 2 doubles and a HR in a 9-4 win over Buffalo today. Wright is hitting 337-8-26 in the first 22 games.

GAME 23
Bill Hill showed up today. Drilling 1 of 2 first inning 2 run HR’s off Mark Williams (1-2) who went 5.1-7-5-5-6-2 in the loss. Hugh Collins went 2-4 with 3 RBI’s on his 8th HR, Massi Lorenzelli went 2-4 with a double and his 2nd HR. Gutierrez had 2 hits and Alexander walked twice in an 0-2 day (down to .221). A Gomez (4-0 3.96) went 8-6-4-4-3-4 and Bill Barlow pitched a perfect 9th for his 7th save.
DAY 5 CHI 4 (16-7 +2)

ORG NEWS
Tulsa Catcher Jesus Fuentes went 1-4 to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. The 25 year old is off to a nice start, hitting 333/393/537 so far.

GAME 24
The bullpen clutched up again after Jorge Sanchez came in behind MacFadden and made a mess. Pennington (3-0) got some huge late outs and Johnson got the last 2 for his 6th save and his run continues. He’s been amazing. Up 2-1 in the 7th they couldn’t hold it, giving up 5 in the bottom half but came back for 3 in the 8th on Hugh Collins 9th HR and an Ignacio Ferrer double. A ninth inning run off closer Bill Barlow was made good when Ernesto Gutierrez hit a 10th inning tie breaking triple. Chartier was 3-6 with a run, Alexander closed out April on a high note with a 3-5 2 run day on his 6th HR. Collins was 2-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s and Wes Morgan went 2-4.
CHI 7 DAY 6 (17-7 +2)

APRIL RECAP
INJURY NEWS
Houston’s Cy May, off to a .308-8-24 start will miss the next 3-4 weeks with a flare up to his back condition.

AWARDS
Diablo 1B Gerald Wright took home the FL Player of the Month for April. He hit .340 with 11 home runs, 30 RBI’s and scored 21 runs to lead El Paso to an IBL best 20-4 record and an 8 game lead over Arizona in the Western Division.

To no ones surprise San Antonio’s Pat Peters, coming off his outstanding Fall Classic, took home the Coastal League April Player of the Month with his .376 13 HR and 25 RBI month.

West Michigan White Cap SP Shawn Calhoun took home the April Pitcher of the Month after he went a perfect 5-0 2.02. He held opponents to a .231 average and punched out 33 in 35.2 IP.

Philly Patriot SP Andrew Olson took home the CL Pitcher of the Month with a 4-1 3.02 April in which he punched out 36 in 41.2 IP.

28 year old Edmonton Rookie Simone Politti (whom they offered my multiple times this winter!) took home FL Rookie of the Month for April after he hit .302 with 8 RBI’s.

Houston Roughrider Rookie Lupe Espinoza won the FL Rookie of the Month Award for his .385 2 HR 5 RBI month. The 28 year old is one of the players help fill the void for injured 3B Millard O’Reilly.



DRAFT POOL REVEALED
Here is the press release with a listing of the prospects, followed by the top hitters by contact potential and the top pitchers by overall potential. I might be making this up but this could be the strongest hitters draft I’ve ever had in a season.

[gehrig38]

Little in depth peek at the 2015 class, wow, the hitting....

[gehrig38]

How the IBL looks 1 month in...
El Paso is hot as heck, not looking forward to facing that lineup. Familiar names all over the place, weird to see them in different leagues. I must have missed something, or wasn't paying attention, I was expecting Baltimore to be real good again. Fresno is a surprise. Nice to see Houston doing good, though with O'Reilly gone that's going to be a challenge. Monster month from Pat Peters.

Gotta be honest, playing the post season like I did last year was huge to getting to 'know' more players and teams in the league.

[gehrig38]

A peek at our team page, thanks again Orcin, love the way you do layout.
How about Kevin Johnson? His control? A 7.... and he's 9 G, 8 IP, 2 hits, 4 walks and 14 punchouts! Which is HUGE because Pacheco control has disappeared. Potts is now being floated, he's digressing fast and I don't think I'm going to be able to get much value... I'd put just about ANY arm in that spot for what he's been doing.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 4 con’t

OFF DAY NEWS
Potts name went out and Chris Davis of Alaska came back with an offer I couldn’t refuse. 26 year old switch hitting utility man Angel Lopez. He plays to a gold glove level of defense at 4 positions (2B, 3B, SS and RF, though not a great OF arm) and can play an emergency CF. He runs extremely well and he hits from both sides (though better LH). I’m looking for the trap door on this one, or are they that in need of an arm? I am asking for cash in the deal as well, and trying to get a 2nd pick where right now I don’t have one, giving them a later rounder. He’s thinking on it.

Bakersfield righty Pedro Gutierrez tossed a 4 hitter today vs Bonadell Ranchos-Madera Ranchos Ocelots (yes put this note in here just to type that team name, how would one go about starting a cheer for them?). He is 1-1 3.48 in 7 games this year.


GAME 25
I’m finding a deep seated dislike for a virtual team even named the Yankees…. I am making this my official non division rival…
Thumping them feels virtually good too! Though when your offense drops 16 runs on 19 hits and your starter can’t get the win, there’s a problem. Jeff Bentley was horrific, trying to give it back with a 4.1-10-7-7-4-3 nightmare. The pen did a good job of not letting it get crazy. Potts (hopefully soon to be an Alaskan Ace) won it with 1/3rd of an inning in relief. Hugh Collins went 2-4 with his 10th HR and 4 RBI’s, Paul Riggs had a huge day, going 3-5 with 4 runs and 6 RBI’s on 2 doubles. Hitters 1-8 had 2 hits or more, each. Gutierrez went 3-6 with an RBI. Eric Hudson was the spoiler in the 9 hole going 1-4 with 2 runs and an RBI. Barbour hit 2 doubles and stole his 6th.

CHI 16 SI 8 (18-7 +3)

STUFF
Bartolo Serrano (DAY) 2 years removed from his 20-8 3.76 season is working his way back. The 34 year old 5 hit Edmonton today to move to 2-2 4.34 on the year. He missed much of last year with a rotator injury.

Mike Harris, the 40 year old 2B for Buffalo drilled 5 hits in a 12-5 drubbing of the Knights. He’s hitting 337-3-13 on the year.

TRADE NEWS
The deal is done. Utility man Angel Lopez becomes an Iron Pig and original Chicago man Riley Potts is headed to the great white north. We also managed to get 800K in the deal, but no pick. Enrique Franco was optioned out, Lopez will join us in Chicago, and 25 year old RH MR Ed Thomas was put onto the 40 man roster and called up from Tulsa. Thomas went 2-3 with 8 saves 5.96 in Tulsa last year and was 1-1 4.38 this year. He’ll get some middle innings in to get his feet wet. Fwiw, Alaska inserted Potts as their Closer…. Things are not looking good in Alaska. Oh and they have Alex Rodriguez playing SS, and Arturo Rodriguez playing 3rd right now (Glaus is hurt). Zito is 2-3 with an 8.

INJURY NEWS
Edmonton’s Tim Davis had another setback. He was hurt mid April, and is no on his 2nd setback from a concussion. He appeared to be breaking out after his 37HR 118 RBI season last year but many are worried that he may not get back on the field.

GAME 26
An ugly start from Alejandrez 4-8-5-5-2-3 with 3 HR’s. But we battled and retook the lead only to let it slip away on a Wes Morgan 9th inning error. Van Bodgraven (1-1) took the loss after walking 2 of the 4 hitters he faced. Jorge Sanchez had another dominant stint, going 3 hitless with 3 K’s. Alexander is hopefully heating up, going 2-4 with a run, 2 RBI’s and 2 doubles. Eric Hudson hit a 3 run HR (3) and Hugh Collins had 2 hits and a run.
SI 7 CHI 6 (18-8 +2)

WEEK 4 RECAP
Chicago’s own Hugh Collins took home the FL PotW award with his 11-23 5 HR 17 RBI week. On the season he’s hitting .348-10-25.

Dave Ladd of the reigning world champion Patriots took hom CL PotW honors after his 11-20 4 HR 12 RBI week upped his season totals to .337-6-23.

IBL Career IP Leaders
Ernie Kelly (DAY) 818.2
Chris O’Slattery (BAL) 807
Tommy Hobbs (LA) 755.2
Vincente Romero (SAC) 754
Walt Thompson (BRO) 745.1

IBL Power Rankings
1) El Paso
2) Chicago
3) Staten Island
4) Pittsburgh
5) Columbus

Bottom 5
22) Corpus Christi
23) Sacramento
24) Green Bay
25) Edmonton
26) Brooklyn

[gehrig38]

Quietly started some discussions with OF Hugh Collins on a contract extension. He’ll be arbitration eligible after this year and my guess is he’s in for another monster season.
Also starting to look at ways of locking up Chartier and Gutierrez (who is also abr eligible this year).

GAME 27
Spike Davis (4-1) was awesome, and early on needed to be. Up against R Ortiz (3-1 2.72) who came into the game with a sub 2 ERA he went the distance (9-5-1-1-1-4). Ortiz went 7-5-5-5-2-6. Bill Alexander went 2-4 with a run and 3 RBI’son his 7th HR, Hugh Collins hit his 11th, driving in 2. Hudson doubled and Gutierrez scored twice.
CHI 5 SI 1 (19-8 +2)

INJURY NEWS
Green Bay lost the services of CF Andruw Jones for the next 5 weeks after he pulled a hamstring. Jones Is hitting 200-3-14 in the early going.

GAME 28
A game where no one in the pen wants to be the name called. Williams (1-3) stunk, going 3.2-7-9-6-4-3 and Pacheco continued to slide with a 2.2-4-4-4-1-1 outing. A huge error by Chartier early opened it up. Toby Clifton went 3-4 with 6 RBI’s on his 6th HR in the win. Ernesto Gutierrez went 4-4 with 4 runs on 3 doubles and Jean Chartier went 4-5 with a run and 2 RBI’s. Collins and Alexander each drove in 2.
EDM 14 CHI 8 (19-9 +1)

DL News
Raul Feliz went off on a rehab assignment, looking like it’ll be a week or so depending on how the big club goes.

ORG NEWS
Eric Coates is finding his stride in AA, hitting .336-6-17 through Bakersfield’s first 33 games. Former #1 Gerardo Zamora gave up 5 runs and got 0 outs in his first AAA start this year. At 20, he’s young for the league, but he’s rebounded nicely, giving up just 10 runs in 30 IP in 5 starts since (3.00).

STUFF
New York Knights OF Lee Allen went 5-6 in a 6-5 loss to Brooklyng today.

INJURY NEWS
Houston will be without co-ace Sergio De La Garza for the next 7 weeks after his elbow problems flared up again. He was 3-0 3.46 in 6 starts this year after a 14-12 3.83 season last year.


GAME 29
Criminy. A 6 run second isn’t enough. Another offensive night that our SP wastes. Staked to an early lead MacFadden goes 4.1-8-8-8-1-4 and gives up 3 HR’s. Thomas gives up 2 in 3.1 and Edmonton rolls on us again. Chartier drills his 7th and drives in 3, and we steal 3 bags but waste it. Roberto Gonzalez goes 3-5 with 3 runs and 2 RBI’s hitting his 1st HR. Juan Sanchez (1) and Toby Clifton (7) also homer for the Trappers.
EDM 10 CHI 6 (19-10 tied with Columbus)

STUFF
Ross Tunstall (PIT) went 5-5 with 6 RBI’s in a 8-4 win over San Antonio today, he hit 2 HR’s and is now at .327-6-24 on the year.

Matt Moore of the Knights went 4-5 with 3 RBI’s in hitting for the cycle in a 15-6 win over Brooklyn. On the year Moore is hitting 310-5-19.

GAME 30
Shut down by Edmonton SP L Ernandez (1-3 3.88) on 3 hits. 9-3-1-1-2-5 with Wes Morgan having 2 of them and the lone RBI on a double. Bentley gives up 6 runs on 10 hits in 4.1 to drop to 2-1 5.40
EDM 6 CHI1 (19-11 Tied)

MINORS NEWS
Eric Coates, off to a great start is out at least a month with a quad strain. He’s hitting .319-6-17 through 33 AA games.

GAME 31
Alejandrez (3-1) gets into the 6th (5.2-8-3-3-1-8) and Sanchez (H5) Thomas (H2) Pennington (H4) get it to Johnson for his 7 save. A 2 run Wes Morgan single in the 1st (part of a 2-4 2 RBI day) and Hugh Collins 12th HR in the 3rd were all the offense.
CHI 4 ALK 3 (20-11 Tied)

INJURY NEWS
Philly Ace Andrew Olson will miss the remainder of the 2015 season afer a torn lat muscle was found today. The 38 year old righty was 4-1 3.29 in 7 starts after starring in the 2014 series vs San Antonio. A career 45-39 4.18 in 100 starts covering 711 innings with 653 K’s and 232 walks.

GAME 32
Up 5-0 heading to the 7th, up 5-2 after 7, up 5-3 after 8 to down 6-5 after top 9 to walk off winners after the bottom half of 9. That kinda day. Spike Davis worked a high wire act for 6 scoreless (6-6-0-0-5-3) and Sib van Bodegraven started unraveling it with 4 hits and 2 runs in 1/3rd of an inning. KJ comes in with 1 out in the eighth and walks his first hitters of the year, but with 2 outs and the bases loaded makes his pitch, which Wes Morgan kicks to give Alaska the lead. Former Iron Pig Riley Potts comes on to save it and PH Angel Lopez promptly triples. Gutierrez draws a walk, Chartier singles in the tying run, Gutierrez goes to third. Collins punches out and Alexander sends a line drive to center to walk it off 7-6. Morgan was 2-4 with 5 RBI’s and his 3rd HR. Chartier went 2-5 with a run and an RBI, Alexander 2-2 with 2 runs and an RBI. Johnson got the win in relief (2-0). Alaska had 15 hits, including a 5-6 day from OF Tony Gonzalez. Arod was 2-2 with 2 RBI’s and 4 walks, Glaus went 2-6 with 2 RBI’s and Arturo Rodriguez went 3-5.
CHI 7 ALK 6 (21-11 +1)

STUFF
Ernie Kelly (DAY) spun a 2 hitter in Daytons 11-0 win over Michigan today. Kelly is 3-3 4.79 in 7 starts.

GAME 33
6 unearned runs on 2 errors was the game. Mark Williams (1-4) wasn’t good by any stretc 6.2-11-10-4-4-3 but he made pitches to get out of jams and the defense tanked. Alex Rodriguez went 3-3 with 4 runs and an RBI on a double, triple and his 8th HR. Former Roughrider Art Doane his 7th. Hugh Collins went 2-4 with 2 runs and 6 RBI’s on 2 HR’s (14) and Gutierrez Alexander and Chartier had 2 hit days as did Ron Miller and Ignacrio Ferrer. Chicago outhit the Aces 15-13. Chartier (4) and Ferrer (2) made the errors.
ALK 12 CHI 8 (21-12 +1)

WEEK 5 RECAP
Mario Orosco (SI) went 1-4 today to extend his hitting streak to 20 games in a 5-0 loss to El Paso.

El Paso’s Caden Haynes took home FL PotW honors with his 13-29 6 HR 14 RBI week. On the year the 26 year old is hitting .331-11-30 for the 28-5 Diablos

Tulsa Driller Rich Alfred won the CL PotW award after he went 10-20 with 3 HR’s and 5 RBI’s.

ORG NEWS
It was announced today that we (Chicago) had inked 25 year old superstar Hugh Collins to a 4 year contract extension for 10.42M dollars. He will receive 1.1/2.1/3.1/4.1 over the next 4 with a hefty award package he has every chance to earn. This takes a HUGE bite out of cost uncertainty with a player I think will be top 5 in the MVP for many years. He’s a legit 40/40 guy and not even in the prime yet.

Fan interest jumped 6 pts, to 93, with the signing.

IBL Power Rankings
1) El Paso
2) Las Vegas
3) Chicago
4) Pittsburgh
5) Fresno

Bottom 5
22) Tulsa
23) San Antonio
24) Green Bay
25) Sacramento
26) Brooklyn

[gehrig38]

A quick peek at the IBL after week 5.

El Paso is threatening to clinch the west in the first half...
Is Gerald Wright this years center of discussion for the triple crown? Hopefully Collins carries some warm and fuzzy moving forward after signing the extension.
5 weeks is alot of AB's to be hitting .441 btw.
Bill Hill makes an appearance on the HR charts again and old friend Carlos Arredondo is back. Nice to see Houston staking claim again, Love to see them in a world series, against us.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 6
3 @ Arizona (15-18 13 GB West)
Off day
3 vs El Paso (28-5 +12 West)

GAME 34
MacFadden (1-1) rolls in a 5 hitter 9-5-0-0-2-5 and the offense bangs out 17 hits led. Gutierrez 3-5 3 runs, Chartier 3-6 2 runs, 2 RBI’s on his 8th HR, Collins 2-3 2 RBI’s , Alexander 1-5 with a grand slam (8), Morgan 3-5 2 runs, a double and his 5th HR, Lorenzelli 3-5 2 runs 2 triples (7) lead the way.
CHI 12 AZ 0 (22-12 +1)

DL NEWS
Andrew Martin, who’s spent the past 10 months on the DL with an ACL reconstruction, is off the DL and onto a rehab.

GAME 35
Down 1-0, up 2-1, down 4-2, up 5-4, tied at 5, up 7-5, down 8-7, up 9-8 and lose 10-9 on a walk off. Arizona’s Tim Thomas went 5-6 and drove in 4 as the bullpen blew lead after lead ending with KJ (0-3) blowing his 3rd save on 2 walks and 2 hits in 2/3irds of an inning. Bentley went 5-9-5-5-2-1. Hugh Collins went 2-4 with 2 runs 2RBI’s and his 15th HR. Alexander went 2-4 and scored twice. Gutierrez, Morgan, Ferrer and Hudson all had 3 hits, Barbour and Ferrer drove in 2 and Chicago stole 4 bases (Chartier 2 (4) Barbour (7) and Collins (8)).
AZ 10 CHI 9 (22-13 tied)


GAME 36
Alejandrez (4-1) goes 6.1-9-2-2-3-4 and Pacheco has another miserable night giving up 4 in 1.1 to move his ERA to 9 and make me contemplate a demotion. The offense bails everyone out led by Wes Morgans 4-5 2 RBI night. Gutierrez goes 2-4 with a double, triple and 3 runs, Riggs 2-6 with 2 runs and 3 RBI’s on a double and his 4th HR, Alexander 2-5 a run and 3 RBI’s on his 9th HR, and Ferrer goes 2-5 with 2 runs. Hudson goes 3-5 with 3 runs, 3 RBI’s on a double and his 4th HR.
CHI 13 AZ 6 (23-13 +1)

ORG NEWS
RF Ernesto Gutierrez has agreed to a 3 year 8.14M dollar extension with a club option at 4.02M for a 4th year. He was looking at a hefty raise and I got him for very good money (2.1/3/3). He’s making 1.12 this year and likely would be upwards of 3m in arbitration this winter.

Raul Feliz is just 1-11 on his rehab….

27 year old Richard Cox tossed a 4 hitter for Tulsa today and is 4-3 2.93 since being acquired from Columbus.

Spike Davis goes into this start against El Paso as the FL leader in ERA….Stay tuned.

GAME 37
Solo HR’s almost NEVER beat you. Spike Davis (5-1) gave up 3, and won. Throwing 7-7-3-3-3-5 with van Bodegraven (H4) getting to to Ken Johnson for a perfect 9th and his 8th Save. Lorenzelli was 2-4 with 2 doubles and scored twice, Chartier went 2-3 with 2 RBI’s on his 9th HR, and Ron Miller wnet 2-4 with 2 runs, 3 RBI’s on 2 HR’s (3).
CHI 6 EP 3 (24-13 +1)

INJURY NEWS
Alejandrez came down with the stomach flu and it could put his next start in jepordy with no off days for 12 days.

GAME 38
A 10-2 lead in the 6th, ended in a loss..yes… a loss. Mark Williams (7-5-2-0-1-3) and the regulars took the night off after the 7th and the game began. Moore came in and made it interesting giving up 4 in 1 inning of work, which was understandable since it’s mid May and these were the first runs he’s given up all year. Thomas gets 1 out, gives up a walk and a 2R HR to G Wright (18), Sanchez comes in and gives up a hit and Johnson comes in to stop the stupidity, but makes it stupider with a walk and 3 hits, and 3 runs, blowing his 4th save and dropping to 2-2. Just a nightmare loss. The Wright/Haynes duo combined for a 4-10 5 run 5 RBI night with 2 HR’s. Chartier went 2-5 with 2 runs, 2 RBI’s, Collins went 2-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s on a double, Alexander went 3-4 with 3 RBI’s on a double and Barbour had 2 hits.
EP 12 CHI 10 (24-14 tied with Columbus)

STUFF
Roughrider Bruce Steward went 5-5 in a 6-5 loss to the LA Wizards, he drove in 3 and is hitting 321-8-21 on the year.

Mario Orosco’s hitting streak ended at 24 today, 1 short of the IBL record 25 set by Joe Rowe of Fresno.

GAME 39
A 66 minute rain delay ended Dan MacFadden’s (1-2) day after 5-4-2-2-1-5 and he was throwing well. The offense could not get going and V Lange’s single, double and triple with 2 RBI’s provided all El Paso would need. Ernesto Gutierrez went 4-5 but nothing much from the rest of the lineup in a 2-1 loss.
EP 2 CHI 1 (24-15 1 GB)

WEEK 6 RECAP
Ron Pearce tossed a 6 hitter at West Michigan for an 8-0 win and his 6th win of the year. The 32 year old is 6-2 3.88 in 9 starts.

Dave Norfleet (BRO) took home FL PotW honors for his 13-27 4 HR 8 RBI week.

Houston’s Bruce Stewart took home the same award in the Coastal League going 12-22 with a HR and 5 RBI’s.

ORG NEWS
Belleview 3B and top prospect Alberto Rivera took home MWL PotW honors for his 13-20 1 HR 5 RBI week and is now hitting .321-4-28 on the year.

IBL Power Rankings
1) El Paso
2) Columbus
3) Los Angeles
4) Pittsburgh
5) Staten Island
We are 6th. And notice 1-2 are in our division….

Bottom 5
22) Corpus Christi
23) Arizona
24) Green Bay
25) West Michigan
26) Brooklyn

But then again so are 24 and 25.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 7
3 @ Michigan (16-23 9 GB MW)
3 vs New York (20-19 4 GB EMP)
1 @ Buffalo (19-20 5 GB EMP)

STUFF
Interest is down a pt at 92, couldn’t be the bad bad losses by chance could it? Getting worried and it’s likely I won’t be able to grab a few of the players I’d like to run at in the draft with the low budget. 3.4 isnt’ a lot. Attendance is down just 2% now, with average attendance at 47.3 per game. We’re 4th in the league.

GAME 40
A 9 run 4th will do a body good. Gutierrez goes 2-3 scores 3 and drives in a run, Lorenzelli goes 2-5 with a double and Morgan drives in 3. Bentley (3-1) goes 5-6-4-4-4-1 for the win.
CHI 11 MICH 5 (25-15 tied)

GAME 41
Alejandrez (5-1) got the W but tried not to going 7-10-5-5-2-5 and blowing a lead. Pennington (H5) gave a shutdown 8th punching out the side and KJ worked a perfect 9th for his 9th save. Ron Miller went 2-2 with 3 runs, 3 RBI’s and 2 HR’s (5) and Massi Lorenzelli went 2-5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI’s. Chartier (5) and Collins (3) stole bases and Alexander had 2 hits and an RBI.
CHI 7 MICH 5 (26-15 +1)

STUFF
Staten Island catcher Ernesto Garza went 2-5 in a 9-1 win to extend his streak to 20 straight with a hit. The All Star is hitting 368-2-30 on the year.

Houston ace Raul Gonzalez learned he’ll miss the next 4 months, and likely the year with a ruptured tendon in his hand. He was 6-1 3.74 through his 9 starts this year.

DL STUFF
Bob Barbour was optioned out, and Raul Feliz was taken off the rehab assignment in Tulsa.

GAME 42
Davis has his worst outing of the year 2.2-8-7-7-3-2 with 2 HR’s but the offense still manages to let him spit the hook. The bullpen then goes 5.1-8-3-3-1-4 for the loss (Thomas 0-1). Chartier went 3-5 with a run, Gutierrez hit his 2nd HR, driving in 2. Lorenzelli his 2 more doubles (I was wondering about this, he has 13 doubles and 7 triples in 147 AB’s, which projects to 50 doubles and 27 triples in a season). Pat Dobson went 4-5 with 2 RBI’s and Fernando Rey went 2-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBI’s on his 2nd HR.
MICH 10 CHI 7 (26-16 tied)

INJURY NEWS
Since being acquired from Corpus Christi this winter SP Linsay Johnson was 5-0 2.25 in 8 starts for El Paso. That all ended today with an ulnar nerve injury that will end his season.

STUFF
Ok it’s a little over a quarter of the season in, and Mario Orosco (SI) is still hitting .443……His OBP is .543, his season projects to 255 hits, 62 doubles, 12 triples, 12 HR, 112 RBI’s 154 walks and a 1.214 OPS…

GAME 43
A tired pen forced a bad 8th inning matchup, blowing a win for Mark Williams (7-7-4-4-0-3). Moore serves up Stephen Conway’s 2nd HR (7) but Lorenzelli doubles to start the 9th, Morgan gets a free pass, a wild pitch to Gutierrez doesn’t score them, Riggs is intentionally walked, Hudson singles in Lorenzelli, Chartier K’s and Alexander pops up, but no before another wild pitch scores Morgan. Hudson was 2-4 with 2 RBI’s and Lorenzelli had another double. Morgan hit his 6th HR and Chartier his 4th triple. Moore won it and Johnson got the last 2 outs for the save.
CHI 7 NY 5 (27-16 tied)

STUFF
LA’s Ruben Cruz tossed a 4 hit shutout at Vegas, fanning 7 in a 4-0 win. Cruz moved to 3-4 4.01 on the season.

GAME 44
Down 3-2 in the 7th the offense behind 11 hits, 9 walks and 4 Knight errors scores 7 times to win 11-3. Chartier hit his 10th, and 4 players had 2 hits (Gutierrez 2-4, Collins 2-3 Double, Riggs 2-3 and Hudson 2-5) and 4 players drove in 2 (Gutierrez, Chartier, Riggs and Hudson) and 3 players scored twice (Collins, Morgan, Riggs). MacFadden threw 100 in 5-5-3-3-4-4 and van Bodegraven came in and gave up 3 hits without recording an out. Pacheco and Moore (2-0) went the final 4 on 2 hits and 4K’s.
CHI 11 NY 3 (28-16 tied)

STUFF
El Paso’s Cayden Haynes monster year continues. The 26 year old LF went 4-6 and hit for the cycle today, scoring 3 and driving in 3 with his 13th HR. He’s now hitting 339-13-40 in 43 games.

De La Torre and Daves are getting close. De La Torre this week, Davis in 2-3. Bentley is likely the guy to return first but much will depend on his next few starts and the rotations health. I’d like to get them both 2-3 rehab starts if possible. And Torres is due back in 2 weeks as well. If Pacheco is still here I’ll go 2 righties 4 lefties if I have to, he is stinking it up.

(Game annoyance: I think, when my scout scouts a player for the draft, there should be some ‘change’ in the projected ceiling for the player, maybe higher or more close to what he really is if it’s a good/great scout, or away from what he is if it’s a bad scout, but there is never any real change? Why is that?)

INJURY NEWS
Green Bay lost 25 year old OF James Snyder for the year with a concussion today. The 25 year old was signed this winter after New Hampshire failed to offer him arbitration. He led the IBL in doubles in 2013 with 45, 1 more than his 2012 total. In 421 games he’s hit 285/331/462 with 136 doubles, 21 triples and 38 HR’s with 231 RBI’s and is 37-52 in steals.

West Michigan was dealt a minor blow today as all star Catcher Jorge Ibarra will be out for a month with a strained cuff. The 23 year old was hitting 321-5-19 on the year.

GAME 45
Thomas allows Bentley’s runs to score (though his 4.2-7-8-8-5-3 wasn’t deserving of much anyway) but then goes 3 scoreless to hold the line. Johnson wiggles out of a Sanchez jam in the 8th and then his own jam in the 9th striking out the game’s final hitter with runners on 2nd and 3rd for his 11th save. Wes Morgans went 2-3 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s on his 7th HR and Gutierrez drove in 3 with his 3rd. Hudson and Riggs went 2-4 with a run and 2 RBI’s each.
CHI 9 NY 8 (29-16 +1)

ROSTER MOVES
Bentley was optioned out after the game. Through 23 starts the past 2 years he’s 6-6 with a 7.52, and his 146 hits in 111.1 IP is not manageable. I need him to return and fix it or move him. 27 year old Richard Cox, acquired in a swap from Columbus in April, will get a few starts while I await De La Torre and Davis’ return. He can’t be worse… can he? He’s put on the roster and called up. If Zamora had a few more starts and was 22-23 I’d consider him right now. He’s starting to find a groove in Tulsa giving up 2 or fewer ER in his last 5 starts going 3-1 2.04. But his command (37 K’s 25 walks) needs to get better. I’ll slide Cox into the three hole, separate the lefties a bit and move Williams to the 5 spot for a few extra days rest.

GAME 46
A patchwork lineup with no Alexander, Hudson or Gutierrez scratches out 3 runs on 11 hits and Alejandrez (5.2-8-2-2-3-2) van Bodgraven, Sanchez, Moore (3-0) and Johnson (SV 12) manage to hold the Bisons down. The pen went 5.1-2-0-0-1-2. Wes Morgan went 3-5, Ron Miller 2-4 and Angel Lopez 2-4 with Flores driving in 2, and Feliz the game winner. Alberto Vargas went 4-5 in the loss.
CHI 3 BUF 2 (30-16 +2)

WEEK 7 RECAP
Bison OF Shane Lacroix won the FL PotW award going 15-29 with 2 HR’s and 10 RBI’s to up his season totals to .257-6-20 in 45 games.

Railcats OF Juan Torres went 12-25 with 7 HR’s and 20 RBI’s in a monster week to win CL PotW. Torres had 2 2 HR 6 RBI games this week and hit 5 HR’s and drove in 15 in a 5 game stretch. The Railcats 1st round selection in the 2012 Inaugural draft has career totals of 87 doubles, 15 triples and 109 HR’s while driving in 310 in 403 games with a slash line of 260/342/546.

IBL Single Season ERA record
Shawn Calhoun (WMI) 2.14
Ernie Kelly (DAY) 2.57
Ernie Kelly (DAY) 2.63
Jim Peck (BUF) 2.81
Walt Thompson (BRO) 2.83

IBL Power Rankings
1) El Paso
2) Chicago
3) Pittsburgh
4) Los Angeles
5) Staten Island

Bottom 5
22) Green Bay
23) Michigan
24) Corpus Christi
25) West Michigan
26) Brooklyn

3 of the bottom 5 in my division…

[gehrig38]

WEEK 8
2 @ Buffalo (22-24 6 GB EMP)
Off Day (WEEEEE!)
3 vs West Michigan (16-30 14GB MW)
1 @ Brooklyn (13-33 15 GB EMP Wow, didn realize they were stinking it up this bad! No wonder Walt Thompson’s name isn’t on the leaderboards! He’s healthy too! 4-4 6.14 and his peripherals are 63.1 IP 77 hits 12 walks 56 K’s!! That’s not a 6.14 ERA, not in this league. Insane BABIP? Yup! .I am unsure of the line on this stat, where to draw good, bad, HORRIFFI or incredibly unlucky but when he went 17-7 2.95 it was .272, 18-9 2.83 it was .255 18-5 3.21 it was .323 this year it is .354!!! They are 14th in Defense Eff. Their pen is 11th in ERA. No watch me draw him and he 2 hits me or something.
End of May

GAME 47
Cox will move up to today, Davis is not 100% yet. And holy crap. Chris Dusek of Buffalo, 19-7 3.98/10-14 4.72/10-13 4.49 is 0-4 10.15!!! this year. With a .364 BABIP!!
And he spots me 3 doubles and 2 runs in the first…
Cox (1-0) is awesome in his debut 8-2-1-1-3-6. Gutierrez goes 3-5 and scores twice with 2 doubles, Collins goes 3-2-2-2 with a double and Morgan and Feliz drive in 2. Lopez goes 2-4 spelling Paul Riggs. Collins is at 15/15 HR/SB. Dusek goes 5-8-6-6-3-5 to have his ERA actually go UP to 10.22… Ouch.
CHI 9 BUF 1 (31-16 +2)

FEATURE REQUEST! Can we get a “position” for everyday players that is NOT a position? I mean I’d LOVE to be able to have a players position listed as “UT” Or “UTIL” if it could be more than 2 spaces, if not UI or UO for Utility Infielder or Outfielder would be awesome. For that guy that plays everywhere.

GAME 48
Davis (5-2) can’t hold an early 3-0 lead and loses going 6-5-4-4-3-1. Bison SP J.R. Robinson (5-3) goes 7-7-3-3-4-3 and Arturo Rodriguez saves his first, getting Hugh Collins with 2 outs in the 9th after Lorenzelli’s 16th double of the year put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs (he went 3-5 in the game). Alexander goes 3-4 with an RBI and Hudson goes 2-4 driving in 2 with his 5th HR.
BUF 4 CHI 3 (31-17 +2)

INJURY NEWS
2012 and ’13 Gold Glove winner Cesar Barron of El Paso will miss the next 5 weeks after a brutal home plate collision forced the catcher out. The 25 year old was hitting 271-0-15 in 40 games.

STUFF
Staten Island catcher and 2 time All Star Ernesto Garza went 3-5 in an 8-4 Yankee win over Edmonton to tie Joe Rowe’s IBL hitting streak record at 25. The 26 year old is 3rd in the Frontier League batting race at .376, 3 pts behind Alaska’s Alex Rodriguez and 45 pts behind teammate Mario Orosco and his stunning .421 average.

GAME 49
20 runs on 22 hits with 9 walks. Thankfully that was OUR offense. Maybe the best news came on the mound as Jose Pacheco (ya it was a mop up) went 2.2 and punched out 7! Dan MacFadden (2-2) went 6-3-5-4-5-4 for the win. The subs came in in the 7th but there were good days all around. Gutierrez went 2-3 with 2 runs and an RBI, Chartier was 3-6 with 3 runs and 4 RBI’s with his 10th double and 11th HR and stole his 9th base, Hugh Collins went 3-4 with 3 runs, 2 RBI’s on his 9th double, Bill Alexander was 1-5 with 2 RBI’s on his 10 HR, Wes Morgan was 2-4 with 3 runs, 3 RBI’s on his 8th HR, Massi Lorenzelli was 4-6 with 4 runs and an RBI, Raul Feliz was 4-5 with a double a run and an RBI and Paul Riggs drove in 4 runs. Eric Hudson was 2-3 with a run and an RBI.
CHI 20 WMI 6 (32-17 +2)

DL STUFF
De La Torre is now eligible to come off and will head to Tulsa for at least 2 starts. Mike Davis is due back in about 2 weeks and I’ll hopefully just slide him into that spot in Tulsa for 2-3 starts as well. Unsure of the move if everyone is ok when he’s done, likely MacFadden or Williams, but I’ll assume based on the first 2 months a starter will go down before then

STATS
Ernesto Garza’s dreams of breaking an IBL record died today as his 25 game hitting streak was ended in a 9-5 loss to Arizona.

GAME 50
And I draw the one stud on this roster, Shawn Calhoun, who, despite their wretched season is 6-2 3.03 with 65.1IP, 68 punch outs and 21 walks to a 1.27 WHIP.

Calhoun (6-3 3.47) can’t get out of the 5th (4.2-8-5-5-1-3) after Wes Morgan (2-4) drills his 9th HR, a 3 run shot to end it for him. Ernesto Gutierrez goes 3-4 2 runs with a double, Chartier is 2-5 with a run and an RBI and Alexander goes 2-5 with 2 RBI’s. Lorenzelli goes 3-4 with his 17th double (he’s 6th with 17, 1 behind Gutierrez and leads the league with 7 triples) and Paul Riggs goes 2-4 with a run. Mark Williamas (2-4 4.74) goes 6-10-2-2-1-7 and Sanchez (H8) and Thomas (SV1) close with 2 scoreless.
CHI 9 WMI 3 (33-17 +2)

STATS/STREAKS
Rich Stone (FRE) is back at his game. He went 2-4 in a 6-3 loss to extend his hitting streak to 20 games.

TRADE NEWS
Coming off this injury it looks like De La Torre has lost some stuff, and command. I’m going to work to sell high and have offered him around, Green Bay has interest and I am offering to swap for SP we both would be ok moving, but more important I am asking to swap 1st round picks and their 2nd from my 3rd. Their pick is #1, and while it won’t mean I get a huge money guy, given my small budget, it will mean I can literally PICK the guy instead of wait and see..

GAME 51
Jose Pacheco is just a cluster right now, I need to send him down. 3 hitters, 2 walks and a double. Turning a laugher into a nail biter. Alejandrez (6-1) went 7-7-4-4-2-2 and eventually Sanchez (H9) and Johnson for the save (13). Paul Riggs went 2-4 with a double and 2 runs, Lorenzelli went 1-4 with his 18th double and 2 RBI’s before being ejected, Chartier drove in 2, Alexander went 3-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s on his 11th HR. Morgan (2-4) and Gutierrez (2-2) had 2 hits and Morgan scored twice.
CHI 10 WMI 7 (34-17 +3)

ROSTER MOVES
Pacheco was optioned out today, no way I can give him the ball in anything but a blowout and even then it’s suspect. Dave Winston was added to the roster and recalled (now at 39 spots). I acquired him in 2013 for SP Javier Sanchez from New Hampshire. He entered this year as the IBL’s 100th prospect. A righty, power righty, who I’ll try to bring along nice and easy. Ernesto Cruz is now 6 weeks away.

GAME 52
A second outstanding outing from Richard Cox (2-0). Going 9-3-1-1-0-6 in a 9-0 rout on 107 pitches. Jean Chartier doubled and tripled in 4 AB’s with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s. Bill Alexander drove in 3 and Eric Hudson went 3-3.
CHI 9 BRO 1 (35-17 +3)

WEEK 8 and MAY RECAP
Eric Coates is back from the DL, and he looks much improved, more the player we thought we drafted. Another good month or two and he’s ready for AAA.
Just sent back to Belleview to get some AB’s and catch his breath, 20 year old OF Gabriel Fries (acquired in the trade that sent Craig Frank to Pittsburgh) went 5-6 in a 9-6 win.

Edmonton Trapper Catcher Brent McCoy drilled 3 HR’s in a 7 win win over El Paso yesterday. Desperate for catching Edmonton moved the 1st baseman behind the dish. McCoy hit 43 HR’s in ’12 and 22 in 13 for Sacramento, before heading to Edmonton after the break last year (he combined for 23 HR’s in 131 games and struggled with the position change.) This year he’s still having issues at the plate, until yesterday. (216/305/431)

Alejandro Villanueva (SI) took home FL PotW honors for his 11-23 4 HR 9 RBI week.

Jorge Ortiz (BAL) toom home CL PotW after he went 13-20 with 4 HR’s and 9 RBI’s last week.

El Paso 1B Gerald Wright took home his 2nd straight Frontier League Player of the Month Award after he rolled his torrid April through the month of May by hitting .385 with a .451 OBP and 10 HR’s 28 RBI’s and 30 runs. For the year he is hitting .364-21-58.

Baltimore’s Juan Torres took home CL Player of the Month Honors after he hit .261 with 10 HR’s and 27 RBI’s while scoring 21 times.

Trapper SP Lucio Hernandez won FL Pitcher of the Month for his 3-1 2.18 ERA May. He K’d 35 in 45.1 IP. He’s 3-3 2.97 in 11 starts this year.

Vince Bray (PIT) won the CL Pitcher of the Month Award after going 4-1 1.93 during May. He punched out 56 and walked 7 in 51.1 IP while giving up 38 hits to run his season total to 7-1 1.81 in 11 starts.

Alaska Ace Tony Gonzalez took home the franchise’s first ever Rookie of the Month award after he hit .366 with 4 HR’s and 16 RBI’s and had a .434 OBP.

Tulsa Driller rookie Rich Alfred took home CL Rookie of the Month for his .387 6 HR 15 RBI tear in May. He’s hitting .305-7-30 on the year.

ORG AWARDS
Ed Harris of Denison took home the Pacific League Pitcher of the Month for his 4-0 1.16 ERA run in May. On the year the 21 year old is 6-2 2.26 in 11 starts.

IBL Power Rankings
1) El Paso
2) Chicago
3) Pittsburgh
4) Columbus
5) Philadelphia

Bottom 5
22) Tulsa
23) Corpus Christi
24) San Antonio
25) West Michigan
26) Brooklyn

[gehrig38]

A comp from a month ago in the Frontier League
El paso with another 22-6 month, holy crap. Columbus goes 17-11 and thankfully we go 18-10 to pick up a game, but they put breathing room in the WC to everyone else in the hunt. Means we got 9 games to work with now.
Orsco fell below .400 on the months final day, wow.
How about Ken Johnson? Talk about a rebirth. Collins is going to win an MVP sometime soon.