Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders! - Page 21

Bub13 · 03-14-2021, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Wow what a regular season. I wasn't expecting it to be quite this great of a year. Obviously the Isle's are the favorites to win the whole thing so good luck.

Thanks!

Neither was I, frankly. I knew Waugh's arrival and Medici's maturation would be positives, but I had questions elsewhere (3B, RF with Frederick out early). Royer and Pederson stepped up early big time, and it never seemed like anyone went into the tank all year.

Playoffs now!

Bub13 · 03-18-2021, 06:34 PM

Will our 122-win season result in the ultimate playoff payoff? Let's...find...out...

[Two asides: ace Matt Waugh won September pitcher of the month, going 4-1 with a 2.54 ERA, striking out 45 while walking just 4. Next, Short A Poughkeepsie won their second NYP League title, but AAA Santa Barbara fell short in their quest for a seventh PCL title. If you're keeping track at home, that's titles for AA Androscoggin and Short A Poughkeepsie, but only a participation trophy for AAA Santa Barbara.]

WILDCARD SERIES
In the AL, Chicago grabbed game one from Texas 8-3, but the Rangers came back to take the next two and win the series. The top two offenses in MLB produced a relatively low-scoring series: games two and three were 6-1 and 4-3 affairs. Rangers OF Mike Olivera won MVP honors, going 6-for-12 with 2 HR and 6 RBI. Texas now faces Hawaii, surprise surprise. (Detroit v Tampa Bay is the other series.)

Over in the senior circuit, Cincy pounded Giant pitching to the tune of 25 runs in their two game sweep. The teams combined for 14 home runs over the two games, which should be record even if it isn't. (Shut it. You know what I mean.) The Reds will now face their divisional rivals from Chicago. (Philadelphia v Los Angeles is the other series.)

......

DIVISIONAL SERIES
Well of course, it's the Rangers again. We've taken them out before, but last year they stopped us short on their way to a franchise-first world title. We had a crazy season this go-round, but they also won 98 games, so this is no slouch of a team. Second in total offense, first in home runs, and even fifth in pitching despite a pile of injured hurlers. You know their Murderer's Row already: Ronnie Halvorson (.287/46/111), Mike Olivera (.361/39/116 and the AL batting champ), Ryan Boers (.310/56/133), William Swanson (.325/62/158 and the HR king), and Eric Robbins (.341/43/105) lead off the lineup. And where someone's stats pale in comparison to those figures, they were due to injuries rather than poor play (e.g., Omar Gurrola .271/16/46 in 332 AB and D.J. Flores .280/16/49 in 257 AB). Pitching has been solid if unspectacular, and with a rotation ERA near five, I think we can make hay there. Best-of-five series.

Game One: Texas (RH Jesus Aguilera 15-11, 5.04) @ Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh 21-5, 2.50). We break open a 1-1 game in the second with a six-run frame, sparked by Medici's bases loaded double. Royer adds a solo shot in the 3rd, then a 2-run knock in the 6th, and despite giving up several late runs we cruise tonight to a 12-4 win. HAW leads series, 1-0

Game Two: Texas (LH Bobby Daniel 16-5, 5.14) @ Hawaii (RH Biff Skiff 16-5, 3.70). This one's different right out of the gate as Robbins blasts a grand slam in the top of the first and adds a 2-run shot in the third. We never recover, going down 9-1 early. Skiff is pulled after that third inning homer, and three more relievers give up an additional seven runs. Wow. Final score Texas 14, Hawaii 2, and there goes home field advantage. Series tied, 1-1

Game Three: Hawaii (RH Mike Bader 17-6, 3.87) @ Texas (RH Paul Labbe 14-8, 4.23). A home run, two doubles, and a pile of singles put us up 4-0 after two innings. But...Gurrola homers in their 2nd and Robbins hits another one in the third, and after two big innings it's now an 8-4 deficit. Where is our pitching? The offense sputters after that early outburst, and we give up two more late runs to make the final score 10-4. Ugly. TEX leads series, 2-1

Game Four: Hawaii (RH Mike Pearse 6-2, 3.80) @ Texas (LH Bill Butts 14-9, 5.53). Two singles and a double plate a run for Texas in their second, but we get three back in the third thanks to RBI singles from Medici and Royer. The Rangers tie it when Robbins hits ANOTHER home run in their third. But after that, our solid pitching returns From Beyond. Pearse settles in and allows only two more runners until he's lifted in the seventh, new hero Royer brings home two runs with a long double in the fifth, and that's all the scoring tonight. Pearse restores some faith in the staff with 9 K and just 4 H over his six innings. Final score 5-3 good guys. Series tied 2-2

Game Five: Texas (LH Bobby Daniel) @ Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh). We don't make it easy on ourselves, do we. One game will keep us going or put us in the "major disappointment" pool. Again.... Texas gets on the board early, scratching out single runs in the 2nd and 3rd, and we small-ball our way into a run in the bottom of the 3rd. Nobody gets more than a single runner on base until the sixth, when Medici--battling a cold--puts a ball deep into the left field seats, bringing home Daley as well. Can we hold it? Decisively, NO! This time it's Halvorson getting the honors with a two-run homer off of Ruiz in the 7th, and we're down 4-3. Sigh. So we go to the 8th: two outs, Daley on second, Matson on first. Medici up, 2-2 count...and he smashes a line drive into the gap! It gets to the wall! Daley scores! Matson scores! Islanders lead!!! Finally! Collier comes into the 9th and takes care of business, setting them down 1-2-3, and it's over! PHEW. Final score 5-4. HAW WINS series, 3-2

Elsewhere: Sweeps, everywhere you turn. Ninety-nine win Detroit is wiped out by Tampa Bay, while LA takes apart Philadelphia (very surprising) and Chicago dumps Cincinnati. All in three games. So we're exhausted by our series while everyone else is just relaxing by the pool. Great. Man is my stomach churning.

Josh Matson is named MVP of our series, batting .560, although you could make a case for Medici's clutch game five and his 10 RBI overall. (And despite losing, a case could be made for Texas' Eric Robbins, who hit .350 with 5 HR and 10 RBI). Also, our starting pitching was pretty terrible, with Skiff and Bader stinking up the joint. Liles, moved to long relief after a dismal regular season, pitched 7.1 innings of strong relief, and may get a start in our next series.

......

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

It's an old-school matchup in the NL, with the Cubs taking on the Dodgers. LA has been pretty solid for some time, but last won a title in 2042 (and beat us in 2038, the bastards). Chicago, on the other hand, is still looking to break the curse, still waiting for their first title since 1908. Obviously I'm pulling for the Cubs here, but of course want either of them to fall beneath our mighty selves in the Series. But first, we have to get past...

...Tampa Bay, who posted their third consecutive 90-win season, and their first division title since 2046. Like Texas, they're solid both ways: 4th in offense and 3rd in pitching. Their top four batters--Jorge Arriola, Edgar Aranceta, Jose Tavaras, and Vance Wise--combined to hit 198 home runs this season. (Compare that to the 241 our whole team hit.) And don't sleep on CF Kris Warner (.273/28/92), the 30-year-old former 1st overall pick (Washington) who's revitalized his career since signing here in '52. The rotation isn't loaded with power pitchers, and no one had a standout season, but all four playoff starters were above league average, which is actually much better than it sounds. At 95 wins they had the "worst" record of any AL playoff team, but this is by far not a pushover team. They made the best in-season move of the year as well when they traded for OF Jose Tavares, who hit 24 HR in his 55 games down the stretch. He'll be a free agent soon, but if he brings them a title, who can argue. Best-of-seven series.

Game One: Tampa Bay (RH Carlos Munoz 16-11, 4.66) @ Hawaii (RH Biff Skiff 16-5, 3.70). Matson homers early, but we forget how to hit, and take a 1-1 game into the 9th with just five hits to show. Skiff goes great, but Collier comes in to pitch the 9th...and gives up a 2-run shot to Tavares and that's the ballgame. Troubling. Tampa Bay leads series, 1-0

Game Two: Tampa Bay (LH Jon Jemison 13-11, 4.82) @ Hawaii (RH Chris Liles 11-7, 5.55). Liles makes the start and frankly, I could've made a better decision. He gives up runs in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th before leaving with one out in that final frame and down 6-1. We get one back in our half of the fifth, but Booker in relief throws up to the tune of five runs in the 6th. Stunned. We somehow make it a ballgame in the 7th, with three doubles, three walks, and a hatful of singles plating eight runs for us, and it's a close 12-10 now. But we yield one more in the 9th and can't get anybody past second base in the final two frames, and drop both games at home. Very troubling. Tampa Bay leads series, 2-0

Game Three: Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh 21-5, 2.50) @ Tampa Bay (LH John Odom 17-6, 4.21). What can I say about this game? We blow a 5-0 start, with Waugh pitching like an amateur. Despite outhitting the Rays 13-8, Waugh and Booker keep soft-tossing out there, and we never regain the lead despite adding a couple of late runs to make it close. Tampa does lose closer Bubba Fairweather, though, so maybe there's some light after all. Final score 9-8. Tampa Bay leads series 3-0

Game Four: Hawaii (RH Mike Pearse 6-2, 3.80) @ Tampa Bay (RH Greg Drake 13-13, 4.68). Backs against the wall, and how do we respond? By giving up a 2-run triple to the third batter of the game and going down 3-0 after one. But then we wake up, scoring one, two, three, and two runs in the next four innings and taking an 8-4 lead into the 7th. We wisely keep Booker off the mound tonight, and the pen responds by giving up zero runs; we add four more to our pile and finally FINALLY get on the board with a 14-4 win. Tampa Bay leads series, 3-1

Game Five: Hawaii (RH Biff Skiff 16-5, 3.70) @ Tampa Bay (RH Carlos Munoz 16-11, 4.66). Still running up that hill, and we get off to a good start in the 1st with a two-run triple by Frederick and a Royer RBI double. Vance Wise brings one home for the Rays, but we're up 3-1 after one. Our startig pitching finally shows up, as Skiff goes the distance, giving up just 8 hits and allowing zero runs after that Wise hit. Goodloe breaks his slump with an RBI in the 6th, and we add one more late for good measure to take this one 6-1 and live to fight on. Tampa Bay leads series, 3-2

Game Six: Tampa Bay (LH Jon Jemison 13-11, 4.82) @ Hawaii (RH Mike Bader 17-6, 3.87). Liles gets the boot in favor of Bader: will it pay off? Well, everyone exhales a bit when we score 5 in the first thanks to the red-hot Medici and Royer, and cap it with a 3-run shot from Daley. And Bader? He's on it, giving up only solo HR in the 8th and 9th before yielding to Collier. In the meantime, we score 5 more times and finally give our home fans something to cheer about in this series. Still alive! Game Seven incoming! Final score is 10-2. Series tied, 3-3

Game Seven: Tampa Bay (LH John Odom 17-6, 4.21) @ Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh 21-5, 2.50). Okay here goes... Fast start! Matson pokes a 2-run shot in the 1st and Daley singles Pederson home in the 2nd. All that is erased when Waugh surrenders 3 in the 4th, thanks in part to a Tavares home run. There's fight in us yet, as we add single runs in our 4th and 5th innings, taking a 5-3 lead. The teams trade runs in the 7th, and we nudge across another single run in the 8th to take a 7-4 lead into the 9th. A 3-run lead with our 45-save closer Collier coming in means money in the bank right? Alas, no. With one run already in, he tosses a meatball to Tavares, of all people, who promptly blasts a 3-run shot into deep center field and now we're LOSING 8-7. It's quiet as a pin. But are we done? Hell no! With one out, Frederick doubles, but Lynn grounds out. It all comes down to J.J. Simmons, and mercifully--PRAISE ZEUS--he lashes a single into right, scoring Frederick and sending us to extras! Collier is banished to the showers, and Germann allows a walk but fans two and we come to bat in the 10th. Remember when the Rays lost their closer in game three? Yeah, that mattered: Doug Pederson comes off the bench with one out and sends one over the right field wall and WHADDAYA KNOW THE COMEBACK IS COMPLETE! Pederson is mobbed, the fans go freaking nuts, and the Rays are stunned into disbelief. Final score 9-8 in 10 innings. HAWAII WINS SERIES, 4-3

What a crazy series. We looked deader than a doornail after that third game, but once our pitching showed up, everything changed. After giving up 26 runs in the first three games, we allowed only 7 over the next three. That last game was a wild ride, and we almost blew it thanks once again to poor pitching at the wrong time. Probably the only guy who is only mildly celebrating is franchise all-timer Adam Groff, who's only batted three times this post-season and didn't play at all in this series. Anyway...J.J. Simmons batted .519 and drove in the 9th-inning tying run, earning him the series MVP nod. All to the good.

......

The NL championship series nearly mirrored our own, as the Dodgers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead before the Cubs finally showed up. Facing defeat, Chicago won games in LA by 6-2 and 8-0 scores before taking game six back home 4-1. But unlike us, they couldn't top the final hurdle, falling at home 6-2, losing to series MVP Jeff Miller, who tossed a 1-0 shutout in game three and then allowed just two runs in 7.2 innings in the finale. He also added two hits and two RBI to the cause. Sorry, Cubs fans. It's wait until next year again. Too bad.

StLee · 03-20-2021, 06:35 AM

Wow! Congratulations on the comeback victory in the league championship series! Down 3-0 seems like it would make the down team feel hopeless. Apparently your Islanders know no fear! Great job!

Sizeman21 · 03-20-2021, 02:19 PM

Omg that Tampa Bay series was close!

Bub13 · 03-22-2021, 06:58 PM

The Dodgers won the NL West with 91 wins, swept the Phillies in three, then took out the Cubs in an epic seven-game tilt. This is yet another well-balanced team, finishing 3rd in NL offense and 1st in pitching. Three batters--Dave Von Eschen, Dustin Wasilewski, and Junjiro McDonnell--topped 40 HR, and every starter hit double figures. Wasilewski is the defending NL MVP and McDonnell was last year's Rookie of the Year. And if you're a long-time reader here, you probably remember my annual "RP Watch" during free agency, where the Dodgers corner the market year-after-year on free agent relievers. Now we see why: five pitchers are on the DL, all of whom were signees in the past two years, and all of whom figured to be on the big club this year. The staff is led by rookie star Everett Cronk, who could pull off the double-double of ROY and Cy Young. (Weirdly, he spent 2052 in AA as a reliever.) Despite some middling years by the late '40s, they've been good for a while now and have won the division two years running. They last won a title in '42, beating the Marlins, and in '38 they won by beating, um...us. Don't be decieved by them having "just" 91 wins: they played in a tough division and on paper that lineup looks as good as anyone.

Game One: Los Angeles (LH Everett Cronk 16-4, 2.72) @ Hawaii (RH Mike Pearse 6-2, 3.80). Not much to say here, other than we got Cronk'd: held to just three hits and no runs. Pearse keeps up for a while, but gets leaky enough to yield runs in innings 5 through 7, which we just can't counter. Yet again we lose a game at home. Final score, 4-0. Los Angeles leads series, 1-0

Game Two: Los Angeles (LH Chris Harris 6-10, 5.12) @ Hawaii (RH Biff Skiff 16-5, 3.70). Dammit no ****ing offense again, outhit 13 to 7 and outscored 5 to 2 tonight. No other comment warrented, other than we've dug ourselves another huge ****ing hole. Los Angeles leads series, 2-0

Game Three: Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh 21-5, 2.50) @ Los Angeles (LH Jeff Miller 16-9, 4.55). Finally something good happens! Solo HR from Medici (4th inning) and Daley (8th) put us up 2-0, and we use a barrage of hits in the 9th to pile on three more runs. Waugh puts a runner on in the 9th so gets pulled for Collier with one out, but we escape and claw our way back into the Series with a 5-0 win. Los Angeles leads series 2-1

Game Four: Hawaii (RH Mike Bader) @ Los Angeles (RH Greg Sipes 8-7, 4.33). Lots of offensive efficiency here tonight, as the teams combine for 18 runs on 23 hits. Down 3-1, we plate a run in the 2nd, five in the 3rd, and another one in the 4th to go up 8-3. But LA counters with a Wasilewski triple in their half, scoring three times and tightening it to an 8-6 game. But we're not done, as Frederick hits a 2-run blast in the 6th to give us a four run lead. The teams exchange runs late, but our lead--and the win--holds up. Final score, 11-7. Series tied, 2-2

Game Five: Hawaii (RH Mike Pearse) @ Los Angeles (LH Everett Cronk). Bah. We actually get to Cronk early, putting on five runners and scoring three of them in the first. LA scratches back, thanks largely to a pair of 2-run homers, and takes a 5-3 lead into the 8th. We get one in that inning, but can't get another and LA adds one in their half. Final score 6-4. Once again, on the damn brink. Los Angeles leads series, 3-2

Game Six: Los Angeles (LH Chris Harris) @ Hawaii (RH Biff Skiff). Boy, this game... Skiff starts by putting a parade of runners on in the 2nd, allowing three to score and making LA's eternal smugness nearly unbearable. A walk and a pair of singles in our half, however, get one back for us, but we're still down two early on. In the third, tho, Wakabayashi doubles home Goodloe, and then with two outs Matson hits one out over the LF wall. Presto: a 4-3 lead after just three innings. The next three frames are much quieter, with no runs and only a handful of runners combined. But Skiff can't keep it up, allowing two runs on a single and back-to-back doubles: now we're down 5-4 and facing just two more innings in our season. We get a runner on in the 8th, so Harris is pulled for closer Josh Gall, who closes out that inning with ease. Collier pitches the top of the 9th, fanning two, and keeping our hopes alive. Down a run, bottom of the 9th, facing elimination, and the following happens: Pederson grounds out; Wakabayashi strikes out; but Lynn beats out a high chopper for an infield hit; Daley comes up, faces a 1-2 count, and gets enough of a Gall pitch to drive it into the right field stands! Opposite field two-out walk-off home run! Can you believe it? I guess I should've expected something like this when I saw Mark Messier outside the stadium before the game, wearing a Joe Namath jersey and promising everyone that we'd win the next two games. Still not there yet, but we're alive to play another day. WOW. Series tied, 3-3!

Game Seven: Los Angeles (LH Jeff Miller) @ Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh). I rolled the dice by starting Skiff in game six, and now we get to trot out our ace, Waugh. Crazy? Stupid? Maybe, but my success rate with starters on short rest in the playoffs is somewhere around zero. Anyway, it worked, so the pre-game ESPN hacks can suck it... Bottom of the third, no score, two men on and Lynn cracks a double in the right-center gap, scoring both. One out later and Matson brings Lynn home with his 5th home run of the playoffs, and we're staked to a 4-0 lead. LA gets one back in the 4th, but in the bottom half Simmons cracks a TWO-RUN HOMER! J.J. "Annual Home Run" Simmons! That may just be a sign from the gods. It's now a 6-1 lead after four. Waugh sails along through the 5th, but trouble strikes in the 6th, when with two outs and a runner on first Waugh walks two, gives up a single, then hits a batter before he's replaced. Nate Kearns then yields a two-run double before getting out of the jam, but damage was done: the lead is now 6-5, and we're visibly tightening up. Nothing changes until the bottom of the 8th, when Matson leads off with another HR, and then--8 batters and 4 runs later--we salt this one away. Ruiz is the surprise pick--over Collier--to close out the 9th, but he fans two, gives up a single, then induces a weak grounder to first that Matson grabs and after stepping on the bag, IT'S OVER! CHAMPS AGAIN!!! WHAT A COMEBACK! Final score, 10-5. Hawaii WINS SERIES, 4-3

......

Well that was easy, wasn't it? How we can make things look so simple during the regular season, but then dig ourselves into holes time and again during the playoffs, is truly amazing. I think we faced eight elimination games. Eight! And that Game Six! Terrifying. Every series went the distance, so if you're a fan of playoff excitement then you really got your money's worth. Speaking of that, more games means more money for the corporate overlords, and we raked in nearly $30M in post-season revenue. I wonder if that will affect the rumors I'm hearing out of accounting, however... Probably not.

Now we turn our attention to the off-season. We have some contracts to consider, with several players facing free agency, as well as some pending options. Arbitration will surely take a big bite from the budget, and there are some key players who are beginning their arb years that we might want to get under long-term contracts instead: Medici, Pearse, Skiff, Bader, Irvin, those guys. That won't be easy, but that's why I make the big bucks.

Sizeman21 · 03-23-2021, 04:35 PM

Wait...that's it....? Way to go Bub! Good one Islanders! Good season. Any goals for next season? Or just top your wins total from this season maybe?

Bub13 · 03-24-2021, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sizeman21

Wait...that's it....? Way to go Bub! Good one Islanders! Good season. Any goals for next season? Or just top your wins total from this season maybe?

Yep, that's it! Didn't you catch the parade?

If we top this season's win totals next year I may just have to quit playing!

Actually, for next season things are going to change quite a bit for the Islanders. While I'm not doing a tear-down anything like the 90s Marlins, I'm going to try to make it a little more difficult for us. (I also thought briefly about switching teams, as there are a number of franchises that are so poorly run that they would be a fun challenge to rebuild. But no, I'm staying put!)

......

2053 SEASON REVIEW

I think it's worth reviewing a season that set team and league records and resulted in our fifth World Series title, don't you? (Not to mention unlocking the prized "Dynasty" medal within the game!) A season where I had lowered expectations at the beginning: I knew we'd be competetive, and a threat to win it all, but did not foresee that this kind of season would unfold. And as dizzying as the regular season turned out, the playoffs were even more unbelievable. We faced eight elimination games and won them all, including an epic comeback from a three games to none deficit in the AL Championship series.

So how did we do it? Luck plays its part, as one stray pitch or muffed grounder in any of those elimination games could have ended the season on a different note. But when considering the season as a whole, I think several factors combined to bring us an astonishing 122 regular season wins and, ultimately, another title.

1. Overall team play. Seems like a no-brainer, doesn't it? All season long we were at or near the top in both total offense and total pitching. We scored 997 runs, which actually did not lead the league (we came in third, behind Chicago's 1023 and Texas' 1002), but we were top four nearly every category except home runs, where we finished with a much-improved tenth-place rank, bashing 241 dingers. Pitching was tops in the AL, and our team ERA of 3.84 was miles better than second place Detroit, at 4.05. (Third place Tampa Bay was even farther back than that, at 4.38). Even our team defense--not often a strong suit--was pretty good, despite a near-bottom ZR: 4th fewest errors, a top ten team efficiency, and the 2nd best CS% from our catchers.

As usual, we managed solid team numbers without having any truly eye-popping individual seasons. Medici hit 49 HR, but finished outside the top ten (although he was third with 138 RBI and batted .326); Matson finished second in the batting race at .352, and added 26 HR. In total, six regulars topped .300, and five finished with 20 or more HR. On the mound, only Waugh really stood out, as he has to be the favorite to take home his third Cy Young. And closer Robbie Collier could earn a Wilhelm trophy, after saving 45 games and earning 2.2 WAR. Otherwise, it was just a case of getting everyone pulling in the same direction most of the time.

Plus, even though "clutch" has been shown to be not-a-thing, consider this: we went 31-9 in one-run games and our relievers were credited with 34 wins. That's a lot of clutc--erm, late-inning heroics.

2. Lack of injuries. Yes, we had a few guys get hurt, but we were never burdened with numerous injuries at once, and even when we had a guy or two go out, others stepped up (and didn't also get hurt). Frederick missed the first month of the season, but Pederson was so solid as his replacement that Freds didn't work back into the lineup until late in the summer (and Pederson still hit 34 HR). No other batter missed significant time, outside of Covington sitting out the final two weeks of September. Pitching-wise, only Pearse and Booker missed time, and both spent stints in AAA on rehab; but both were back for the stretch run and contributed during the playoffs (although Booker struggled there). A pretty remarkable season, especially when I checked the disabled lists for opponents and would regularly see five or more solid players out for lengthy durations.

3. Positive surprises and lack of slumps. One of my biggest worries going in to camp was third base, having lost D.J. Grace to free agency, and us not pursuing a veteran replacement. But Caleb Royer started hitting in camp and never let up, finishing the year at .326, with 31 HR and adding 17 steals. Sure, he's a truly sub-par third baseman (last in ZR, 2nd-worst RNG), but his hitting made up for it. With his backup Lua Ulkini also producing (.324, 6 HR), they combined for nearly 5 WAR. And with Frederick out early, Doug Pederson starred, batting over .340 into May. He faded some as the season wore on, but still ended up at .293 with 34 HR.

And slumps? Simmons and Covington didn't hit much over the first half of the season, flirting with .260 and .240 respectively, but got hot late, with Simmons finishing at .278 (and with a .373 OBP) and Covington at .282 (and 20 HR). On the mound, Liles did truly struggle, finishing with a 5.55 ERA and turning in career-worsts in K/9 (6.5) and BABIP (.313). And poor Kyle Johnson, whom you may remember being practically unhittable through the first half of 2052, has now had a year-and-a-half long slump. His ERA was near 9 when I sent him down in early June. Called up in late August, he got bombed twice and didn't pitch again, including the post-season. We will dearly need him to rebound next year, but he'll be on a short leash.

......

So that's the anatomy of a 122-win season, I suppose. I don't--and can't, to be honest--expect to see that happen again. I'm just glad we ended up winning it all this season, otherwise the disappointment would have been tremendous. I've won with "worst" teams: in '43 we won "only" 95 games but lost the division and had to sweat through the one-or-done wildcard game. But we won it all. And five times I've had teams win more than 105 games in the regular season but go home empty-handed. But from this season, the lesson is clear: get everyone playing well, don't get hurt, and win all your close games. Simple.

Bub13 · 04-03-2021, 03:28 PM

(Strap in: lots to unpack in this one.)

2053-54 OFF-SEASON part one

The locker room hasn't even been hosed off after all the celebrations when a hammerblow drops. Our Cayman Island corporate bosses send me this brief e-gram that night: "Congrats on your title! You must be so proud! Also, owing to unforeseen circumstances corporate support will be repositioned for the coming fiscal term. Expenditures for your unit will be capped at $150 million, to be distributed at your discretion. Surplus revenue is expected at the end of the term, at a level that will be announced in a subsequent communication. And again, congratulations on the successful accomplishment!"

So that's what my accounting mole was warning me about. This seasons' budget was $220M, and 2054 was penciled in at a robust $240M; meaning we've lost over a third of our budget. That drops us from the 6th-highest budget to a tie for 28th, with Houston. Houston! More pressing is that this year's player payroll of $148M will need to be heavily slashed, and I'll have to take a look at spending across the board. (The current balance sheet shows nearly $50M needs to come off the books, although that will likely change a bit, with arbitration and free agency.)

First, those arbitrations and free agents. Eight players are going through the arb process, and we'll go after seven of them. (Catcher Hiro Wakabayashi won't be back, saving us only $900k, but every bit counts.) Starting pitchers Bader, Pearse, Skiff, and Irvin, relievers Kyle Johnson and M-H Yaung, and 1B Jules Medici will get offers. Our team offers come to a combined $21.8M, but of course the final total will be quite a bit higher than that. Those estimates are already some $13M more than those players make (combined) right now, so that makes a tight budget even tighter. And of course we'll soon need to consider extensions for the best of this lot too...

Four guys are eligible for free agency: RPs Robbie Collier and Ben Germann, OF Cam Daley, and DH Adam Groff. Germann (wants $9M for next year) and Groff (due to make $35M) had TOs we declined, and Collier is old (nearly 40) and wierdly too pricey (demands $13M). Daley is only 30 and wants north of $20M per for 8 years, but I think his hitting will start to decline soon and he's become a big liability in the outfield. I'll qualify him and Groff, but expect both to decline. Groff's possible loss makes me sad: our franchise face, and a future hall of famer, it would be odd seeing him play for another team next year. Unless he's willing to come back here for very little money...but he still thinks he can start somewhere. Hey, if he's right, and can stay healthy for a season, he could still have a shot at 3000 career hits. I don't think that's gonna happen. But it's still (slightly) possible that he and Daley will take our $13M qualifiers; if they do, that's two more salary decisions to make. Rolling the dice here, gambling for those sweet compensation picks...

Oh, and Josh Frederick has a player option to consider. If he uses it, he'll make just over $15M. He probably could make a lot more on the open market...

We've also got some personnel decisions to make. Asst GM David Nelson leaves after three years on the job. The former Astros GM is looking to step up in role, and as I'm currently immortal that won't happen here. Bigger news is that team trainer Jordan Villalobos retires. He's been our trainer since the beginning of the franchise and won't be easily replaced. Ever wonder why we don't seem to have too many nagging injuries? His magic touch. Hitting coach Adam Engel also retires after more than decade moving through our system, and we allow AA manager Billy Cerrone to leave after his contract demands got a little high for a minor league coach. While we haven't hired AGM or Trainer replacements yet, we do promote AAA manager Steve Johnson into the hitting coach role on the big club. Johnson, 54, started off as a hitting coach in A for us in '44, then advanced to eventually become manager in Santa Barbara the last four seasons. We promote others from lower down the ranks until we're left with trying to find a rookie ball manager and a hitting coach, on the cheap. Oh, and soon our first and third base coaches will have names, too.

......

Time to take a break and check in on MLB's award winners for 2053.

AL Gold Glove: P Chris Liles (HAW); C Jon Hill (TB, 3rd); 1B Jim Timmer (MIL, 7th); 2B Juan Ruiz (DET); 3B Mike Eskridge (CAL); SS Oscar Garza (HOU, 3rd); LF Jordan Foots (MIN, 2nd); CF Jason Welch (HOU, 2nd); RF Melvin Lopez (NYY)
NL Gold Glove: P Shamar Jackson (STL, 3rd); C Steve Newman (ATL, 3rd); 1B Antonio Maestas (MON, 3rd); 2B Mario Sanchez (AUS); 3B Chris Gulland (ARI, 2nd); SS Ethan Ransburg (POR, 2nd); LF Jake Morris (ATL); CF Dan Politz (POR, 4th); RF Pat Meade (ATL)

AL Hoyt Wilhelm: Robbie Collier (HAW), 65 GP, 61.1 IP, 77 K, 45 SV, 1.03 WHIP, 54 FIP-, 2.2 WAR [Of course a pending FA wins this...once again]
NL Hoyt Wilhelm: Frank Casper (AUS), 74 GP, 80.1 IP, 84 K, 38 SV, 1.00 WHIP, 50 FIP-, 4.0 WAR

AL Silver Slugger: C Arturo Sena (SEA, 4th); 1B William Swanson (TEX, 5th); 2B Jorge Arriola (TBR); 3B Ryan Walton (OAK, 2nd); SS Ryan Boers (TEX, 2nd); LF Mike Olivera (TEX); CF Chris Mitchell (NYY, 2nd); RF Andy Barenberg (CHW, 2nd); DH Eric Robbins (TEX)
NL Silver Slugger: P Steve McKeen (CIN); C Guillermo Diaz (SFG); 1B Jeff Campbell (STL); 2B Luke Kempf (PHI, 2nd); 3B Byron Wilmoth (PHI); SS Matthew Powell (CHC); LF Rick Logston (PHI, 2nd); CF Dustin Wasilewski (LAD, 3rd); RF George Livezey (PHI, 4th)

AL Rookie of the Year: 1B Tom Esposito, KCR, .320/50/126, 1.041 OPS, 6.0 WAR [Royer and Pederson finished 2nd and 3rd; no one else got votes]
NL Rookie of the Year: P Everett Cronk, LAD, 16-4, 2.72 ERA, 218.2 IP, 212 K, 0.98 WHIP, 68 FIP-, 7.0 WAR

AL Manager of the Year: Chris Kenney, HAW [2nd win]
NL Manager of the Year: Felix Osorio, PHI [5th win: also in '44, '45, '47, '52]

AL Cy Young: Matt Waugh, HAW, 21-5, 2.50 ERA, 223.1 IP, 216 K, 1.07 WHIP, 67 FIP-, 6.2 WAR [3rd win: also won in '49 and '50 with ATL]
NL Cy Young: Everett Cronk, LAD [pulls off the ROY and Cy Young double play!]

AL MVP: OF Chris Mitchell, NYY, .338/54/136, 24 SB, 36 2B, 1.78 OPS, 9.4 WAR [Medici and Waugh picked up a few votes]
NL MVP: OF Rick Logston, PHI, .346/61/147, 32 2B, 100 BB, 1.187 OPS, 9.4 WAR

......

AROUND THE LEAGUE...

No team owners descended into the fiery depths, but eight clubs are looking for new managers. Most surprising is that the Dodgers let Andrew Vergili go after eleven years with the team. I guess losing that game seven just did him in. And say goodbye to long-timer Robert Woodard, who retired after five years with Minnesota, preceded by a 17-year stint with Oakland. He never did win the big one, and we probably have a lot to do with that. You're welcome, Bob! Here's a nice watch instead!

California snagged our recent Asst Gm David Nelson. He improved the Astros each year he was there, and then built up his rep with three winning seasons by my side. (He makes a good cup of coffee too.) He'll need all his skills to revive the Angels, however....

Some BIG names are coming up in free agency, as possibilities at the top of the list: Texas superstar slugger William Swanson; Minnesota's strikeout king Conor MacLeod and perennial all-star OF Josh Jacobson; LA's star former-MVP outfielder Dustin Wasilewski and star catcher Bryan Huntley; and former Isles prospect and current slugging 3B Dante Padilla. These are all guys who, if allowed to wander off, will likely be demanding over $35M per for their next deals. Some of them may actually get it too...

And it's Hall of Fame voting time. I'm not wowed by this year's crop, but I do put in a vote for former Padres great Gary Florence, a pitcher who's career was cut short by injuries. While healthy he won two Cy Youngs and an MVP, and was a seven-time All-Star. He only finished with 146 wins and 2205 strikeouts, but it's his other numbers that impress: 64 WAR in what amounted to a nine-year career (spread over 13 seasons though), career ERA+ of 148 and FIP- of 69, and a fabulous K/BB ratio of nearly five-to-one. I also cast a vote for catcher Tyler Markey, a career .309 hitter who banged out 324 HR and won an MVP back in '33. He's on his 9th ballot, and got 69% of the voters to support him last year, so it's now or never for him. (And don't be shocked is SS Pablo Delgado gets in. He was insanely productive when healthy--which wasn't often, given that he topped 130 games only five times in his nineteen-year career--earning 81 WAR, an MVP, two Gold Gloves, two titles, three post-season series MVPs, and a pile of all-star and Silver Slugger nods. Still, his career numbers don't look super, with only 1700 hits and a .253 average, so that will hurt his chances.)

......

NOW BACK TO US...

Arbitration decisions come back, and yeah we took some financial hits. From the list above, winning every case would have cost us $21.8M total; instead, we'll be paying out $31.7M. It's typical: every year we pay through the nose, so I shouldn't be surprised. Maybe if I actually tried signing guys earlier in their careers I could resolve this issue. Hmmm.... The only case we "won" was for our top slugger, Jules Medici. He wanted slightly more than the $6.8M we offered, but he settled and signed anyway. We'll be signing checks for starting pitchers Pearse ($8.75M), Bader (5.75), Skiff (4.5), and Irvin (1.8), as well as 2.1M for wanabe-closer Kyle Johnson...which will be a lot of money to spend on a AAA pitcher if he doesn't get his act together in the spring. Medici you know about. And our other guys? Josh Frederick took his player option, so will be with us for five more years at $15.1M per. Cam Daley turned down our qualifying offer and will leave the nest. But Adam Groff? Surprise, surprise: he took our QO and will return for one more go at $13M. A bit pricey, but I'm going to try to make it work, especially as trading an injury-prone 39-year-old making that kind of money would be a near-impossible feat.

Having said that, we now get to the crux of the off-season. I'm working with a budget that is now $150M, meaning that having a payroll that is now over $160M just won't work. I know what the corporation is doing: forcing me to cut payroll but without orders to slash it to the bone means they think we'll be competitive enough to make the playoffs (or even win it all again) and thus maximize profit, which they will siphon off to their offshore havens. And my back-of-the-napkin math leads me to believe that we can make them tens of millions in profit this year, if I cut the payroll to $120M or less. Since I like my job, I'm going to comply. It'll make me unpopular around here, but that's what the security guards are for.

So here we go...

...First off, by not re-signing Daley, Collier, or Germann, we cut $16.4 off the top. Of course we add over $9M to that in post-arbitration decisions, so we're down around $7M already. Now the tough part...

...Next, we make some difficult trades, sending off solid players with sweeteners to clear some more off the books. While the returns weren't awesome, I think we didn't get completely taken, either. Our first deal is with the Cubs, who are in the process of shedding about 1/3 of their pro roster to free agency, an odd move for a rich 95-win team. We pay a steep price for our corporate sins, sending four players and a pick for two guys and a different pick in return. The four we send off are RF Josh Frederick, 2B Bob Goodloe, prospect 3B Jonathan Dobo, and prospect OF Dante Garrica. Frederick is the big hit, a solid 5-WAR player when healthy, while Goodloe is a good contact hitter and fielder. Both are 30. Dobo is a big power bat who doesn't figure to hit for high average, while Garrica is a versatile (OF/1B/3B) hitter and speedster. In return we get RP Sam Bohlen, 25, who figures to slide into a setup role at minimum, and prospect OF Brian Hassell, 20, who may challenge for Lynn's spot in center field one day. This deal lops another $24M off the payroll, but makes the fans and the players (Freds and Goody are both team leaders) unhappy.

The second deal is smaller, but still impactful. Disappointing SP Chris Liles gets packed off to Minnesota, along with prospect catcher Bill Wetter, for #53 prospect 2B Lucas Tipping. Even at 33, Liles still rates highly, and could have a comeback season in him. With Conor MacLeod leaving, Liles figures to be the Twins' staff ace now. Wetter was the key to getting this done for Minny, as he's a solid hitting prospect with a big arm. I felt like we could afford to move him with young Mike Covington behind the plate for the foreseeable future, and a couple other sort-of promising catchers in the system. In Tipping we get a solid defensive middle infielder (although he doesn't have the arm for regular duty at short), and a bat that could develop into a quality middle-lineup feature, although he may strike out a lot. Thus we also remove another $10M from the rolls.

(We make one final deal, this one much smaller, acquiring OF Chase Thompson from Seattle for OF Walter Shepherd. Both are prospects, but at 23 Thompson is two years older and a bit farther along. He will start in AA or AAA with an eye to getting a roster shot in '55. This also sort of satisfies an owner goal to acquire local player, as Thompson is from Honolulu.)

Three trades--two big--and we get our payroll down to $124M. It would be even lower if Groff hadn't unexpectedly taken our qualifying offer. We'll go no lower this year, but could face this again next year with the same crop of guys due for another round of arbitration. Don't be surprised to see us inking some longer term deals during the season, but we'll have to be judicious with only Groff's money coming off the books after '54. (Although...I hate to say this but Waugh is due a raise in '55, from 29.5M to 35M and then 37M after that. Let's just say that I didn't foresee business shenanigans when I signed him long-term last winter.) I'll have more to say about how all of these deals could affect our '54 season in the spring training post, but for now just know that we have some holes to fill, and will need to address them from within.

Finally, we do find one International Free Agent to pursue, Japanese reliever Yoshi Watanabe. At 22, he's still got some room to grow, but if signed he could figure into our new look bullpen, even this coming season. And can someone tell me why five of the twenty-six internationals are already signed to MLB deals when the list is released? Can we get a tampering investigation under way?

......

Aaaaand back to the rest of the league and the Free Agent Frenzy!

...the Mets waste no time, on Day One signing ace pitcher Conor MacLeod for seven years and $235M, although he has an opt-out after '56. He joins what was the 2nd best rotation in the NL in '53 and gives the Mets hope that they can catch the Phillies for the top spot in the East.
...LA may be letting Dustin Wasilewski walk, but they just signed his replacement in Kris Warner, for five years and $120M. I think Dustin's the better player (and is four years younger), but Warner did revive his career in Tampa these last two seasons. It'll be interesting to see how he hits in Dodger Stadium.
...the Cubs address one of their many new holes by grabbing five-time all-star Bryan Huntley away from LA, for six years and $166M. He's still really good, but will be 31 in a week, so this long-term deal--all guaranteed--may look pretty dreary before long.
...Richmond makes a stab at relevance by adding the really, really excellent Josh Jacobson, late of Minnesota. Jacobson is just 28, and is good for .300/35/110 and 6 WAR even in just a so-so year. He's in the fold for four years and $128M.
...Boston gets on board by signing 2B Cortez Ortiz for four years and $98M. Ortiz is a doubles machine with a high OBP, but has little power. Solid 2Bman though, despite having zero Gold Gloves.
...Richmond is at it again, nabbing 3B Dante Padilla for five years and $127M. He's capable of bashing 50 HR, easy. The Eagles now have a lineup that can compete in the solid NL East, although their pitching still looks pretty suspect.
...the Angels may be linked to William Swanson right now, but they just lost leadoff CF Jake Glowski to Cincinnati. All he's done during his career is bat .280, knock 20-25 HR, play solid defense, and provide 4 WAR per season. Now he's going to a playoff-caliber team, signing for five years.
...That Richmond pitching? Just got a lot better with the addition of Tim Chandler, formerly of the Padres. He missed much of last season, but if he's back 100% he's automatically the anchor of the Eagles rotation. A little bit of a gamble at five years, $89M, for the 31-year-old.
...Did these guys win Power Ball or something? Richmond strikes again, adding 35-year-old slugging SS Francisco Villon, giving them a truly power-packed lineup now. (Just missing a leadoff batter: the incumbent hit .228 last season. Although maybe they've got one more signing up their sleeve.)
...the Dodgers begin their annual RP Sweepstakes by re-signing hard-throwing Matt Neven, but they've got stiff competition from Detroit, already having signed three relievers and traded for another. Giddyup, little Dodgies!
...and LA continues to dismantle, losing 2B Andy Elliott to Minnesota (for five years, $81M). That's three starters--C, 2B, CF--from last season's NL pennant-winning team, gone. (Once Wasilewski signs with someone, that is.) Although they did just make a deal with Portland, picking up Tony Reynoso to be their new backstop. Reynoso (.216/4/22) is quite a comedown from Bryan Huntley (.267/24/80), however.
...more LA news, as they finally sign their second RP of the off-season. In opposite-land news, Austin let 38-save closer Frank Casper walk (he signed with NYY for 2 years), and they traded three other RP from last season during the Winter Meetings. Of the nine guys on their current bullpen depth chart, only two tossed more than 30 MLB innings last year, and three none at all. I guess there's still time to grab someone, is the thinking?
...Oakland manager Ethan Larrison just suspended pitcher Ryan Swan for an indefinite period, for causing a team distraction with the night club he and 3B Ryan Walton opened last summer. Thing is...Swan became a free agent last month, and is no longer on the team. Way to show 'em, coach!
...maybe LA knows something after all: they just signed a legit catcher, former Isles backup Guillermo Diaz, to a 2-year, $53M (!!!) deal. Diaz batted .295/31/102 for the Giants last year, but at 37 you have to wonder how much time he has left.
...so here I was ready to goof on California as usual, given their meh off-season to date (swapping out two old-mediocre pitchers for two new-mediocre ones, and letting three regulars go to free agency). And then they go and sign the biggest name of the off-season: former Texas slugger/monster William Swanson, for $177M over 8 years. The seven-year vet is already closing in on 400 HR and 1500 H, and instantly adds some credibility to the perpetually rebuilding Angels. (Big props to our former Asst GM, David Nelson!) They've got money to do more, and they'll need to if they want to be competitive in '54.
...old-man trade alert! The White Sox and Yankees swap codgers, with the Yanks getting 2B Andrew Taylor (35) and the Sox acquiring OF Aaron Harrison (36). Taylor has batted .337 each of the last two seasons, and led the AL in doubles two of the last three campaigns. But he's 35, the only decent IF the team has, and losing Harrison leaves them with only two quality OF (Chris Mitchell and Melvin Lopez, two guys of very high quality) in the lineup currently. Not sure what the team is doing here. As for the Sox, they're still loaded. Harrison moving to LF probably gives developing prospect (#19 overall) T.J. Walsh another year to grow (he's gonna be really good, fyi); and losing Taylor doesn't hurt at all, as they'll have a hell of a 2B dogfight in camp between 22-year-olds Ramon Luna and Raul Madera. Both also look really, really good, and this Sox lineup is going to crush the souls of a lot of AL pitchers in '54. (The staff, on the other hand, needs help--it ranked 15th in '53--and hasn't yet gotten any.)
...only four players were taken in the Rule 5 draft, and none were steals. Probably the best player is 2B Steve McClellan, chosen by Baltimore (from Seattle). I considered grabbing him to fill my new hole at second, as he's a decent hitter and good fielder. But he's a major asshole, and I don't need any of those.
...the continued baseball existence of C/1B Dan Starr is weirding me out. At 43, he just signed a 3-year extension with the Brewers that will pay him nearly $20M a season. Thing is, he hasn't topped 100 games in a season since '48 (although he' still productive, earning nearly 3 WAR in each of those abbreviated campaigns), and even stole two bases last year. He's closing in on 2500 hits and 600 HR too.
...Richmond nabbed our former guy Ben Germann for $9.8M. Seems very steep to me.
...Boston wins the Dustin Wasilewski sweepstakes, inking the former Dodgers star for $252M over 8 years. Worth it, although last year's league-worst offense still looks pretty anemic.

Okay, 2053 has come to a close. Quite a ride to end the year on, huh. Happy New Year, everyone! See you in January.

Bub13 · 04-13-2021, 07:13 PM

Welcome to 2054! Sober up, there's lots to talk about...

......

...the Cubs continue to fill in the holes left by free agency, nabbing slugging 1B Eddie Hummel for $48M over 4 years and signing pitcher Greg Buchanan (4 yrs, $72M) from Texas. Hummel will be solid, but Buchanan is a wild card: on paper he looks truly dominant, but in his eight years with the Rangers he never put his talent together, resulting in just three 3-WAR seasons and a '53 as a mediocre closer. Maybe the change of scenery will help.
...my former closer-to-be Rick Ramirez signed with--who else--the Dodgers for two years, ending five seasons of one-year contracts. When he's on he's one of the best around, and it makes me sad that we never could squeeze that performance out of him for longer than a few weeks at a time.
...Houston traded closer Sean Pinney to the Cubs (where he'll replace Ramirez) for outfielder C.J. Howard, who hits for high average but has even fewer home runs than J.J. Simmons, clouting a near-Kuiperian three dingers over eight seasons.
...Austin is showing why they've been pretty bad since forever, sending adequate MR Korey Jefferson and recently-acquired (and very highly regarded) closer prospect Joe Strickland to Miami for perpetual clubhouse cancer Ricky Chavez. Not only is Chavez a perennial troublemaker, he's also a 38-year-old .248 lifetime hitter, who's 40-HR seasons vanished with the 2040s.
...Hall of Fame voters said "Nah" to this year's class, electing zero candidates. Tyler Markey, in his 9th year, got 74.3% of the vote, and is probably trying to hunt down that one asshole writer who sniffily posted his blank ballot online. Newbie Gary Florence got 73.9%. The veteran's committee, however, did put two guys in: a pair of middle infielders who each starred at multiple positions and were solid players for very long careers. First is Brendan Rodgers, who spent 14 of his 21-year career (2016-2036) in Houston, earning nearly 80 WAR, 2737 hits, 5 all-star appearances, a Gold Glove, and an MVP (in '24). He was truly versatile too, playing 1095 games at second, 808 at third, and 778 at short, and was solidly capable at all three. Next is his contemporary, Parker Kelly, who earned over 75 WAR in his 23-year career (2016-2038), the majority of it with the Phillies and Yankees. Some sluggish later years dropped his career batting average a bit, but he won four Gold Gloves during the '20s at short, where he made 1733 starts. He also played in over 1200 games at second, and we nearly as good there. Two often overlooked, but very valuable players, and welcome additions to the Hall.
...thankfully, you readers can rest easy knowing the Dodgers are back. The league's most notorious spendthrifts just dropped $43M on two relievers in one day, inking veterans Quinn Driscoll and Chris Wright to multi-year deals. I mean, they sign good pitchers, but for heaven's sake they've added $27M in RP salaries for '54 alone, not to mention the $4.2M they're paying out to the traded Curt Paddock. I guess that's penance for having ROY/Cy Young winner Everett Cronk making just $500k for two more seasons, under team control. (Their player payroll is now $273M, if you're keeping score.)
...two days later, add another $5.7M to that pile, as they add swingman Brian Whitney from the Yankees.
...we make our one free agent move of the off-season, finally agreeing to terms with 22-year-old Japanese reliever Yoshi Watanabe. The right-hander still has some room to grow, but will get a shot to make the big club in camp, as once again the bullpen is undergoing major renovations.
...Cleveland, CLEVELAND! What are you doing? You just sent your one capable outfielder, Victor Guillen (.273/33/93 last year, and with a 48-HR campaign before that) to Atlanta for three ridiculously overrated prospects, two of them named Thompson. Whatever. Enjoy another 68-win season, guys.
...glad to see that Juan Garcia will continue his run at 3000 hits next year, signing a three-year deal with the Giants. The 36-year-old is starting to show his age now, but did bat .314 for the Cubs last season. He's 128 hits away from the big number, and so should reach it by late summer.
...Cincy is out there making a push on the Cubs. Unfortunately, adding a 42-year-old catcher who can't catch is maybe not the way to do it. Lance Powell is a sure-fire Hall of Famer: 13-time All-Star, 7 Silver Sluggers, a ROY, and an MVP; 96 WAR, 552 HR. But signing him for three years at $21M per? Maybe to play first base? Dubious, especially when you've already got Andy Howard (at only 30) who brings the same 4-WAR 30-HR game for far less $$$, and emerging kid Owen Waters, who hit .338 with 13 HR in a 44 game trial late last year. Perhaps they'll really put the arthritic Powell back behind the plate...
...San Diego closed out January by dropping a combined $20M on a new right side of the infield. First, there's Ricky Ochoa, whom you may remember as a former enfant terrible with California. He cracked 54 HR in '51 but has regressed since then; but he's still only 26. Second, they added former Giant Alejandro Lazaro to play at second. Lazaro has speed but doesn't run, has power but hits only ten HR a season. He's an excellent glove man, though, and is just 27, like Ochoa not a washed-up oldster. The Padres now have a pretty solid infield--throwing in 3B Alan Wilson and SS Blake Langer--but outside of Ochoa and Wilson, there's very little power in their lineup. Looks like it's going to be pitching and defense to try to better last year's 77 wins.
...Go Cleveland, finally adding a capable outfielder! The Indians break hearts across the islands by signing away fan favorite Cam Daley, for five years and $91M. Daley can still hit: witness his .289/.340/.494 with 29 HR last year, along with 20 steals and 36 doubles. But his offense has been declining for two seasons, and he's just turned 30. So what does he have left in the tank? Plus, his defense in left has never been a positive, despite making very few errors. Still, although I would've kept him around for much less money, it was easier to let him go with the promising guys we've got coming up next year. I wish him (mostly) well! And thank the Indians for the supplemental pick!
...with Daley's signing, the top remaining free agent is our former closer Robbie Collier. Now that his demand has dropped below $10M, three teams are rumored to be talking with him...

......

And with that, Spring Training is upon us. As you might have guessed, having to trade away players to meet new financial demands has opened up some available spots in the lineup. Last year's starting 2B and LF, our #4 OF, and an SP and two top RP are gone. Plus an opening at backup catcher, another outfield bench slot, and a chance for anyone in camp to step up and claim a spot in the bullpen. Daley's departure also opens up the #2 spot in the batting order, so we'll need to put a solid, productive bat there no matter who wins in the end.

Taking a closer look, here are the camp battles I'll be watching closely:

...Backup catcher: Mike Covington is the default starter, but he's a lefty and fares better in a semi-platoon. Bentley Kolb has the inside line here, as he hit .419 in 31 AB with us last year. But he'll get a push from Michael "Whiplash" Snavely, who has a better power bat but is slightly worse defensively. Don't sleep on longshot Jamie Collins, a '52 draftee with a big, powerful swing. But he also strikes out a ton, and is only average on defense. He's a lefty like Covington, but if Cov prices himself off the team one day, remember this name.

...Starting 2B: Four players will get looks here, and frankly I'm not thrilled with any of them. Jim Pfeiffer, Erik Griffin, Carlos Ovalle, and Zach Watt are names you may or may not ever hear again after camp. None hits with any power, and only Watt and Pfeiffer look like above average contact hitters. All play at least okay defense, although Ovalle--the youngest, btw, at 22--is the best here by far, and looks capable of playing solid defense at short too. It's possible one of the returning utility guys, Kevin Kelley, could get a look too. He's not much of a hitter either, but did ride his high plate discipline and low K total--something none of the four above candidates have in combination--to a .315 average in 54 AB. But I like his left-side defense too much to move him right now.

It's also possble that I return Josh Matson to the position, where he was our regular in '50 and '51. This becomes an option if Adam Groff [ED: who looks oddly rejuvenated after the move to v22] has a good camp, meaning I could platoon him as a LHB at DH. Matson would shift to second, and Jules Medici to first. The disadvantage is that Matson's defense is poor, although his range is decent. But maybe it's worth having a Groff-and-whoever platoon in the lineup versus an everyday weak bat at 2B, even at the cost of some infield defense. We'll see.

...Starting LF: Although there are four outfielders in camp vying for three spots, only two will get looks in left. Josh Hed and Nick Gase started '53 in the minors (Gase in AA), and both saw time on the big club late in the season. Hed has the inside line right now, as he has the bigger power bat and is a more-developed hitter. But Gase should grow into a craftier hitter and make better contact. Plus he has speed and the better arm. Hed has the the best glove on the team, and could see time in center as well, with his range. Both are RHB, and Gase is the #9 prospect in baseball.

(The other outfield candidates are Diego Espino and Russ Venters. Espino is a solid across-the-board hitter, although probably not quite good enough for every day play. He's an excellent fielder, a team captain, and speedy. Venters is still developing, and may figure one day as a defensive sub and LH pinch hitter/platoon option.)

...Pitching. Yes, the whole staff will get a look, although there are obvious incumbents, especially in the starting rotation. Matt Waugh is the clear ace, and Mike Pearse, Henry Skiffington, Mike Bader, and Josh Irvin the other rerturnees. All but Irvin were solid last year, but he'll get a chance to bounce back unless someone else is miles better in camp. Top pitching prospect (and #13 overall in MLB) Daniel Croft will get a long look, and could even move into a long relief role if he's good enough this spring. Danny Carbajal and Miguel Tirado are other candidates from AAA, but they're most likely auditioning as possible injury replacements.

The bullpen will get a makeover, on the other hand. Closer Collier and long-time setup man Germann are gone. Getting the first crack at closer is the guy Collier replaced, Kyle Johnson. He was superb through half of '52, but has regressed past the Bronze Age since then. If he's back, I'll breathe a lot easier. Newbies Sam Bohlen and Yoshi Watanabe could also juice up the pen. Bohlen came over from the Cubs, and looks like a setup man, possibly closer if Johnson falters. Watanabe is penciled in for AAA but if he's money in the spring he may force me to keep him. Anthony Booker, Nate Kearns, Jordan Ruiz, MH Yaung, and Orlando Silva are all returners, and the first three in that group were key members of last season's solid group. GJ Joe was last year's international new guy (Watanabe is this year's), and could also be ready to step up. I like the talent we have here, but it may take a while for players to settle into their roles, and there may be more volatility than in years past.

We'd like to welcome two new additions to our coaching staff after years of unpaid anonymity: base coaches Shane Dalton and Ryan Reed. Dalton, 37, is a former 1B in the Arizona system, never advancing beyond AA. In keeping with our "Team UN" approach to finding players (and now, it seems, coaches), he's from Malta. Reed was a catcher in Tampa's system, also never getting past AA. Both are rookies to coaching, are well-regarded, and (so far...) get along with the other guys.

Speaking of coaches, four of our MLB staff--scouting director Moises Patino, bench coach Fenway Parks, hitting coach Steve Johnson, and pitching coach Conor Russell--will become free agents this fall. Combined they make just over $2M, so keeping them all within the fold won't be easy, or maybe even desirable...

......

...No more huge signings during spring training, but the Dodgers of course do grab a couple more pitchers, including former White Sox starter Alex Alvarado, whom they take for $13M...and then promptly stick in the pen. Former Isles stars Josh Robertson and Mike Hunter sign with Toronto and Oakland, respectively. Both are now better suited for second base, and I did look into nabbing one of them myself, but backed off after seeing they each wanted around $4M, more than I can afford right now. In general, the league got past the "sign an RP for a year" phase of free agency and went into "what old guy can we sign on the cheap" phase. There still are some decent vets available, including our former closer, Robbie Collier, now linked with the Angels.
...at the completion of ST, the Dodgers "won" the title with a 21-9 record. The hapless Expos brought up the rear at 9-21. (We finished 18-12.) LA was undoubtedly helped by their rotation of 16 newly-signed relief pitchers.

As I said above, we finished camp at 18-12. But we started 4-8, weren't hitting and most pitchers were subpar, at best. Then we laid 20 runs on the Twins and went 14-4 the rest of the way. Does that mean anything for the regular season? Probably not. But it always feels good to go into the real games with the team playing well and confirming your native genius at putting together a group of players. By the end of camp all (but one) of the regular starters were hitting over .300, our rotation was firing, and we were winning games. All to the good...but also completely meaningless come opening day.

HAWAII ISLANDERS Opening Day Roster

You know the drill by now: name, particulars, 2053 stats, notes. Starters in bold.

C Mike Covington, 24, L, .282/.340/.511, 20 HR, 78 RBI, 3.0 WAR. Had a solid rookie campaign, getting better as the year progressed. No major weaknesses, and could be an award-winning receiver one day. Won't play much against LHP, as his platoon splits are still significant. Earning minimum, and with an arb estimate over $4M next year, he could become a casualty of our current financial malaise after that.

C Bentley Kolb, 23, R, .296/.373/.416 in AAA, and .419 in 31 MLB AB. Grades out as a B-level Covington, according to our scouts. Power is much lower, however. Strong play in late-season call-up saw us ship off last year's backup, Hiro Wakabayashi. Beat out two others for the backup spot, but they played well enough to get looks should Kolb not hit in his platoon role.

1B Josh Matson, 30, S, .352/.388/.585, 26 HR, 114 RBI, 4.3 WAR. Was tremendous last year, finishing second in the AL batting race and pacing the offense all season. Has never failed to hit .300 in four years as a starter and is under contract for a very affordable $11.5M for the next six seasons. If age doesn't get him early, he'll become a franchise all-timer.

DH/1B Jules Medici, 23, R, .323/.402/.663, 49 HR, 138 RBI, 4.9 WAR. Started a little slowly last year but came around by mid-season. Can play first in a pinch should we need to shift Matson to second. Is under arb control for the next two seasons, but I'll try to get him signed to something longer term if I think we can afford it. He's the major dilemma I face under our new financial regime: sign him long-term for big bucks and try to build somewhat cheaply around him, or ransom him off for a raft of goodies in a year or so? I hate it, honestly.

2B Zach Watt, 25, L, .296/.352/.420 in 75 AAA games, and .324/.376/.431 in 52 AA games. New sheriff in town! Ok, not exactly, but he beat out three others for this spot by batting .383 in camp. Last year was his best batting season, across two levels, so I'll be a little surprised if he can come anywhere close to those spring training numbers. Won't hit for power, and doesn't walk a ton, but also keeps the strikeouts low. Is a very slick fielder, with a great glove. Batting splits aren't great, so may not play much against LHP.

3B Caleb Royer, 26, R, .326/.352/.601, 31 HR, 111 RBI, 3.1 WAR. Another of last year's solid rookies, and a key reason why we had such a strong season. Exceeded expectations at the plate, but I hope he can at least come close to those numbers again. Not a good fielder at all: despite a strong arm (former outfield prospect), he was last or near-last in most of fielding categories at third. Would like him to take a walk every now and then (just 19 last year). Speedy for a 3B, stole 17 for us.

3B/2B/1B/OF Lua Ulkini, 25, L, .324/.385/.532, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 1.3 WAR. Another rookie who brought it last year, getting 40 starts at third in a rotation with Royer. He's not great either, but is a slightly better fielder than Royer, enough to be a late-inning defensive replacement at times. Good utility ability too.

SS/3B/2B Kevin Kelly, 23, R, .315/.415/.444, 54 AB, 0.1 WAR. Valuable for his extremely solid defense, team captain sensibility, and just enough batting to not be a liability. May never hit .300 again, and has zero power, but also only whiffed four times and has a great eye.

SS J.J. Simmons, 31, R, .278/.373/.362, 1 HR, 53 RBI, 35 steals, 2.5 WAR. Beloved by the fans, and will be with us for at least three more seasons, with an opt out after that. Hoping his average from last season was an aberration (35 points below his career average) and not a sign of imminent decline. As a hitter his value is purely his speed and OBP, so if his hitting is declining...say no more. Usually a solid fielder, but posted his first negative ZR and highest error total too. Hang on for a few more seasons, JJ!

OF Nick Gase, 24, L, .350/.460/.495 in AAA, .288 in AA, and .261 in 23 MLB AB. One of three new outfielders on this year's roster. Still developing, and could figure as a starter one day. Strong suit is solid contact and a pathological dislike of striking out, he's also got a good eye, is a good runner, and a decent fielder. His power will be just average, but that's okay.

RF Doug Pederson, 25, L, .293/.400/.633, 34 HR, 81 RBI, 2.9 WAR. Gets the full-time nod in right with Frederick's departure. His batting splits have narrowed to the point where he's no longer in a platoon. For someone so good on the bases, he's pretty stationary in the field, and will probably get spelled in late innings often.

OF/1B Diego Espino, 23, R, .361, 12 HR in 194 AAA AB, and .154 in 52 MLB AB. Strong fielder and a great glove, at every outfield position. Team captain and popular. Has always hit in the minors, and if he can bring any of that to the majors, could figure for a starting role one day. But that will be his struggle. At worst, though, he's a very solid utility outfielder. Wants to start.

LF Josh Hed, 25, R, .344/.424/.666, 22 HR in AAA, and .333 with 2 HR in 36 MLB AB. This season's "other" rookie starter. Former top-ten prospect finally getting his shot. Can hit for average and for power, good range and glove. Drawbacks are plate discipline and throwing arm, both decidedly average.

CF Joe Lynn, 25, R, .326/.379/.465, 7 HR, 74 RBI, 28 steals, 4.1 WAR. Classic rangy center fielder, contact hitter and XBH maestro (led AL in doubles, and has led in triples two years in a row). Doesn't walk much, but had a career high 53 (versus 43 Ks) last year. Fan favorite, leadoff batter.

DH/1B Adam Groff, 40, L, .269/.364/.512, 9 HR, 31 RBI, 0.5 WAR. Decided to call my bluff and took our qualifying offer. Will see time at both DH and first as a backup, and if he hits--and Watt fails at second--he could get more regular time at DH. Has lost most of his power, but hit well in camp and will still work a pitcher for a walk. Probably in his final season, and I'm actually glad he's still in the fold.

......

SP Matt Waugh, 27, L, 21-5, 2.50, 223 IP, 216 K, 6.6 WAR, Cy Young. Our unquestioned ace, winner of his third Cy Young, and a major reason we had the season we did, I believe. We're a quality rotation without him, and a top-flight one with him. My worry is that our money woes may shorten his time with us, as his salary jumps from $27M to $35M next season.

SP Henry Skiffington, 25, R, 16-5, 3.70, 219 IP, 148 K, 4.4 WAR. Solid all season, and knocked a full run off his ERA. After Waugh, we've got a boatload of #2 guys, and Skiff had the best season of them last year. Biff is listed as a power pitcher, but has just 6.3 K/9 over his first two pro seasons, belying that description.

SP Mike Bader, 25, R, 17-6, 3.87, 228 IP, 125 K, 4.1 WAR. Was more up and down than Biff, and is also definitely not a flamethrower, despite scouting that way. Also, like Skiff, is under arb control for this season and next, and then gets more expensive. (This stuff never ends, does it.)

SP Mike Pearse, 27, R, 6-2, 3.80, 107 IP, 116 K, 2.6 WAR. Made 12 starts and 14 relief appearances after ending an early-season rehab stint, and brought some welcome heat to our more motion-oriented guys in the rotation. Missed all of '52, so has some concerning injury history. Is also an arb case, so this year will really tell me whether or not to make a long-term commitment to him.

SP Josh Irvin, 25, R, 15-5, 4.67, 160 IP, 112 K, 2.5 WAR. Struggled for much of last year, along with the now-departed Chris Liles. Has about the same K and BB rates and ratios as Skiff and Bader, but only hits 91 on the radar gun. Another arb guy, and figures to be the cheapest of the four guys here. No reason he can't become a go-to guy, but his third pitch (an average fastball) could be better, and is holding him back a bit. Topped the AL in '52 with just 1.2 BB/9, which I love.

CL Kyle Johnson, 27, R, 1-4, 6 SV, 10.80, 15 IP, 17 K, -0.5 WAR. (Also 21 IP, 0.43 ERA in AAA mid-season.) Here's where things get more interesting. Had 36 saves and a 2.49 ERA in '52, but just blew up last year. Threw great in AAA, and was the subject of way too many trade offers, so I think he's still got something to offer and much to prove. Started off poorly in camp, but improved steadily throughout the month. My patience with him will not be high, frankly, and there are other guys who will gladly step into the closer role if he falters again.

SU Sam Bohlen, 26, R, 1-1, 2 SV, 2.53, 21 IP, 18 K with the Cubs (and 35 SV, 56 IP, 77 K in AA/AAA). Came over in the big Frederick/Goodloe deal in November. Has some history with Chicago as closer, so could get the first crack if Johnson goes limp. Excellent stuff and control are his strong suits, as well as a sub-1M salary this year.

SU Jordan Ruiz, 24, L, 10-1, 3 SV, 3.51, 49 IP, 55 K, 0.5 WAR. The only Chilean in the big leagues, and the only guy on staff who can hit triple digits on the gun. I want him to cut down on the gopher balls, but his big-time stuff has me thinking he's the natural replacement in a setup role for Ben Germann, who was there for years. Maybe not closer material, but who knows what the season will bring...

MR Nate Kearns, 28, R, 6-0, 5 SV, 3.58, 93 IP, 107 K, 2.0 WAR. The unsung workhorse of the bullpen last year. Control isn't the greatest, but has big big big stuff and nice movement. We'll see if the coaches fall in love with him again to the tune of 93 innings.

MR Anthony Booker, 26, R, 1-0, 1 SV, 3.72, 10 IP, 14 K, 0.5 WAR (and 2 SV, 1.12, 16 IP in AAA). An injury last spring pretty much put the kibosh on his '53 season, but he pitched well late and has been solid this spring. Nothing really stands out here, he's just solid across-the-board. Excellent movement and keeps the ball on the ground, giving up zero HR in AAA and MLB last year.

MR Min-hyuk Yaung, 37, L, 5-1, 2.45, 51 IP, 40 K, 0.9 WAR (and 2.89, 19 IP in AAA). A needed lefty in the pen, he beat out several others with a very strong camp. Needs to keep the ball down to be successful, which he did last year (but didn't in '52, with a 6.88 ERA in 11 apps). The four-time KBO reliever of the year is probably in his last go-round in the States.

On the DL: SP Miguel Tirado (3-4 months; will head back to AAA when ready); MR Orlando Silva (5-6 weeks; pitched well before injury, but will rehab before anything else).

So, so close: C Michael Snavely, IF Jim Pfeifer, OF Russ Venters all looked really good, but only Pfeifer was really in the hunt for a roster spot this season. No other pitchers--other than the two guys on the DL--looked good at all, but most of them are young and still developing.

......

MLB season predictions are in, and there are some interesting things to watch. In the AL, Tampa takes the East with just 84 wins, two ahead of New York; Detroit wins the Central in front of Chicago; and Texas wins 103 games and tops the West. We end up with "just" 100 wins, quite a comedown, huh. Despite that, supposedly we'll score 1098 runs, best in the AL, but our pitching will finish behind the Rangers. Wherever the numbers end up, it looks like quite a fight in the West. In the "Top Hitters" section, Tampa features three guys, meaning they must have some terrible pitching to only win 84 games. (ED: yes, predicted to be near-last in runs allowed.) Our own Doug Pederson is picked to have a monster year, at .357/50/151. Yes, please.

Over in the National, it's Philly in the East, New Orleans in the Central, and Portland in the West. A tight race for the wildcards has four possibles: Brooklyn, St Louis, Austin, and San Diego. Despite spending big in free agency, New York and Richmond are picked to finish in the bottom half of the East, and all those relievers in LA will only help them to 66 wins. The most fun team to watch--good and bad--could be Cincinnati, predicted to score 1031 runs but give up over 1100.

Of course real life will be much, much different. I think the AL division winners are right on, but I'm surprised that the rest of the West (outside of us and Texas) looks to be so terrible. (All solidly sub-.500.) For us, I won't be surprised to see us win 100 games. We've got a solid lineup and a good rotation again, and we just need to stay healthy and get the big guys hitting right out of the gate. The bullpen is a bit up in the air right now, and two new guys are in the everyday lineup: so there are question marks. One thing I haven't talked much about is our defense. We have a pitching staff of mostly groundballers but with a questionable infield defense. Matson is so-so at first, and Royer is not good over at third. Simmons looks good on paper but had a bad year at short last season, and while Watt looks sharp at second, if he doesn't hit his replacements at the bag are good solid fielders but iffy at the plate. Outfield defense is better, but Pederson's sluggishness in right is the one glaring hole. The backups are good here, so I'll probably start working in some late-inning subs.

Let's get started!

Bub13 · 04-20-2021, 08:02 PM

Welcome to the twenty-first season of Hawaii Islanders baseball! The defending champs are coming off a dream season, winning an amazing 122 games and following that with the fifth title in franchise history. The 2054 season begins in March, on the 29th, so this first month of the season will span two months and bring 29 games. Seventeen of those will be at home, including a nine-game stint to begin the season. Can we expect more greatness this season? Let's find out!

March 29-30/April 1 vs HOUSTON
Last year's team won 83 games, ending a four-year run of sub-.500 campaigns. MLB says they'll win just 72 this time and finish fifth in the division. MLB also ranked them near the bottom of the pile in lost offseason WAR, but that was due more to not going after any big free agents than losing any major players. New additions: LF C.J. Howard, from CHC, a career .307 hitter coming off a .253 season; rookies CF Erik Kinnison, 3B Zach Gille, and RP Jason Knight; SP Ken Demers, from Miami, figures to be the ace of the staff; veteran journeymen SP Aaron Maloy and RP Tim Schuenke. Not a lot of dynamism in the lineup (exceptions: Jose Renteria .330/47/120 and Kevin Mazurowski's 45 HR) and a decent but uninspiring pitching staff means the guess of 72 wins may be about right.

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (21-5, 2.50) / RH Biff Skiff (16-5, 3.70) / RH Mike Pearse (6-2, 3.80)
HOU pitchers: RH Ken Demers (3-1, 2.92) / RH Chris James (9-13, 4.76) / RH Aaron Maloy (9-11, 6.17)

#1: WIN 3-1 ... scoreless through six, we win it with runs in the 7th and 8th...Waugh fans 10, and Johnson pitches a perfect 9th!
#2: LOSS 2-10 ... Skiff is blasted out by the third, and we manage just two solo HR...Mazurowski drives in 8
#3: WIN 6-4 ... Watt's RBI double and Hed's 2-run triple in the 6th are the key hits...Pearse fans 11, bulpen tosses three shutout innings

Not much hitting until that last game, with 13 there after just 5 and 6 in the first two.... Skiff struggled, and Nate Kearns gave up a slam in relief, but otherwise our pitching was solid.... Besides a few inconsequential minor league free agent signings, we did grab one insurance piece, inking 30-year-old OF Ian Henseler for AAA Santa Barbara. Henseler has played 218 MLB games, and hit 16 HR with Brooklyn in '52. He may wander off in May if we don't promote him, but he was worth that risk.... ELSEWHERE: Not much really to report after just three games... KC's Julius Burrows returned from injury and had his ongoing 31-game hitting streak ended on opening day.... Detroit's Luis Rodela stole six bases in the opening series; somehow I doubt he'll end up with 324 on the season.... why, yes, LA did nab another reliever, signing 39-year-old Tim Wormald for $5.2M and promptly dispatching him to AAA Albuquerque.

April 2-4 vs OAKLAND
From 101 wins in '52 to 77 last year, and a prediction for 79 this year, you can say the trend is not this team's friend right now. There's still potency in the lineup, with all-league sluggers Felix Reyes and Ryan Walton in the center of things, helped by returnees Noah Johnson, Randy Costello, and Justin Sandy. Rookie Pedro Ortiz looks decent as the new 1B, and they added veterans Aaron Blocker (RF) and Mike Hunter (2B) despite being well past their sell-by dates. Chris Larimer, Jim Schwartz, and rookie Tom Baker anchor a solid rotation, but they'll be hurt by the season-long loss of solid #2 guy Eric Stockton. The back-end of the rotation and the pen look just okay. And behind the scenes? Owner Lewis Wolff is already "worried" and the coaching staff is feuding right out of the gate. I don't know what effect that will have, but it could be fun to watch.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (17-6, 3.87) / RH Josh Irvin (15-5, 4.67) / LH Matt Waugh (1-0, 1.12)
OAK pitckers: RH Tom Baker (0-0, 8.31) / RH Jon Jones (11-9, 4.43) / RH Jaden Bartholemew (1-1, 3.59)

#4: WIN 3-2 ... Hed ties it with a solo shot in the 8th, then Medici wins it with one in the 11th...Bader goes 9, but Johnson gets the win...Matson ejected
#5: LOSS 5-9 ... Irvin is hooked quickly after 7 early runs...outhit only 11-9, but 3 HR vs zero tells the bigger tale
#6: WIN 8-1 ... 2-hit, 13-K CG for Waugh and a GRAND SLAM for Royer, part of a six run 8th...2 hits each for Lynn and Watt

Matson got plunked by Tom Baker in that first game, right after Hed's blast, leading to a brawl and suspensions for the two protagonists. Baker got 9 games, Matson 4. So Medici slides over to 1B and Groff goes into the lineup at DH.... We're 4-2 but not scoring at all, only 15th in the AL, with 27 (which tells you how offensive baseball is now).... Cold starts for Pederson (.150), Covington (.158), and Hed (.208). Groff is just 1-for-10 in his few starts.... ELSEWHERE: The Rays and the White Sox are 5-1, while a handful of teams are 1-5.... Mets starter Kyle Michael won a 7-3 outing against Brooklyn despite throwing ten walks over six innings. Manager Hunter Harvey was understanding, saying he'll allow Michael to "work it out." Harvey should know all about that, since he allowed nearly 7 walks per 9 innings over his own career.... The Dodgers keep adding players, although this time it was not a reliever, signing veteran SS Kevin Lutz for $4.2M. The ten-year vet is just a .236 hitter over his career, but remains one of the premier fielders at his position.

April 5-7 vs BALTIMORE
The long-term rebuild continues, as the franchise is working on four straight seasons with fewer than 70 wins. A 1-5 start hasn't helped owner Reginald Ehrlich's dyspepsia, but at least the team is "content" and the coaching staff is "ecstatic" about...something. They went cheap during the off-season, adding only three bargain-basement vets via free agency and fielding a roster with eight rookies or sophomores. Former #1 overall pick SS Eddie Feltman went straight from AA to the bigs last season, batting .236 but showing promise. He should develop fine and not be hampered by his early rise. But most curious is #5 starter Chris Sapp, a 31-year-old rookie who will make his debut against us this series. The prospect pool ranks right in the middle--18th--so I'm not sanguine that the fortunes here will change for the better anytime soon. (They're not helped by the penny-pinching Ehrlich, either.)

HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (0-1, 20.25) / RH Mike Pearse (1-0, 6.00) / RH Mike Bader (0-0, 2.00)
BAL pitchers: RH Chris Sapp (debut) / LH Tim Bruns (0-1, 7.11) / RH Jonas Chevalier (0-1, 11.57)

#7: WIN 9-8 ... props to O's rookie 2B Steve McClellan, who popped 4 HR tonight...4 hits, HR and 6 RBI for Royer, and 3 hits for Hed
#8: WIN 8-7 ... Lynn goes 4-for-5, while Pederson (1st) and Medici (2nd) bring the power tonight...not much pitching once again, but we'll take the win
#9: WIN 6-4 ... we're outhit 12-8, but two errors are costly, giving us two unearned runs...2 hits each for Hed and Ped

The sweep is welcome, but it was pretty ugly. We're up to 9th in offense now, but are pairing just a +4 run differential with a 7-2 record.... Hed het up, now batting .324, and Royer has picked up where he left off last year, batting .353/3/11. Lynn is red-hot at .410.... Zach Watt is quietly batting .333 and playing decent defense; so far so good at second base.... ELSEWHERE: Baltimore may be just 1-8 now (along with Austin), but with one big game Steve McClellan leads MLB with 9 HR.... Congrats to Mets SS Alex Duran, the first batter to 1.0 WAR. May you always be above replacement level.... Pirates rookie setup guy Pedro Luyanda tore his labrum, shelving him for the season. I mentioned him earlier in the off-seasonn, as he combines an elite curve with maybe the best changeup in the universe, but is an absolute menace on the mound as he walks a batter per inning and is prone to gopher balls. Pittsburgh may just be better off here...

April 9-11 @ CHICAGO
We warmed up with three teams not expected to figure for much this year, but now the schedule gets serious. Next up are the White Sox, currently tops in the Central at 7-2, with the 3rd best offense and 6th-ranked pitching. They've scored 74 runs (and hit 28 HR) in those 9 games: this is a serious, serious offense. Almost everyone is clicking, including 1B Elijah Pass, who hit .278 with 52 HR last year and is red-hot this time at .441/7/21. One piece of bad news is that perennial .300 hitter Chris Rock is awaiting diagnosis on his annual injury. If their pitching can hold up all season, they could be the best team in the league. To help with that, they went out and signed half a dozen relievers and journeyman starters Mike Head and Jesus Aguilar. The other newbies are 36-year-old DH Aaron Harrison (.271/31/104 with NYY) and rookie LF T.J. Walsh (.269 in a late-season cameo). They have an excellent chance to finally dethrone the Tigers: I say they do it.

HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (0-1, 32.40) / LH Matt Waugh (2-0, 1.06) / RH Biff Skiff (0-1, 17.05)
CHW pitchers: RH Jesus Aguilar (0-0, 16.88) / RH Jasper Cummings (1-0, 3.38) / RH Luke Weaver (1-0, 6.92)

#10: WIN 9-7 ... a tame 4-3 game is broken open with Medici's 2-run blast keying a 5-run 8th, and we allow 4 late runs to make it closer than desired
#11: WIN 7-1 ... Royer puts 2 out, driving in 5 runs, and four others get 2 hits each...Waugh leaves in the 4th, uh-oh...5.1 one-run innings from the pen
#12: LOSS 5-6 ... Johnson falters for the first time this year, allowing the tying run in the 9th...we score in the 10th but allow 2 to lose it

Pretty good series apart from some continued pitching lapses and a couple of injuries. First, Waugh has a mild back injury and is dtd for a week. He'll likely miss a start, meaning I may have to go with the dreaded "opener" for one game. Blecch. Second, Simmons got hurt in that last game on a defensive collision: broken finger, out six weeks. I call up Jim Pfeifer for his first taste of MLB action.... Pfiefer we got from STL in '52 for a couple of prospects, needing some middle infield farm depth. He's 23, a righty, and plays excellent defense although his arm is not quite good enough for regular duty at short. Decent-enough hitter, but he is probably more of a utility guy long-term. Kevin Kelley will start at short now, and Pfeifer will platoon at second (against LHP) with Zach Watt.... ELSEWHERE: Oakland lost SP Jim Schwartz for the season, meaning 2/3 of their top pitchers are done. Not great.... Cincy SP Eric Millett is enjoying his moment in the sun. The 33-year-old veteran, who's made 167 relief appearances with three teams across 8 seasons, was tossed into the rotation this year and has responded with two consecutive shutouts.... HOT: Hawaii, Tampa Bay, and Washington are 9-3. NOT: Toronto and Austin are 2-10.... Come play us, and drive in some runs: Chicago's Elijah Pass leads MLB with 24 RBI, Baltimore's Steve McClellan is second with 23.

April 12-14 @ TEXAS
The road trip moves on to Texas, our new intra-division rivals, and still a powerhouse despite losing all-world slugger William Swanson to the Angels. It hasn't been a great start, however, at 6-6 and with the offense ranked just 14th. They'll get it going, I'm sure, although they'll want someone better than Phil Thoma at catcher, batting just .128 this year after a .193 rate in 2053. (Sean Blong, anyone?) Despite having four pitchers on the DL they're second in runs allowed, getting solid starts from the top three starters and good depth in the bullpen. The only significant off-season additions were SP Sean Reed and CL Jimmy Warner, neither of whom are great shakes. Losing Swanson means some positional shifts and a full-time job for RF Ted Miller, who has power but can't begin to match Swanson's overall prowess. And they really should find room for 23-year-old Javier Tzoc, who's too good a fielder and hitter to sit on the bench. Too bad he can't catch.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (1-0, 5.91) / RH Mike Bader (1-0, 3.38) / RH Josh Irvin (1-1, 8.38)
TEX pitchers: RH Paul Labbe (2-0, 1.32) / RH Sean Reed (1-1, 8.71) / LH Bill Butts (0-1, 9.31)

#13: LOSS 5-6 ... slow death tonight, giving up six one-run innings, including each of the last four frames...2 HR by Royer, Mr Hot Stuff
#14: LOSS 2-9 ... quick death here, after an 8-run fourth...4 hits for Lynn, 4 walks for Kelley (tying the team record, congrats)
#15: WIN 15-10 ... oof, our pitching...but 20 hits and 8 walks, smacking five HR, including Pfeifer's first MLB knock!

Even after this series, somehow we're still sitting at 7th in runs allowed. I can't imagine how bad pitching around the AL must be right now.... The offense ranks just 9th, due mostly to slow starts by Matson (.278, 0 HR), Pederson (.245, 2 HR), and Covington (.171).... My scouts rate Kevin Kelley (.438, and .315 last year), Zach Watt (.295), and now Jim Pfeifer (4-for-7 start to MLB life) as average-to-below-average hitters. Okay then.... Not sure who's going to go in Waugh's place next game. Maybe Sam Bohlen gets 2-3 innings as an opener, but the rest of the bullpen is tired. Maybe Skiff gets moved up a day and limited to 50-60 pitches. Or maybe someone gets moved to AAA for a day and one of their guys comes up.... ELSEWHERE: 2-13 and a 9-game skid now for the Blue Jays, while Tampa Bay is off to a 12-3 start.... Mets newbie Conor MacLeod finally made a good NL start, fanning 14 in a 2-0 shutout of the Phillies.... Eric Millett isn't the only Reds pitcher off to a hot start: 24-year-old rookie Manuel "Hamilton" Miranda has a 0.50 ERA in his two starts, but was just moved to the bullpen for some stupid reason. (ED: It seems that backup OF Jim Kreidermacherfrau was just moved into the rotation, probably so he could work on his 11.57 ERA.)

......

TL;DR Version: Offenses have gone wild these first few weeks of the season. Witness us scoring 9.2 runs per game and sitting in 9th place in the AL. Hopefully **** will calm down by the end of the month, or else Congress is going to have to investigate something. Anyway...I'll take a 10-5 record and a team batting average of .305. Although the rotation's 6.01 ERA I could live without. Small sample size, sure, but these pitching numbers are concerning. Most of the batting lineup is hitting well, with the exceptions of Mike Covington and J.J. Simmons. Cov may split more time with Bentley Kolb for a bit, but it's not like Kolb is tearing it up either, batting .188 with zero XBH. Simmons was hitting .258 before getting hurt, so maybe last year's dip in average wasn't a fluke after all. The rotation (not counting Waugh, who's been fantastic) should balance out, and I'm more happy that Kyle Johnson (2.08 ERA, 1.04 WHIP) is back up to snuff than I'm worried about Jordan Ruiz (9.00 ERA) and Anthony Booker (6.75). There are subs on the farm itching to get the chance to grab a roster spot, so SNAP TO IT, GUYS.

DD Martin · 04-25-2021, 07:17 PM

Caught back up through your championship run, congrats on your 5th World Series win with the Islanders.

Interesting beginning to the new season with the offenses around the league

Bub13 · 04-26-2021, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Caught back up through your championship run, congrats on your 5th World Series win with the Islanders.

Interesting beginning to the new season with the offenses around the league

Thanks! I'm wondering if there are offense issues in the latest versions, even for saved games? Across v21 and now v22 my offenses have shot way, way up.

And good luck with the Dynamos. I'm reading it and hoping you're on the right track!

Bub13 · 04-28-2021, 09:04 PM

April 15-17 vs SEATTLE
Back home for a short spell, and our divisional co-leaders come calling. What's working for them so far this season is hitting, being 2nd in runs scored, HR, and OPS. Ger van Mourik (.467) just claimed player of the week honors, and Paul Stough (.339, 11 HR) is also crushing it. And in a league where few teams value a solid leadoff batter, the M's have found Luis Hernandez, hitting .371 with 8 steals. Like everyone else, pitching has been a struggle, but on paper at least they're much improved from recent squads. Free agent additions Steve Davenport and Danny Diaz are a solid 1-2 combo at the top of the rotation, and the pen was stabilized with the addition of rookie Theo Soole and moving Dan Crews from the rotation. The only new addition to the lineup is 3B George Ragsdale (from Miami), a fine defensive corner but a so-so hitter. He and two part-timers from last year who are now in the regular order (LF Rogelio Pena and 2B Pedro Ruiz) are hitting above their weight and helping propel their good start to '54.

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (2-0, 0.86) / RH Biff Skiff (0-1, 10.22) / RH Mike Pearse (1-0, 5.40)
SEA pitchers: RH Steve Davenport (2-0, 5.40) / RH Danny Diaz (1-0, 4.79) / RH Daniel Newell ('54 debut)

#16: WIN 9-4 ... Covington wakes up to power two out of the yard, and Espino adds his first...15 hits for a lineup of 2/3 backups tonight
#17: LOSS 10-13 ... once again Skiff can't get anyone out, but we at least make this one close after going behind 13-4 early...17 hits for the guys
#18: LOSS 4-6 ... Pearse fans 10 and keeps us in it, but Bohlen cracks in the 9th...Groff gets 2 hits, showing maybe he's not dead yet

Disappointing. At least we're still hitting the stuffing out of the ball, but then again so is everyone else.... Somehow Waugh healed up in time to make his scheduled start. It must be the sea breezes here.... Maybe Skiff is throwing too hard: he's averaging a K per inning for the first time in his career, but everyone who isn't striking out is getting on base.... A 6-12 start for our top three minor league teams.... ELSEWHERE: Tampa Bay has won 8 straight, putting themselves at 15-3 and a game ahead of Detroit for the best record overall.... Meanwhile, 12 losses in a row for Toronto, dropping them to 2-16.... A recent five-hit night has put Boston catcher Riley King at the top of the batting charts, at .510. King is a career .238 hitter, so maybe something IS in the water this year.... Sources tell me that MLB may be considering another round or two of expansion in coming years, possibly going from 36 to 40 teams. No one will confirm anything, but cities that have approached the league in recent years include Charlotte, NC; Buffalo, NY; Oklahoma City, OK; Orlando and Jacksonville, FL; Indianapolis, IN; and Vancouver, Canada. Also of note are interested parties in Denver, without a team since the Rockies moved to Austin in 2037; and Havana, Cuba, currently the AAA affiliate of the New Orleans Zephyrs.

April 19-21 vs NEW YORK
Currently 9-9 and treading water in 2nd behind the red-hot Rays. Pitching is tops in the league, but offense is next-to-last, for a -2 run differential. Ageless contact whiz hitting Andrew Taylor is hitting .342 from leadoff, and a healthy Melvin Lopez is at .328. Everyone else is struggling, including pricey free agents DH Steve Colpo, RF Enrique Hernandez, and C Kevin Trotter. Bobby Hamel was shifted from closer to #1 starter and has thrown poorly (7.46 ERA) so far, but Elijah Bragg (3-0, 3.41) looks to be back after an injury-plagued '53. Interesting to note that their entire bullpen is brand new, with only one player (Justin Spurrell) being a rookie; all others were off-season signings. Unfortunately, three of those guys are part of the "bad eggs" squad, leading to a currently unhappy clubhouse. It looks like their pitching could hold up, but the lineup features a lot of guys who swing for the fences but for little else, so they may to score consistently all season. It's still surprising that the league's richest team doesn't break the bank for truly top-notch free agents any more. (*coughWILLIAMSWANSONcough*)

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (1-1, 5.95) / RH Josh Irvin (1-1, 11.08) / LH Matt Waugh (3-0, 1.29)
NYY pitchers: LH Jose Sedillo (1-1, 1.08) / RH Mike Knaak (1-1, 5.71) / RH Dave Loch (1-2, 6.75)

#19: WIN 8-3 ... nice game for Bader (he does walk 5 though), and 2 shutout relief IP from Ruiz...Pederson and Hed with key early-inning HRs
#20: WIN 19-7 ... 5-for-5 night from Lynn, and everyone gets a hit...another terrible start by Irvin
#21: WIN 7-4 ... 3 H, 3 RBI, HR from Medici, and Kelley goes 3-for-4 with 2 RBI...Waugh fans 11 in 6.2 IP, bullpen shuts it down the rest of the way

Much better, and these three games shot up our run diff to +28.... We're also batting .325 now, just unheard of. And that's only good for 4th place.... Josh Matson is batting a solid .322 but has zero HR, after hitting 26 each of the last two seasons.... Skiff and Irvin will toss their fifth starts of the season next times out. I'm not sure how long I'll stick with them and their ten-plus ERA. Problem is, much of my AAA pitching hasn't been good either.... ELSEWHERE: Detroit is the hot team now, with 9 wins in a row and a 17-4 record, same as the Rays. Toronto won two games, bringing themselves up to 4-17 and a tie for last with Cleveland.... Fantastic .446/.475/.757 start for Giants 3B Juan Garcia, now just 95 hits away from 3000 for his career. At this rate he'll reach that by Memorial Day.... Yet another Reds SP having a great season start from out of nowhere: Josh Grato, 28, came into '54 with just 8 career appearances, all in relief, and none since 2051. So of course he's 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA. Meanwhile, ace Cris Frias has a 7.45 ERA and has walked 36 in 29 innings (along with 38 K).

April 22-24 @ CALIFORNIA
Not good, not terrible: at 9-12 so far and not doing anything of note. Even superstar William Swanson is in a fog, at just .247/5/17. CF Mauricio Marquez, on the other hand, continues to shine at .385/5/17. Other than Swanson, they didn't do much in the off-season, grabbing 3B Scott Peckler (.278 and solid D) and promoting some rookies, none of whom have done much to date. I don't suppose a -19 run differential this early on was what they counted on when they convinced Swanson to sign on, but as this is basically a two-man offense no one should be surprised. The coaches are happy with each other, and the players are content, although most of the starting lineup doesn't care much for manager Matt Sargent. But with two captains, four other leaders, and three pranksters for the funsies, this is a pretty loose clubhouse. And what the heck, even owner Arturo Moreno is ecstatic, what with a new superstar slugger, a profitable team, and a reach-for-the-stars goal of "play close to .500 ball," who wouldn't be happy.

HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (0-2, 12.38) / RH Mike Pearse (1-0, 5.25) / RH Mike Bader (2-1, 5.40)
CAL pitchers: RH Aaron Moore (1-1, 4.95) / RH Jose Ambriz (3-1 4.18) / RH George Millard (1-2, 7.50)

#22: WIN 8-6 ... 2 more hits from Pfeifer, 5 RBI for Covington, and a 3-for-4 night from Royer...Pederson takes 4 walks...Skiff tosses not-horribly
#23: WIN 10-1 ... ten hits, ten runs...HR from Medici, Covington, and Pfeifer, an odd trio...solid pitching by Pearse and Booker
#24: LOSS 3-11 ... lots of bad pitching, and "only" nine hits, one for extras

Two out of three will do here. Pitching continues to be all over the map, but hey at least Skiff's ERA dropped nearly two points! And, um, then Bader's went way up.... Pfeifer went 4-for-13 with two homers, which is not something I saw coming. Still, he's just six games into his big league career, so let's give him some space before we plan his parade.... Pitching troubles in Santa Barbara led me to make a waiver claim for a guy who's on a league-minimum contract, so I've got to expose him again to get him to the farm.... ELSEWHERE: AL batters are hitting everything, including each other: there have been six games with suspensions over the last week-and-a-half. Something's definitely in the water.... The race to the bottom is already a hot one, with Toronto, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh sporting 5-19 records, and Montreal just a game ahead of them. But watch out for KC, now on a ten-game losing streak.... On the flip side, it's twelve straight wins for the Tigers, at 20-4 and six games up on the Chisox.... The Yankees added their own billionth reliever, grabbing our former closer Robbie Collier on a $17M one-year deal.

April 25-27 @ MINNESOTA
They let some major talent walk in the off-season, losing ace Conor MacLeod and perennial MVP candidate Josh Jacobson. In their place they added pitcher Chris Liles (trade with us) and RF Tim Marinaccio (from the Cubs). In addition, rookie Ryan Lawler takes over in center, and he's off to a .368 start. The offense ranks 4th, scoring 181 runs, and they lead MLB with a .340 average. Like us, pitching has been a bugaboo, and their rotation ERA is near 7. Rookie Harald Willemsen and vet Dustin Springer have been especially bad, but really no one has anything approaching solid numbers. This explains their 12-12 record despite strong offensive production. (Also not helping is having decent vets Gary Kocher and Dan Hannan, both penciled into the rotation, out of action long-term.) More nutty numbers: 1B Santos Chavez batted .257/18/64 last year, but is .460/9/31 after 24 games this year. Looking down the road, the 26th-ranked prospect system is loaded with 1B (three of the top five guys) who aren't suited to play anywhere else. Get some pitching!

HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (1-1, 11.72) / LH Matt Waugh (4-0, 1.82) / RH Biff Skiff (0-2, 10.72)
MIN pitchers: RH Dustin Springer (1-1, 10.57) / RH Chris Liles (3-1, 6.51) / RH Jonathan Belmonte (2-1, 5.46)

#25: WIN 15-10 ... 20 hits, including 2 HR for Pederson and one from Medici...spare a thought for all those poor, poor pitchers
#26: LOSS 5-6 ... 3 errors account for 3 unearned runs and cost us this one...Espino gets hurt in a rare start
#27: LOSS 5-6 ... Skiff pitches better, but it's Ruiz in relief who allows 3 late runs for the loss

Uncool, and we've now dropped three of four.... Five starts, five ruinous outings from Irvin. Not great in a contract year. Skiff at least has his ERA under ten now. (Their BABIPs are .382 and .381, respectively.).... Espino's injury is just dtd, no DL for him. Of course he started again the next day and even threw out a runner at third.... Still no HR from Matson. Maybe he's just teasing us with some big months to come.... ELSEWHERE: All the long winning and losing streaks are over. What will I talk about now.... Offenses continue to destroy pitching: AL offense is up a full run per team from a year ago, and even NL pitching ERA is at a 5.03 average. Not sure anything can (or should) be done mid-season, but we will rein in these superballs in the off-season, should this nonsense continue.... Baltimore freshman-and-a-half (he played 71 games last year) Xavier Perez had his hitting streak stopped at 24. Perez is a solid, do-everything (except hit homers) guy, one whom O's fans should be very happy about for years to come. In other news, there is a longer hit streak out there right now, but I'll stay silent since I usually curse guys when I mention them by name.

April 29-30 @ OAKLAND
The month ends with our first trip to northern California, but the bastards did take two from us three weeks ago. The A's are a game under .500, at 13-14, and rank just below middling in offense and pitching, with a +1 run differential. They do still hit 'em into the seats, with 53 (4th place), but struggle to produce much else. And that "middling" pitching is mostly due to some pretty poor bullpen work, with an ERA near last, while the rotation ranks third. Long-term, I still think that rotation is going to be an Achilles heel, with top starters Jim Schwartz and Eric Stockton done for the year. (And yes the coaching staff is still feuding, with hitting coach Norly Suarez and pitching coach Hisa Sato apparently hated by everyone else.)

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (2-0, 4.31) / RH Mike Bader (2-2, 6.03)
OAK pitchers: RH Kyle Forney (2-2, 5.14) / RH Tom Baker (0-1, 5.59)

#28: LOSS 1-4 ... only one run? Sickos...Pearse tosses 8 shutout innings but Johnson blows up with 1 in the 9th and 3 in the 11th
#29: WIN 5-1 ... Matson finally hits one out, and he's joined by Med with 2 and Ped with 1...solid 8 IP from Bader...Royer hurt

Not much scoring, oddly, but seven HR combined in these two games.... We drop four of our last six, and finish the month 18-11, a game ahead of Texas.... Of course I sing Pfeifer's praises and he stops hitting. He does have 3 HR in his ten starts, but also zero walks and 13 strikeouts.... The bullpen has been a bit leaky the last few series, so some strings could be pulled in the next week if that doesn't turn around.... ELSEWHERE: It took all month, but no one in the NL is now hitting .400. Detroit's Pat Townsand, however, is having a triple crown season so far, at .446/18/46. That may juuuust be good enough to get him player of the month honors. Oh, and he's on pace for 101 dingers.... Still no big team streaks right now, but Arizona has dropped nine out of ten to slide to 8-21.

......

TL;DR Version: Not a great end to the month, but overall pretty solid. We're riding the league-wide offensive wave, batting .313 (5th place) with 43 HR (10th). Joe Lynn is batting a nice .405 and getting on base at a .459 clip. Only Mike Covington isn't producing (.239), and of course the situation at second base is under constant scrutiny: Jim Pfeifer started hot, but is now at .275, while Zach Watt is at .275 but with no power at all. Kevin Kelley has filled in for the injured J.J. Simmons at short and is hitting .338, so could be looking at continued full-time work even when Simmons comes back, if he can keep it up. On the mound, Irvin and Skiffington have started extremely poorly, but Skiff at least has looked better of late. Top pitching prospect Daniel Croft wants a promotion and has started hot in AAA (3 starts, 0.49 ERA). We'll see...

Bub13 · 05-02-2021, 02:01 PM

Twenty-eight games this month: 15 at home, 13 on the road. We'll see everyone in the division, including the final game against Oakland from last month's series. To that we'll add Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Miami, KC, and Boston. A mix of good and bad teams. On the injury front, J.J. Simmons is still three weeks away from returning and pitcher Orlando Silva comes back in a week but will be packed off to AAA. Caleb Royer also has a dtd back injury so will sit for a couple of days in place of Lua Ulkini at third.

May 1 @ OAKLAND
Wrapping up this three-game stint.

HAW pitcher: RH Josh Irvin (1-1, 12.09)
OAK pitcher: RH Jon Jones (1-2, 8.04)

#30: WIN 4-3 ... Jones one-hits us through 6, then Ped hits one out in the 7th, and we score 3 in the 9th to win...only 5 hits, but that's enough

Nice start for Irvin at last, although he gives up 10 hits in 7 IP.... ELSEWHERE: the current dynasty hit streak mark is 39 games, set by Leonys Martin with Texas in 2015. (Honorable Mention to Manny Machado, who had a 30-gamer near the end of '16, with a one-game gap and then a 20-gamer.) Well, that was just broken by Tampa Bay's Jose Tavares. How long can he go...

May 2-4 @ TAMPA BAY
Next we travel to the league's best offense, first across the board except "only" second in home runs. The top six in the lineup--Orlando Navarro, Jorge Arriola, Jose Tavares, Vance Wise, Edgar Aranceta--have hit a total of 41 home runs and are batting a combined .367. Tavares too is working on a 40-game hitting streak. Pitching ranks 9th, and as with everyone else there are a few good starts among a lot of big numbers. We also get to visit with a couple former Islanders: SS Rich Stoneback, an injury-prone but still productive 36-year-old, and CF Ian McGowan, who's struggling at only .114. Off to a 22-8 start, it's looking good so far to get their fourth straight 90-win season and second straight division title. Early days yet, however. And even though offensive numbers will probably drop a bit as the season goes on--meaning pitching numbers will look better--I do think they need a pitcher or two by the deadline to make them top-notch championship contenders.

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (4-0, 1.91) / RH Biff Skiff (0-2, 9.10) / RH Mike Pearse (2-0, 3.43)
TBR pitchers: RH George Brorby (3-1, 7.71) / RH Carlos Munoz (4-2, 5.57) / LH Jon Jemison (2-0, 4.54)

#31: WIN 12-6 ... 3 hits each for Ped, Cov, and Espino...14 hits and 7 walks makes for a lot of baserunners...first poor outing for Waugh, 6 ER in 4.1 IP
#32: LOSS 6-8 ... the good news is we smacked four HR and had 11 hits...bad news is Skiff was terrible again, Booker too in his 1 IP of relief
#33: WIN 4-2 ... 2 doubles and an RBI from Hed, and we put 16 runners on...2 errors by Royer in his return, and 6 BB from Pearse in 5 IP

Lots of offensive output, like the good old days where we'd put over a dozen runners on each night. Our pitching...not so hot. But I have to remember: TB is a hot-hitting team and we took two out of three here.... Having mentioned our top pitching prospect Daniel Croft, I can now of course report that he is out for the season with a partially torn UCL. Great.... ELSEWHERE: My powers to curse things remain undimmed: Tampa's Jose Tavares had his 41-game hit streak stopped by Hawaii. That's the new standard for this dynasty, eclipsing the old mark of 39 games.... Six losses in a row, and nine out of ten for Arizona, with a league-worst 8-25 record. Detroit still tops the rankings at 26-7.... Pittsburgh is adrift so far, with a 9-24 record and now...some clubhouse discord! Former starting RF Miguel Iglesias has been benched despite batting .347 in limited starts. He hasn't said he's demanded a trade, but he hasn't NOT said it either. He's a former 5-WAR guy who slipped to sub-replacement last year, but at just 28 he's still got to be more useful than a part-time bench bat.

May 5-7 vs CLEVELAND
Cam Daley makes his triumphant return to the Islands, batting cleanup (.303/3/16) for the fast-sinking Indians. With Daley, there are also some nice pieces here: Marcus Stokes and Matt Hill are both 25 and solid players, likewise Antonio Guerrero (26) and former Isles 2B Julian Cardenas, who at 28 has developed a nice power stroke. But otherwise they're just declining vets and mediocre filler. They even have Nick "35% K Rate" Mullins leading off now. No wonder the offense ranks next-to-last in most categories and they're mired in last place at 10-23. Pitching is the same story: youngsters like Dudley Mele, Sam Tedder (injured though), and Eric Nelson (ditto) mixed in with decaying vets and has-beens. And Ryan Ratliff, once a 20-game winner with us, may have finally bottomed out, at 0-6 and a 12.00 ERA, allowing 50 hits and 16 HR in 30 innings. Yikes. On top of all that, the prospect system ranks dead last too. I don't know if there's a long-term plan here, but as the kids would say, "this ain't it, chief."

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (3-2, 4.72) / RH Josh Irvin (1-1, 9.82) / LH Matt Waugh (4-0, 2.89)
CLE pitchers: LH Taylor Baxter (1-3, 6.03) / RH Brandon Behrens (0-0, 4.26) / RH Ryan Ratliff (0-6, 12.00)

#34: WIN 6-5 ... Lynn's RBI single in the 8th is the winning run, capping a comeback from a 5-2 deficit
#35: WIN 9-3 ... Irvin awakes! CG, 10 K, 8 hits...4 HR by our guys, and Lynn's 3-for-5 night puts him back over .400
#36: WIN 5-3 ... we take the lead for good in the 7th on RBI by Medici and Royer...only 4 hits allowed, along with 11 K by three pitchers

Good hitting AND good pitching? In one series? Crazy. But while league-wide offenses are settling down a bit, we're batting .311 as a team and still in 5th place.... Lynn is cracking out hits to a .401 tune, and Medici is having another all-around solid season, at .352/13/41. Still not getting consistent production at 2B, so may play around a bit before Simmons returns in two weeks.... A rash of injuries at AAA and AA has left me a little short-handed talent-wise, so I've got offers out to a couple of UFA for AAA Santa Barbara.... ELSEWHERE: Big game for Giants starter Danny Salgado, fanning 19 Reds on the way to an 8-1 win. Both teams are hovering around the .500 mark, trying to gain some traction in their divisions.... Atlanta was trucking along near the top of the NL East at 16-10, but a ten game losing streak--scoring just 23 runs over that span--has dropped them into fifth place, just a game ahead of the disappointing Richmond Eagles.

May 9-11 vs TEXAS
At 20-16, 4 games out, they're not going away. Offense is still down, just 10th in runs and average, but pitching ranks 4th in runs allowed despite having six players on the DL. CF Ronnie Halvorson (.311/12/30) and 1B Eric Robbins (.311/12/33) are stroking it, as is RF Omar Gurrola, batting eighth despite a .356/.453/.587 slash. They're still insisting on starting C Phil Thoma despite his .165 average, keeping internet hero Sean Blong and his .314 rate on the bench. There may be more significant roster turnover again next year, with a flat budget and rising salaries, most notably SS Ryan Boers and his $20M arb estimate (from his current $9.5M pay). Much of the core will still be under contract, but they won't have much room to pursue any quality free agents.

HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (0-2, 8.92) / RH Mike Pearse (2-0, 3.45) / RH Mike Bader (3-2, 5.05)
TEX pitchers: LH Bobby Daniel (5-1, 2.72) / RH Paul Labbe (3-2, 5.59) / RH Sean Reed (2-1, 3.86)

#37: LOSS 0-7 ... shut out on just 5 hits...Gase gets 3 of them, giving him 4 on the season...Skiff only lasts two innings
#38: LOSS 4-7 ... Pederson homers, but we only get 5 more hits...more bad starting pitching here, but the pen is solid over 4.1 innings
#39: WIN 5-4 ... Medici's 5th inning solo HR is the GW here...3 hits and 4 steals for Lynn, literally running amok

We salvage some pride in that last game to stay three ahead of the Rangers.... Skiff's ERA is now back over ten. We're not exactly getting top flight pitching from the four guys who should be angling for long-term deals: only Waugh is throwing consistently well.... Matson slides over to second and continues to hit, and Groff moves to DH (with Med installed at first). Sadly, tho, Groff went oh-for-the-series here. He'll get a few more games until Simmons returns, then we'll move some guys around again. Because why not.... ELSEWHERE: Austin is still somehow holding on to a 19-20 record despite six pitchers out of the lineup, all guys who are solid contributors.... Thirteen losses in a row now for Atlanta. Fading, fading.... The White Sox have won 8 out of 13 to close in on Detroit and open up an expected gap with the rest of the Central.... Detroit's Pat Townsand is the first to reach 20 dingers. In his fifth season he's already cranked out 177 homers.... The AL West is the closest top-to-bottom division around: just seven games separates first to last, with a three-way tie for "last" among Houston, Oakland, and California, all at 18-21.

May 12-14 @ SEATTLE
Predicted to finish last with just 70 wins, the M's are sticking around so far, at 21-18. Still 1st in runs scored (despite ranking just 9th in average) and getting all-star level contributions from the middle of the lineup: Ger van Mourik, Paul Stough, and Rogelio Pena. Pitching lags behind, at 14th in runs against, and suffering from the same disease we have, with a few guys massively underperforming. (Witness "ace" Steve Davenport's 11.12 ERA, .417 BABIP, and 2.44 WHIP.) But if they can keep hitting, they're getting top batter Jon Terrell back from injury next week, which should further invigorate the lineup. Team chemistry is merely "content" right now, with no leadership and a handful of outspoken guys; if some losses pile up things could get fiery quickly. I'm here for it.

HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (2-1, 8.22) / LH Matt Waugh (5-0, 2.67) / RH Biff Skiff (0-3, 10.12)
SEA pitchers: RH Erik Ramey (3-3, 6.80) / RH Dan Crews (4-3, 3.80) / RH Danny Diaz (4-1, 5.40)

#40: LOSS 3-4 ... Irvin is left in just a bit too long tonight, taking the loss...HR from Groff and Medici...7 hits here, in a little slump now
#41: WIN 3-1 ... Groff homers again, along with Covington...only 5 hits tonight, so getting a 10 K performance out of Waugh made the difference
#42: LOSS 6-10 ... another Groff HR is about it...Skiff gives up 6 R in 6 IP, lowering his ERA...Kearns blows up too, and we can't catch up

A couple of dull offensive series and we're now hitting below .300, but still inn 5th place.... Groff got three hits here, all home runs. He's batting .200 on the season now and is two hits away from 2800.... I think maybe Skiff's days in the rotation have come to an end for now. We don't have any swingmen in the pen, however, and as no one is pitching well in AAA I'm not sure who to try in his spot. Maybe just call someone up and see what happens.... ELSEWHERE: Mets 2B Alfonso Torres is out for six weeks with a wrist edema after getting plunked. At .361/.450/.592, he'll be missed by the first place team.... Keeping it in the NL East: Atlanta has increased the horrorshow to sixteen straight games. Team chemistry is suffering but the coaches are ECSTATIC, so maybe they've got a cunning plan. Or better drugs.... San Diego's Blake Langer was leading the NL at .400 just a week ago. He gets hits in six of the next seven games but still sees his average drop to .380. Rough.... The hottest hitter in the NL right now may be Austin reliever J.D. Berman. You read that right: he's also made 37 starts at third base and is batting .378 with a 26-game hitting streak. Toss in one pitching start, nine relief appearances, and a decent 3.58 ERA and he's doing it all for the struggling Outlaws.

......

TL;DR Version: We've passed the quarter pole on the season, so it's time to assess. We're 26-16, two games ahead of Texas, three on Seattle. We went 8-5 for this stretch, but notably ended on a 2-4 run against those two rivals. Despite some sluggishness of late, our offense is still top-five in most categories, and I'm generally satisfied. Where we're lagging right now is at catcher, second, and shortstop. Behind the plate, neither Covington (.237) nor Kolb (.234) have hit much; Cov did, however, start slowly last year but heated up down the stretch. At short, Kelley has been fine in the field but has slumped at the plate and has seen his average drop nearly 60 points this month. At second, Watt and Pfeifer have shared much of the duties, but neither has hit much (Pfeif does have 4 HR in 61 AB). With J.J. Simmons due back soon, I'm trying a little experiment: Matson has shifted over to second (where he started in '50 and '51), Medici to first, and Groff as DH against RHP. When J.J. is back, I'll move things around again. We need Simmons back healthy, but he has to hit better than his .257 mark from before his injury. We're better all up and down the lineup when he's getting on base at his usual near-.400 clip.

On the mound, we've already made one move: Skiffington was sent to AAA to work on his mechanics and regain some confidence, and we're giving Danny Carbajal his first shot at big league batters. Carbs, a righty, is a pitch-to-contact guy with great control and average stamina. He's had a couple solid years in AAA but was off to a slow start this year. He was my #2 call-up option going into the season, but our original go-to guy, Daniel Croft, tore up his elbow and is done for the year. Figures. Unless he totally bombs out, Carbs will get at least a couple of starts to show what he's got. The bullpen has been better, but my two setup guys--Bohlen and Ruiz--have ERA near 5.00, which isn't sustainable long-term.

Bub13 · 05-07-2021, 08:22 PM

May 15-17 @ MIAMI
Stuck with an 18-24 record, despite underlying team stats similar to ours (8th in offense, 6th in pitching, plus outstanding defense). And a +22 run differential. Maybe one issue is that half of the lineup is stroking it, batting .320 or better, while half is hitting under .250. As usual, CF Phil Cronce (.354/11/29) and RF Toshi Shimabukuro (.349/17/47) are leading the way, and rookie 3B Jose Pantoja is hitting a nice .312. (But his 32-to-4 K-BB ratio is probably more indicative of his real value, sorry to say.) On the mound, #1 starter Dwaine Webb, closer Steve Palumbo, and top setup guy Korey Jefferson all have ERA over six, and only Jason Simon in the rotation has a better-than-average ERA. MLB predicted they'd win 78 games and their pitching would outpace their hitting. I don't see it, and that certainly hasn't happened yet, tbh. They've been to the WS twice in the last decade, but they've let development slide (31st) and a declining budget means they're not going after top talent from outside either. Not sure what the future holds here.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (2-1, 4.22) / RH Mike Bader (4-2, 5.06) / RH Josh Irvin (2-2, 7.86)
MIA pitchers: RH John Walker (0-5, 6.97) / RH Jason Simon (4-2, 4.44) / RH Dwaine Webb (3-2, 6.33)

#43: LOSS 4-5 ... Royer homers twice, but we can't come all the way back from a 4-1 deficit...outhit 8 to 10
#44: LOSS 3-6 ... more woes, as we manage just three hits tonight, two of them HR...Bader and Bohlen both struggle on the mound
#45: LOSS 2-4 ... only five hits, all singles

Ok, not great is one way to describe this series.... Seattle has won 4 straight and moved into a first-place tie with us. Texas is a game back.... Pitching has been a little better--no recent blowouts--but when we don't hit, we don't win.... Bentley Kolb was sent to AAA and Michael Snavely will get a look as our catcher against LHP. I don't expect big things, but I'll keep tinkering everywhere until we get back on track.... ELSEWHERE: The Cubs have slumped a bit, dropping four straight, and allowing the hot Cardinals (7 wins in a row) to pass them for first, and the almost-as-hot Zephyrs (5 straight) to tie them.... Giants 3B Juan Garcia now has 2,925 career hits. So he won't reach 3K by Memorial Day, but let's say by the All-Star break we can start the "3000 Hit Watch".... Detroit's Pat Townsand is still hitting for the triple crown, at .424/23/61.... CONGRATS to Brewers CF Oscar Espinosa on his player of the week nod. And CONDOLENCES to Brewers CF Oscar Espinosa on his broken ankle that just ended his season.

May 19-21 vs CALIFORNIA
Even having both offense and pitching outside of the top ten in team stats, the Angels are only 5 games out in this stupid, tight division. This is also the rare team with few injury issues, with only two average pitchers on the shelf. Once again, CF Mauricio Marquez (.342/13/39) is the only one putting up decent offensive numbers, but the big story right now is journeyman pitcher Travis Fox, coming off injury and into the rotation, going 4-0 with a ridiculous 54 to 7 K-to-BB ratio. Big gun William Swanson is still trying to find his swing, at only .274/11/42. This is the first of two consecutive home series for us, and nine games against sub-.500 teams. We have to right the ship here.

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (6-0, 2.56) / RH Danny Carbajal (debut) / RH Mike Pearse (2-2, 4.50)
CAL pitchers: RH Nate Elder (3-4, 7.00) / LH Travis Fox (4-0, 2.66) / RH George Millard (2-4, 8.31)

#46: WIN 9-3 ... there we go...Med's 2-run shot and Cov's GRAND SLAM are the keys...Waugh goes 7.1 and Kearns cleans up with 1.2 IP, 9 total K
#47: LOSS 2-3 ... Kearns gives up the GW in the 15th...Carbs makes a nice start, going 6.1 IP...18 runners tonight, most get stranded...Hed hurt
#48: WIN 5-0 ... Pearse allows 3 hits over 8.2 IP...13 hits tonight, all but two are singles...2 hits, 2 RBI from Royer

Two good wins here, nearly a sweep too.... Solid all-around pitching as well, with at last some timely hitting.... Hed's injury is a strained hamstring, dtd for three weeks. For now, I won't put him on the DL: he'll PH and DH instead. Espino and Gase will take turns in LF for a bit.... Simmons returns and gets three hits in his two games back. Pfeifer is returned to Santa Barbara. Kelley will start at 2B against LHP for the time being.... Carbs made a solid start, going 6.1 IP, fanning 6, walking none, and allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits.... ELSEWHERE: A fun 10-7 win for the Twins over the Indians saw eleven home runs, six by the visitors from Minny.... Detroit leads everyone with 36 wins, with division mates Chicago in second at 32. Even though a number of teams haven't hit the 20-win mark yet, only the Indians have won less than a third of their games, at 15-33.... St Louis is still hot and on top of the NL Central. CF Nate Forrester leads NL batters with a .410 average, and teammate Cameron Grundy is second at .389. I know it's early, but the Cards haven't won their division since '44, also the last time they made the playoffs

May 22-24 vs KANSAS CITY
The fifth place Royals are only bested (worsted?) by the troubled Indians, and feature both 12-ranked pitching and offense. Two-time NL batting champ Dan Dellinger (.312) is just back from the DL, and SS Jose Valdez (.347) is having a strong rookie season. But they're really missing 2B Marcus Tamrat (.336) and CF Julius Burrows (.330), who's proven to be quite fragile since we traded him to KC before last season. And rookies 1B Micah Bailey (.299, 15 HR) and SP Bill Perez aren't yet fully baked but are coming along nicely. There's some hope here, if they can get healthy for a stretch. And get 3B Tom Esposito, struggling this year (.257), to repeat his 50-HR rookie season from a year ago.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (4-3, 5.07) / RH Josh Irvin (2-3, 7.44) / LH Matt Waugh (7-0, 2.42)
KCR pitchers: RH Arturo Bernal (3-3, 3.95) / RH Steve Scibek (5-3, 5.25) / RH Bill Perez (1-5, 7.90)

#49: LOSS 2-6 ... Bader cruises along until a 4-run 6th...Medici pokes a 2-run HR but he and Gase are the only offense, with 2 hits each
#50: LOSS 2-7 ... nice waste of 17 base runners tonight
#51: WIN 3-1 ... Waugh saves our bacon with 10 K over 8 IP...Lynn's 2-run triple caps off a 3-run 5th inning...6 steals too, after 5 last night

More flat offense hurts us enough to lose the division lead. Seattle and Texas are tied, one game ahead of us. Lots of time left, however.... Our power hitting has dried up enough that we now have the same number of steals as HR, both at 67. Only Baltimore (76 to 73) has more steals than home runs.... Waugh leads the team with 90 K, Pearse is second with 68. Third? Reliever Nate Kearns with 48.... Skiffington got blasted in his first AAA start, lasting just two innings.... ELSEWHERE: A bad season for Atlanta keeps getting worse. A 16-10 start has devolved to a 4-21 stretch since, and now ace pitcher Manny Vasquez is done for the year. Three-time Cy Young winner Jose Gutierrez has also been injury-plagued this year, but should be 100% very soon.... While St Louis' ride in the Central has been improbable, the Nationals 8-2 streak that's put them on top in the East is an utter shock. I can't remember them being anywhere close to that during the season in recent years, and a check of the records shows their last division title coming in 2012. Wow.

May 25-27 @ HOUSTON
They've won 7 of 9--including just taking two from Detroit--to move above .500 and only three games behind us. Offensively they're near the bottom, at 16th in runs, and are currently without the middle of their infield with both David Helvey and Oscar Garza on the DL. Pitching is keeping them in it right now, having yielded the second-fewest runs in the AL. That's pretty impressive when you know that two solid SP, Pat Wise and Mike Messinger, are also on the injured list. So yeah, they don't hit but they're winning games. Better than us right now, who also arent' hitting AND aren't winning. I guess something's gotta give here. That dribbly offense could improve, however, with the recent return of RF Matt Dippel, who hit 19 HR in 59 games last year and has only been healthy for two weeks.

HAW pitchers: RH Danny Carbajal (0-0, 2.84) / RH Mike Pearse (3-2, 3.90) / RH Mike Bader (4-4, 5.32)
HOU pitchers: RH Jason Knight (2-0, 4.26) / RH Chris James (3-5, 6.59) / RH Tim Ciotta (6-2, 4.04)

#52: LOSS 3-5 ... Medici's 3 HR and 3 RBI can't help us tonight...Carbs is okay, but Kearns takes the loss after a rough 7th inning
#53: LOSS 2-5 ... outhit 6 to 9 and Pearse is meh...Ulkini goes 2-for-2, with an RBI. MVP tonight lol
#54: LOSS 6-7 ... eight walks by the staff, including Bohlen walking home the winning run in the 9th...Matson goes 3-for-4

The worst run of games we've had in a long, long time. We can't hit most nights, and when we actually do, we can't pitch.... Nick Gase has done nothing in his limited time in the lineup, and Zach Watt hasn't gotten a hit this month it seems. So they're both packed off to AAA and we recall Jim Pfiefer and OF Russ Venters. Both are batting over .400 for the Surf, and this will be Venters' intro to the big time.... We're now tied for third with the Astros, and are just four games over .500.... Nothing else to say here, but just try to weather this and keep tinkering until something clicks.... ELSEWHERE: Seven game streak now for LA, at 35-19 and threatening to pull away in the NL West.... Another seven game winning streak, this one belonging to AL West-leading Seattle. Seattle!.... A crazy 126 HR already for the White Sox. (We have 71 and may barely top their current total by season end.).... Oakland now has three top SP out for the year after Tom Baker's elbow falls off. Falls right off.

May 29-31 vs BOSTON
One last chance to salvage something out of this month. In come the Red Sox, hanging around in the East at 27-27, six games out of first. Offense ranks 14th in runs, pitching 7th, for a -9 differential. The improbable Riley King is still batting nearly 100 points over his career average, at .349. Otherwise, it's pretty much just 1B Rich Dragos at .316/14/37 doing anything at all on offense. (Former NL MVP Dustin Wasilewski is batting .372, but he's only now just back from injury.) With SP Pat Way and Josh Williamson out, solid RP Xavier Timbo moves into the rotation and will face us, making his first start of the season. If we stink up this series too, I may have to start thinking about larger-scale changes for this team.

HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (2-4, 7.67) / LH Matt Waugh (8-0, 2.16) / RH Danny Carbajal (0-0, 3.18)
BOS pitchers: RH Xavier Timbo (1-1, 2.30) / LH Chris Rivera (5-3, 4.62) / RH Arturo Verduzco (1-8, 6.82)

#55: LOSS 3-6 ... Venters knocks his first MLB homer
#56: LOSS 1-3 ... x
#57: WIN 12-1 ... not sure where this game came from, but I won't get used to it

That last game notwithstanding, I have no idea where our offense has gone.... Venters is staying hot, going 6-for-12 with two HR in his debut series. Most everyone else has been pretty moribund, although Medici did crack his 20th HR of the season in that third game. And somehow we have five regulars still batting over .300; I guess our start was just that good.... Waugh pitched 8 shutout innings in the second game, then Johnson crapped the bed in the 9th. Good to see Carbs pitch well in his third start, but poor Skiff may have to go on the DL with clinical depression: 3 AAA starts, 12 innings, 8.25 ERA.... ELSEWHERE: Ten straight for Seattle, who now look fully legit at 36-21. And Detroit is the first team to 40 wins, while Cleveland is still stuck on 18 wins, worst in MLB.... Detroit's Pat Townsand just banged out his 30th home run, and still has the AL triple crown in his grasp.... Mets RF Chris Herzog is following up his solid rookie '53 season (.317/29/80) with a fantastic first two months: .379/20/48.... Who would've thought that at the one-third mark of the season we'd have Seattle, Washington, and St Louis leading divisions?

......

TL;DR Version: A dreadful 4-11 run here results in a 12-16 month of May. While our pitching has been generally okay--still 4th in runs against--our offense has gone the way of the dodo. And we were tremendous in one-run games last year (can't remember our record, but it was probably a 75% win pct) but just 6-8 this year. I've done more tinkering with the lineup this year than I have since the early days of the franchise, trying to find some offense that clicks. The only lineup positions that haven't changed have been Lynn at leadoff and Medici at cleanup. Most guys have been pretty average, but some have just dried up completely. Simmons has gone 8-for-41 since returning from the DL, and Covington is now hitting just .225. Both have OBP below .300, surprising and just unacceptable. Bright spots have been Danny Carbajal, looking pretty decent through three starts, and the fine career beginning for Russ Venters. And we've had one unusual high point: scout Moises Patino turned up an Aussie pitcher, Logan Barnett, who scouts well across the board and has three potentially very solid pitches. Calm down, though, as it's not healthy to get excited about sixteen-year-olds.

If we can't start winning soon, at least June brings the distractions of the draft and the possibility of getting deeply involved in the trade deadline this season.

Bub13 · 05-12-2021, 08:54 PM

2054 DRAFT AND SYSTEM REVIEW

Let's take a break from the horrorshow on the field (What? You mean it gets worse? Yeahhhh...) and welcome the latest crop of hopeful younglings to the MLB fold. There's a lot of interest at the top of the draft this year for a couple of teams who really need it: Montreal will pick at #1 and #4, while Baltimore will go at #2 and #6. Montreal has picked first overall twice: in 2023, taking major disappointment Evan Dunaway, who only registered 386 big league at bats; and in '26, taking pitcher Josh Blankenburg, who tossed 450 career innings. They combined for 2.5 career WAR. Meanwhile, Baltimore went first the last two seasons, but failed to sign last year's pick Eric Lowenstein (who isn't even in this year's draft). Both teams need major help, and both should get it, despite a crop without obvious star talent. (KC and California also have two selections, at 3rd and 13th, and 9th and 16th respectively.) We'll have to wait all the way until #35 to make our first pick, but we get a supplemental pick at #43 as well. OSA has us taking a decent catcher and a defense-first OF with those picks....which I'm gonna say no to. But let's get started....

The top six picks are as follows:
MTL - P Marc Carroll, 21: terrible pick at #1; decent ratings but is a sinkerballing sidearmer RP, and doesn't show any signs of dominance
BAL - P Richard Ray, 18: needs major development to reach the level expected of a #2 selection; also not a good pick here
KCR - P Justin Swatzell, 21: better than the first two guys, but needs to overdevelop
MTL - OF Pat Borba, 21: huge power bat, very solid fielder; also, huge strikeout totals
MIL - P Chris Pestel, 21: the best of the four pitchers taken so far, but that's not saying much
BAL - P Tyler Holm, 21: another needs-a-changeup to become a starter, with serious control issues; who's running these teams?

That is not a murderer's row of talent in the top six, but I thought someone might go off board to grab some of the better talent not ranked in the top ten. There are no sure things in this class, and maybe the best first rounders were P Danny Rice (OAK @ #18), OF Taylor McGrath (SF @ #29), and P Dave Bird (DET @ #34). Like I said, not much there, and only time will tell if any of these guys ever amount to more than just average big leaguers.

Having said that, let's take a look at our fabulous picks, all of whom will surely develop into the major stars of tomorrow.

Rnd 1, 35th overall: P Juan Sais, 21, R, Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. Power pitcher but without truly dominant stuff. Could become a mid-rotation starter, or a useful long reliever. Developed enough to start in A ball, I believe.

Supplemental, 43rd overall: P/OF Eric Sayward, 22, R, Oklahoma State. Went a bit off board here, as he's listed as a pitcher and an average one at that. But he's got promise at the plate and is good enough in the field for utility outfield work. He looks like a sure-fire backup OF right now, but with a bit of TLC could become a starter down the road.

Rnd 2, 74th overall: OF Andrew Farme, 21, L, Old Dominion. Decent center fielder, but an average hitter with a bit of pop. Richmond took him in '51 but he didn't sign. Not quite the hitter Sayward projects to be, but shows some useful promise.

Rnd 2, 79th overall: P Joey Mayer, 21, R, UCLA. Purely a reliever, but has big enough stuff that I couldn't pass him up. Can hit triple digits on the gun, and has good enough movement to keep the ball in play when hit. Probably off to Short A to begin, and needs to work hard on his control.

Rnd 3, 115th overall: OF Ryan Imbriaco, 18, S, high school. Our first prep kid, and purely in today's mode: big-time power, lots of strikeouts. Hard worker, could surprise. Solid arm and range, bad glove.

Rnd 4, 152nd overall: 1B Joe Amodeo 18, L, high school. Projects as an average hitter but with a developable power swing. Intangibles could see him become something more. Definitely only a 1B/DH type (or vice versa, to be honest), probably doesn't even own a glove.

Rnd 5, 188th overall: P Eric Mele, 17, R, high school. I'm not sure what I've got here. Decent stuff and okay movement, very problematic control, and four quality pitches. I'm not sold on him as a pitcher, however. He also has very high ceilings at contact, gap power, and avoid K, but little HR power. And despite a big arm, his range isn't good enough to put him anywhere other than 1B. I may give him a season as a two-way guy, seeing as he's so young, and then decide what to do with him. I'm leaning toward hitter right now, but we'll see.

Best of the rest: no one worth mentioning right now, honestly. A whole lot of high schoolers with some middling potentials and nice intangibles, so maybe they have time to grow into something useful. I'll keep you posted.

......

SYSTEM OVERVIEW

We still have the top overall prospect system in baseball, thanks in part to some nice trades (gotta get something for the all-stars we sent off) and our second consecutive #1 prospect in MLB. We have fourteen guys in the top 100, and ten in the top 50. So while we're struggling on the field right now, there's much to like in the next generation, if they can only keep growing...

3B Jose Villalpando, 18, ranked #1 (up from #17), rookie ball: no stats. Like Jules Medici before him, so far he hasn't lost any of his huge power potential. But he did get 37 AB in rookie ball last summer and produced no home runs (and got hit five times). Still an intriguing prospect, and it's a positive sign to me that OSA is also really high on him. Let's hope the power starts to show soon, however.

OF Nick Gase, 24, ranked #8 (up from #34), Hawaii: .209/.320/.279, 43 AB. Started with the big club as a utility OF, and got a bit more playing time when Hed went down. Hasn't hit yet, but does take a walk and doesn't whiff much. Solid fielder, and looks like at least a #4 outfielder for us, if not higher one day.

SP Daniel Croft, 23, ranked #13 (up from #21), AAA: 1-0, 0.41 ERA, 22 IP. Great opening to his season after four starts, then got hurt and will miss the remainder of the year. Is definitely ready for the big time, and still has a bit of room to grow. With Skiff and Irvin off to horrid starts in Hawaii, he'd definitely be up right now if healthy.

OF Brian Hassell, 20, ranked #15 (down from #14), A: .375/.456/.594, 6 HR, 192 AB. Came over in the big trade with the Cubs last fall. Hot start in A should see him up in AA before the month is out, most likely. Excellent fielder, good runner, and a good enough hitter to threaten Gase and Espino for reserve OF spots and possibly challenge for a starting role. He was the key piece I wanted from Chicago.

SS Bill Gamboa, 21, ranked #16 (up from #37), A: .352/.453/.667, 3 HR, 54 AB. OSA is very high on him, but my scouts say he's just slightly above average at the plate, with some pop. Solid fielder, more of a 2B type for MLB, however. Is at least a utility IF, or perhaps a trade chip for something nice, given other scouts fawning over him.

SS Jake Moore, 22, ranked #23 (down from #11), AA: .315/.361/.405, 0 HR, 111 AB. Our number one pick from a year ago, he leapfrogged Gamboa quickly but hasn't grown much since ratings-wise, yet. Projects to be a near-elite hitter, but with very little power. So, very much like J.J. Simmons, which is nothing to sneeze at. Excellent fielder, can slot in easily at any of the "skill" positions. Not much of a runner. Could very well be our shortstop of the future, and one reason why Gamboa could become expendable.

P Ken Taylor, 24, ranked #25 (new), A: 6-2, 3.67 ERA, 79 K, 73.2 IP. Kind of overlooked since we drafted him in '52, but has quietly gone about his business the last two years. Looked bad in a late callup to A last year, but should be up in AA soon. Has room to grow, and with just a little more oomph could get a long look in camp next spring.

P Manny Reyes, 21, ranked #30 (up from #57), A: 3-6, 6.75 ERA, 74 K, 54.2 IP. Healthy so far after a couple of seasons cut short by injuries. Struggling in A ball, but really should be in the bullpen. (He's starting b/c of injuries to others.) As a reliever, he figures to have setup potential, outside shot at closer.

2B Lucas Tipping, 22, ranked #34 (up from #53), AAA: .195/.258/.354, 3 HR, 82 AB. Snagged from Minnesota last fall, is the second reason why the higher-ranked Gamboa could be on the move. Projects as a better hitter than G, and a slightly more versatile fielder. Has some power, and figures to be a good bottom-of-the-order batter, probably a guy who could hit .280 with 25 HR in an up year. Aussie.

P Steve Shinnick, 23, ranked #45 (up from #66), AA: 7-2, 3.78 ERA, 76 K, 78.2 IP. Solid ratings and ceilings right now, but we're waiting on either the curve or change to give him a quality third pitch, making him another camp candidate for next spring. Could possibly get a look this September, but I don't want to rush him.

P Gleb Mihalkovsky, 20, ranked #62 (up from #68), AA: 4-4, 4.32 ERA, 53 K, 50 IP. Great season in Short A last year, grew enough over the winter to jump to AA. Three pitches are MLB-quality right now, and could also get a look this fall if we're out of things. The only Kyrgyzstani in baseball.

OF Erik Bennetsen, 23, ranked #86 (up from #91), AA: .301/.355/.560, 9 HR, 209 AB. Just called up to AAA. Former first round pick (from '52) projects as a mid-lineup power-and-contact bat. Decent fielder, but limited to left field. Definitely another possible September call-up.

OF Rocky DeMars, 20, ranked #92 (new), R ball, no stats. Combines some off-the-charts ceilings with some gigantic holes. Remember Dave Kingman? This guy is the next Dave Kingman, only he's a quality outfielder. (Remember the best quote about Kingman's fielding? "The ball fell among Kingman.") Best power ceiling in our system (better than Villalpando, tbh), but could also strike out over 33% of the time. I can't stand tons of strikeouts, but I'm curious to see how he shakes out over the next year or so.

Bub13 · 05-22-2021, 03:42 PM

JUNE 2054

Only 24 games this month because of the all-star break starting on the 27th, and the games are evenly split between road and home affairs. We'll start the month with some heavy lifting: early series against Detroit, Texas, and Seattle, three of the best teams going right now. This will be a tester of a month for us. Will we right the ship and make a run for the rest of the season? Or will we continue to slide and go into reset mode for next season. If the latter, could we even be sellers at the deadline?

June 1-3 @ DETROIT
The best team in baseball right now, at 41-16 and four games ahead of the equally daunting White Sox. (Third place KC is 13 games further back.) Yes, they have many more home runs than we do (111 to 77), but what accounts for the difference is current play is this: we've allowed one less run, 293 to 294, but have scored 69 fewer runs than the Tigers. Not great. Third in most offensive categories across the board, and backing that up with fifth-ranked pitching. In a solid-hitting lineup, one guy is standing out right now: 1B Pat Townsand sits at .424/30/77, leading all three triple crown categories. Like everyone else, pitching has suffered under the new hitting dominance (their 5.27 rotation ERA ranks 6th), but the bullpen is tops in the AL, led by closer Jack Hildebrandt having a career year (0.89 ERA, 0.59 WHIP, 29 K in 20.1 IP). I hate to sound defeatist, but taking one game in this series will be a victory; taking two a major morale boost.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (3-3, 4.18) / RH Mike Bader (4-4, 5.55) / RH Josh Irvin (2-5, 7.78)
DET pitchers: LH Corey Nelson (3-1, 3.38) / LH Carlos Zenon (6-1, 5.35) / RH Trevor Sanders (7-3, 5.67)

#58: LOSS 0-7 ... outhit just 10-8, but they get 5 runs on 2 homers...Pearse struggles, and we kick in two errors to help things out too
#59: LOSS 6-7 ... much better effort, we lose this one on an 8th inning two-run HR...3-for-3 night from Matson
#60: LOSS 3-4 ... another late loss, on a solo HR with one out in the 9th....what can you do *shrugs*

Disappointing but not surprising. We used two pitchers in the first game, three in the second, and two in the last. Each outing gave up runs.... How bad has our offense been? We've dropped into the bottom half in AL runs scored, the first time that's happened in my memory.... Hard to believe we were 26-16 once. Now we're 30-30.... ELSEWHERE: Another blow for the Mets today, losing SS Alex Duran for two months. Three-quarters of their infield is on the DL now, and their play has suffered, dropping 7 of the last 10 and falling to third in the East.... Don't look now but Cleveland has won two straight, finally getting past 20 wins, and closing to just two games behind the sluggish Twins, losers of seven in a row.... Juan Garcia watch: now at 2,936 hits. Slowly getting there...

June 4-6 @ TEXAS
We're now solidly in their rear view mirror, five games behind these guys, who are 35-25. They trail Seattle by two for the division lead. Offense is still kind of stuttering along, 8th in runs, 11th in average, and a shocking 12th in home runs. But pitching has been rock-solid, with the best rotation ERA and an adequate-enough bullpen. I can only imagine how much better they'd be if they also didn't have six pitchers on the DL. SS Ryan Boers is whomping the hell out of everything, at .351/13/42, and should get a contract extension but probably won't, so could become the most desirable free agent next fall. There's still a lot of season left, but it's hard to see how this team doesn't make the playoffs for the sixth straight season. The question is, can we rebound to push back on them?

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (8-0, 2.04) / RH Danny Carbajal (1-0, 2.45) / RH Mike Pearse (3-4, 4.54)
TEX pitchers: RH Kevin Cahill (5-4, 4.75) / LH Bobby Daniel (9-2, 2.40) / RH Paul Labbe (6-4, 5.59)

#61: LOSS 0-1 ... amazing...we lose this one on a 9th inning sac fly...just four hits, fun stuff
#62: LOSS 0-8 ... what can you do...Daniel's been hot, but this was just embarrassing
#63: WIN 9-1 ... WHAT

That final game came out of nowhere but I'll take it. It's still worth noting that we've been shut out in half our games this month. And 0-3 in one-run games. AND NOW OFFICIALLY UNDER .500.... Major lineup shuffling helped for that last game, and hopefully is a positive sign. I'll take anything at this point.... Before the series, Zach Watt and Michael Snavely were sent back to AAA. Bentley Kolb and Nick Gase came back up. Not that we're now immensely better with the new two, but the two downers (downees?) weren't hitting at all lately.... We get division-leading Seattle next, then nine straight against teams with worst records (for now) than us, in Toronto, California, and Milwaukee.... ELSEWHERE: Bad news for Tampa Bay, losing slugging veteran RF Vance Wise (.373/19/52) for the year with an elbow injury. How did he he get hurt, you ask? Because HE IS ALSO A PITCHER AND THEY LET HIM MAKE HIS FIRST CAREER START AT AGE 33 AND HE BLEW OUT HIS ELBOW. That's it, no more two-way players for me.... Checking in on two-time Cy Young winner and Cincy ace Cris Frias: he's a long way from his 387 K season in '52, currently with an ERA of 6.55 and a crazy .429 BABIP. Also crazy is his 13.4 K/9 added to 8.5 BB/9, meaning 22 batters per 9 innings get no wood on the ball at all. His 0.9 WAR in 13 starts is the lowest of his career, even beneath the 1.0 WAR he earned in just 3 starts in '50.

June 8-10 vs SEATTLE
Everyone in the division is happy to see us fall, but these guys are the chief beneficiaries, given that their 38 wins is already half of what MLB predicted they'd get all season. Still leading the AL in runs scored, and top five in every other offensive category. Every starter is going great outside of veteran C Arturo Sena, who hit a blistering .229 last year but is back to .193 this go-round, much closer to his career average. Pitching sits just 13th, and the rotation is really struggling right now. Let's see if our recent offensive anemia can find a cure right here.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (4-4, 5.75) / RH Josh Irvin (2-5, 7.38) / LH Matt Waugh (8-0, 1.89)
SEA pitchers: RH Vince Push (4-2, 6.51) / RH Erik Ramey (6-3, 6.48) / RH Danny Diaz (6-3, 5.40)

#64: LOSS 3-5 ... early 3-run HR by Covington gets erased...we get only 4 hits, just lovely
#65: LOSS 3-8 ... yeah, not even close...outhit 17-11 too
#66: WIN 5-1 ... thank you Waugh, 10 K through 8 IP...3 hits each for Medici and Royer

Again, we looked pretty bad until the last game of a series. No offense against a bad pitching team for two games, and only one HR over the three games.... Irvin has pitched his way back to AAA after that latest start, and we recall former #1 pick Andy Burke for his first taste of the bigs. Picked in '51, Burke so far is the only draftee of ours to immediately demand a big league deal. Three years later, here he is.... LF Josh Hed is back in a couple of days. He's no MVP, but we did hit much better with him in the #2 slot. Just sayin'.... ELSEWHERE: An 8-2 stretch for Detroit has put them at a quite stout 48-18 and now six games up on Chicago. Pat Townsand is still leading the triple crown stats.... St Louis, however, has gone 2-8 and the gap to the Cubs is now just two games, and three to New Orleans. And those injuries to Mets starters has dropped them to third in the East.... Portland's Chris Buck leads all pitchers with 4.0 WAR, and has a fantastic 101-to-7 K-to-BB ratio.

June 11-13 vs TORONTO
Still rebuilding and have slid to the bottom of the East, at 26-40. The offense has been average, at 9th in runs and generally top ten across the board. But pitching has been an outright disaster, last in runs and in both rotation and bullpen ERA. You might think having four pitchers on the DL would be the reason for that struggle, but none of them had pitched well at all before getting hurt. Anyway, they've outhomered us 108 to 83, but we've got them by far in steals, 83 to 43. Surely steals are more important, right?

HAW pitchers: RH Danny Carbajal (1-1, 4.01) / RH Mike Pearse (4-4, 4.08) / RH Mike Bader (4-5, 5.88)
TOR pitchers: RH Jaden Buchanan (0-3, 9.90) / RH Erik Bradley (3-4, 4.89) / RH Adam Arriaga (0-2, 13.94)

#67: WIN 6-3 ... 3-for-3 and 2 RBI from Royer, 2 hits each from Lynn and Pederson...nice 7.1 IP from Carbs, fanning 9
#68: LOSS 3-5 ... 9 hits for each team tonight, but we still can't score...Pearse gives up all the run over 5 IP
#69: WIN 5-4 ... Royer's single in the 7th drives in the tying run, then he adds a walk-off 9th inning sac fly to win

FINALLY a winning series.... Josh Hed returns from the DL, so we send Nick Gase and his .209-hitting self back to AAA to get some regular play. Russ Venters (.325) stays up for now.... At 11th in AL runs scored now, but we still have a +25 run differential. If we can start hitting again, we should start winning again.... And we're tied for 4th in the division with California. One guess who we play next.... ELSEWHERE: Detroit is still storming through the AL, at 50-19 and six games ahead of the White Sox. The Sox also have baseball's 2nd-best record.... Most teams are losing pitchers to injury these days, but not the Mets. Four regulars are on the DL, now including NL-leading batter Chis Herzog, batting .363. Since going 19-8 in April, they've slid to 19-22 and fallen back to third in the division.

......

TL;DR Version: Halfway through the month, and we start June at 4-8. Just lovely. Still hovering at a game under .500, 34-35, and tied with California at six games out of first. Hitting has gone off the cliff, and we've hit I believe five home runs this month, dropping to 17th in the league. Pitching doesn't seem so hot, but we're fifth in runs against, so you can say our staff is keeping us from sinking beneath the waves. Maybe I'm engaging in some wishful thinking here, but with Hed back from the DL and in the #2 slot in the lineup, maybe we'll start hitting again. At .292/.344/.500 he's not exactly setting the world on fire, but he helped move along the hot Joe Lynn (.346) and bring some runs home. Twelve more games this month, and then the all-star break.

Bub13 · 05-29-2021, 11:09 AM

June 14-16 @ CALIFORNIA
The same record as us, 34-35, and many of the same problems: can't hit, decent pitching. At 15th in runs scored, 9th in runs against, and a -23 run differential. Superman William Swanson has turned his season around, batting .463 this month to get himself to .316/.397/.636, all right around his career averages. Mauricio Marquez is hitting .302 with 16 HR, but that's about it for the team offense. Top prospect Chris Burns (#7 in MLB) is already platooning in CF, batting .246/.305/.493 and getting better each month. After signing Swanson this off-season, they have enough money to add another star or two this winter too. Otherwise that spending will have been a waste.

HAW pitchers: RH Andy Burke (debut) / LH Matt Waugh (9-0, 1.82) / RH Danny Carbajal (2-1, 3.38)
CAL pitchers: RH Seth O'Neill (6-5, 4.83) / RH Nate Elder (7-5, 5.86) / LH Travis Fox (7-1, 3.04)

#70: WIN 10-2 ... 8-run 9th inning wins it, sparked by 3 HR including Covington's GRAND SLAM...5 HR for us, and Burke goes 7 IP, 0 ER
#71: WIN 1-0 ... one-hit ball through 8 IP for Waugh, with 10 K...Hed's RBI in the 7th is the key hit, one of just six for us
#72: WIN 5-1 ... Espino knocks a solo HR in the 1st then a 2-run double in the 6th...Medici adds a solo shot, and Carbs goes 8.1, allowing just 6 hits

Well that was a long time coming. Outside of that single inning explosion in the first game, we didn't produce a ton on offense, but hitting seven HR certainly helped.... Solid pitching from all three starters, and a great debut from Burke.... The only blemish is a pending injury diagnosis for Pederson, who hasn't delivered the power like he did last year (SLG down from .633 to .518), but has still been a strong mid-lineup bat.... Groff is platooning against RHP at DH, and while he's hitting just .233 (but .278 this month), he just knocked his 480th career home run.... ELSEWHERE: A big week for MIN's Jordan Foots sees him win player of the week honors, and move past Detroit's Pat Townsand for the HR lead. Foots (.380) and Milwaukee's Mitch Elmore (.381) also pass Townsand (.377) in the batting race.... I mentioned Texas SS Ryan Boers in my last post as being a potential #1 free agent this fall. Another contender is Portland 3B Gerardo Nieto. The 26-year-old franchise cornerstone should never be allowed to leave, but don't underestimate the cheapness of MLB GMs. The 2051 NL MVP has produced HR seasons of 48, 51, and 50, and is on his way to passing those numbers this year. He's also a lifetime .310 hitter, and has produced over 31 WAR in just over four full seasons.... SF's Juan Garcia is now at 2951 career hits, but has a pending injury diagnosis.

June 18-20 @ MILWAUKEE
Fifth place in the Central at 29-36, already 23 games behind the terrific Tigers. Despite some bad underlying numbers (10th in AVG, 13th in OPS), they're sixth in runs scored. And that's come down a bit after losing CF Oscar Espinosa (.301/.392/.595) for several months. 3B Mitch Elmore leads the AL at .381, and 43 year-old Dan Starr--while immobile behind the plate--has 12 HR and an .815 OPS. I can only guess he wants to play until he's 50. (How thin is catching talent right now? Starr ranks 4th in MLB.) Pitching is next-to-last in runs, and only closer Xavier Pride (2.00 ERA) and setup guy Eric Lantier (3.48) are above water. They also have 3 RP out with injuries, but none of them had done anything positive either. Perhaps worth noting that outside of R ball Helena (at 1-0), every other farm team has a losing record. The farm system also ranks just 30th, and I only see three guys with obvious MLB potential right now. The clubhouse is unhappy currently, and the entire pitching staff is ignoring manager SG Che (who won AL manager of the year and nearly a title in his first season, 2046, but has seen a steady decline since). He's temperamental, but so is 1/3 of the staff, and another third loves cranky guys. So at least the coaches are happy.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (4-5, 4.35) / RH Mike Bader (4-5, 5.72) / RH Andy Burke (0-0, 0.00)
MIL pitchers: RH Josh Kennedy (1-10, 7.08) / RH Merlin Lemay (9-4, 5.17) / RH Chris Ronan (3-5, 7.07)

#73: LOSS 4-7 ... I mean, we were efficient, getting 4 runs on just 7 hits, but that won't cut it night-in night-out...blew a 4-0 lead too
#74: LOSS 1-5 ... no comment
#75: LOSS 4-7 ... fffff

Oh for **** sake. This ****ing team is going to kill me.... Burke gets shelled in that last game, welcome to the bigs.... Good to see that we can't do **** all against this ****ty pitching staff.... Pederson's injury report comes in: torn calf, out for 3-4 months. Great.... All momentum lost from the California series.... ELSEWHERE: A 9-1 run has propelled New Orleans to first in the NL Central, a game up on the Cards. Meanwhile, 7 losses in a row has kept Cleveland as the only sub-30 win team, at 25-50.... Otherwise, who cares.

June 21-23 vs HOUSTON
We come back home to face the 39-36 Astros, two games ahead of us and likely to stay there given our disinterest in scoring runs. They're 14th in runs scored, and not better than that anywhere else. Yet somehow we'll make them look good. Pitching is 5th in runs against, and despite some questionable rotation ERAs most of those five are pitching well of late. Again, we'll help them out. On offense, only 1B Jose Renteria is really delivering, at .323/23/55. If you couldn't tell already, I expect nothing of these three games, at least outside of the one Waugh starts.

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (10-0, 1.69) / RH Danny Carbajal (3-1, 2.90) / RH Mike Pearse (4-5, 4.20)
HOU pitchers: RH Ken Demers (5-5, 4.10) / RH Mike Messinger (3-5, 5.92) / RH Chris James (4-9, 7.19)

#76: LOSS 3-5 ... well, there goes our one chance, as Waugh gets shelled early...six hits tonight, all singles
#77: WIN 8-7 ... who knows anymore...3 hits, 3 RBI from Royer, and Hed's 2-run HR is the GW
#78: LOSS 3-4 ... more meh hitting and another bad bullpen outing...oh hey, we did hit two HR!

It may be time to cut bait with this team. Half the lineup is hitting for average, and half couldn't hit their granddad's pitches.... Groff is dropped from the lineup, batting .210 now. Simmons is under .200 and is out dtd. He probably won't play for a while regardless. No one we install at short or second can hit a ball out of the infield right now anyway.... Somehow our bullpen still has the 3rd best ERA in the AL, despite blowing saves and earning nearly every one of our last eight losses.... ELSEWHERE: Padres starter Emanuel Vasquez got shelled in his first three June starts, but his last two? A 12-K one hitter and a 19-K two hitter.... Detroit (56-22) and Chicago (50-28) are the top two teams in MLB, and are miles ahead of the rest of a sad division.... Oakland is the coldest team going, on a 1-9 streak. But they play us next, so cheer up A's fans.... Ten straight wins for the Zephyrs before dropping their last game. Three games separates NO, STL, and CHI in the NL Central.

June 24-26 vs OAKLAND
One last putrid series before the all-star break. Are we really not even halfway through this season yet? Anyway, Oakland's numbers look pretty bad right now: 15th in offense, 13th in pitching, and a -71 run differential. Former Isles star Mike Hunter, 39, leads the team at .304; and Ryan Walton has added 33 HR, Felix Reyes 22. Pitching has been really devastated by three season-ending injuries to their top three starters--Jim Schwartz, Eric Stockton, and Tom Baker. A lot of the staff has seriously underperformed this season, most notably closer Matt Rabideau, sporting a gaudy 8.28 ERA (double last year's number). These guys won 101 games two seasons ago: losing free agents and not having many viable replacements has stunted the offense. They've also gotten worse each month, and are 17-32 since May 1. (Hey, we're 20-29 so maybe I should just shut up.)

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (4-6, 5.66) / RH Andy Burke (0-1, 5.40) / LH Matt Waugh (10-1, 2.02)
OAK pitchers: RH Kyle Forney (4-5, 5.55) / RH Jason Petty (2-6, 5.02) / RH Jaden Bartholomew (6-6, 6.06)

#79: WIN 7-4 ... outhit 13 to 8, but we add 7 walks...still not sure what happened here tho...Bader and Covington get hurt, so that's great
#80: WIN 8-4 ... Royer and Espino homer, and somehow we outhit an opponent...Burke gets the win even with his ERA climbing again
#81: WIN 6-4 ... I still have no idea with these guys...hits are 15 to 4 tonight, and Matson actually hits a home run, first one this month

So...what gives. I know Oakland's pretty terrible. But guess what: we've been no better. How does this series square with getting swept by the equally-awful Brewers? Our pitching wasn't great, but we started to hit here. Can we keep it up.... Major lineup tweaks may have helped. Ulkini moves to 2B, despite being no good as an infielder. He bats third, and Matson drops to sixth. Russ Venters starts in right and bats seventh; as long as he keeps hitting .344 and getting on base 40% of the time, he'll keep playing. Simmons and Groff are glued to the bench for now; hit better than a combined .203 and we'll talk, guys.... Pitching? Bader herniates himself and is out for six weeks. Hold your noses, readers: Josh Irvin and his 7.71 ERA are back up, after not really doing anything good in AAA. But someone has to be a fifth starter, and Skiff has done even worse than Irvin since being demoted. In the pen, Kyle Johnson has once again played his way out of the closer spot. Jordan Ruiz gets a crack, and Johnson (along with the equally-bad-of-late Sam Bohlen) is moved to middle relief. Nate Kearns and Anthony Booker move into setup roles.... ELSEWHERE: Oakland has dropped 11 in a row now THANK GOD.... Staying in the AL West, Texas and Seattle are tied at the top at 47-34, with Houston three games out.... New Orleans stays hot, and is now three games ahead of the Cubs, with the Cards (losers of five straight) dropping into third.... LA's Irish-Japanese slugger Junjiro McDonnell leads all NL batters with 30 HR; and Detroit's Pat Townsand has cooled off some allowing teammate Elliott Wheat to surge to the top of the batting list at .377.

......

TL;DR Version: Well that last sweep did put us at 41-40 halfway through the season, and 7-5 in this little stretch. Suffice to say, however, that we most likely will NOT match our 122 wins from a year ago. Out on a limb I go, I know. And despite showing some signs of life of late, I'm not convinced our hitting is here to stay. I said above that Venters will start as long as he hits. Thing is, he doesn't have Pederson's power, and we're really lacking in that department. Is it worth making a trade to shore that up? Maybe...and there is a solid RF on the block in the form of Pittsburgh's Miguel Iglesias. But I'm not sure it's worth trading away an asset for a free agent-to-be, when we obviously need more than one guy to help out this lineup. There aren't any move-the-needle hitters on the block right now, but maybe it's worth seeing who might be gettable from the various bottom-dwellers. Maybe there's even a power hitting 2B out there! Or one who can hit at all!

Bub13 · 06-05-2021, 08:23 PM

All-Star Break and Whatnot:

The big club may be struggling, but we've got a lot of quality prospects working through the system. MLB recognized that by naming seven of our players to the All-Star Prospects game: pitchers John Loeb (AA), Manny Reyes (A), and Brad Cahil (AAA), 3B Jose Villalpando (R), IF Bill Gamboa (AA), IF Jake Moore (AA), and OF Brian Hassell (A). All but Loeb played in the AL team's 7-2 win, with Gamboa going 2-for-3 with a HR and getting the game MVP. Moore also got two hits, Hassell one.

We claim an MVP in the big game too: with the AL winning 8-1, Jules Medici won it after going 2-for-3 with a HR, 2 RBI, and a pair of walks. Matt Waugh fanned two in his single inning of work, and Nate Kearns closed it out with a perfect ninth. No one else from Hawaii made the squad, not surprisingly.

As for July...let's hope it's better than June. Twenty-eight games forthcoming, sixteen at home. We start with two series on the road, and we really hope to get off to a better opening than the 0-5 (and then 1-7) that June brought. The last ten games will be at home.

July 1-3 @ KANSAS CITY
They sit at 35-46 and already miles behind the division leaders (22 games), but only a game behind the Twins for a coveted divisional bronze medal. Seventh in runs scored, 11th in runs against, and a -25 run differential. There's a decent core lineup here: LF Dan Dellinger, CF Julius Burrows, 3B Tom Esposito, DH Micah Bailey are a quality top four, while 2B Marcus Tamrat and SS Jose Valdez make a solid middle infield pair. But a lack of money for quality free agents and a set of young pitchers who haven't developed as hoped have held things back this year. But the rotation is young--only one guy over 26--so they still have time.

HAW pitchers: RH Danny Carbajal (3-1, 3.30) / RH Mike Pearse (4-5, 4.16) / RH Josh Irvin (2-6, 7.71)
KCR pitchers: RH Steve Scibek (10-4, 4.51) / RH Bill Perez (3-10, 7.64) / RH Adam Grossman (3-7, 7.04)

#82: LOSS 1-6 ... held to just two hits, both by Covington including a solo HR...Johnson gives up three runs late too, not that we were threatening
#83: WIN 7-2 ... few hits again, only 8, but paired with 8 walks...RBI doubles by Hed and Lynn in the 6th are the key winning hits
#84: LOSS 2-7 ... 9 hits for both teams, but Irvin allows 3 long balls and looks worse than he did earlier in the season

Two steps forward, two steps back.... Still not much offense, which has been our major fault this year. If we can't turn things around in the next couple weeks, it'll be time for 2055 tryouts.... Given that we overspent on internationals last year, we are banned from signing anyone this year. Good thing that there aren't any obvious future stars in this year's crew. The best guys look like two relievers, and you really shouldn't spend $7-10M on 16-year-old relief pitchers.... ELSEWHERE: Seeing as we can't hit our own shadows right now, let's check in on the guys we "dumped" onto other teams last winter. Like OF Josh Frederick (.316/17/48)? Or 2B Bob Goodloe (.338/7/43 and a 20-game hitting streak)? Surely Cam Daley must be suffering on a terrible Indians squad? Yeah, his .289/9/41 is truly awful.... Speaking of Cleveland, a solid 4-6 run has brought them to the brink of 30 wins.... Winning streaks have opened up solid leads for Tampa Bay (7 games) and the Dodgers (8), while the White Sox taking six straight has brought them to just two games behind Detroit.

July 4-6 @ CALIFORNIA
Somehow we've attained some separation from these guys (five games), with them at 37-47. Their hitting is really declining, now 16th in runs, AVG, and OBP, and next-to-last in nearly everything else. Pitching is better, at 11th in runs allowed, but they still have a -65 differential. William Swanson (.312/25/80) and Mauricio Marquez (.315/21/62) are about the extent of the offense. We need a kick-start with this series: will we show up?

HAW pitchers: RH Andy Burke (1-1, 5.30) / LH Matt Waugh (11-1, 2.11) / RH Danny Carbajal (3-2, 3.51)
CAL pitchers: RH Aaron Moore (1-2, 5.08) / LH Travis Fox (7-3, 3.76) / RH Nate Elder (7-8, 5.54)

#85: WIN 8-3 ... we allow 14 hits but no runs until the 9th...HR from Hed and Venters, and 2 hits from Pfeifer! A 2B gets some hits!
#86: LOSS 4-7 ... 2 HR from Medici, but Waugh throws in his 2nd straight stinker...2 more hits from Pfeifer, and a rare hit from Simmons
#87: WIN 8-7 ... down 6-3 we score 5 runs late to eke this one out...15 hits, 6 doubles: old school!

A much needed two wins, keeping us just above the .500 mark and within 7 of the Rangers. We're not quite dead yet.... Venters (.356/.397/.616 in 73 AB) has really responded to being moved into the #2 slot.... Still trying to figure out our rotation: Waugh is trending down but I'm not worried about him (yet); Pearse has been better; the rookies Carbs and Burke have struggled of late; Irvin was terrible in his return but will get one more shot at least. Skiff has tossed well in AAA so could come right back up if Irvin barfs again.... ELSEWHERE: Oakland has dropped right off the radar, but slugging 3B Ryan Walton leads MLB with 39 HR, and just reached 450 for his career.... Six wins on the trot for Cleveland! What a world, what a world.... League-wide, hitting has backed off from those early-season heights, but overall ERA in the AL still sits at 5.32 and averages at .280.

July 7-9 vs MIAMI
A team having a very similar time as us, at 42-45 and with the 9th-ranked offense matched with 6th-place pitching. A +22 run differential also tells you something is amiss with their record. They also just traded young 3B Jose Pantoja to the Yankees for 32-year-old former closer Daryl Kennedy, an odd deal if you ask me. (Pantoja will be replace by Jon Ladd, who's good but also 35; and while the bullpen is made better here, that's not putting them into the playoff race.) Anyway, they took three from us back in May, triggering a 7-game run for them but the beginning of a 4-11 run for us. Let's avoid that this time out.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (5-5, 3.97) / RH Josh Irvin (2-7, 8.12) / RH Andy Burke (2-1, 4.28)
MIA pitchers: LH Victor Nunez (6-5, 5.16) / RH Jason Simon (7-3, 5.01) / LH Dustin Panos (2-1, 4.55)

#88: LOSS 5-6 ... we try but can't come back from a 6-0 deficit...GRAND SLAM by Pfeifer and a solo shot by Medici are the highlights
#89: LOSS 0-3 ... 3 hits here...why am I even trying to adjust this lineup?
#90: LOSS 3-7 ... one guess at who put more runners on base and had more XBH tonight, but still lost

Yeah, not great. Swept again by these guys, and that's probably the nail in our coffin.... Next steps are figuring out who'll still be here next year. There's some salary we could clear out, and maybe a couple who could be DFA'd in place of prospects who deserve some long looks. One problem with that is the wave of injuries that's struck AAA and AA, meaning a few guys who may deserve call-ups are no longer available.... Weirdness: I've put in three waiver claims for pitchers recently, to help out in AAA. All three have been ignored. No other teams claimed the players. What gives?... ELSEWHERE: We have our first no-hitter of the season: Portland's Tony Arriaga walks six but fans eight and no-nos the Robins in a 6-0 win. The Pioneers have been solid this year, at 49-41, but still sit ten games in arrears of the Dodgers.... TWELVE straight for the White Sox now, putting them a game ahead of the Tigers. Both of these teams could have 100 wins this season.... Injuries are still bedeviling the Mets, and they've gone 13-20 over the last month-plus to fall to fourth in the NL East.

June 11-13 vs SEATTLE
I expect no joy for the next week, given this series and a following one with Texas. Second in runs but with 13th-ranked pitching, so maybe we can lose games 8-6 instead. Breakout season for 2B Ger Van Mourik, .348/.407/.652 with 21 HR. With OF Luis Hernandez (.340) on the DL, rookie Mike Bruno was moved into the lineup and has responded, batting .387 over the last month. Really, everyone is hitting but C Arturo Sena, but even his .188 (only ten points below his career average, tbf) goes along with 13 HR and solid defense. The rotation, alas, has been a mess, and three of the current crew have ERAs over seven. As good as their hitting has been, with Houston now just a game behind they'll need better pitching to hold the Astros off and to catch the Rangers.

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (11-2, 2.51) / RH Danny Carbajal (3-2, 3.76) / RH Mike Pearse (5-6, 4.28)
SEA pitchers: RH Daniel Newell (0-0, 7.36) / RH Steve Davenport (6-6, 7.94) / RH Danny Diaz (10-4, 4.70)

#91: WIN 7-6 ... early 7-0 lead, then hang on for your lives...Royer and Venters homer, and Lynn goes 4-for-4, scores 3 times and steals 3 bases
#92: WIN 8-2 ... solid all-around, with Carbs holding them to 5 hits, and 2 HR from Medici, one from Pfeifer
#93: WIN 8-0 ... like old times: 2 H each for Groff and Simmons, same for Lynn and Royer...2-hit ball over 7 IP from Pearse, 8 K and 4 BB

Shocking. I guess I should poor-mouth the guys a lot more, huh. Best combined series we've played in a long time.... The retooling begins. First, we make a minor deal with Cleveland, sending long-shot OF prospect Sean Buttry (12th round in 2053) for pitcher Jake Hathcock, a quad-A type who'll shore up our injury-riddled staff in Santa Barbara. The second deal was bigger, sending the perpetually-disappointing Kyle Johnson to Tampa Bay for two pitchers. Johnson started '54 as our closer, earning 19 saves, but constant blowups made me move him to middle relief, and now out of town. In return we get two swingmen, Jonathan Sitzler and Trevor Kaufmann. Sitzler will move into the Hawaii pen, while Kaufmann goes to AAA but may get a September callup. (But he now has a pending injury.).... Lineup moves: Groff will split at 1B vs RHP with the struggling Josh Matson, and J.J. Simmons goes back to full-time SS duty.... ELSEWHERE: 9 straight for LA, opening up an 11-game lead over Portland and becoming the third team to reach 60 wins on the season.... 43 HR for Oakland's Ryan Walton, giving A's fans at least one thing to cheer for this year.... Fun series coming up: Chicago (63-30, 612 runs, 200 HR, best offense, 7th-ranked pitching) visits Detroit (61-32, 590 runs, 3rd best offense and pitching). Too bad they also don't finish the season playing each other.

......

TL;DR Version: More schizo play, going 6-6 and sitting at 47-46 on the year, seven games out of first. We get swept by sub-.500 Miami then turn around and dominate a solid Seattle team. Okay, sure. The two trades don't really move the needle that much, but moving Johnson will save us some bucks over the next couple of seasons and may open the doors to more bullpen competition this off-season. I tried to get some hitting for him, but the only decent offers on that front came in the shape of aging outfielders no better than what we've got already.

More about this later, but rumor has it that the anti-baseball faction in our ownership has been a 20-year vacation courtesy of the federal government, and that next year's budget could actually tick up a bit. We won't be anywhere near last year's high of $226M, but a small recovery nonetheless.

Bub13 · 06-13-2021, 12:25 PM

July 14-16 @ TEXAS
Despite our last series, I still expect little from this one. At 54-39, the Rangers haven't run away with the division, but they have a narrow four-game lead over Houston and another one over Seattle. Hitting has finally come around, to 6th in runs despite sitting 10th in average (at .278 they're three points and three positions behind us). Four regulars are batting over .300 and three of them have over 20 HR. Pitching is 2nd overall despite still having five pitchers on the DL. Bill Butts has the worst ERA among the starters at 5.13, which may be the best fifth-place number in the AL, tbh. They've taken two of three in each of our three series this year.

HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (2-8, 7.58) / RH Andy Burke (2-2, 4.81) / LH Matt Waugh (12-2, 2.71)
TEX pitchers: RH Sean Reed (6-6, 4.55) / LH Bill Butts (7-8, 5.13) / LH Bobby Daniel (11-4, 2.97)

#94: LOSS 1-8 ... oh, Irvin, you scamp. Back to the farm with you...2.1 shutout IP in Sitzler's relief debut, at least
#95: WIN 7-3 ... Burke gives up 10 hits but rides a 5-run 5th to a win...Medici's 3-run HR is the key hit, and Royer knocks 3 hits
#96: LOSS 1-7 ... more woes for Waugh, getting pulled in the 6th...another HR for Medici, but only six other hits tonight

Four series with Texas, four 1-2 results.... After a 10-0 beginning to the year, Waugh's last five starts have amounted to three losses, 28 innings, and 23 earned runs.... Back to .500 and 8 games behind the Rangers. With 66 games left, of course we're not out of it; but this long run of subpar play shows no sign of abating.... New AAA pitcher Trevor Kaufmann lasts just one out in his first game before leaving with an injury. He's out for 8 months.... Irvin earns a quick trip back to California, and Biff Skiff makes his return. God knows what awaits.... ELSEWHERE: 29 hits away from 3000 for Giants 3B Juan Garcia. He's slumped a bit and is batting a career low .298.... Twelve straight wins for LA and their $1B bullpen. They should have the division wrapped up by Labor Day.... Chicago takes 2 out of 3 from Detroit, now has a three game lead in the Central.... Cincy's Cris Frias must be a thrill to watch: in 120 IP he's fanned 171 batters, but also walked 116.

July 17-19 @ CLEVELAND
They've been stuck at the bottom of the league table for most of the year, but something has changed of late as they're 13-2 this month. Only 14th in scoring despite better hitting (7th in average), mostly due to low OBP and OPS. But the 2-4 slots in the lineup are crushing it: Marcus Stokes at .348, Manny Ayala .344, and best of all is Matthew Hill at .364/30/82. Pitching is 15th, but the rotation ERA is league-worst. Youngsters Dudley Mele and Tyler Malinich have gotten better during the season after horrible starts, while Sam Tedder has not. But vet Ryan Ratliff just looks cooked, postively Skiffian this season. Of course these guys have gotten hot just in time for us to come to town.

HAW pitchers: RH Danny Carbajal (4-2, 3.61) / RH Mike Pearse (6-6, 4.04) / RH Biff "I'm Back" Skiff (0-4, 9.97)
CLE pitchers: RH Dudley Mele (7-4, 4.97) / RH Sam Tedder (2-9, 8.60) / RH Tyler Malinich (0-4, 5.92)

#97: WIN 4-1 ... another solid outing for Carbs, allowing 2 H over 7 IP...2 RBI for Ulkini, who then gets hurt
#98: WIN 11-10 ... 4-0 lead, then 5-3, 9-7, and a run for each team in the 9th...2 HR by Royer, and Gase hits his 1st career blast
#99: WIN 8-7 ... another messy win but I'll take it...HR for Medici, and also Kelley of all people...5 ER in 5 IP from Skiff, lowering (!) his ERA

Grouchy Bub strikes again. We really needed this sweep, and we move into a third place tie with Seattle.... Skiff doesn't impress in his return, but frankly it's been a low bar for him this year.... Injuries, man: dtd dings for Ulkini (3 weeks) and Pearse (1 week), and DL stints for Hed (2-3 weeks) and now Sitzler (five weeks). Add these to the 25 minor leaguers also out of action.... OF Stephen Eason comes up for his first stint this year, replacing Hed, and RP Brad Cahill gets his first MLB summons to replace Sitzler.... ELSEWHERE: White Sox SS Chris "Friable" Rock suffers his annual injury and will miss a month. Rock was batting .320 and playing solid defense, so he'll be missed. But they had to expect this.... Six games separate the top four teams in the AL West, and 9 games the top 5 in the NL East. With about two months remaining only LA has a seemingly insurmountable lead, at 15 games over Portland.... Hot teams: Boston, closing to 6 behind Tampa; St Louis, 2 behind New Orleans; and Minnesota, way back of CHI/DET but closing in on the fight for the second AL wild card.

July 21-23 vs TAMPA BAY
60-39 and six games ahead of the Red Sox. Third in runs and ninth in pitching, and a nice round +99 run differential. The usual suspects are all there at the top of the lineup--Orlando Navarro, Jorge Arriola, Edgar Aranceta, and Jose Taveras--all producing tons of offense. And former Isles star SS Rich Stoneback has held his creaky 36-year old body together so far, producing 11 HR and solid defense. The rotation looks a little wobbly but the bullpen has been top five, with Ken Zeolla (31 saves) closing and Bubba Fairweather and Jeff Ward as solid setup men. We'll also probably see our former big guy Kyle Johnson, whom we just traded and who also registered a win in his one appearance here. They're looking good to rack up their fourth consecutive 90-win season, and possibly their first triple digit season since 2031.

HAW pitchers: RH Andy Burke (3-2, 4.54) / LH Matt Waugh (12-3, 2.87) / RH Danny Carbajal (5-2, 3.38)
TBR pitchers: RH Greg Drake (7-5, 5.94) / RH Roberto Melo (6-3, 5.65) / RH Mat Caldwell (6-13, 5.40)

#100: WIN 9-7 ... we hold on after an early 8-2 lead...HR for Royer and Medici...dtd injury for Covington
#101: WIN 9-7 ... 3 guys rack up 8 hits: 4 for Lynn, 2 each for Medici and Kolb...7 walks too tho...Waugh gets smoked, pulled in 2nd inning
#102: WIN 12-4 ... offensive explosion! 12 runs, 15 hits, 10 walks...4 hits for Kolb, Lynn and Matson with 3 each

Well that came out of nowhere. None of the pitchers showed up (outside of Carbs), but a bunch of hits, 7 HR, and a gazillion walks gave us the sweep... After startinng the year 10-0 with a 1.69 ERA, Waugh's last 6 starts have amounted to: 2-3, 29.2 IP, 38 H, 29 ER, 35 K, 15 BB. Oh brother.... 8 guys out with injury right now. Two--Pearse and Covington--will be back in two days with dtd tweaks. Hed and Ulkini will take 2-3 weeks; everyone else is done.... One of our top pitching prospects, Steve Shinnick, in AA, is out for four months. Hopefully he won't lose any steam, as he's another guy I was counting on to see in camp.... ELSEWHERE: We're solidly into the "Trade prospects for mediocre relievers! Stat!" Silly Season. Three of them in this stetch, including first place Washington acquiring 37-year old David Salguero from California. Sags has pitched terribly all year and has already announced his retirement, so what gives.... Tampa traded several quality prospects to Arizona for Mat Campbell (see game 102 above), just in time for us to take him to the woodshed. Welcome to the AL, Mat!

July 24-26 vs OAKLAND
Hitting has not come around, at 15th in runs; but 6th in home runs thanks largely to Ryan Walton (45) and Felix Reyes (29). Pitching ranks 12th, and the rotation--while not great--has held up despite having three top starters on long-term DL. Another former Isles star is still going here, 39-year old 2B Mike Hunter, batting .295 and looking at yet another season of 40 doubles. With 625 career doubles, he's 14th all-time and closing in on Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols, just ahead of him. They've played better this month, 12-9, and have passed California to get out of last place.

HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (0-4, 9.87) / RH Mike Pearse (6-6, 4.08) / RH Andy Burke (4-2, 4.62)
OAK pitchers: RH Oscar Escobedo (2-1, 4.55) / RH Jason Petty (2-9, 5.94) / RH Jaden Bartholomew (8-9, 5.80)

#103: LOSS 4-6 ... a 4-1 lead goes away quickly...surprise, another bad outing from Skiff...3-run HR from Medici, on fire this week
#104: WIN 3-1 ... finally, pitching!...8 hits and 7 walks tonight...6 IP of 2-hit ball from Pearse on his return
#105: WIN 13-9 ... 3-run HR from Groff and Covington, and 15 total hits...nobody pitches well, however, from either team

Who needs pitching, right? I think the rotation plays rock-paper-scissors every five days to see who's going to be the one guy to pitch well.... First time in a while we're outhitting some really mediocre pitching: we went from 12th in runs a week ago to tied for sixth.... We've crept up to seven (seven!) games over .500 and three games behind Texas, one behind Houston.... Potentially bad news is closer Jordan Ruiz and his pending injury diagnosis.... A few weeks ago we offered minor league deals to two pitchers to help fill in some AAA and AA injuries. Both tuned us down, their agents "insulted" by said minor league offers. Well, both ended up signing tiny deals for European clubs. Get new agents, guys.... ELSEWHERE: A 2-8 run has dropped the Mets to 9 games out, proving that losing your top three hitters to long-term injury is definitely NOT a winning strategy.... a 5-game losing streak for Cleveland and a 7-game slide for Montreal has them at matching 39-66 records.... 72 wins has the Chisox on top of everybody, but LA just reached the 70-win plateau as well. And the glorious AL West? The only division without a 60-win team.... 20 hits away from 3K for Juan Garcia, back up to a .302 average. In his 16-year career he's only ever not hit .300 three times, and each of those seasons he batted .299. He's also never won a batting crown.

July 27-29 vs HOUSTON
Part of a three-team phalanx making a charge on the Rangers: 2 games back at 57-48, we're another game back, Seattle a game behind us. Hitting is leaving the building, now 11th in runs and 16th in average. Pitching, however, is keeping the ship afloat: 4th overall, and the league's best bullpen. Jose Renteria is pretty much the lone offensive star, at .306/33/79, and Kevin Mazurowski rebounded from a terrible June to get back to .273/20/70. One worry for the future here is that there's very little offensive talent in the system, and the youngish guys on the big clubs play solid defense--the team is 1st in efficiency and ZR--but don't hit much. Some promising pitchers are brewing up, however.

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (12-3, 3.23) / RH Danny Carbajal (6-2, 3.51) / RH Mike Bader (4-6, 5.57)
HOU pitchers: LH Chris Salmela (3-5, 5.17) / RH Ron Mills (7-4, 4.85) / RH Chris James (5-12, 7.27)

#106: WIN 6-0 ... Waugh is back, fanning 10 yielding just 3 hits...but the big story is Medici going 4-for-4 with 3 HR, tying the team record
#107: WIN 3-2 ... strong game from Carbs, but Kearns gets the win because we wait to score all 3 runs in the 9th
#108: WIN 8-1 ... Matson homers, Medici raps 3 more hits...7.2 IP of shutout ball by Bader on his return from the DL

Another out-of-nowhere series. The Astros aren't hitting much these days, and we really took advantage. Great starts by all three pitchers, and a nice welcome back to Bader from injury.... His return means Skiff goes back to AAA, after just a disastrous run of starts for him this year.... Medici's big game ties the team record, set by Josh Frederick in '52 and tied by Dante Padilla in '49. He's now reached 40 HR on the season.... We have 15 pitchers on the DL across our system as of this writing. Not ideal.... ELSEWHERE: Miami is shoring up their depth for a run at the post-season, acquiring old-but-still solid (and former Isle) 2B Mike Hunter from Oakland and read-for-primetime pitching prospect Dylan Tate from Boston. In the first deal, they also swapped big-swinging and near-identical prospects for some reason, adding 1B Jeff White and moving OF Jorge Ledesma. Currently they're just outside a wildcard slot, so they're rolling the dice on a hot August.... We're on a 9-1 run, but Texas swept California to add a game to their lead, now three games.... RUN TO 3K WATCH: Giants 3B Juan Garcia now has 2850 hits, just 15 away.

July 31 vs CALIFORNIA
The month ends with the first of three against the last place Angels. They were hanging on through May, just three games under .500 and still within range in the up-for-grabs West; but a mediocre June and now a 7-20 July ended any hopes they had of making a late run. That, and a 17th-ranked offense, still waning despite a resurgent William Swanson (.321 with 34 HR). Pitching sits 11th, and faces some questions now with the regressions of young pros Nate Elder and Aaron Moore. At least Seth O'Neill has started living up to his top-of-the-rotation promise. There isn't a lot of depth in the prospect tank, but LF Chris Burns is having a solid rookie season (.270/12/44) and when he's fully cooked he'll be a major mid-lineup bat. Fellow OF kids Tim Cyr and Adam Richardson could join him to form a solid outfield crew at least, even if the infield cupboard looks a little barren.

HAW pitcher: RH Mike Pearse (7-6, 3.96)
CAL pitcher: RH Seth O'Neill (10-7, 3.96)

#109: WIN 3-2 ... Gase goes 3-for-3, Venters 2 hits, 2 RBI, and a solo HR...8 K in 6.1 IP from Pearse

Nice way to finish the month, and on a six-game win streak.... Joe Lynn broke his own team record with his 49th steal on the season, and now has 176 for his career, in third behind the still-active-but-slowing Groff (265) and Simmons (247). On the flip side, he's also broken his team record for times caught stealing, at 24 this season.... We reached 60 wins after this game, a mark we hit around late June last year.... ELSEWHERE: A pile of trades greets the end of the month, but few make any waves at all. Richmond acquires OF Phil Cronce from Miami for a couple of prospects; only of interest because Cronce has hit .300 with 73 HR over 2+ seasons with the Marlins, something my scouts say he shouldn't be capable of. (And wasn't Miami making moves to get INTO the playoffs? Odd one here.).... Richmond is just two games behind Washington in the NL East, and top-to-bottom there is only separated by 11 games, the tightest total spread of any division.... A middling stretch from Detroit has them at "only" 69-40, but six games behind Chicago and in third place overall, as LA went 20-8 this month to finish 72-37.

......

TL;DR Version: A 13-3 run here is more like it! (And 19-9 for the month, our best one of '54!) That brings us to 60-49 on the season, three games behind the Rangers and two up on Houston. One bit of news that escaped attention: we agreed on a major contract extension with Jules Medici, at 8 years and $173M. He's ours through 2060, at an escalating rate that averages out to just under $20M per season: an absolute bargain if you ask me. After '60 he has an opt out, but if he stays, he'll play two more seasons at $25.9M per with us. This deal eats up his final two years of arbitration, but seeing as the estimates for him we got were about the same as what we signed him for (16M and 18M estimate versus 17.9M and 18.9M reality), you can only guess what his salary ask would have been after that. (Hint: in excess of $30M per season is my guess.)

Finally, with the trade deadline here, we look around a bit but make no moves. I skulked about for a possible solid offensive 2B option on the market, but the two guys I looked at were too pricey: Mets all-star Alfonso Torres and Cards vet (and former Isle!) Manny Rangel. Both teams wanted Matt Waugh as a starting point. LOL good luck with your failing seasons, fellow GMs. So, no deals and now we dance with what we brung. A solid August will keep us right in the playoff hunt, and possibly the division race too. A bad month means...we gut Santa Barbara and get some more MLB looks at a host of prospects in September.

03-18-2021, 06:34 PM	#402
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	Playoffs 2053 Will our 122-win season result in the ultimate playoff payoff? Let's...find...out... [Two asides: ace Matt Waugh won September pitcher of the month, going 4-1 with a 2.54 ERA, striking out 45 while walking just 4. Next, Short A Poughkeepsie won their second NYP League title, but AAA Santa Barbara fell short in their quest for a seventh PCL title. If you're keeping track at home, that's titles for AA Androscoggin and Short A Poughkeepsie, but only a participation trophy for AAA Santa Barbara.] WILDCARD SERIES In the AL, Chicago grabbed game one from Texas 8-3, but the Rangers came back to take the next two and win the series. The top two offenses in MLB produced a relatively low-scoring series: games two and three were 6-1 and 4-3 affairs. Rangers OF Mike Olivera won MVP honors, going 6-for-12 with 2 HR and 6 RBI. Texas now faces Hawaii, surprise surprise. (Detroit v Tampa Bay is the other series.) Over in the senior circuit, Cincy pounded Giant pitching to the tune of 25 runs in their two game sweep. The teams combined for 14 home runs over the two games, which should be record even if it isn't. (Shut it. You know what I mean.) The Reds will now face their divisional rivals from Chicago. (Philadelphia v Los Angeles is the other series.) ...... DIVISIONAL SERIES Well of course, it's the Rangers again. We've taken them out before, but last year they stopped us short on their way to a franchise-first world title. We had a crazy season this go-round, but they also won 98 games, so this is no slouch of a team. Second in total offense, first in home runs, and even fifth in pitching despite a pile of injured hurlers. You know their Murderer's Row already: Ronnie Halvorson (.287/46/111), Mike Olivera (.361/39/116 and the AL batting champ), Ryan Boers (.310/56/133), William Swanson (.325/62/158 and the HR king), and Eric Robbins (.341/43/105) lead off the lineup. And where someone's stats pale in comparison to those figures, they were due to injuries rather than poor play (e.g., Omar Gurrola .271/16/46 in 332 AB and D.J. Flores .280/16/49 in 257 AB). Pitching has been solid if unspectacular, and with a rotation ERA near five, I think we can make hay there. Best-of-five series. Game One: Texas (RH Jesus Aguilera 15-11, 5.04) @ Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh 21-5, 2.50). We break open a 1-1 game in the second with a six-run frame, sparked by Medici's bases loaded double. Royer adds a solo shot in the 3rd, then a 2-run knock in the 6th, and despite giving up several late runs we cruise tonight to a 12-4 win. HAW leads series, 1-0 Game Two: Texas (LH Bobby Daniel 16-5, 5.14) @ Hawaii (RH Biff Skiff 16-5, 3.70). This one's different right out of the gate as Robbins blasts a grand slam in the top of the first and adds a 2-run shot in the third. We never recover, going down 9-1 early. Skiff is pulled after that third inning homer, and three more relievers give up an additional seven runs. Wow. Final score Texas 14, Hawaii 2, and there goes home field advantage. Series tied, 1-1 Game Three: Hawaii (RH Mike Bader 17-6, 3.87) @ Texas (RH Paul Labbe 14-8, 4.23). A home run, two doubles, and a pile of singles put us up 4-0 after two innings. But...Gurrola homers in their 2nd and Robbins hits another one in the third, and after two big innings it's now an 8-4 deficit. Where is our pitching? The offense sputters after that early outburst, and we give up two more late runs to make the final score 10-4. Ugly. TEX leads series, 2-1 Game Four: Hawaii (RH Mike Pearse 6-2, 3.80) @ Texas (LH Bill Butts 14-9, 5.53). Two singles and a double plate a run for Texas in their second, but we get three back in the third thanks to RBI singles from Medici and Royer. The Rangers tie it when Robbins hits ANOTHER home run in their third. But after that, our solid pitching returns From Beyond. Pearse settles in and allows only two more runners until he's lifted in the seventh, new hero Royer brings home two runs with a long double in the fifth, and that's all the scoring tonight. Pearse restores some faith in the staff with 9 K and just 4 H over his six innings. Final score 5-3 good guys. Series tied 2-2 Game Five: Texas (LH Bobby Daniel) @ Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh). We don't make it easy on ourselves, do we. One game will keep us going or put us in the "major disappointment" pool. Again.... Texas gets on the board early, scratching out single runs in the 2nd and 3rd, and we small-ball our way into a run in the bottom of the 3rd. Nobody gets more than a single runner on base until the sixth, when Medici--battling a cold--puts a ball deep into the left field seats, bringing home Daley as well. Can we hold it? Decisively, NO! This time it's Halvorson getting the honors with a two-run homer off of Ruiz in the 7th, and we're down 4-3. Sigh. So we go to the 8th: two outs, Daley on second, Matson on first. Medici up, 2-2 count...and he smashes a line drive into the gap! It gets to the wall! Daley scores! Matson scores! Islanders lead!!! Finally! Collier comes into the 9th and takes care of business, setting them down 1-2-3, and it's over! PHEW. Final score 5-4. HAW WINS series, 3-2 Elsewhere: Sweeps, everywhere you turn. Ninety-nine win Detroit is wiped out by Tampa Bay, while LA takes apart Philadelphia (very surprising) and Chicago dumps Cincinnati. All in three games. So we're exhausted by our series while everyone else is just relaxing by the pool. Great. Man is my stomach churning. Josh Matson is named MVP of our series, batting .560, although you could make a case for Medici's clutch game five and his 10 RBI overall. (And despite losing, a case could be made for Texas' Eric Robbins, who hit .350 with 5 HR and 10 RBI). Also, our starting pitching was pretty terrible, with Skiff and Bader stinking up the joint. Liles, moved to long relief after a dismal regular season, pitched 7.1 innings of strong relief, and may get a start in our next series. ...... LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES It's an old-school matchup in the NL, with the Cubs taking on the Dodgers. LA has been pretty solid for some time, but last won a title in 2042 (and beat us in 2038, the bastards). Chicago, on the other hand, is still looking to break the curse, still waiting for their first title since 1908. Obviously I'm pulling for the Cubs here, but of course want either of them to fall beneath our mighty selves in the Series. But first, we have to get past... ...Tampa Bay, who posted their third consecutive 90-win season, and their first division title since 2046. Like Texas, they're solid both ways: 4th in offense and 3rd in pitching. Their top four batters--Jorge Arriola, Edgar Aranceta, Jose Tavaras, and Vance Wise--combined to hit 198 home runs this season. (Compare that to the 241 our whole team hit.) And don't sleep on CF Kris Warner (.273/28/92), the 30-year-old former 1st overall pick (Washington) who's revitalized his career since signing here in '52. The rotation isn't loaded with power pitchers, and no one had a standout season, but all four playoff starters were above league average, which is actually much better than it sounds. At 95 wins they had the "worst" record of any AL playoff team, but this is by far not a pushover team. They made the best in-season move of the year as well when they traded for OF Jose Tavares, who hit 24 HR in his 55 games down the stretch. He'll be a free agent soon, but if he brings them a title, who can argue. Best-of-seven series. Game One: Tampa Bay (RH Carlos Munoz 16-11, 4.66) @ Hawaii (RH Biff Skiff 16-5, 3.70). Matson homers early, but we forget how to hit, and take a 1-1 game into the 9th with just five hits to show. Skiff goes great, but Collier comes in to pitch the 9th...and gives up a 2-run shot to Tavares and that's the ballgame. Troubling. Tampa Bay leads series, 1-0 Game Two: Tampa Bay (LH Jon Jemison 13-11, 4.82) @ Hawaii (RH Chris Liles 11-7, 5.55). Liles makes the start and frankly, I could've made a better decision. He gives up runs in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th before leaving with one out in that final frame and down 6-1. We get one back in our half of the fifth, but Booker in relief throws up to the tune of five runs in the 6th. Stunned. We somehow make it a ballgame in the 7th, with three doubles, three walks, and a hatful of singles plating eight runs for us, and it's a close 12-10 now. But we yield one more in the 9th and can't get anybody past second base in the final two frames, and drop both games at home. Very troubling. Tampa Bay leads series, 2-0 Game Three: Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh 21-5, 2.50) @ Tampa Bay (LH John Odom 17-6, 4.21). What can I say about this game? We blow a 5-0 start, with Waugh pitching like an amateur. Despite outhitting the Rays 13-8, Waugh and Booker keep soft-tossing out there, and we never regain the lead despite adding a couple of late runs to make it close. Tampa does lose closer Bubba Fairweather, though, so maybe there's some light after all. Final score 9-8. Tampa Bay leads series 3-0 Game Four: Hawaii (RH Mike Pearse 6-2, 3.80) @ Tampa Bay (RH Greg Drake 13-13, 4.68). Backs against the wall, and how do we respond? By giving up a 2-run triple to the third batter of the game and going down 3-0 after one. But then we wake up, scoring one, two, three, and two runs in the next four innings and taking an 8-4 lead into the 7th. We wisely keep Booker off the mound tonight, and the pen responds by giving up zero runs; we add four more to our pile and finally FINALLY get on the board with a 14-4 win. Tampa Bay leads series, 3-1 Game Five: Hawaii (RH Biff Skiff 16-5, 3.70) @ Tampa Bay (RH Carlos Munoz 16-11, 4.66). Still running up that hill, and we get off to a good start in the 1st with a two-run triple by Frederick and a Royer RBI double. Vance Wise brings one home for the Rays, but we're up 3-1 after one. Our startig pitching finally shows up, as Skiff goes the distance, giving up just 8 hits and allowing zero runs after that Wise hit. Goodloe breaks his slump with an RBI in the 6th, and we add one more late for good measure to take this one 6-1 and live to fight on. Tampa Bay leads series, 3-2 Game Six: Tampa Bay (LH Jon Jemison 13-11, 4.82) @ Hawaii (RH Mike Bader 17-6, 3.87). Liles gets the boot in favor of Bader: will it pay off? Well, everyone exhales a bit when we score 5 in the first thanks to the red-hot Medici and Royer, and cap it with a 3-run shot from Daley. And Bader? He's on it, giving up only solo HR in the 8th and 9th before yielding to Collier. In the meantime, we score 5 more times and finally give our home fans something to cheer about in this series. Still alive! Game Seven incoming! Final score is 10-2. Series tied, 3-3 Game Seven: Tampa Bay (LH John Odom 17-6, 4.21) @ Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh 21-5, 2.50). Okay here goes... Fast start! Matson pokes a 2-run shot in the 1st and Daley singles Pederson home in the 2nd. All that is erased when Waugh surrenders 3 in the 4th, thanks in part to a Tavares home run. There's fight in us yet, as we add single runs in our 4th and 5th innings, taking a 5-3 lead. The teams trade runs in the 7th, and we nudge across another single run in the 8th to take a 7-4 lead into the 9th. A 3-run lead with our 45-save closer Collier coming in means money in the bank right? Alas, no. With one run already in, he tosses a meatball to Tavares, of all people, who promptly blasts a 3-run shot into deep center field and now we're LOSING 8-7. It's quiet as a pin. But are we done? Hell no! With one out, Frederick doubles, but Lynn grounds out. It all comes down to J.J. Simmons, and mercifully--PRAISE ZEUS--he lashes a single into right, scoring Frederick and sending us to extras! Collier is banished to the showers, and Germann allows a walk but fans two and we come to bat in the 10th. Remember when the Rays lost their closer in game three? Yeah, that mattered: Doug Pederson comes off the bench with one out and sends one over the right field wall and WHADDAYA KNOW THE COMEBACK IS COMPLETE! Pederson is mobbed, the fans go freaking nuts, and the Rays are stunned into disbelief. Final score 9-8 in 10 innings. HAWAII WINS SERIES, 4-3 What a crazy series. We looked deader than a doornail after that third game, but once our pitching showed up, everything changed. After giving up 26 runs in the first three games, we allowed only 7 over the next three. That last game was a wild ride, and we almost blew it thanks once again to poor pitching at the wrong time. Probably the only guy who is only mildly celebrating is franchise all-timer Adam Groff, who's only batted three times this post-season and didn't play at all in this series. Anyway...J.J. Simmons batted .519 and drove in the 9th-inning tying run, earning him the series MVP nod. All to the good. ...... The NL championship series nearly mirrored our own, as the Dodgers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead before the Cubs finally showed up. Facing defeat, Chicago won games in LA by 6-2 and 8-0 scores before taking game six back home 4-1. But unlike us, they couldn't top the final hurdle, falling at home 6-2, losing to series MVP Jeff Miller, who tossed a 1-0 shutout in game three and then allowed just two runs in 7.2 innings in the finale. He also added two hits and two RBI to the cause. Sorry, Cubs fans. It's wait until next year again. Too bad. __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!

03-20-2021, 06:35 AM	#403
StLee Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: NC Posts: 4,971	Wow! Congratulations on the comeback victory in the league championship series! Down 3-0 seems like it would make the down team feel hopeless. Apparently your Islanders know no fear! Great job! __________________ Fan of LSU sports (especially baseball and football), New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Pelicans, and Atlanta Braves (Dale Murphy for the HOF!). Current dynasties: Fallout 4's Commonwealth Baseball Organization Completed dynasty: Fallout: New Vegas' Mojave Baseball League Uniforms: My custom uniforms

03-20-2021, 02:19 PM	#404
Sizeman21 Major Leagues Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: The bleachers of Sportsman's Park Posts: 435	Omg that Tampa Bay series was close! __________________

03-22-2021, 06:58 PM	#405
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	World series 2053 The Dodgers won the NL West with 91 wins, swept the Phillies in three, then took out the Cubs in an epic seven-game tilt. This is yet another well-balanced team, finishing 3rd in NL offense and 1st in pitching. Three batters--Dave Von Eschen, Dustin Wasilewski, and Junjiro McDonnell--topped 40 HR, and every starter hit double figures. Wasilewski is the defending NL MVP and McDonnell was last year's Rookie of the Year. And if you're a long-time reader here, you probably remember my annual "RP Watch" during free agency, where the Dodgers corner the market year-after-year on free agent relievers. Now we see why: five pitchers are on the DL, all of whom were signees in the past two years, and all of whom figured to be on the big club this year. The staff is led by rookie star Everett Cronk, who could pull off the double-double of ROY and Cy Young. (Weirdly, he spent 2052 in AA as a reliever.) Despite some middling years by the late '40s, they've been good for a while now and have won the division two years running. They last won a title in '42, beating the Marlins, and in '38 they won by beating, um...us. Don't be decieved by them having "just" 91 wins: they played in a tough division and on paper that lineup looks as good as anyone. Game One: Los Angeles (LH Everett Cronk 16-4, 2.72) @ Hawaii (RH Mike Pearse 6-2, 3.80). Not much to say here, other than we got Cronk'd: held to just three hits and no runs. Pearse keeps up for a while, but gets leaky enough to yield runs in innings 5 through 7, which we just can't counter. Yet again we lose a game at home. Final score, 4-0. Los Angeles leads series, 1-0 Game Two: Los Angeles (LH Chris Harris 6-10, 5.12) @ Hawaii (RH Biff Skiff 16-5, 3.70). Dammit no **ing offense again, outhit 13 to 7 and outscored 5 to 2 tonight. No other comment warrented, other than we've dug ourselves another huge ing hole. Los Angeles leads series, 2-0 Game Three: Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh 21-5, 2.50) @ Los Angeles (LH Jeff Miller 16-9, 4.55). Finally something good happens! Solo HR from Medici (4th inning) and Daley (8th) put us up 2-0, and we use a barrage of hits in the 9th to pile on three more runs. Waugh puts a runner on in the 9th so gets pulled for Collier with one out, but we escape and claw our way back into the Series with a 5-0 win. Los Angeles leads series 2-1 Game Four: Hawaii (RH Mike Bader) @ Los Angeles (RH Greg Sipes 8-7, 4.33). Lots of offensive efficiency here tonight, as the teams combine for 18 runs on 23 hits. Down 3-1, we plate a run in the 2nd, five in the 3rd, and another one in the 4th to go up 8-3. But LA counters with a Wasilewski triple in their half, scoring three times and tightening it to an 8-6 game. But we're not done, as Frederick hits a 2-run blast in the 6th to give us a four run lead. The teams exchange runs late, but our lead--and the win--holds up. Final score, 11-7. Series tied, 2-2 Game Five: Hawaii (RH Mike Pearse) @ Los Angeles (LH Everett Cronk). Bah. We actually get to Cronk early, putting on five runners and scoring three of them in the first. LA scratches back, thanks largely to a pair of 2-run homers, and takes a 5-3 lead into the 8th. We get one in that inning, but can't get another and LA adds one in their half. Final score 6-4. Once again, on the damn brink. Los Angeles leads series, 3-2 Game Six: Los Angeles (LH Chris Harris) @ Hawaii (RH Biff Skiff). Boy, this game... Skiff starts by putting a parade of runners on in the 2nd, allowing three to score and making LA's eternal smugness nearly unbearable. A walk and a pair of singles in our half, however, get one back for us, but we're still down two early on. In the third, tho, Wakabayashi doubles home Goodloe, and then with two outs Matson hits one out over the LF wall. Presto: a 4-3 lead after just three innings. The next three frames are much quieter, with no runs and only a handful of runners combined. But Skiff can't keep it up, allowing two runs on a single and back-to-back doubles: now we're down 5-4 and facing just two more innings in our season. We get a runner on in the 8th, so Harris is pulled for closer Josh Gall, who closes out that inning with ease. Collier pitches the top of the 9th, fanning two, and keeping our hopes alive. Down a run, bottom of the 9th, facing elimination, and the following happens: Pederson grounds out; Wakabayashi strikes out; but Lynn beats out a high chopper for an infield hit; Daley comes up, faces a 1-2 count, and gets enough of a Gall pitch to drive it into the right field stands! Opposite field two-out walk-off home run! Can you believe it? I guess I should've expected something like this when I saw Mark Messier outside the stadium before the game, wearing a Joe Namath jersey and promising everyone that we'd win the next two games. Still not there yet, but we're alive to play another day. WOW. Series tied, 3-3! Game Seven: Los Angeles (LH Jeff Miller) @ Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh). I rolled the dice by starting Skiff in game six, and now we get to trot out our ace, Waugh. Crazy? Stupid? Maybe, but my success rate with starters on short rest in the playoffs is somewhere around zero. Anyway, it worked, so the pre-game ESPN hacks can suck it... Bottom of the third, no score, two men on and Lynn cracks a double in the right-center gap, scoring both. One out later and Matson brings Lynn home with his 5th home run of the playoffs, and we're staked to a 4-0 lead. LA gets one back in the 4th, but in the bottom half Simmons cracks a TWO-RUN HOMER! J.J. "Annual Home Run" Simmons! That may just be a sign from the gods. It's now a 6-1 lead after four. Waugh sails along through the 5th, but trouble strikes in the 6th, when with two outs and a runner on first Waugh walks two, gives up a single, then hits a batter before he's replaced. Nate Kearns then yields a two-run double before getting out of the jam, but damage was done: the lead is now 6-5, and we're visibly tightening up. Nothing changes until the bottom of the 8th, when Matson leads off with another HR, and then--8 batters and 4 runs later--we salt this one away. Ruiz is the surprise pick--over Collier--to close out the 9th, but he fans two, gives up a single, then induces a weak grounder to first that Matson grabs and after stepping on the bag, IT'S OVER! CHAMPS AGAIN!!! WHAT A COMEBACK! Final score, 10-5. Hawaii WINS SERIES, 4-3** ...... Well that was easy, wasn't it? How we can make things look so simple during the regular season, but then dig ourselves into holes time and again during the playoffs, is truly amazing. I think we faced eight elimination games. Eight! And that Game Six! Terrifying. Every series went the distance, so if you're a fan of playoff excitement then you really got your money's worth. Speaking of that, more games means more money for the corporate overlords, and we raked in nearly $30M in post-season revenue. I wonder if that will affect the rumors I'm hearing out of accounting, however... Probably not. Now we turn our attention to the off-season. We have some contracts to consider, with several players facing free agency, as well as some pending options. Arbitration will surely take a big bite from the budget, and there are some key players who are beginning their arb years that we might want to get under long-term contracts instead: Medici, Pearse, Skiff, Bader, Irvin, those guys. That won't be easy, but that's why I make the big bucks. Attached Images __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!

03-23-2021, 04:35 PM	#406
Sizeman21 Major Leagues Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: The bleachers of Sportsman's Park Posts: 435	Wait...that's it....? Way to go Bub! Good one Islanders! Good season. Any goals for next season? Or just top your wins total from this season maybe? __________________

04-20-2021, 08:02 PM	#410
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	Opening Day 2054, and Beyond... Welcome to the twenty-first season of Hawaii Islanders baseball! The defending champs are coming off a dream season, winning an amazing 122 games and following that with the fifth title in franchise history. The 2054 season begins in March, on the 29th, so this first month of the season will span two months and bring 29 games. Seventeen of those will be at home, including a nine-game stint to begin the season. Can we expect more greatness this season? Let's find out! March 29-30/April 1 vs HOUSTON Last year's team won 83 games, ending a four-year run of sub-.500 campaigns. MLB says they'll win just 72 this time and finish fifth in the division. MLB also ranked them near the bottom of the pile in lost offseason WAR, but that was due more to not going after any big free agents than losing any major players. New additions: LF C.J. Howard, from CHC, a career .307 hitter coming off a .253 season; rookies CF Erik Kinnison, 3B Zach Gille, and RP Jason Knight; SP Ken Demers, from Miami, figures to be the ace of the staff; veteran journeymen SP Aaron Maloy and RP Tim Schuenke. Not a lot of dynamism in the lineup (exceptions: Jose Renteria .330/47/120 and Kevin Mazurowski's 45 HR) and a decent but uninspiring pitching staff means the guess of 72 wins may be about right. HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (21-5, 2.50) / RH Biff Skiff (16-5, 3.70) / RH Mike Pearse (6-2, 3.80) HOU pitchers: RH Ken Demers (3-1, 2.92) / RH Chris James (9-13, 4.76) / RH Aaron Maloy (9-11, 6.17) #1: WIN 3-1 ... scoreless through six, we win it with runs in the 7th and 8th...Waugh fans 10, and Johnson pitches a perfect 9th! #2: LOSS 2-10 ... Skiff is blasted out by the third, and we manage just two solo HR...Mazurowski drives in 8 #3: WIN 6-4 ... Watt's RBI double and Hed's 2-run triple in the 6th are the key hits...Pearse fans 11, bulpen tosses three shutout innings Not much hitting until that last game, with 13 there after just 5 and 6 in the first two.... Skiff struggled, and Nate Kearns gave up a slam in relief, but otherwise our pitching was solid.... Besides a few inconsequential minor league free agent signings, we did grab one insurance piece, inking 30-year-old OF Ian Henseler for AAA Santa Barbara. Henseler has played 218 MLB games, and hit 16 HR with Brooklyn in '52. He may wander off in May if we don't promote him, but he was worth that risk.... ELSEWHERE: Not much really to report after just three games... KC's Julius Burrows returned from injury and had his ongoing 31-game hitting streak ended on opening day.... Detroit's Luis Rodela stole six bases in the opening series; somehow I doubt he'll end up with 324 on the season.... why, yes, LA did nab another reliever, signing 39-year-old Tim Wormald for $5.2M and promptly dispatching him to AAA Albuquerque. April 2-4 vs OAKLAND From 101 wins in '52 to 77 last year, and a prediction for 79 this year, you can say the trend is not this team's friend right now. There's still potency in the lineup, with all-league sluggers Felix Reyes and Ryan Walton in the center of things, helped by returnees Noah Johnson, Randy Costello, and Justin Sandy. Rookie Pedro Ortiz looks decent as the new 1B, and they added veterans Aaron Blocker (RF) and Mike Hunter (2B) despite being well past their sell-by dates. Chris Larimer, Jim Schwartz, and rookie Tom Baker anchor a solid rotation, but they'll be hurt by the season-long loss of solid #2 guy Eric Stockton. The back-end of the rotation and the pen look just okay. And behind the scenes? Owner Lewis Wolff is already "worried" and the coaching staff is feuding right out of the gate. I don't know what effect that will have, but it could be fun to watch. HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (17-6, 3.87) / RH Josh Irvin (15-5, 4.67) / LH Matt Waugh (1-0, 1.12) OAK pitckers: RH Tom Baker (0-0, 8.31) / RH Jon Jones (11-9, 4.43) / RH Jaden Bartholemew (1-1, 3.59) #4: WIN 3-2 ... Hed ties it with a solo shot in the 8th, then Medici wins it with one in the 11th...Bader goes 9, but Johnson gets the win...Matson ejected #5: LOSS 5-9 ... Irvin is hooked quickly after 7 early runs...outhit only 11-9, but 3 HR vs zero tells the bigger tale #6: WIN 8-1 ... 2-hit, 13-K CG for Waugh and a GRAND SLAM for Royer, part of a six run 8th...2 hits each for Lynn and Watt Matson got plunked by Tom Baker in that first game, right after Hed's blast, leading to a brawl and suspensions for the two protagonists. Baker got 9 games, Matson 4. So Medici slides over to 1B and Groff goes into the lineup at DH.... We're 4-2 but not scoring at all, only 15th in the AL, with 27 (which tells you how offensive baseball is now).... Cold starts for Pederson (.150), Covington (.158), and Hed (.208). Groff is just 1-for-10 in his few starts.... ELSEWHERE: The Rays and the White Sox are 5-1, while a handful of teams are 1-5.... Mets starter Kyle Michael won a 7-3 outing against Brooklyn despite throwing ten walks over six innings. Manager Hunter Harvey was understanding, saying he'll allow Michael to "work it out." Harvey should know all about that, since he allowed nearly 7 walks per 9 innings over his own career.... The Dodgers keep adding players, although this time it was not a reliever, signing veteran SS Kevin Lutz for $4.2M. The ten-year vet is just a .236 hitter over his career, but remains one of the premier fielders at his position. April 5-7 vs BALTIMORE The long-term rebuild continues, as the franchise is working on four straight seasons with fewer than 70 wins. A 1-5 start hasn't helped owner Reginald Ehrlich's dyspepsia, but at least the team is "content" and the coaching staff is "ecstatic" about...something. They went cheap during the off-season, adding only three bargain-basement vets via free agency and fielding a roster with eight rookies or sophomores. Former #1 overall pick SS Eddie Feltman went straight from AA to the bigs last season, batting .236 but showing promise. He should develop fine and not be hampered by his early rise. But most curious is #5 starter Chris Sapp, a 31-year-old rookie who will make his debut against us this series. The prospect pool ranks right in the middle--18th--so I'm not sanguine that the fortunes here will change for the better anytime soon. (They're not helped by the penny-pinching Ehrlich, either.) HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (0-1, 20.25) / RH Mike Pearse (1-0, 6.00) / RH Mike Bader (0-0, 2.00) BAL pitchers: RH Chris Sapp (debut) / LH Tim Bruns (0-1, 7.11) / RH Jonas Chevalier (0-1, 11.57) #7: WIN 9-8 ... props to O's rookie 2B Steve McClellan, who popped 4 HR tonight...4 hits, HR and 6 RBI for Royer, and 3 hits for Hed #8: WIN 8-7 ... Lynn goes 4-for-5, while Pederson (1st) and Medici (2nd) bring the power tonight...not much pitching once again, but we'll take the win #9: WIN 6-4 ... we're outhit 12-8, but two errors are costly, giving us two unearned runs...2 hits each for Hed and Ped The sweep is welcome, but it was pretty ugly. We're up to 9th in offense now, but are pairing just a +4 run differential with a 7-2 record.... Hed het up, now batting .324, and Royer has picked up where he left off last year, batting .353/3/11. Lynn is red-hot at .410.... Zach Watt is quietly batting .333 and playing decent defense; so far so good at second base.... ELSEWHERE: Baltimore may be just 1-8 now (along with Austin), but with one big game Steve McClellan leads MLB with 9 HR.... Congrats to Mets SS Alex Duran, the first batter to 1.0 WAR. May you always be above replacement level.... Pirates rookie setup guy Pedro Luyanda tore his labrum, shelving him for the season. I mentioned him earlier in the off-seasonn, as he combines an elite curve with maybe the best changeup in the universe, but is an absolute menace on the mound as he walks a batter per inning and is prone to gopher balls. Pittsburgh may just be better off here... April 9-11 @ CHICAGO We warmed up with three teams not expected to figure for much this year, but now the schedule gets serious. Next up are the White Sox, currently tops in the Central at 7-2, with the 3rd best offense and 6th-ranked pitching. They've scored 74 runs (and hit 28 HR) in those 9 games: this is a serious, serious offense. Almost everyone is clicking, including 1B Elijah Pass, who hit .278 with 52 HR last year and is red-hot this time at .441/7/21. One piece of bad news is that perennial .300 hitter Chris Rock is awaiting diagnosis on his annual injury. If their pitching can hold up all season, they could be the best team in the league. To help with that, they went out and signed half a dozen relievers and journeyman starters Mike Head and Jesus Aguilar. The other newbies are 36-year-old DH Aaron Harrison (.271/31/104 with NYY) and rookie LF T.J. Walsh (.269 in a late-season cameo). They have an excellent chance to finally dethrone the Tigers: I say they do it. HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (0-1, 32.40) / LH Matt Waugh (2-0, 1.06) / RH Biff Skiff (0-1, 17.05) CHW pitchers: RH Jesus Aguilar (0-0, 16.88) / RH Jasper Cummings (1-0, 3.38) / RH Luke Weaver (1-0, 6.92) #10: WIN 9-7 ... a tame 4-3 game is broken open with Medici's 2-run blast keying a 5-run 8th, and we allow 4 late runs to make it closer than desired #11: WIN 7-1 ... Royer puts 2 out, driving in 5 runs, and four others get 2 hits each...Waugh leaves in the 4th, uh-oh...5.1 one-run innings from the pen #12: LOSS 5-6 ... Johnson falters for the first time this year, allowing the tying run in the 9th...we score in the 10th but allow 2 to lose it Pretty good series apart from some continued pitching lapses and a couple of injuries. First, Waugh has a mild back injury and is dtd for a week. He'll likely miss a start, meaning I may have to go with the dreaded "opener" for one game. Blecch. Second, Simmons got hurt in that last game on a defensive collision: broken finger, out six weeks. I call up Jim Pfeifer for his first taste of MLB action.... Pfiefer we got from STL in '52 for a couple of prospects, needing some middle infield farm depth. He's 23, a righty, and plays excellent defense although his arm is not quite good enough for regular duty at short. Decent-enough hitter, but he is probably more of a utility guy long-term. Kevin Kelley will start at short now, and Pfeifer will platoon at second (against LHP) with Zach Watt.... ELSEWHERE: Oakland lost SP Jim Schwartz for the season, meaning 2/3 of their top pitchers are done. Not great.... Cincy SP Eric Millett is enjoying his moment in the sun. The 33-year-old veteran, who's made 167 relief appearances with three teams across 8 seasons, was tossed into the rotation this year and has responded with two consecutive shutouts.... HOT: Hawaii, Tampa Bay, and Washington are 9-3. NOT: Toronto and Austin are 2-10.... Come play us, and drive in some runs: Chicago's Elijah Pass leads MLB with 24 RBI, Baltimore's Steve McClellan is second with 23. April 12-14 @ TEXAS The road trip moves on to Texas, our new intra-division rivals, and still a powerhouse despite losing all-world slugger William Swanson to the Angels. It hasn't been a great start, however, at 6-6 and with the offense ranked just 14th. They'll get it going, I'm sure, although they'll want someone better than Phil Thoma at catcher, batting just .128 this year after a .193 rate in 2053. (Sean Blong, anyone?) Despite having four pitchers on the DL they're second in runs allowed, getting solid starts from the top three starters and good depth in the bullpen. The only significant off-season additions were SP Sean Reed and CL Jimmy Warner, neither of whom are great shakes. Losing Swanson means some positional shifts and a full-time job for RF Ted Miller, who has power but can't begin to match Swanson's overall prowess. And they really should find room for 23-year-old Javier Tzoc, who's too good a fielder and hitter to sit on the bench. Too bad he can't catch. HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (1-0, 5.91) / RH Mike Bader (1-0, 3.38) / RH Josh Irvin (1-1, 8.38) TEX pitchers: RH Paul Labbe (2-0, 1.32) / RH Sean Reed (1-1, 8.71) / LH Bill Butts (0-1, 9.31) #13: LOSS 5-6 ... slow death tonight, giving up six one-run innings, including each of the last four frames...2 HR by Royer, Mr Hot Stuff #14: LOSS 2-9 ... quick death here, after an 8-run fourth...4 hits for Lynn, 4 walks for Kelley (tying the team record, congrats) #15: WIN 15-10 ... oof, our pitching...but 20 hits and 8 walks, smacking five HR, including Pfeifer's first MLB knock! Even after this series, somehow we're still sitting at 7th in runs allowed. I can't imagine how bad pitching around the AL must be right now.... The offense ranks just 9th, due mostly to slow starts by Matson (.278, 0 HR), Pederson (.245, 2 HR), and Covington (.171).... My scouts rate Kevin Kelley (.438, and .315 last year), Zach Watt (.295), and now Jim Pfeifer (4-for-7 start to MLB life) as average-to-below-average hitters. Okay then.... Not sure who's going to go in Waugh's place next game. Maybe Sam Bohlen gets 2-3 innings as an opener, but the rest of the bullpen is tired. Maybe Skiff gets moved up a day and limited to 50-60 pitches. Or maybe someone gets moved to AAA for a day and one of their guys comes up.... ELSEWHERE: 2-13 and a 9-game skid now for the Blue Jays, while Tampa Bay is off to a 12-3 start.... Mets newbie Conor MacLeod finally made a good NL start, fanning 14 in a 2-0 shutout of the Phillies.... Eric Millett isn't the only Reds pitcher off to a hot start: 24-year-old rookie Manuel "Hamilton" Miranda has a 0.50 ERA in his two starts, but was just moved to the bullpen for some stupid reason. (ED: It seems that backup OF Jim Kreidermacherfrau was just moved into the rotation, probably so he could work on his 11.57 ERA.) ...... TL;DR Version: Offenses have gone wild these first few weeks of the season. Witness us scoring 9.2 runs per game and sitting in 9th place in the AL. Hopefully **** will calm down by the end of the month, or else Congress is going to have to investigate something. Anyway...I'll take a 10-5 record and a team batting average of .305. Although the rotation's 6.01 ERA I could live without. Small sample size, sure, but these pitching numbers are concerning. Most of the batting lineup is hitting well, with the exceptions of Mike Covington and J.J. Simmons. Cov may split more time with Bentley Kolb for a bit, but it's not like Kolb is tearing it up either, batting .188 with zero XBH. Simmons was hitting .258 before getting hurt, so maybe last year's dip in average wasn't a fluke after all. The rotation (not counting Waugh, who's been fantastic) should balance out, and I'm more happy that Kyle Johnson (2.08 ERA, 1.04 WHIP) is back up to snuff than I'm worried about Jordan Ruiz (9.00 ERA) and Anthony Booker (6.75). There are subs on the farm itching to get the chance to grab a roster spot, so SNAP TO IT, GUYS. __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!

04-25-2021, 07:17 PM	#411
DD Martin All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 956	Caught back up through your championship run, congrats on your 5th World Series win with the Islanders. Interesting beginning to the new season with the offenses around the league

04-28-2021, 09:04 PM	#413
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	April 15-17 vs SEATTLE Back home for a short spell, and our divisional co-leaders come calling. What's working for them so far this season is hitting, being 2nd in runs scored, HR, and OPS. Ger van Mourik (.467) just claimed player of the week honors, and Paul Stough (.339, 11 HR) is also crushing it. And in a league where few teams value a solid leadoff batter, the M's have found Luis Hernandez, hitting .371 with 8 steals. Like everyone else, pitching has been a struggle, but on paper at least they're much improved from recent squads. Free agent additions Steve Davenport and Danny Diaz are a solid 1-2 combo at the top of the rotation, and the pen was stabilized with the addition of rookie Theo Soole and moving Dan Crews from the rotation. The only new addition to the lineup is 3B George Ragsdale (from Miami), a fine defensive corner but a so-so hitter. He and two part-timers from last year who are now in the regular order (LF Rogelio Pena and 2B Pedro Ruiz) are hitting above their weight and helping propel their good start to '54. HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (2-0, 0.86) / RH Biff Skiff (0-1, 10.22) / RH Mike Pearse (1-0, 5.40) SEA pitchers: RH Steve Davenport (2-0, 5.40) / RH Danny Diaz (1-0, 4.79) / RH Daniel Newell ('54 debut) #16: WIN 9-4 ... Covington wakes up to power two out of the yard, and Espino adds his first...15 hits for a lineup of 2/3 backups tonight #17: LOSS 10-13 ... once again Skiff can't get anyone out, but we at least make this one close after going behind 13-4 early...17 hits for the guys #18: LOSS 4-6 ... Pearse fans 10 and keeps us in it, but Bohlen cracks in the 9th...Groff gets 2 hits, showing maybe he's not dead yet Disappointing. At least we're still hitting the stuffing out of the ball, but then again so is everyone else.... Somehow Waugh healed up in time to make his scheduled start. It must be the sea breezes here.... Maybe Skiff is throwing too hard: he's averaging a K per inning for the first time in his career, but everyone who isn't striking out is getting on base.... A 6-12 start for our top three minor league teams.... ELSEWHERE: Tampa Bay has won 8 straight, putting themselves at 15-3 and a game ahead of Detroit for the best record overall.... Meanwhile, 12 losses in a row for Toronto, dropping them to 2-16.... A recent five-hit night has put Boston catcher Riley King at the top of the batting charts, at .510. King is a career .238 hitter, so maybe something IS in the water this year.... Sources tell me that MLB may be considering another round or two of expansion in coming years, possibly going from 36 to 40 teams. No one will confirm anything, but cities that have approached the league in recent years include Charlotte, NC; Buffalo, NY; Oklahoma City, OK; Orlando and Jacksonville, FL; Indianapolis, IN; and Vancouver, Canada. Also of note are interested parties in Denver, without a team since the Rockies moved to Austin in 2037; and Havana, Cuba, currently the AAA affiliate of the New Orleans Zephyrs. April 19-21 vs NEW YORK Currently 9-9 and treading water in 2nd behind the red-hot Rays. Pitching is tops in the league, but offense is next-to-last, for a -2 run differential. Ageless contact whiz hitting Andrew Taylor is hitting .342 from leadoff, and a healthy Melvin Lopez is at .328. Everyone else is struggling, including pricey free agents DH Steve Colpo, RF Enrique Hernandez, and C Kevin Trotter. Bobby Hamel was shifted from closer to #1 starter and has thrown poorly (7.46 ERA) so far, but Elijah Bragg (3-0, 3.41) looks to be back after an injury-plagued '53. Interesting to note that their entire bullpen is brand new, with only one player (Justin Spurrell) being a rookie; all others were off-season signings. Unfortunately, three of those guys are part of the "bad eggs" squad, leading to a currently unhappy clubhouse. It looks like their pitching could hold up, but the lineup features a lot of guys who swing for the fences but for little else, so they may to score consistently all season. It's still surprising that the league's richest team doesn't break the bank for truly top-notch free agents any more. (coughWILLIAMSWANSONcough) HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (1-1, 5.95) / RH Josh Irvin (1-1, 11.08) / LH Matt Waugh (3-0, 1.29) NYY pitchers: LH Jose Sedillo (1-1, 1.08) / RH Mike Knaak (1-1, 5.71) / RH Dave Loch (1-2, 6.75) #19: WIN 8-3 ... nice game for Bader (he does walk 5 though), and 2 shutout relief IP from Ruiz...Pederson and Hed with key early-inning HRs #20: WIN 19-7 ... 5-for-5 night from Lynn, and everyone gets a hit...another terrible start by Irvin #21: WIN 7-4 ... 3 H, 3 RBI, HR from Medici, and Kelley goes 3-for-4 with 2 RBI...Waugh fans 11 in 6.2 IP, bullpen shuts it down the rest of the way Much better, and these three games shot up our run diff to +28.... We're also batting .325 now, just unheard of. And that's only good for 4th place.... Josh Matson is batting a solid .322 but has zero HR, after hitting 26 each of the last two seasons.... Skiff and Irvin will toss their fifth starts of the season next times out. I'm not sure how long I'll stick with them and their ten-plus ERA. Problem is, much of my AAA pitching hasn't been good either.... ELSEWHERE: Detroit is the hot team now, with 9 wins in a row and a 17-4 record, same as the Rays. Toronto won two games, bringing themselves up to 4-17 and a tie for last with Cleveland.... Fantastic .446/.475/.757 start for Giants 3B Juan Garcia, now just 95 hits away from 3000 for his career. At this rate he'll reach that by Memorial Day.... Yet another Reds SP having a great season start from out of nowhere: Josh Grato, 28, came into '54 with just 8 career appearances, all in relief, and none since 2051. So of course he's 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA. Meanwhile, ace Cris Frias has a 7.45 ERA and has walked 36 in 29 innings (along with 38 K). April 22-24 @ CALIFORNIA Not good, not terrible: at 9-12 so far and not doing anything of note. Even superstar William Swanson is in a fog, at just .247/5/17. CF Mauricio Marquez, on the other hand, continues to shine at .385/5/17. Other than Swanson, they didn't do much in the off-season, grabbing 3B Scott Peckler (.278 and solid D) and promoting some rookies, none of whom have done much to date. I don't suppose a -19 run differential this early on was what they counted on when they convinced Swanson to sign on, but as this is basically a two-man offense no one should be surprised. The coaches are happy with each other, and the players are content, although most of the starting lineup doesn't care much for manager Matt Sargent. But with two captains, four other leaders, and three pranksters for the funsies, this is a pretty loose clubhouse. And what the heck, even owner Arturo Moreno is ecstatic, what with a new superstar slugger, a profitable team, and a reach-for-the-stars goal of "play close to .500 ball," who wouldn't be happy. HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (0-2, 12.38) / RH Mike Pearse (1-0, 5.25) / RH Mike Bader (2-1, 5.40) CAL pitchers: RH Aaron Moore (1-1, 4.95) / RH Jose Ambriz (3-1 4.18) / RH George Millard (1-2, 7.50) #22: WIN 8-6 ... 2 more hits from Pfeifer, 5 RBI for Covington, and a 3-for-4 night from Royer...Pederson takes 4 walks...Skiff tosses not-horribly #23: WIN 10-1 ... ten hits, ten runs...HR from Medici, Covington, and Pfeifer, an odd trio...solid pitching by Pearse and Booker #24: LOSS 3-11 ... lots of bad pitching, and "only" nine hits, one for extras Two out of three will do here. Pitching continues to be all over the map, but hey at least Skiff's ERA dropped nearly two points! And, um, then Bader's went way up.... Pfeifer went 4-for-13 with two homers, which is not something I saw coming. Still, he's just six games into his big league career, so let's give him some space before we plan his parade.... Pitching troubles in Santa Barbara led me to make a waiver claim for a guy who's on a league-minimum contract, so I've got to expose him again to get him to the farm.... ELSEWHERE: AL batters are hitting everything, including each other: there have been six games with suspensions over the last week-and-a-half. Something's definitely in the water.... The race to the bottom is already a hot one, with Toronto, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh sporting 5-19 records, and Montreal just a game ahead of them. But watch out for KC, now on a ten-game losing streak.... On the flip side, it's twelve straight wins for the Tigers, at 20-4 and six games up on the Chisox.... The Yankees added their own billionth reliever, grabbing our former closer Robbie Collier on a $17M one-year deal. April 25-27 @ MINNESOTA They let some major talent walk in the off-season, losing ace Conor MacLeod and perennial MVP candidate Josh Jacobson. In their place they added pitcher Chris Liles (trade with us) and RF Tim Marinaccio (from the Cubs). In addition, rookie Ryan Lawler takes over in center, and he's off to a .368 start. The offense ranks 4th, scoring 181 runs, and they lead MLB with a .340 average. Like us, pitching has been a bugaboo, and their rotation ERA is near 7. Rookie Harald Willemsen and vet Dustin Springer have been especially bad, but really no one has anything approaching solid numbers. This explains their 12-12 record despite strong offensive production. (Also not helping is having decent vets Gary Kocher and Dan Hannan, both penciled into the rotation, out of action long-term.) More nutty numbers: 1B Santos Chavez batted .257/18/64 last year, but is .460/9/31 after 24 games this year. Looking down the road, the 26th-ranked prospect system is loaded with 1B (three of the top five guys) who aren't suited to play anywhere else. Get some pitching! HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (1-1, 11.72) / LH Matt Waugh (4-0, 1.82) / RH Biff Skiff (0-2, 10.72) MIN pitchers: RH Dustin Springer (1-1, 10.57) / RH Chris Liles (3-1, 6.51) / RH Jonathan Belmonte (2-1, 5.46) #25: WIN 15-10 ... 20 hits, including 2 HR for Pederson and one from Medici...spare a thought for all those poor, poor pitchers #26: LOSS 5-6 ... 3 errors account for 3 unearned runs and cost us this one...Espino gets hurt in a rare start #27: LOSS 5-6 ... Skiff pitches better, but it's Ruiz in relief who allows 3 late runs for the loss Uncool, and we've now dropped three of four.... Five starts, five ruinous outings from Irvin. Not great in a contract year. Skiff at least has his ERA under ten now. (Their BABIPs are .382 and .381, respectively.).... Espino's injury is just dtd, no DL for him. Of course he started again the next day and even threw out a runner at third.... Still no HR from Matson. Maybe he's just teasing us with some big months to come.... ELSEWHERE: All the long winning and losing streaks are over. What will I talk about now.... Offenses continue to destroy pitching: AL offense is up a full run per team from a year ago, and even NL pitching ERA is at a 5.03 average. Not sure anything can (or should) be done mid-season, but we will rein in these superballs in the off-season, should this nonsense continue.... Baltimore freshman-and-a-half (he played 71 games last year) Xavier Perez had his hitting streak stopped at 24. Perez is a solid, do-everything (except hit homers) guy, one whom O's fans should be very happy about for years to come. In other news, there is a longer hit streak out there right now, but I'll stay silent since I usually curse guys when I mention them by name. April 29-30 @ OAKLAND The month ends with our first trip to northern California, but the bastards did take two from us three weeks ago. The A's are a game under .500, at 13-14, and rank just below middling in offense and pitching, with a +1 run differential. They do still hit 'em into the seats, with 53 (4th place), but struggle to produce much else. And that "middling" pitching is mostly due to some pretty poor bullpen work, with an ERA near last, while the rotation ranks third. Long-term, I still think that rotation is going to be an Achilles heel, with top starters Jim Schwartz and Eric Stockton done for the year. (And yes the coaching staff is still feuding, with hitting coach Norly Suarez and pitching coach Hisa Sato apparently hated by everyone else.) HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (2-0, 4.31) / RH Mike Bader (2-2, 6.03) OAK pitchers: RH Kyle Forney (2-2, 5.14) / RH Tom Baker (0-1, 5.59) #28: LOSS 1-4 ... only one run? Sickos...Pearse tosses 8 shutout innings but Johnson blows up with 1 in the 9th and 3 in the 11th #29: WIN 5-1 ... Matson finally hits one out, and he's joined by Med with 2 and Ped with 1...solid 8 IP from Bader...Royer hurt Not much scoring, oddly, but seven HR combined in these two games.... We drop four of our last six, and finish the month 18-11, a game ahead of Texas.... Of course I sing Pfeifer's praises and he stops hitting. He does have 3 HR in his ten starts, but also zero walks and 13 strikeouts.... The bullpen has been a bit leaky the last few series, so some strings could be pulled in the next week if that doesn't turn around.... ELSEWHERE: It took all month, but no one in the NL is now hitting .400. Detroit's Pat Townsand, however, is having a triple crown season so far, at .446/18/46. That may juuuust be good enough to get him player of the month honors. Oh, and he's on pace for 101 dingers.... Still no big team streaks right now, but Arizona has dropped nine out of ten to slide to 8-21. ...... TL;DR Version: Not a great end to the month, but overall pretty solid. We're riding the league-wide offensive wave, batting .313 (5th place) with 43 HR (10th). Joe Lynn is batting a nice .405 and getting on base at a .459 clip. Only Mike Covington isn't producing (.239), and of course the situation at second base is under constant scrutiny: Jim Pfeifer started hot, but is now at .275, while Zach Watt is at .275 but with no power at all. Kevin Kelley has filled in for the injured J.J. Simmons at short and is hitting .338, so could be looking at continued full-time work even when Simmons comes back, if he can keep it up. On the mound, Irvin and Skiffington have started extremely poorly, but Skiff at least has looked better of late. Top pitching prospect Daniel Croft wants a promotion and has started hot in AAA (3 starts, 0.49 ERA). We'll see... Attached Images __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!

05-02-2021, 02:01 PM	#414
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	May 2054 Twenty-eight games this month: 15 at home, 13 on the road. We'll see everyone in the division, including the final game against Oakland from last month's series. To that we'll add Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Miami, KC, and Boston. A mix of good and bad teams. On the injury front, J.J. Simmons is still three weeks away from returning and pitcher Orlando Silva comes back in a week but will be packed off to AAA. Caleb Royer also has a dtd back injury so will sit for a couple of days in place of Lua Ulkini at third. May 1 @ OAKLAND Wrapping up this three-game stint. HAW pitcher: RH Josh Irvin (1-1, 12.09) OAK pitcher: RH Jon Jones (1-2, 8.04) #30: WIN 4-3 ... Jones one-hits us through 6, then Ped hits one out in the 7th, and we score 3 in the 9th to win...only 5 hits, but that's enough Nice start for Irvin at last, although he gives up 10 hits in 7 IP.... ELSEWHERE: the current dynasty hit streak mark is 39 games, set by Leonys Martin with Texas in 2015. (Honorable Mention to Manny Machado, who had a 30-gamer near the end of '16, with a one-game gap and then a 20-gamer.) Well, that was just broken by Tampa Bay's Jose Tavares. How long can he go... May 2-4 @ TAMPA BAY Next we travel to the league's best offense, first across the board except "only" second in home runs. The top six in the lineup--Orlando Navarro, Jorge Arriola, Jose Tavares, Vance Wise, Edgar Aranceta--have hit a total of 41 home runs and are batting a combined .367. Tavares too is working on a 40-game hitting streak. Pitching ranks 9th, and as with everyone else there are a few good starts among a lot of big numbers. We also get to visit with a couple former Islanders: SS Rich Stoneback, an injury-prone but still productive 36-year-old, and CF Ian McGowan, who's struggling at only .114. Off to a 22-8 start, it's looking good so far to get their fourth straight 90-win season and second straight division title. Early days yet, however. And even though offensive numbers will probably drop a bit as the season goes on--meaning pitching numbers will look better--I do think they need a pitcher or two by the deadline to make them top-notch championship contenders. HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (4-0, 1.91) / RH Biff Skiff (0-2, 9.10) / RH Mike Pearse (2-0, 3.43) TBR pitchers: RH George Brorby (3-1, 7.71) / RH Carlos Munoz (4-2, 5.57) / LH Jon Jemison (2-0, 4.54) #31: WIN 12-6 ... 3 hits each for Ped, Cov, and Espino...14 hits and 7 walks makes for a lot of baserunners...first poor outing for Waugh, 6 ER in 4.1 IP #32: LOSS 6-8 ... the good news is we smacked four HR and had 11 hits...bad news is Skiff was terrible again, Booker too in his 1 IP of relief #33: WIN 4-2 ... 2 doubles and an RBI from Hed, and we put 16 runners on...2 errors by Royer in his return, and 6 BB from Pearse in 5 IP Lots of offensive output, like the good old days where we'd put over a dozen runners on each night. Our pitching...not so hot. But I have to remember: TB is a hot-hitting team and we took two out of three here.... Having mentioned our top pitching prospect Daniel Croft, I can now of course report that he is out for the season with a partially torn UCL. Great.... ELSEWHERE: My powers to curse things remain undimmed: Tampa's Jose Tavares had his 41-game hit streak stopped by Hawaii. That's the new standard for this dynasty, eclipsing the old mark of 39 games.... Six losses in a row, and nine out of ten for Arizona, with a league-worst 8-25 record. Detroit still tops the rankings at 26-7.... Pittsburgh is adrift so far, with a 9-24 record and now...some clubhouse discord! Former starting RF Miguel Iglesias has been benched despite batting .347 in limited starts. He hasn't said he's demanded a trade, but he hasn't NOT said it either. He's a former 5-WAR guy who slipped to sub-replacement last year, but at just 28 he's still got to be more useful than a part-time bench bat. May 5-7 vs CLEVELAND Cam Daley makes his triumphant return to the Islands, batting cleanup (.303/3/16) for the fast-sinking Indians. With Daley, there are also some nice pieces here: Marcus Stokes and Matt Hill are both 25 and solid players, likewise Antonio Guerrero (26) and former Isles 2B Julian Cardenas, who at 28 has developed a nice power stroke. But otherwise they're just declining vets and mediocre filler. They even have Nick "35% K Rate" Mullins leading off now. No wonder the offense ranks next-to-last in most categories and they're mired in last place at 10-23. Pitching is the same story: youngsters like Dudley Mele, Sam Tedder (injured though), and Eric Nelson (ditto) mixed in with decaying vets and has-beens. And Ryan Ratliff, once a 20-game winner with us, may have finally bottomed out, at 0-6 and a 12.00 ERA, allowing 50 hits and 16 HR in 30 innings. Yikes. On top of all that, the prospect system ranks dead last too. I don't know if there's a long-term plan here, but as the kids would say, "this ain't it, chief." HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (3-2, 4.72) / RH Josh Irvin (1-1, 9.82) / LH Matt Waugh (4-0, 2.89) CLE pitchers: LH Taylor Baxter (1-3, 6.03) / RH Brandon Behrens (0-0, 4.26) / RH Ryan Ratliff (0-6, 12.00) #34: WIN 6-5 ... Lynn's RBI single in the 8th is the winning run, capping a comeback from a 5-2 deficit #35: WIN 9-3 ... Irvin awakes! CG, 10 K, 8 hits...4 HR by our guys, and Lynn's 3-for-5 night puts him back over .400 #36: WIN 5-3 ... we take the lead for good in the 7th on RBI by Medici and Royer...only 4 hits allowed, along with 11 K by three pitchers Good hitting AND good pitching? In one series? Crazy. But while league-wide offenses are settling down a bit, we're batting .311 as a team and still in 5th place.... Lynn is cracking out hits to a .401 tune, and Medici is having another all-around solid season, at .352/13/41. Still not getting consistent production at 2B, so may play around a bit before Simmons returns in two weeks.... A rash of injuries at AAA and AA has left me a little short-handed talent-wise, so I've got offers out to a couple of UFA for AAA Santa Barbara.... ELSEWHERE: Big game for Giants starter Danny Salgado, fanning 19 Reds on the way to an 8-1 win. Both teams are hovering around the .500 mark, trying to gain some traction in their divisions.... Atlanta was trucking along near the top of the NL East at 16-10, but a ten game losing streak--scoring just 23 runs over that span--has dropped them into fifth place, just a game ahead of the disappointing Richmond Eagles. May 9-11 vs TEXAS At 20-16, 4 games out, they're not going away. Offense is still down, just 10th in runs and average, but pitching ranks 4th in runs allowed despite having six players on the DL. CF Ronnie Halvorson (.311/12/30) and 1B Eric Robbins (.311/12/33) are stroking it, as is RF Omar Gurrola, batting eighth despite a .356/.453/.587 slash. They're still insisting on starting C Phil Thoma despite his .165 average, keeping internet hero Sean Blong and his .314 rate on the bench. There may be more significant roster turnover again next year, with a flat budget and rising salaries, most notably SS Ryan Boers and his $20M arb estimate (from his current $9.5M pay). Much of the core will still be under contract, but they won't have much room to pursue any quality free agents. HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (0-2, 8.92) / RH Mike Pearse (2-0, 3.45) / RH Mike Bader (3-2, 5.05) TEX pitchers: LH Bobby Daniel (5-1, 2.72) / RH Paul Labbe (3-2, 5.59) / RH Sean Reed (2-1, 3.86) #37: LOSS 0-7 ... shut out on just 5 hits...Gase gets 3 of them, giving him 4 on the season...Skiff only lasts two innings #38: LOSS 4-7 ... Pederson homers, but we only get 5 more hits...more bad starting pitching here, but the pen is solid over 4.1 innings #39: WIN 5-4 ... Medici's 5th inning solo HR is the GW here...3 hits and 4 steals for Lynn, literally running amok We salvage some pride in that last game to stay three ahead of the Rangers.... Skiff's ERA is now back over ten. We're not exactly getting top flight pitching from the four guys who should be angling for long-term deals: only Waugh is throwing consistently well.... Matson slides over to second and continues to hit, and Groff moves to DH (with Med installed at first). Sadly, tho, Groff went oh-for-the-series here. He'll get a few more games until Simmons returns, then we'll move some guys around again. Because why not.... ELSEWHERE: Austin is still somehow holding on to a 19-20 record despite six pitchers out of the lineup, all guys who are solid contributors.... Thirteen losses in a row now for Atlanta. Fading, fading.... The White Sox have won 8 out of 13 to close in on Detroit and open up an expected gap with the rest of the Central.... Detroit's Pat Townsand is the first to reach 20 dingers. In his fifth season he's already cranked out 177 homers.... The AL West is the closest top-to-bottom division around: just seven games separates first to last, with a three-way tie for "last" among Houston, Oakland, and California, all at 18-21. May 12-14 @ SEATTLE Predicted to finish last with just 70 wins, the M's are sticking around so far, at 21-18. Still 1st in runs scored (despite ranking just 9th in average) and getting all-star level contributions from the middle of the lineup: Ger van Mourik, Paul Stough, and Rogelio Pena. Pitching lags behind, at 14th in runs against, and suffering from the same disease we have, with a few guys massively underperforming. (Witness "ace" Steve Davenport's 11.12 ERA, .417 BABIP, and 2.44 WHIP.) But if they can keep hitting, they're getting top batter Jon Terrell back from injury next week, which should further invigorate the lineup. Team chemistry is merely "content" right now, with no leadership and a handful of outspoken guys; if some losses pile up things could get fiery quickly. I'm here for it. HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (2-1, 8.22) / LH Matt Waugh (5-0, 2.67) / RH Biff Skiff (0-3, 10.12) SEA pitchers: RH Erik Ramey (3-3, 6.80) / RH Dan Crews (4-3, 3.80) / RH Danny Diaz (4-1, 5.40) #40: LOSS 3-4 ... Irvin is left in just a bit too long tonight, taking the loss...HR from Groff and Medici...7 hits here, in a little slump now #41: WIN 3-1 ... Groff homers again, along with Covington...only 5 hits tonight, so getting a 10 K performance out of Waugh made the difference #42: LOSS 6-10 ... another Groff HR is about it...Skiff gives up 6 R in 6 IP, lowering his ERA...Kearns blows up too, and we can't catch up A couple of dull offensive series and we're now hitting below .300, but still inn 5th place.... Groff got three hits here, all home runs. He's batting .200 on the season now and is two hits away from 2800.... I think maybe Skiff's days in the rotation have come to an end for now. We don't have any swingmen in the pen, however, and as no one is pitching well in AAA I'm not sure who to try in his spot. Maybe just call someone up and see what happens.... ELSEWHERE: Mets 2B Alfonso Torres is out for six weeks with a wrist edema after getting plunked. At .361/.450/.592, he'll be missed by the first place team.... Keeping it in the NL East: Atlanta has increased the horrorshow to sixteen straight games. Team chemistry is suffering but the coaches are ECSTATIC, so maybe they've got a cunning plan. Or better drugs.... San Diego's Blake Langer was leading the NL at .400 just a week ago. He gets hits in six of the next seven games but still sees his average drop to .380. Rough.... The hottest hitter in the NL right now may be Austin reliever J.D. Berman. You read that right: he's also made 37 starts at third base and is batting .378 with a 26-game hitting streak. Toss in one pitching start, nine relief appearances, and a decent 3.58 ERA and he's doing it all for the struggling Outlaws. ...... TL;DR Version: We've passed the quarter pole on the season, so it's time to assess. We're 26-16, two games ahead of Texas, three on Seattle. We went 8-5 for this stretch, but notably ended on a 2-4 run against those two rivals. Despite some sluggishness of late, our offense is still top-five in most categories, and I'm generally satisfied. Where we're lagging right now is at catcher, second, and shortstop. Behind the plate, neither Covington (.237) nor Kolb (.234) have hit much; Cov did, however, start slowly last year but heated up down the stretch. At short, Kelley has been fine in the field but has slumped at the plate and has seen his average drop nearly 60 points this month. At second, Watt and Pfeifer have shared much of the duties, but neither has hit much (Pfeif does have 4 HR in 61 AB). With J.J. Simmons due back soon, I'm trying a little experiment: Matson has shifted over to second (where he started in '50 and '51), Medici to first, and Groff as DH against RHP. When J.J. is back, I'll move things around again. We need Simmons back healthy, but he has to hit better than his .257 mark from before his injury. We're better all up and down the lineup when he's getting on base at his usual near-.400 clip. On the mound, we've already made one move: Skiffington was sent to AAA to work on his mechanics and regain some confidence, and we're giving Danny Carbajal his first shot at big league batters. Carbs, a righty, is a pitch-to-contact guy with great control and average stamina. He's had a couple solid years in AAA but was off to a slow start this year. He was my #2 call-up option going into the season, but our original go-to guy, Daniel Croft, tore up his elbow and is done for the year. Figures. Unless he totally bombs out, Carbs will get at least a couple of starts to show what he's got. The bullpen has been better, but my two setup guys--Bohlen and Ruiz--have ERA near 5.00, which isn't sustainable long-term. __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!

05-07-2021, 08:22 PM	#415
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	In the merry month of May... May 15-17 @ MIAMI Stuck with an 18-24 record, despite underlying team stats similar to ours (8th in offense, 6th in pitching, plus outstanding defense). And a +22 run differential. Maybe one issue is that half of the lineup is stroking it, batting .320 or better, while half is hitting under .250. As usual, CF Phil Cronce (.354/11/29) and RF Toshi Shimabukuro (.349/17/47) are leading the way, and rookie 3B Jose Pantoja is hitting a nice .312. (But his 32-to-4 K-BB ratio is probably more indicative of his real value, sorry to say.) On the mound, #1 starter Dwaine Webb, closer Steve Palumbo, and top setup guy Korey Jefferson all have ERA over six, and only Jason Simon in the rotation has a better-than-average ERA. MLB predicted they'd win 78 games and their pitching would outpace their hitting. I don't see it, and that certainly hasn't happened yet, tbh. They've been to the WS twice in the last decade, but they've let development slide (31st) and a declining budget means they're not going after top talent from outside either. Not sure what the future holds here. HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (2-1, 4.22) / RH Mike Bader (4-2, 5.06) / RH Josh Irvin (2-2, 7.86) MIA pitchers: RH John Walker (0-5, 6.97) / RH Jason Simon (4-2, 4.44) / RH Dwaine Webb (3-2, 6.33) #43: LOSS 4-5 ... Royer homers twice, but we can't come all the way back from a 4-1 deficit...outhit 8 to 10 #44: LOSS 3-6 ... more woes, as we manage just three hits tonight, two of them HR...Bader and Bohlen both struggle on the mound #45: LOSS 2-4 ... only five hits, all singles Ok, not great is one way to describe this series.... Seattle has won 4 straight and moved into a first-place tie with us. Texas is a game back.... Pitching has been a little better--no recent blowouts--but when we don't hit, we don't win.... Bentley Kolb was sent to AAA and Michael Snavely will get a look as our catcher against LHP. I don't expect big things, but I'll keep tinkering everywhere until we get back on track.... ELSEWHERE: The Cubs have slumped a bit, dropping four straight, and allowing the hot Cardinals (7 wins in a row) to pass them for first, and the almost-as-hot Zephyrs (5 straight) to tie them.... Giants 3B Juan Garcia now has 2,925 career hits. So he won't reach 3K by Memorial Day, but let's say by the All-Star break we can start the "3000 Hit Watch".... Detroit's Pat Townsand is still hitting for the triple crown, at .424/23/61.... CONGRATS to Brewers CF Oscar Espinosa on his player of the week nod. And CONDOLENCES to Brewers CF Oscar Espinosa on his broken ankle that just ended his season. May 19-21 vs CALIFORNIA Even having both offense and pitching outside of the top ten in team stats, the Angels are only 5 games out in this stupid, tight division. This is also the rare team with few injury issues, with only two average pitchers on the shelf. Once again, CF Mauricio Marquez (.342/13/39) is the only one putting up decent offensive numbers, but the big story right now is journeyman pitcher Travis Fox, coming off injury and into the rotation, going 4-0 with a ridiculous 54 to 7 K-to-BB ratio. Big gun William Swanson is still trying to find his swing, at only .274/11/42. This is the first of two consecutive home series for us, and nine games against sub-.500 teams. We have to right the ship here. HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (6-0, 2.56) / RH Danny Carbajal (debut) / RH Mike Pearse (2-2, 4.50) CAL pitchers: RH Nate Elder (3-4, 7.00) / LH Travis Fox (4-0, 2.66) / RH George Millard (2-4, 8.31) #46: WIN 9-3 ... there we go...Med's 2-run shot and Cov's GRAND SLAM are the keys...Waugh goes 7.1 and Kearns cleans up with 1.2 IP, 9 total K #47: LOSS 2-3 ... Kearns gives up the GW in the 15th...Carbs makes a nice start, going 6.1 IP...18 runners tonight, most get stranded...Hed hurt #48: WIN 5-0 ... Pearse allows 3 hits over 8.2 IP...13 hits tonight, all but two are singles...2 hits, 2 RBI from Royer Two good wins here, nearly a sweep too.... Solid all-around pitching as well, with at last some timely hitting.... Hed's injury is a strained hamstring, dtd for three weeks. For now, I won't put him on the DL: he'll PH and DH instead. Espino and Gase will take turns in LF for a bit.... Simmons returns and gets three hits in his two games back. Pfeifer is returned to Santa Barbara. Kelley will start at 2B against LHP for the time being.... Carbs made a solid start, going 6.1 IP, fanning 6, walking none, and allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits.... ELSEWHERE: A fun 10-7 win for the Twins over the Indians saw eleven home runs, six by the visitors from Minny.... Detroit leads everyone with 36 wins, with division mates Chicago in second at 32. Even though a number of teams haven't hit the 20-win mark yet, only the Indians have won less than a third of their games, at 15-33.... St Louis is still hot and on top of the NL Central. CF Nate Forrester leads NL batters with a .410 average, and teammate Cameron Grundy is second at .389. I know it's early, but the Cards haven't won their division since '44, also the last time they made the playoffs May 22-24 vs KANSAS CITY The fifth place Royals are only bested (worsted?) by the troubled Indians, and feature both 12-ranked pitching and offense. Two-time NL batting champ Dan Dellinger (.312) is just back from the DL, and SS Jose Valdez (.347) is having a strong rookie season. But they're really missing 2B Marcus Tamrat (.336) and CF Julius Burrows (.330), who's proven to be quite fragile since we traded him to KC before last season. And rookies 1B Micah Bailey (.299, 15 HR) and SP Bill Perez aren't yet fully baked but are coming along nicely. There's some hope here, if they can get healthy for a stretch. And get 3B Tom Esposito, struggling this year (.257), to repeat his 50-HR rookie season from a year ago. HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (4-3, 5.07) / RH Josh Irvin (2-3, 7.44) / LH Matt Waugh (7-0, 2.42) KCR pitchers: RH Arturo Bernal (3-3, 3.95) / RH Steve Scibek (5-3, 5.25) / RH Bill Perez (1-5, 7.90) #49: LOSS 2-6 ... Bader cruises along until a 4-run 6th...Medici pokes a 2-run HR but he and Gase are the only offense, with 2 hits each #50: LOSS 2-7 ... nice waste of 17 base runners tonight #51: WIN 3-1 ... Waugh saves our bacon with 10 K over 8 IP...Lynn's 2-run triple caps off a 3-run 5th inning...6 steals too, after 5 last night More flat offense hurts us enough to lose the division lead. Seattle and Texas are tied, one game ahead of us. Lots of time left, however.... Our power hitting has dried up enough that we now have the same number of steals as HR, both at 67. Only Baltimore (76 to 73) has more steals than home runs.... Waugh leads the team with 90 K, Pearse is second with 68. Third? Reliever Nate Kearns with 48.... Skiffington got blasted in his first AAA start, lasting just two innings.... ELSEWHERE: A bad season for Atlanta keeps getting worse. A 16-10 start has devolved to a 4-21 stretch since, and now ace pitcher Manny Vasquez is done for the year. Three-time Cy Young winner Jose Gutierrez has also been injury-plagued this year, but should be 100% very soon.... While St Louis' ride in the Central has been improbable, the Nationals 8-2 streak that's put them on top in the East is an utter shock. I can't remember them being anywhere close to that during the season in recent years, and a check of the records shows their last division title coming in 2012. Wow. May 25-27 @ HOUSTON They've won 7 of 9--including just taking two from Detroit--to move above .500 and only three games behind us. Offensively they're near the bottom, at 16th in runs, and are currently without the middle of their infield with both David Helvey and Oscar Garza on the DL. Pitching is keeping them in it right now, having yielded the second-fewest runs in the AL. That's pretty impressive when you know that two solid SP, Pat Wise and Mike Messinger, are also on the injured list. So yeah, they don't hit but they're winning games. Better than us right now, who also arent' hitting AND aren't winning. I guess something's gotta give here. That dribbly offense could improve, however, with the recent return of RF Matt Dippel, who hit 19 HR in 59 games last year and has only been healthy for two weeks. HAW pitchers: RH Danny Carbajal (0-0, 2.84) / RH Mike Pearse (3-2, 3.90) / RH Mike Bader (4-4, 5.32) HOU pitchers: RH Jason Knight (2-0, 4.26) / RH Chris James (3-5, 6.59) / RH Tim Ciotta (6-2, 4.04) #52: LOSS 3-5 ... Medici's 3 HR and 3 RBI can't help us tonight...Carbs is okay, but Kearns takes the loss after a rough 7th inning #53: LOSS 2-5 ... outhit 6 to 9 and Pearse is meh...Ulkini goes 2-for-2, with an RBI. MVP tonight lol #54: LOSS 6-7 ... eight walks by the staff, including Bohlen walking home the winning run in the 9th...Matson goes 3-for-4 The worst run of games we've had in a long, long time. We can't hit most nights, and when we actually do, we can't pitch.... Nick Gase has done nothing in his limited time in the lineup, and Zach Watt hasn't gotten a hit this month it seems. So they're both packed off to AAA and we recall Jim Pfiefer and OF Russ Venters. Both are batting over .400 for the Surf, and this will be Venters' intro to the big time.... We're now tied for third with the Astros, and are just four games over .500.... Nothing else to say here, but just try to weather this and keep tinkering until something clicks.... ELSEWHERE: Seven game streak now for LA, at 35-19 and threatening to pull away in the NL West.... Another seven game winning streak, this one belonging to AL West-leading Seattle. Seattle!.... A crazy 126 HR already for the White Sox. (We have 71 and may barely top their current total by season end.).... Oakland now has three top SP out for the year after Tom Baker's elbow falls off. Falls right off. May 29-31 vs BOSTON One last chance to salvage something out of this month. In come the Red Sox, hanging around in the East at 27-27, six games out of first. Offense ranks 14th in runs, pitching 7th, for a -9 differential. The improbable Riley King is still batting nearly 100 points over his career average, at .349. Otherwise, it's pretty much just 1B Rich Dragos at .316/14/37 doing anything at all on offense. (Former NL MVP Dustin Wasilewski is batting .372, but he's only now just back from injury.) With SP Pat Way and Josh Williamson out, solid RP Xavier Timbo moves into the rotation and will face us, making his first start of the season. If we stink up this series too, I may have to start thinking about larger-scale changes for this team. HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (2-4, 7.67) / LH Matt Waugh (8-0, 2.16) / RH Danny Carbajal (0-0, 3.18) BOS pitchers: RH Xavier Timbo (1-1, 2.30) / LH Chris Rivera (5-3, 4.62) / RH Arturo Verduzco (1-8, 6.82) #55: LOSS 3-6 ... Venters knocks his first MLB homer #56: LOSS 1-3 ... x #57: WIN 12-1 ... not sure where this game came from, but I won't get used to it That last game notwithstanding, I have no idea where our offense has gone.... Venters is staying hot, going 6-for-12 with two HR in his debut series. Most everyone else has been pretty moribund, although Medici did crack his 20th HR of the season in that third game. And somehow we have five regulars still batting over .300; I guess our start was just that good.... Waugh pitched 8 shutout innings in the second game, then Johnson crapped the bed in the 9th. Good to see Carbs pitch well in his third start, but poor Skiff may have to go on the DL with clinical depression: 3 AAA starts, 12 innings, 8.25 ERA.... ELSEWHERE: Ten straight for Seattle, who now look fully legit at 36-21. And Detroit is the first team to 40 wins, while Cleveland is still stuck on 18 wins, worst in MLB.... Detroit's Pat Townsand just banged out his 30th home run, and still has the AL triple crown in his grasp.... Mets RF Chris Herzog is following up his solid rookie '53 season (.317/29/80) with a fantastic first two months: .379/20/48.... Who would've thought that at the one-third mark of the season we'd have Seattle, Washington, and St Louis leading divisions? ...... TL;DR Version: A dreadful 4-11 run here results in a 12-16 month of May. While our pitching has been generally okay--still 4th in runs against--our offense has gone the way of the dodo. And we were tremendous in one-run games last year (can't remember our record, but it was probably a 75% win pct) but just 6-8 this year. I've done more tinkering with the lineup this year than I have since the early days of the franchise, trying to find some offense that clicks. The only lineup positions that haven't changed have been Lynn at leadoff and Medici at cleanup. Most guys have been pretty average, but some have just dried up completely. Simmons has gone 8-for-41 since returning from the DL, and Covington is now hitting just .225. Both have OBP below .300, surprising and just unacceptable. Bright spots have been Danny Carbajal, looking pretty decent through three starts, and the fine career beginning for Russ Venters. And we've had one unusual high point: scout Moises Patino turned up an Aussie pitcher, Logan Barnett, who scouts well across the board and has three potentially very solid pitches. Calm down, though, as it's not healthy to get excited about sixteen-year-olds. If we can't start winning soon, at least June brings the distractions of the draft and the possibility of getting deeply involved in the trade deadline this season. Attached Images __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!

05-12-2021, 08:54 PM	#416
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	2054 DRAFT AND SYSTEM REVIEW Let's take a break from the horrorshow on the field (What? You mean it gets worse? Yeahhhh...) and welcome the latest crop of hopeful younglings to the MLB fold. There's a lot of interest at the top of the draft this year for a couple of teams who really need it: Montreal will pick at #1 and #4, while Baltimore will go at #2 and #6. Montreal has picked first overall twice: in 2023, taking major disappointment Evan Dunaway, who only registered 386 big league at bats; and in '26, taking pitcher Josh Blankenburg, who tossed 450 career innings. They combined for 2.5 career WAR. Meanwhile, Baltimore went first the last two seasons, but failed to sign last year's pick Eric Lowenstein (who isn't even in this year's draft). Both teams need major help, and both should get it, despite a crop without obvious star talent. (KC and California also have two selections, at 3rd and 13th, and 9th and 16th respectively.) We'll have to wait all the way until #35 to make our first pick, but we get a supplemental pick at #43 as well. OSA has us taking a decent catcher and a defense-first OF with those picks....which I'm gonna say no to. But let's get started.... The top six picks are as follows: MTL - P Marc Carroll, 21: terrible pick at #1; decent ratings but is a sinkerballing sidearmer RP, and doesn't show any signs of dominance BAL - P Richard Ray, 18: needs major development to reach the level expected of a #2 selection; also not a good pick here KCR - P Justin Swatzell, 21: better than the first two guys, but needs to overdevelop MTL - OF Pat Borba, 21: huge power bat, very solid fielder; also, huge strikeout totals MIL - P Chris Pestel, 21: the best of the four pitchers taken so far, but that's not saying much BAL - P Tyler Holm, 21: another needs-a-changeup to become a starter, with serious control issues; who's running these teams? That is not a murderer's row of talent in the top six, but I thought someone might go off board to grab some of the better talent not ranked in the top ten. There are no sure things in this class, and maybe the best first rounders were P Danny Rice (OAK @ #18), OF Taylor McGrath (SF @ #29), and P Dave Bird (DET @ #34). Like I said, not much there, and only time will tell if any of these guys ever amount to more than just average big leaguers. Having said that, let's take a look at our fabulous picks, all of whom will surely develop into the major stars of tomorrow. Rnd 1, 35th overall: P Juan Sais, 21, R, Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. Power pitcher but without truly dominant stuff. Could become a mid-rotation starter, or a useful long reliever. Developed enough to start in A ball, I believe. Supplemental, 43rd overall: P/OF Eric Sayward, 22, R, Oklahoma State. Went a bit off board here, as he's listed as a pitcher and an average one at that. But he's got promise at the plate and is good enough in the field for utility outfield work. He looks like a sure-fire backup OF right now, but with a bit of TLC could become a starter down the road. Rnd 2, 74th overall: OF Andrew Farme, 21, L, Old Dominion. Decent center fielder, but an average hitter with a bit of pop. Richmond took him in '51 but he didn't sign. Not quite the hitter Sayward projects to be, but shows some useful promise. Rnd 2, 79th overall: P Joey Mayer, 21, R, UCLA. Purely a reliever, but has big enough stuff that I couldn't pass him up. Can hit triple digits on the gun, and has good enough movement to keep the ball in play when hit. Probably off to Short A to begin, and needs to work hard on his control. Rnd 3, 115th overall: OF Ryan Imbriaco, 18, S, high school. Our first prep kid, and purely in today's mode: big-time power, lots of strikeouts. Hard worker, could surprise. Solid arm and range, bad glove. Rnd 4, 152nd overall: 1B Joe Amodeo 18, L, high school. Projects as an average hitter but with a developable power swing. Intangibles could see him become something more. Definitely only a 1B/DH type (or vice versa, to be honest), probably doesn't even own a glove. Rnd 5, 188th overall: P Eric Mele, 17, R, high school. I'm not sure what I've got here. Decent stuff and okay movement, very problematic control, and four quality pitches. I'm not sold on him as a pitcher, however. He also has very high ceilings at contact, gap power, and avoid K, but little HR power. And despite a big arm, his range isn't good enough to put him anywhere other than 1B. I may give him a season as a two-way guy, seeing as he's so young, and then decide what to do with him. I'm leaning toward hitter right now, but we'll see. Best of the rest: no one worth mentioning right now, honestly. A whole lot of high schoolers with some middling potentials and nice intangibles, so maybe they have time to grow into something useful. I'll keep you posted. ...... SYSTEM OVERVIEW We still have the top overall prospect system in baseball, thanks in part to some nice trades (gotta get something for the all-stars we sent off) and our second consecutive #1 prospect in MLB. We have fourteen guys in the top 100, and ten in the top 50. So while we're struggling on the field right now, there's much to like in the next generation, if they can only keep growing... 3B Jose Villalpando, 18, ranked #1 (up from #17), rookie ball: no stats. Like Jules Medici before him, so far he hasn't lost any of his huge power potential. But he did get 37 AB in rookie ball last summer and produced no home runs (and got hit five times). Still an intriguing prospect, and it's a positive sign to me that OSA is also really high on him. Let's hope the power starts to show soon, however. OF Nick Gase, 24, ranked #8 (up from #34), Hawaii: .209/.320/.279, 43 AB. Started with the big club as a utility OF, and got a bit more playing time when Hed went down. Hasn't hit yet, but does take a walk and doesn't whiff much. Solid fielder, and looks like at least a #4 outfielder for us, if not higher one day. SP Daniel Croft, 23, ranked #13 (up from #21), AAA: 1-0, 0.41 ERA, 22 IP. Great opening to his season after four starts, then got hurt and will miss the remainder of the year. Is definitely ready for the big time, and still has a bit of room to grow. With Skiff and Irvin off to horrid starts in Hawaii, he'd definitely be up right now if healthy. OF Brian Hassell, 20, ranked #15 (down from #14), A: .375/.456/.594, 6 HR, 192 AB. Came over in the big trade with the Cubs last fall. Hot start in A should see him up in AA before the month is out, most likely. Excellent fielder, good runner, and a good enough hitter to threaten Gase and Espino for reserve OF spots and possibly challenge for a starting role. He was the key piece I wanted from Chicago. SS Bill Gamboa, 21, ranked #16 (up from #37), A: .352/.453/.667, 3 HR, 54 AB. OSA is very high on him, but my scouts say he's just slightly above average at the plate, with some pop. Solid fielder, more of a 2B type for MLB, however. Is at least a utility IF, or perhaps a trade chip for something nice, given other scouts fawning over him. SS Jake Moore, 22, ranked #23 (down from #11), AA: .315/.361/.405, 0 HR, 111 AB. Our number one pick from a year ago, he leapfrogged Gamboa quickly but hasn't grown much since ratings-wise, yet. Projects to be a near-elite hitter, but with very little power. So, very much like J.J. Simmons, which is nothing to sneeze at. Excellent fielder, can slot in easily at any of the "skill" positions. Not much of a runner. Could very well be our shortstop of the future, and one reason why Gamboa could become expendable. P Ken Taylor, 24, ranked #25 (new), A: 6-2, 3.67 ERA, 79 K, 73.2 IP. Kind of overlooked since we drafted him in '52, but has quietly gone about his business the last two years. Looked bad in a late callup to A last year, but should be up in AA soon. Has room to grow, and with just a little more oomph could get a long look in camp next spring. P Manny Reyes, 21, ranked #30 (up from #57), A: 3-6, 6.75 ERA, 74 K, 54.2 IP. Healthy so far after a couple of seasons cut short by injuries. Struggling in A ball, but really should be in the bullpen. (He's starting b/c of injuries to others.) As a reliever, he figures to have setup potential, outside shot at closer. 2B Lucas Tipping, 22, ranked #34 (up from #53), AAA: .195/.258/.354, 3 HR, 82 AB. Snagged from Minnesota last fall, is the second reason why the higher-ranked Gamboa could be on the move. Projects as a better hitter than G, and a slightly more versatile fielder. Has some power, and figures to be a good bottom-of-the-order batter, probably a guy who could hit .280 with 25 HR in an up year. Aussie. P Steve Shinnick, 23, ranked #45 (up from #66), AA: 7-2, 3.78 ERA, 76 K, 78.2 IP. Solid ratings and ceilings right now, but we're waiting on either the curve or change to give him a quality third pitch, making him another camp candidate for next spring. Could possibly get a look this September, but I don't want to rush him. P Gleb Mihalkovsky, 20, ranked #62 (up from #68), AA: 4-4, 4.32 ERA, 53 K, 50 IP. Great season in Short A last year, grew enough over the winter to jump to AA. Three pitches are MLB-quality right now, and could also get a look this fall if we're out of things. The only Kyrgyzstani in baseball. OF Erik Bennetsen, 23, ranked #86 (up from #91), AA: .301/.355/.560, 9 HR, 209 AB. Just called up to AAA. Former first round pick (from '52) projects as a mid-lineup power-and-contact bat. Decent fielder, but limited to left field. Definitely another possible September call-up. OF Rocky DeMars, 20, ranked #92 (new), R ball, no stats. Combines some off-the-charts ceilings with some gigantic holes. Remember Dave Kingman? This guy is the next Dave Kingman, only he's a quality outfielder. (Remember the best quote about Kingman's fielding? "The ball fell among Kingman.") Best power ceiling in our system (better than Villalpando, tbh), but could also strike out over 33% of the time. I can't stand tons of strikeouts, but I'm curious to see how he shakes out over the next year or so. __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!

05-22-2021, 03:42 PM	#417
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	June Swoon or June Boon? JUNE 2054 Only 24 games this month because of the all-star break starting on the 27th, and the games are evenly split between road and home affairs. We'll start the month with some heavy lifting: early series against Detroit, Texas, and Seattle, three of the best teams going right now. This will be a tester of a month for us. Will we right the ship and make a run for the rest of the season? Or will we continue to slide and go into reset mode for next season. If the latter, could we even be sellers at the deadline? June 1-3 @ DETROIT The best team in baseball right now, at 41-16 and four games ahead of the equally daunting White Sox. (Third place KC is 13 games further back.) Yes, they have many more home runs than we do (111 to 77), but what accounts for the difference is current play is this: we've allowed one less run, 293 to 294, but have scored 69 fewer runs than the Tigers. Not great. Third in most offensive categories across the board, and backing that up with fifth-ranked pitching. In a solid-hitting lineup, one guy is standing out right now: 1B Pat Townsand sits at .424/30/77, leading all three triple crown categories. Like everyone else, pitching has suffered under the new hitting dominance (their 5.27 rotation ERA ranks 6th), but the bullpen is tops in the AL, led by closer Jack Hildebrandt having a career year (0.89 ERA, 0.59 WHIP, 29 K in 20.1 IP). I hate to sound defeatist, but taking one game in this series will be a victory; taking two a major morale boost. HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (3-3, 4.18) / RH Mike Bader (4-4, 5.55) / RH Josh Irvin (2-5, 7.78) DET pitchers: LH Corey Nelson (3-1, 3.38) / LH Carlos Zenon (6-1, 5.35) / RH Trevor Sanders (7-3, 5.67) #58: LOSS 0-7 ... outhit just 10-8, but they get 5 runs on 2 homers...Pearse struggles, and we kick in two errors to help things out too #59: LOSS 6-7 ... much better effort, we lose this one on an 8th inning two-run HR...3-for-3 night from Matson #60: LOSS 3-4 ... another late loss, on a solo HR with one out in the 9th....what can you do shrugs Disappointing but not surprising. We used two pitchers in the first game, three in the second, and two in the last. Each outing gave up runs.... How bad has our offense been? We've dropped into the bottom half in AL runs scored, the first time that's happened in my memory.... Hard to believe we were 26-16 once. Now we're 30-30.... ELSEWHERE: Another blow for the Mets today, losing SS Alex Duran for two months. Three-quarters of their infield is on the DL now, and their play has suffered, dropping 7 of the last 10 and falling to third in the East.... Don't look now but Cleveland has won two straight, finally getting past 20 wins, and closing to just two games behind the sluggish Twins, losers of seven in a row.... Juan Garcia watch: now at 2,936 hits. Slowly getting there... June 4-6 @ TEXAS We're now solidly in their rear view mirror, five games behind these guys, who are 35-25. They trail Seattle by two for the division lead. Offense is still kind of stuttering along, 8th in runs, 11th in average, and a shocking 12th in home runs. But pitching has been rock-solid, with the best rotation ERA and an adequate-enough bullpen. I can only imagine how much better they'd be if they also didn't have six pitchers on the DL. SS Ryan Boers is whomping the hell out of everything, at .351/13/42, and should get a contract extension but probably won't, so could become the most desirable free agent next fall. There's still a lot of season left, but it's hard to see how this team doesn't make the playoffs for the sixth straight season. The question is, can we rebound to push back on them? HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (8-0, 2.04) / RH Danny Carbajal (1-0, 2.45) / RH Mike Pearse (3-4, 4.54) TEX pitchers: RH Kevin Cahill (5-4, 4.75) / LH Bobby Daniel (9-2, 2.40) / RH Paul Labbe (6-4, 5.59) #61: LOSS 0-1 ... amazing...we lose this one on a 9th inning sac fly...just four hits, fun stuff #62: LOSS 0-8 ... what can you do...Daniel's been hot, but this was just embarrassing #63: WIN 9-1 ... WHAT That final game came out of nowhere but I'll take it. It's still worth noting that we've been shut out in half our games this month. And 0-3 in one-run games. AND NOW OFFICIALLY UNDER .500.... Major lineup shuffling helped for that last game, and hopefully is a positive sign. I'll take anything at this point.... Before the series, Zach Watt and Michael Snavely were sent back to AAA. Bentley Kolb and Nick Gase came back up. Not that we're now immensely better with the new two, but the two downers (downees?) weren't hitting at all lately.... We get division-leading Seattle next, then nine straight against teams with worst records (for now) than us, in Toronto, California, and Milwaukee.... ELSEWHERE: Bad news for Tampa Bay, losing slugging veteran RF Vance Wise (.373/19/52) for the year with an elbow injury. How did he he get hurt, you ask? Because HE IS ALSO A PITCHER AND THEY LET HIM MAKE HIS FIRST CAREER START AT AGE 33 AND HE BLEW OUT HIS ELBOW. That's it, no more two-way players for me.... Checking in on two-time Cy Young winner and Cincy ace Cris Frias: he's a long way from his 387 K season in '52, currently with an ERA of 6.55 and a crazy .429 BABIP. Also crazy is his 13.4 K/9 added to 8.5 BB/9, meaning 22 batters per 9 innings get no wood on the ball at all. His 0.9 WAR in 13 starts is the lowest of his career, even beneath the 1.0 WAR he earned in just 3 starts in '50. June 8-10 vs SEATTLE Everyone in the division is happy to see us fall, but these guys are the chief beneficiaries, given that their 38 wins is already half of what MLB predicted they'd get all season. Still leading the AL in runs scored, and top five in every other offensive category. Every starter is going great outside of veteran C Arturo Sena, who hit a blistering .229 last year but is back to .193 this go-round, much closer to his career average. Pitching sits just 13th, and the rotation is really struggling right now. Let's see if our recent offensive anemia can find a cure right here. HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (4-4, 5.75) / RH Josh Irvin (2-5, 7.38) / LH Matt Waugh (8-0, 1.89) SEA pitchers: RH Vince Push (4-2, 6.51) / RH Erik Ramey (6-3, 6.48) / RH Danny Diaz (6-3, 5.40) #64: LOSS 3-5 ... early 3-run HR by Covington gets erased...we get only 4 hits, just lovely #65: LOSS 3-8 ... yeah, not even close...outhit 17-11 too #66: WIN 5-1 ... thank you Waugh, 10 K through 8 IP...3 hits each for Medici and Royer Again, we looked pretty bad until the last game of a series. No offense against a bad pitching team for two games, and only one HR over the three games.... Irvin has pitched his way back to AAA after that latest start, and we recall former #1 pick Andy Burke for his first taste of the bigs. Picked in '51, Burke so far is the only draftee of ours to immediately demand a big league deal. Three years later, here he is.... LF Josh Hed is back in a couple of days. He's no MVP, but we did hit much better with him in the #2 slot. Just sayin'.... ELSEWHERE: An 8-2 stretch for Detroit has put them at a quite stout 48-18 and now six games up on Chicago. Pat Townsand is still leading the triple crown stats.... St Louis, however, has gone 2-8 and the gap to the Cubs is now just two games, and three to New Orleans. And those injuries to Mets starters has dropped them to third in the East.... Portland's Chris Buck leads all pitchers with 4.0 WAR, and has a fantastic 101-to-7 K-to-BB ratio. June 11-13 vs TORONTO Still rebuilding and have slid to the bottom of the East, at 26-40. The offense has been average, at 9th in runs and generally top ten across the board. But pitching has been an outright disaster, last in runs and in both rotation and bullpen ERA. You might think having four pitchers on the DL would be the reason for that struggle, but none of them had pitched well at all before getting hurt. Anyway, they've outhomered us 108 to 83, but we've got them by far in steals, 83 to 43. Surely steals are more important, right? HAW pitchers: RH Danny Carbajal (1-1, 4.01) / RH Mike Pearse (4-4, 4.08) / RH Mike Bader (4-5, 5.88) TOR pitchers: RH Jaden Buchanan (0-3, 9.90) / RH Erik Bradley (3-4, 4.89) / RH Adam Arriaga (0-2, 13.94) #67: WIN 6-3 ... 3-for-3 and 2 RBI from Royer, 2 hits each from Lynn and Pederson...nice 7.1 IP from Carbs, fanning 9 #68: LOSS 3-5 ... 9 hits for each team tonight, but we still can't score...Pearse gives up all the run over 5 IP #69: WIN 5-4 ... Royer's single in the 7th drives in the tying run, then he adds a walk-off 9th inning sac fly to win FINALLY a winning series.... Josh Hed returns from the DL, so we send Nick Gase and his .209-hitting self back to AAA to get some regular play. Russ Venters (.325) stays up for now.... At 11th in AL runs scored now, but we still have a +25 run differential. If we can start hitting again, we should start winning again.... And we're tied for 4th in the division with California. One guess who we play next.... ELSEWHERE: Detroit is still storming through the AL, at 50-19 and six games ahead of the White Sox. The Sox also have baseball's 2nd-best record.... Most teams are losing pitchers to injury these days, but not the Mets. Four regulars are on the DL, now including NL-leading batter Chis Herzog, batting .363. Since going 19-8 in April, they've slid to 19-22 and fallen back to third in the division. ...... TL;DR Version: Halfway through the month, and we start June at 4-8. Just lovely. Still hovering at a game under .500, 34-35, and tied with California at six games out of first. Hitting has gone off the cliff, and we've hit I believe five home runs this month, dropping to 17th in the league. Pitching doesn't seem so hot, but we're fifth in runs against, so you can say our staff is keeping us from sinking beneath the waves. Maybe I'm engaging in some wishful thinking here, but with Hed back from the DL and in the #2 slot in the lineup, maybe we'll start hitting again. At .292/.344/.500 he's not exactly setting the world on fire, but he helped move along the hot Joe Lynn (.346) and bring some runs home. Twelve more games this month, and then the all-star break. __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!

05-29-2021, 11:09 AM	#418
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	June 14-16 @ CALIFORNIA The same record as us, 34-35, and many of the same problems: can't hit, decent pitching. At 15th in runs scored, 9th in runs against, and a -23 run differential. Superman William Swanson has turned his season around, batting .463 this month to get himself to .316/.397/.636, all right around his career averages. Mauricio Marquez is hitting .302 with 16 HR, but that's about it for the team offense. Top prospect Chris Burns (#7 in MLB) is already platooning in CF, batting .246/.305/.493 and getting better each month. After signing Swanson this off-season, they have enough money to add another star or two this winter too. Otherwise that spending will have been a waste. HAW pitchers: RH Andy Burke (debut) / LH Matt Waugh (9-0, 1.82) / RH Danny Carbajal (2-1, 3.38) CAL pitchers: RH Seth O'Neill (6-5, 4.83) / RH Nate Elder (7-5, 5.86) / LH Travis Fox (7-1, 3.04) #70: WIN 10-2 ... 8-run 9th inning wins it, sparked by 3 HR including Covington's GRAND SLAM...5 HR for us, and Burke goes 7 IP, 0 ER #71: WIN 1-0 ... one-hit ball through 8 IP for Waugh, with 10 K...Hed's RBI in the 7th is the key hit, one of just six for us #72: WIN 5-1 ... Espino knocks a solo HR in the 1st then a 2-run double in the 6th...Medici adds a solo shot, and Carbs goes 8.1, allowing just 6 hits Well that was a long time coming. Outside of that single inning explosion in the first game, we didn't produce a ton on offense, but hitting seven HR certainly helped.... Solid pitching from all three starters, and a great debut from Burke.... The only blemish is a pending injury diagnosis for Pederson, who hasn't delivered the power like he did last year (SLG down from .633 to .518), but has still been a strong mid-lineup bat.... Groff is platooning against RHP at DH, and while he's hitting just .233 (but .278 this month), he just knocked his 480th career home run.... ELSEWHERE: A big week for MIN's Jordan Foots sees him win player of the week honors, and move past Detroit's Pat Townsand for the HR lead. Foots (.380) and Milwaukee's Mitch Elmore (.381) also pass Townsand (.377) in the batting race.... I mentioned Texas SS Ryan Boers in my last post as being a potential #1 free agent this fall. Another contender is Portland 3B Gerardo Nieto. The 26-year-old franchise cornerstone should never be allowed to leave, but don't underestimate the cheapness of MLB GMs. The 2051 NL MVP has produced HR seasons of 48, 51, and 50, and is on his way to passing those numbers this year. He's also a lifetime .310 hitter, and has produced over 31 WAR in just over four full seasons.... SF's Juan Garcia is now at 2951 career hits, but has a pending injury diagnosis. June 18-20 @ MILWAUKEE Fifth place in the Central at 29-36, already 23 games behind the terrific Tigers. Despite some bad underlying numbers (10th in AVG, 13th in OPS), they're sixth in runs scored. And that's come down a bit after losing CF Oscar Espinosa (.301/.392/.595) for several months. 3B Mitch Elmore leads the AL at .381, and 43 year-old Dan Starr--while immobile behind the plate--has 12 HR and an .815 OPS. I can only guess he wants to play until he's 50. (How thin is catching talent right now? Starr ranks 4th in MLB.) Pitching is next-to-last in runs, and only closer Xavier Pride (2.00 ERA) and setup guy Eric Lantier (3.48) are above water. They also have 3 RP out with injuries, but none of them had done anything positive either. Perhaps worth noting that outside of R ball Helena (at 1-0), every other farm team has a losing record. The farm system also ranks just 30th, and I only see three guys with obvious MLB potential right now. The clubhouse is unhappy currently, and the entire pitching staff is ignoring manager SG Che (who won AL manager of the year and nearly a title in his first season, 2046, but has seen a steady decline since). He's temperamental, but so is 1/3 of the staff, and another third loves cranky guys. So at least the coaches are happy. HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (4-5, 4.35) / RH Mike Bader (4-5, 5.72) / RH Andy Burke (0-0, 0.00) MIL pitchers: RH Josh Kennedy (1-10, 7.08) / RH Merlin Lemay (9-4, 5.17) / RH Chris Ronan (3-5, 7.07) #73: LOSS 4-7 ... I mean, we were efficient, getting 4 runs on just 7 hits, but that won't cut it night-in night-out...blew a 4-0 lead too #74: LOSS 1-5 ... no comment #75: LOSS 4-7 ... fffff Oh for ** sake. This ing team is going to kill me.... Burke gets shelled in that last game, welcome to the bigs.... Good to see that we can't do all against this ty pitching staff.... Pederson's injury report comes in: torn calf, out for 3-4 months. Great.... All momentum lost from the California series.... ELSEWHERE: A 9-1 run has propelled New Orleans to first in the NL Central, a game up on the Cards. Meanwhile, 7 losses in a row has kept Cleveland as the only sub-30 win team, at 25-50.... Otherwise, who cares. June 21-23 vs HOUSTON We come back home to face the 39-36 Astros, two games ahead of us and likely to stay there given our disinterest in scoring runs. They're 14th in runs scored, and not better than that anywhere else. Yet somehow we'll make them look good. Pitching is 5th in runs against, and despite some questionable rotation ERAs most of those five are pitching well of late. Again, we'll help them out. On offense, only 1B Jose Renteria is really delivering, at .323/23/55. If you couldn't tell already, I expect nothing of these three games, at least outside of the one Waugh starts. HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (10-0, 1.69) / RH Danny Carbajal (3-1, 2.90) / RH Mike Pearse (4-5, 4.20) HOU pitchers: RH Ken Demers (5-5, 4.10) / RH Mike Messinger (3-5, 5.92) / RH Chris James (4-9, 7.19) #76: LOSS 3-5 ... well, there goes our one chance, as Waugh gets shelled early...six hits tonight, all singles #77: WIN 8-7 ... who knows anymore...3 hits, 3 RBI from Royer, and Hed's 2-run HR is the GW #78: LOSS 3-4 ... more meh hitting and another bad bullpen outing...oh hey, we did hit two HR! It may be time to cut bait with this team. Half the lineup is hitting for average, and half couldn't hit their granddad's pitches.... Groff is dropped from the lineup, batting .210 now. Simmons is under .200 and is out dtd. He probably won't play for a while regardless. No one we install at short or second can hit a ball out of the infield right now anyway.... Somehow our bullpen still has the 3rd best ERA in the AL, despite blowing saves and earning nearly every one of our last eight losses.... ELSEWHERE: Padres starter Emanuel Vasquez got shelled in his first three June starts, but his last two? A 12-K one hitter and a 19-K two hitter.... Detroit (56-22) and Chicago (50-28) are the top two teams in MLB, and are miles ahead of the rest of a sad division.... Oakland is the coldest team going, on a 1-9 streak. But they play us next, so cheer up A's fans.... Ten straight wins for the Zephyrs before dropping their last game. Three games separates NO, STL, and CHI in the NL Central. June 24-26 vs OAKLAND One last putrid series before the all-star break. Are we really not even halfway through this season yet? Anyway, Oakland's numbers look pretty bad right now: 15th in offense, 13th in pitching, and a -71 run differential. Former Isles star Mike Hunter, 39, leads the team at .304; and Ryan Walton has added 33 HR, Felix Reyes 22. Pitching has been really devastated by three season-ending injuries to their top three starters--Jim Schwartz, Eric Stockton, and Tom Baker. A lot of the staff has seriously underperformed this season, most notably closer Matt Rabideau, sporting a gaudy 8.28 ERA (double last year's number). These guys won 101 games two seasons ago: losing free agents and not having many viable replacements has stunted the offense. They've also gotten worse each month, and are 17-32 since May 1. (Hey, we're 20-29 so maybe I should just shut up.) HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (4-6, 5.66) / RH Andy Burke (0-1, 5.40) / LH Matt Waugh (10-1, 2.02) OAK pitchers: RH Kyle Forney (4-5, 5.55) / RH Jason Petty (2-6, 5.02) / RH Jaden Bartholomew (6-6, 6.06) #79: WIN 7-4 ... outhit 13 to 8, but we add 7 walks...still not sure what happened here tho...Bader and Covington get hurt, so that's great #80: WIN 8-4 ... Royer and Espino homer, and somehow we outhit an opponent...Burke gets the win even with his ERA climbing again #81: WIN 6-4 ... I still have no idea with these guys...hits are 15 to 4 tonight, and Matson actually hits a home run, first one this month So...what gives. I know Oakland's pretty terrible. But guess what: we've been no better. How does this series square with getting swept by the equally-awful Brewers? Our pitching wasn't great, but we started to hit here. Can we keep it up.... Major lineup tweaks may have helped. Ulkini moves to 2B, despite being no good as an infielder. He bats third, and Matson drops to sixth. Russ Venters starts in right and bats seventh; as long as he keeps hitting .344 and getting on base 40% of the time, he'll keep playing. Simmons and Groff are glued to the bench for now; hit better than a combined .203 and we'll talk, guys.... Pitching? Bader herniates himself and is out for six weeks. Hold your noses, readers: Josh Irvin and his 7.71 ERA are back up, after not really doing anything good in AAA. But someone has to be a fifth starter, and Skiff has done even worse than Irvin since being demoted. In the pen, Kyle Johnson has once again played his way out of the closer spot. Jordan Ruiz gets a crack, and Johnson (along with the equally-bad-of-late Sam Bohlen) is moved to middle relief. Nate Kearns and Anthony Booker move into setup roles.... ELSEWHERE: Oakland has dropped 11 in a row now THANK GOD.... Staying in the AL West, Texas and Seattle are tied at the top at 47-34, with Houston three games out.... New Orleans stays hot, and is now three games ahead of the Cubs, with the Cards (losers of five straight) dropping into third.... LA's Irish-Japanese slugger Junjiro McDonnell leads all NL batters with 30 HR; and Detroit's Pat Townsand has cooled off some allowing teammate Elliott Wheat to surge to the top of the batting list at .377. ...... TL;DR Version:** Well that last sweep did put us at 41-40 halfway through the season, and 7-5 in this little stretch. Suffice to say, however, that we most likely will NOT match our 122 wins from a year ago. Out on a limb I go, I know. And despite showing some signs of life of late, I'm not convinced our hitting is here to stay. I said above that Venters will start as long as he hits. Thing is, he doesn't have Pederson's power, and we're really lacking in that department. Is it worth making a trade to shore that up? Maybe...and there is a solid RF on the block in the form of Pittsburgh's Miguel Iglesias. But I'm not sure it's worth trading away an asset for a free agent-to-be, when we obviously need more than one guy to help out this lineup. There aren't any move-the-needle hitters on the block right now, but maybe it's worth seeing who might be gettable from the various bottom-dwellers. Maybe there's even a power hitting 2B out there! Or one who can hit at all! Attached Images __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!

06-05-2021, 08:23 PM	#419
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	July 2054 All-Star Break and Whatnot: The big club may be struggling, but we've got a lot of quality prospects working through the system. MLB recognized that by naming seven of our players to the All-Star Prospects game: pitchers John Loeb (AA), Manny Reyes (A), and Brad Cahil (AAA), 3B Jose Villalpando (R), IF Bill Gamboa (AA), IF Jake Moore (AA), and OF Brian Hassell (A). All but Loeb played in the AL team's 7-2 win, with Gamboa going 2-for-3 with a HR and getting the game MVP. Moore also got two hits, Hassell one. We claim an MVP in the big game too: with the AL winning 8-1, Jules Medici won it after going 2-for-3 with a HR, 2 RBI, and a pair of walks. Matt Waugh fanned two in his single inning of work, and Nate Kearns closed it out with a perfect ninth. No one else from Hawaii made the squad, not surprisingly. As for July...let's hope it's better than June. Twenty-eight games forthcoming, sixteen at home. We start with two series on the road, and we really hope to get off to a better opening than the 0-5 (and then 1-7) that June brought. The last ten games will be at home. July 1-3 @ KANSAS CITY They sit at 35-46 and already miles behind the division leaders (22 games), but only a game behind the Twins for a coveted divisional bronze medal. Seventh in runs scored, 11th in runs against, and a -25 run differential. There's a decent core lineup here: LF Dan Dellinger, CF Julius Burrows, 3B Tom Esposito, DH Micah Bailey are a quality top four, while 2B Marcus Tamrat and SS Jose Valdez make a solid middle infield pair. But a lack of money for quality free agents and a set of young pitchers who haven't developed as hoped have held things back this year. But the rotation is young--only one guy over 26--so they still have time. HAW pitchers: RH Danny Carbajal (3-1, 3.30) / RH Mike Pearse (4-5, 4.16) / RH Josh Irvin (2-6, 7.71) KCR pitchers: RH Steve Scibek (10-4, 4.51) / RH Bill Perez (3-10, 7.64) / RH Adam Grossman (3-7, 7.04) #82: LOSS 1-6 ... held to just two hits, both by Covington including a solo HR...Johnson gives up three runs late too, not that we were threatening #83: WIN 7-2 ... few hits again, only 8, but paired with 8 walks...RBI doubles by Hed and Lynn in the 6th are the key winning hits #84: LOSS 2-7 ... 9 hits for both teams, but Irvin allows 3 long balls and looks worse than he did earlier in the season Two steps forward, two steps back.... Still not much offense, which has been our major fault this year. If we can't turn things around in the next couple weeks, it'll be time for 2055 tryouts.... Given that we overspent on internationals last year, we are banned from signing anyone this year. Good thing that there aren't any obvious future stars in this year's crew. The best guys look like two relievers, and you really shouldn't spend $7-10M on 16-year-old relief pitchers.... ELSEWHERE: Seeing as we can't hit our own shadows right now, let's check in on the guys we "dumped" onto other teams last winter. Like OF Josh Frederick (.316/17/48)? Or 2B Bob Goodloe (.338/7/43 and a 20-game hitting streak)? Surely Cam Daley must be suffering on a terrible Indians squad? Yeah, his .289/9/41 is truly awful.... Speaking of Cleveland, a solid 4-6 run has brought them to the brink of 30 wins.... Winning streaks have opened up solid leads for Tampa Bay (7 games) and the Dodgers (8), while the White Sox taking six straight has brought them to just two games behind Detroit. July 4-6 @ CALIFORNIA Somehow we've attained some separation from these guys (five games), with them at 37-47. Their hitting is really declining, now 16th in runs, AVG, and OBP, and next-to-last in nearly everything else. Pitching is better, at 11th in runs allowed, but they still have a -65 differential. William Swanson (.312/25/80) and Mauricio Marquez (.315/21/62) are about the extent of the offense. We need a kick-start with this series: will we show up? HAW pitchers: RH Andy Burke (1-1, 5.30) / LH Matt Waugh (11-1, 2.11) / RH Danny Carbajal (3-2, 3.51) CAL pitchers: RH Aaron Moore (1-2, 5.08) / LH Travis Fox (7-3, 3.76) / RH Nate Elder (7-8, 5.54) #85: WIN 8-3 ... we allow 14 hits but no runs until the 9th...HR from Hed and Venters, and 2 hits from Pfeifer! A 2B gets some hits! #86: LOSS 4-7 ... 2 HR from Medici, but Waugh throws in his 2nd straight stinker...2 more hits from Pfeifer, and a rare hit from Simmons #87: WIN 8-7 ... down 6-3 we score 5 runs late to eke this one out...15 hits, 6 doubles: old school! A much needed two wins, keeping us just above the .500 mark and within 7 of the Rangers. We're not quite dead yet.... Venters (.356/.397/.616 in 73 AB) has really responded to being moved into the #2 slot.... Still trying to figure out our rotation: Waugh is trending down but I'm not worried about him (yet); Pearse has been better; the rookies Carbs and Burke have struggled of late; Irvin was terrible in his return but will get one more shot at least. Skiff has tossed well in AAA so could come right back up if Irvin barfs again.... ELSEWHERE: Oakland has dropped right off the radar, but slugging 3B Ryan Walton leads MLB with 39 HR, and just reached 450 for his career.... Six wins on the trot for Cleveland! What a world, what a world.... League-wide, hitting has backed off from those early-season heights, but overall ERA in the AL still sits at 5.32 and averages at .280. July 7-9 vs MIAMI A team having a very similar time as us, at 42-45 and with the 9th-ranked offense matched with 6th-place pitching. A +22 run differential also tells you something is amiss with their record. They also just traded young 3B Jose Pantoja to the Yankees for 32-year-old former closer Daryl Kennedy, an odd deal if you ask me. (Pantoja will be replace by Jon Ladd, who's good but also 35; and while the bullpen is made better here, that's not putting them into the playoff race.) Anyway, they took three from us back in May, triggering a 7-game run for them but the beginning of a 4-11 run for us. Let's avoid that this time out. HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (5-5, 3.97) / RH Josh Irvin (2-7, 8.12) / RH Andy Burke (2-1, 4.28) MIA pitchers: LH Victor Nunez (6-5, 5.16) / RH Jason Simon (7-3, 5.01) / LH Dustin Panos (2-1, 4.55) #88: LOSS 5-6 ... we try but can't come back from a 6-0 deficit...GRAND SLAM by Pfeifer and a solo shot by Medici are the highlights #89: LOSS 0-3 ... 3 hits here...why am I even trying to adjust this lineup? #90: LOSS 3-7 ... one guess at who put more runners on base and had more XBH tonight, but still lost Yeah, not great. Swept again by these guys, and that's probably the nail in our coffin.... Next steps are figuring out who'll still be here next year. There's some salary we could clear out, and maybe a couple who could be DFA'd in place of prospects who deserve some long looks. One problem with that is the wave of injuries that's struck AAA and AA, meaning a few guys who may deserve call-ups are no longer available.... Weirdness: I've put in three waiver claims for pitchers recently, to help out in AAA. All three have been ignored. No other teams claimed the players. What gives?... ELSEWHERE: We have our first no-hitter of the season: Portland's Tony Arriaga walks six but fans eight and no-nos the Robins in a 6-0 win. The Pioneers have been solid this year, at 49-41, but still sit ten games in arrears of the Dodgers.... TWELVE straight for the White Sox now, putting them a game ahead of the Tigers. Both of these teams could have 100 wins this season.... Injuries are still bedeviling the Mets, and they've gone 13-20 over the last month-plus to fall to fourth in the NL East. June 11-13 vs SEATTLE I expect no joy for the next week, given this series and a following one with Texas. Second in runs but with 13th-ranked pitching, so maybe we can lose games 8-6 instead. Breakout season for 2B Ger Van Mourik, .348/.407/.652 with 21 HR. With OF Luis Hernandez (.340) on the DL, rookie Mike Bruno was moved into the lineup and has responded, batting .387 over the last month. Really, everyone is hitting but C Arturo Sena, but even his .188 (only ten points below his career average, tbf) goes along with 13 HR and solid defense. The rotation, alas, has been a mess, and three of the current crew have ERAs over seven. As good as their hitting has been, with Houston now just a game behind they'll need better pitching to hold the Astros off and to catch the Rangers. HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (11-2, 2.51) / RH Danny Carbajal (3-2, 3.76) / RH Mike Pearse (5-6, 4.28) SEA pitchers: RH Daniel Newell (0-0, 7.36) / RH Steve Davenport (6-6, 7.94) / RH Danny Diaz (10-4, 4.70) #91: WIN 7-6 ... early 7-0 lead, then hang on for your lives...Royer and Venters homer, and Lynn goes 4-for-4, scores 3 times and steals 3 bases #92: WIN 8-2 ... solid all-around, with Carbs holding them to 5 hits, and 2 HR from Medici, one from Pfeifer #93: WIN 8-0 ... like old times: 2 H each for Groff and Simmons, same for Lynn and Royer...2-hit ball over 7 IP from Pearse, 8 K and 4 BB Shocking. I guess I should poor-mouth the guys a lot more, huh. Best combined series we've played in a long time.... The retooling begins. First, we make a minor deal with Cleveland, sending long-shot OF prospect Sean Buttry (12th round in 2053) for pitcher Jake Hathcock, a quad-A type who'll shore up our injury-riddled staff in Santa Barbara. The second deal was bigger, sending the perpetually-disappointing Kyle Johnson to Tampa Bay for two pitchers. Johnson started '54 as our closer, earning 19 saves, but constant blowups made me move him to middle relief, and now out of town. In return we get two swingmen, Jonathan Sitzler and Trevor Kaufmann. Sitzler will move into the Hawaii pen, while Kaufmann goes to AAA but may get a September callup. (But he now has a pending injury.).... Lineup moves: Groff will split at 1B vs RHP with the struggling Josh Matson, and J.J. Simmons goes back to full-time SS duty.... ELSEWHERE: 9 straight for LA, opening up an 11-game lead over Portland and becoming the third team to reach 60 wins on the season.... 43 HR for Oakland's Ryan Walton, giving A's fans at least one thing to cheer for this year.... Fun series coming up: Chicago (63-30, 612 runs, 200 HR, best offense, 7th-ranked pitching) visits Detroit (61-32, 590 runs, 3rd best offense and pitching). Too bad they also don't finish the season playing each other. ...... TL;DR Version: More schizo play, going 6-6 and sitting at 47-46 on the year, seven games out of first. We get swept by sub-.500 Miami then turn around and dominate a solid Seattle team. Okay, sure. The two trades don't really move the needle that much, but moving Johnson will save us some bucks over the next couple of seasons and may open the doors to more bullpen competition this off-season. I tried to get some hitting for him, but the only decent offers on that front came in the shape of aging outfielders no better than what we've got already. More about this later, but rumor has it that the anti-baseball faction in our ownership has been a 20-year vacation courtesy of the federal government, and that next year's budget could actually tick up a bit. We won't be anywhere near last year's high of $226M, but a small recovery nonetheless. __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!

06-13-2021, 12:25 PM	#420
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	July 14-16 @ TEXAS Despite our last series, I still expect little from this one. At 54-39, the Rangers haven't run away with the division, but they have a narrow four-game lead over Houston and another one over Seattle. Hitting has finally come around, to 6th in runs despite sitting 10th in average (at .278 they're three points and three positions behind us). Four regulars are batting over .300 and three of them have over 20 HR. Pitching is 2nd overall despite still having five pitchers on the DL. Bill Butts has the worst ERA among the starters at 5.13, which may be the best fifth-place number in the AL, tbh. They've taken two of three in each of our three series this year. HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (2-8, 7.58) / RH Andy Burke (2-2, 4.81) / LH Matt Waugh (12-2, 2.71) TEX pitchers: RH Sean Reed (6-6, 4.55) / LH Bill Butts (7-8, 5.13) / LH Bobby Daniel (11-4, 2.97) #94: LOSS 1-8 ... oh, Irvin, you scamp. Back to the farm with you...2.1 shutout IP in Sitzler's relief debut, at least #95: WIN 7-3 ... Burke gives up 10 hits but rides a 5-run 5th to a win...Medici's 3-run HR is the key hit, and Royer knocks 3 hits #96: LOSS 1-7 ... more woes for Waugh, getting pulled in the 6th...another HR for Medici, but only six other hits tonight Four series with Texas, four 1-2 results.... After a 10-0 beginning to the year, Waugh's last five starts have amounted to three losses, 28 innings, and 23 earned runs.... Back to .500 and 8 games behind the Rangers. With 66 games left, of course we're not out of it; but this long run of subpar play shows no sign of abating.... New AAA pitcher Trevor Kaufmann lasts just one out in his first game before leaving with an injury. He's out for 8 months.... Irvin earns a quick trip back to California, and Biff Skiff makes his return. God knows what awaits.... ELSEWHERE: 29 hits away from 3000 for Giants 3B Juan Garcia. He's slumped a bit and is batting a career low .298.... Twelve straight wins for LA and their $1B bullpen. They should have the division wrapped up by Labor Day.... Chicago takes 2 out of 3 from Detroit, now has a three game lead in the Central.... Cincy's Cris Frias must be a thrill to watch: in 120 IP he's fanned 171 batters, but also walked 116. July 17-19 @ CLEVELAND They've been stuck at the bottom of the league table for most of the year, but something has changed of late as they're 13-2 this month. Only 14th in scoring despite better hitting (7th in average), mostly due to low OBP and OPS. But the 2-4 slots in the lineup are crushing it: Marcus Stokes at .348, Manny Ayala .344, and best of all is Matthew Hill at .364/30/82. Pitching is 15th, but the rotation ERA is league-worst. Youngsters Dudley Mele and Tyler Malinich have gotten better during the season after horrible starts, while Sam Tedder has not. But vet Ryan Ratliff just looks cooked, postively Skiffian this season. Of course these guys have gotten hot just in time for us to come to town. HAW pitchers: RH Danny Carbajal (4-2, 3.61) / RH Mike Pearse (6-6, 4.04) / RH Biff "I'm Back" Skiff (0-4, 9.97) CLE pitchers: RH Dudley Mele (7-4, 4.97) / RH Sam Tedder (2-9, 8.60) / RH Tyler Malinich (0-4, 5.92) #97: WIN 4-1 ... another solid outing for Carbs, allowing 2 H over 7 IP...2 RBI for Ulkini, who then gets hurt #98: WIN 11-10 ... 4-0 lead, then 5-3, 9-7, and a run for each team in the 9th...2 HR by Royer, and Gase hits his 1st career blast #99: WIN 8-7 ... another messy win but I'll take it...HR for Medici, and also Kelley of all people...5 ER in 5 IP from Skiff, lowering (!) his ERA Grouchy Bub strikes again. We really needed this sweep, and we move into a third place tie with Seattle.... Skiff doesn't impress in his return, but frankly it's been a low bar for him this year.... Injuries, man: dtd dings for Ulkini (3 weeks) and Pearse (1 week), and DL stints for Hed (2-3 weeks) and now Sitzler (five weeks). Add these to the 25 minor leaguers also out of action.... OF Stephen Eason comes up for his first stint this year, replacing Hed, and RP Brad Cahill gets his first MLB summons to replace Sitzler.... ELSEWHERE: White Sox SS Chris "Friable" Rock suffers his annual injury and will miss a month. Rock was batting .320 and playing solid defense, so he'll be missed. But they had to expect this.... Six games separate the top four teams in the AL West, and 9 games the top 5 in the NL East. With about two months remaining only LA has a seemingly insurmountable lead, at 15 games over Portland.... Hot teams: Boston, closing to 6 behind Tampa; St Louis, 2 behind New Orleans; and Minnesota, way back of CHI/DET but closing in on the fight for the second AL wild card. July 21-23 vs TAMPA BAY 60-39 and six games ahead of the Red Sox. Third in runs and ninth in pitching, and a nice round +99 run differential. The usual suspects are all there at the top of the lineup--Orlando Navarro, Jorge Arriola, Edgar Aranceta, and Jose Taveras--all producing tons of offense. And former Isles star SS Rich Stoneback has held his creaky 36-year old body together so far, producing 11 HR and solid defense. The rotation looks a little wobbly but the bullpen has been top five, with Ken Zeolla (31 saves) closing and Bubba Fairweather and Jeff Ward as solid setup men. We'll also probably see our former big guy Kyle Johnson, whom we just traded and who also registered a win in his one appearance here. They're looking good to rack up their fourth consecutive 90-win season, and possibly their first triple digit season since 2031. HAW pitchers: RH Andy Burke (3-2, 4.54) / LH Matt Waugh (12-3, 2.87) / RH Danny Carbajal (5-2, 3.38) TBR pitchers: RH Greg Drake (7-5, 5.94) / RH Roberto Melo (6-3, 5.65) / RH Mat Caldwell (6-13, 5.40) #100: WIN 9-7 ... we hold on after an early 8-2 lead...HR for Royer and Medici...dtd injury for Covington #101: WIN 9-7 ... 3 guys rack up 8 hits: 4 for Lynn, 2 each for Medici and Kolb...7 walks too tho...Waugh gets smoked, pulled in 2nd inning #102: WIN 12-4 ... offensive explosion! 12 runs, 15 hits, 10 walks...4 hits for Kolb, Lynn and Matson with 3 each Well that came out of nowhere. None of the pitchers showed up (outside of Carbs), but a bunch of hits, 7 HR, and a gazillion walks gave us the sweep... After startinng the year 10-0 with a 1.69 ERA, Waugh's last 6 starts have amounted to: 2-3, 29.2 IP, 38 H, 29 ER, 35 K, 15 BB. Oh brother.... 8 guys out with injury right now. Two--Pearse and Covington--will be back in two days with dtd tweaks. Hed and Ulkini will take 2-3 weeks; everyone else is done.... One of our top pitching prospects, Steve Shinnick, in AA, is out for four months. Hopefully he won't lose any steam, as he's another guy I was counting on to see in camp.... ELSEWHERE: We're solidly into the "Trade prospects for mediocre relievers! Stat!" Silly Season. Three of them in this stetch, including first place Washington acquiring 37-year old David Salguero from California. Sags has pitched terribly all year and has already announced his retirement, so what gives.... Tampa traded several quality prospects to Arizona for Mat Campbell (see game 102 above), just in time for us to take him to the woodshed. Welcome to the AL, Mat! July 24-26 vs OAKLAND Hitting has not come around, at 15th in runs; but 6th in home runs thanks largely to Ryan Walton (45) and Felix Reyes (29). Pitching ranks 12th, and the rotation--while not great--has held up despite having three top starters on long-term DL. Another former Isles star is still going here, 39-year old 2B Mike Hunter, batting .295 and looking at yet another season of 40 doubles. With 625 career doubles, he's 14th all-time and closing in on Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols, just ahead of him. They've played better this month, 12-9, and have passed California to get out of last place. HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (0-4, 9.87) / RH Mike Pearse (6-6, 4.08) / RH Andy Burke (4-2, 4.62) OAK pitchers: RH Oscar Escobedo (2-1, 4.55) / RH Jason Petty (2-9, 5.94) / RH Jaden Bartholomew (8-9, 5.80) #103: LOSS 4-6 ... a 4-1 lead goes away quickly...surprise, another bad outing from Skiff...3-run HR from Medici, on fire this week #104: WIN 3-1 ... finally, pitching!...8 hits and 7 walks tonight...6 IP of 2-hit ball from Pearse on his return #105: WIN 13-9 ... 3-run HR from Groff and Covington, and 15 total hits...nobody pitches well, however, from either team Who needs pitching, right? I think the rotation plays rock-paper-scissors every five days to see who's going to be the one guy to pitch well.... First time in a while we're outhitting some really mediocre pitching: we went from 12th in runs a week ago to tied for sixth.... We've crept up to seven (seven!) games over .500 and three games behind Texas, one behind Houston.... Potentially bad news is closer Jordan Ruiz and his pending injury diagnosis.... A few weeks ago we offered minor league deals to two pitchers to help fill in some AAA and AA injuries. Both tuned us down, their agents "insulted" by said minor league offers. Well, both ended up signing tiny deals for European clubs. Get new agents, guys.... ELSEWHERE: A 2-8 run has dropped the Mets to 9 games out, proving that losing your top three hitters to long-term injury is definitely NOT a winning strategy.... a 5-game losing streak for Cleveland and a 7-game slide for Montreal has them at matching 39-66 records.... 72 wins has the Chisox on top of everybody, but LA just reached the 70-win plateau as well. And the glorious AL West? The only division without a 60-win team.... 20 hits away from 3K for Juan Garcia, back up to a .302 average. In his 16-year career he's only ever not hit .300 three times, and each of those seasons he batted .299. He's also never won a batting crown. July 27-29 vs HOUSTON Part of a three-team phalanx making a charge on the Rangers: 2 games back at 57-48, we're another game back, Seattle a game behind us. Hitting is leaving the building, now 11th in runs and 16th in average. Pitching, however, is keeping the ship afloat: 4th overall, and the league's best bullpen. Jose Renteria is pretty much the lone offensive star, at .306/33/79, and Kevin Mazurowski rebounded from a terrible June to get back to .273/20/70. One worry for the future here is that there's very little offensive talent in the system, and the youngish guys on the big clubs play solid defense--the team is 1st in efficiency and ZR--but don't hit much. Some promising pitchers are brewing up, however. HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (12-3, 3.23) / RH Danny Carbajal (6-2, 3.51) / RH Mike Bader (4-6, 5.57) HOU pitchers: LH Chris Salmela (3-5, 5.17) / RH Ron Mills (7-4, 4.85) / RH Chris James (5-12, 7.27) #106: WIN 6-0 ... Waugh is back, fanning 10 yielding just 3 hits...but the big story is Medici going 4-for-4 with 3 HR, tying the team record #107: WIN 3-2 ... strong game from Carbs, but Kearns gets the win because we wait to score all 3 runs in the 9th #108: WIN 8-1 ... Matson homers, Medici raps 3 more hits...7.2 IP of shutout ball by Bader on his return from the DL Another out-of-nowhere series. The Astros aren't hitting much these days, and we really took advantage. Great starts by all three pitchers, and a nice welcome back to Bader from injury.... His return means Skiff goes back to AAA, after just a disastrous run of starts for him this year.... Medici's big game ties the team record, set by Josh Frederick in '52 and tied by Dante Padilla in '49. He's now reached 40 HR on the season.... We have 15 pitchers on the DL across our system as of this writing. Not ideal.... ELSEWHERE: Miami is shoring up their depth for a run at the post-season, acquiring old-but-still solid (and former Isle) 2B Mike Hunter from Oakland and read-for-primetime pitching prospect Dylan Tate from Boston. In the first deal, they also swapped big-swinging and near-identical prospects for some reason, adding 1B Jeff White and moving OF Jorge Ledesma. Currently they're just outside a wildcard slot, so they're rolling the dice on a hot August.... We're on a 9-1 run, but Texas swept California to add a game to their lead, now three games.... RUN TO 3K WATCH: Giants 3B Juan Garcia now has 2850 hits, just 15 away. July 31 vs CALIFORNIA The month ends with the first of three against the last place Angels. They were hanging on through May, just three games under .500 and still within range in the up-for-grabs West; but a mediocre June and now a 7-20 July ended any hopes they had of making a late run. That, and a 17th-ranked offense, still waning despite a resurgent William Swanson (.321 with 34 HR). Pitching sits 11th, and faces some questions now with the regressions of young pros Nate Elder and Aaron Moore. At least Seth O'Neill has started living up to his top-of-the-rotation promise. There isn't a lot of depth in the prospect tank, but LF Chris Burns is having a solid rookie season (.270/12/44) and when he's fully cooked he'll be a major mid-lineup bat. Fellow OF kids Tim Cyr and Adam Richardson could join him to form a solid outfield crew at least, even if the infield cupboard looks a little barren. HAW pitcher: RH Mike Pearse (7-6, 3.96) CAL pitcher: RH Seth O'Neill (10-7, 3.96) #109: WIN 3-2 ... Gase goes 3-for-3, Venters 2 hits, 2 RBI, and a solo HR...8 K in 6.1 IP from Pearse Nice way to finish the month, and on a six-game win streak.... Joe Lynn broke his own team record with his 49th steal on the season, and now has 176 for his career, in third behind the still-active-but-slowing Groff (265) and Simmons (247). On the flip side, he's also broken his team record for times caught stealing, at 24 this season.... We reached 60 wins after this game, a mark we hit around late June last year.... ELSEWHERE: A pile of trades greets the end of the month, but few make any waves at all. Richmond acquires OF Phil Cronce from Miami for a couple of prospects; only of interest because Cronce has hit .300 with 73 HR over 2+ seasons with the Marlins, something my scouts say he shouldn't be capable of. (And wasn't Miami making moves to get INTO the playoffs? Odd one here.).... Richmond is just two games behind Washington in the NL East, and top-to-bottom there is only separated by 11 games, the tightest total spread of any division.... A middling stretch from Detroit has them at "only" 69-40, but six games behind Chicago and in third place overall, as LA went 20-8 this month to finish 72-37. ...... TL;DR Version: A 13-3 run here is more like it! (And 19-9 for the month, our best one of '54!) That brings us to 60-49 on the season, three games behind the Rangers and two up on Houston. One bit of news that escaped attention: we agreed on a major contract extension with Jules Medici, at 8 years and $173M. He's ours through 2060, at an escalating rate that averages out to just under $20M per season: an absolute bargain if you ask me. After '60 he has an opt out, but if he stays, he'll play two more seasons at $25.9M per with us. This deal eats up his final two years of arbitration, but seeing as the estimates for him we got were about the same as what we signed him for (16M and 18M estimate versus 17.9M and 18.9M reality), you can only guess what his salary ask would have been after that. (Hint: in excess of $30M per season is my guess.) Finally, with the trade deadline here, we look around a bit but make no moves. I skulked about for a possible solid offensive 2B option on the market, but the two guys I looked at were too pricey: Mets all-star Alfonso Torres and Cards vet (and former Isle!) Manny Rangel. Both teams wanted Matt Waugh as a starting point. LOL good luck with your failing seasons, fellow GMs. So, no deals and now we dance with what we brung. A solid August will keep us right in the playoff hunt, and possibly the division race too. A bad month means...we gut Santa Barbara and get some more MLB looks at a host of prospects in September. Attached Images __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!