Return of the Rams

[Y0DA55]

Originally Posted by Special K 9274

I definilty like the Panic "button" Mesick.

BTW I really like the way you run this thread, I think I may use a format like this for my Nationals one.

I'm still feeling out the whole nickname thing. I may give it some time.

Credit can be given to Chappy for the format. I loved reading Rebuilding a Champion. That's how I got hooked on this game in the first place.

[Y0DA55]

Team Record: 1-4
Sim Record: 1-4

Games
4/6 - 7-6 loss @ Utah (10 innings) - The story of the game (for us) was Mingo going 4-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. I wasn't at all impressed with Long's first start (5.2 IP, 10 H, 4 R), but I don't expect that all season, probably a little early season rust. He didn't pick up the loss though. Arnie Stier lost it giving up 1 run in the 9th (to let them tie it up) and 1 run in the 10th (to give them a win). What was my computer manager thinking? Also of note: Jerkins went 3-5 with 2 RBI and Earl Schuh got his first major league hit.
4/7 - 5-2 loss @ Utah - Chip Herold was not quite as impressive as last year (5.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 5 K), but it wasn't horrible. The only offense of note was Christopher Baker (our new starting catcher) who hit a homerun.
4/8 - 3-2 loss @ Utah (10 innings) - Stier again gets the loss, allowing a run in the 10th. Salvatore Perez, who we picked up in the Kinchen deal), went 7.1 strong innings (7 H, 1 ER). Mingo and Schuh each had 2 hits and James Hennen hit his first homerun of the year.
4/9 - 6-3 WIN @ Idaho - 37 year old Chet McKie proves he still has something left in the tank (8.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R) and our offense rocked. Tolerton and Jerkins each had 3 hits. Warner and Pecora each had 2.
4/10 - 10-0 loss @ Idaho - It was our 5th starter (Steelman) vs their #1 starter (Kevin "Nitro" Smith). No chance! Hennen and Massengill each have 2 hits (with each having a double). That and a couple of singles was all the offense we had.

Standings

Great Explorers Standings
East
Team	   W L  PCT  GB Stk L10
Texas	   4 1 .800  -	 W4 4-1
Kansas	   3 2 .600 1.0	 L1 3-2
New Mexico 3 2 .600 1.0	 W1 3-2
Wisconsin  3 2 .600 1.0	 W3 3-2
Illinois   1 4 .200 3.0	 L4 1-4
Minnesota  1 4 .200 3.0	 L4 1-4

West
Team	   W L  PCT  GB Stk L10
Utah	   4 1 .800  -	 W1 4-1
California 3 2 .600 1.0	 L1 3-2
Idaho	   3 2 .600 1.0	 W1 3-2
Nevada	   3 2 .600 1.0	 W2 3-2
Colorado   1 4 .200 3.0  L1 1-4
Washington 1 4 .200 3.0	 L4 1-4

We aren't in last place (alone)! Of course, that's not going to last long. As you'll see below, we have decent pitching this year, but we still have ZERO offense. At some point in the future, I am going to have to swing for an above average bat.

If you couldn't already tell, this is going to be another long year in Colorado.

Also, what is up with Washington? A bit of a post Championship funk?

Pitching

   Name	        G GS W L SV   ERA  IP HA R ER BB K
s1 P. Long	1  1 0 0  0  6.35 5.2 10 4  4  1 2
s2 C. Herold	1  1 0 1  0  4.77 5.2  8 5  3  0 5
s3 S. Perez	1  1 0 0  0  1.23 7.1  7 2  1  2 5
s4 C. McKie	1  1 1 0  0  3.12 8.2 10 3  3  2 2
s5 C. Steelman	1  1 0 1  0  8.31 4.1  9 5  4  2 2

mr A. Jacobs	1  0 0 0  0  6.75 1.1  2 1  1  1 0
mr R. Souza	2  0 0 0  0  5.40 1.2  2 1  1  1 0
mr T. Shimizu	2  0 0 0  0 27.01 1.1  5 4  4  1 1
mr D. MacKenzie	1  0 0 0  0  0.00 1.0  2 0  0  0 0
su W. Chee	3  0 0 0  0  0.00 3.2  3 0  0  1 2
su L. Briscoe	2  0 0 0  1  0.00 0.1  1 0  0  0 0
cl A. Stier	2  0 0 2  0 10.13 2.2  6 3  3  1 1

I decided to bring up Salvatore Perez. He's has almost maxed out ratings, so I figure I would give him a shot and he didn't disapoint.

As far as other new faces? Shimizu was pretty good last year, so he's up again, Jacobs is going to be given a shot, and OF COURSE Chip Herold is up.

On the retirement front, Rafael Souza has announced his retirement at the end of the season. He's been with the organization since the beginning, expect a write up about him later on.

Lineup

     Name	   G AB	H 2B 3B	HR RBI R BB K   AVG   OBP   SLG
1 CF L. Mingo	   5 22	7  1  0  0   2 3  1 2  .318  .348  .364
2 RF E. Schuh	   4 14	3  1  0	 0   1 0  0 3  .214  .214  .286
3 LF J. Hennen	   5 22	4  1  0	 1   2 2  1 2  .182  .217  .364
4 3B N. Massengill 4 14	3  1  0	 0   0 0  1 3  .214  .267  .286
5 2B V. Koenig	   5 16	4  0  0	 0   0 1  4 4  .250  .429  .250
6 SS K. Warner	   5 17	4  1  0	 0   0 1  1 4  .235  .278  .294
7 1B J. Tolerton   5 19	4  1  0	 0   3 2  0 1  .211  .211  .263
8 C  C. Baker	   4 10	1  0  0	 1   1 1  0 1  .100  .100  .400

     N. Mutsuhito  1  1	1  1  0	 0   0 0  0 0 1.000 1.000 2.000
     S. McLaughlin 2  2	1  0  0	 0   0 0  0 0  .500  .500  .500
     D. Pecora	   4  9	4  0  0	 0   2 1  1 1  .444  .500  .444
     R. Jerkins	   5 14	6  2  0	 0   3 1  0 2  .429  .429  .571
     R. Long	   2  8	2  2  0	 0   1 2  0 0  .250  .250  .500

First thing you should know about this season is that there are a lot of people splitting time. Massengill and Jerkins are switching vs righties and lefties (respectively). Schuh and Pecora, and Baker and Long are also platoons.

As I said last season, Schuh, Hennen, and Massengill were going to be in the big show. A name you probably don't recognize, but this guy has a good story, is Drew "Mr Irrelevant" Pecora. You see, Mr. Pecora was the last pick in the 2007 draft by Pennsylvania (who traded for the pick I think... because they didn't win the championship in 2006). He was later traded to Virginia (who became Ontario... who became New Jersey this season). He was later dropped and acquired as a free agent by myself at the beginning of the 2021 season. He's played some before, but I wouldn't doubt that he will play more games than he has ever played in a season this year.

Also, Steve McLaughlin announced his retirement. I guess I was wrong, last season when he went down with an injury, when I said that was the last he would see of the field.

Team Rankings
Batting AVG: .260 (14th)
Homeruns: 2 (17th)
Walks: 9 (T-21st)
Stolen Bases: 1 (T-18th)
Runs Scored: 16 (20th)

Pitching ERA: 4.95 (22nd)
Opponents AVG: .342 (24th)
HRs Allowed: 3 (T-7th)
Walks Allowed: 12 (8th)
Runs Allowed: 28 (23rd)

We've got zero power on this team. We'll have to do something to change that.

Our Draft Picks
Here's how our guys stacked up in their first week of pro ball.

Panic "I'm still Looking for a Nickname" Mesick - SP - A
1 game, 6.2 innings, no decision, 6 hits, 2 runs, 4 BBs, and 7 Ks. 2.70 ERA

Nevada Ramirez - LF - A
5-18, 2B, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K, .278/.409/.742

Dale Couch - CF - A
7-17, 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 5 R, .412/.474/1.297

Ramone Arais - SS - AA
.292/.320/.862, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI

Cliff Summey - SP - AA
1-0, 1 GS, 9IP, 8 HA, 1 BB, 1K, .267 BABIP (WOOT!)

Wally Campbell - RP - AAA
Hasn't Played

[Y0DA55]

Team Record: 6-9
Sim Record: 5-5

Games
4/11 - 7-4 WIN @ Idaho (13 innings) - Long again can't hold out for the win (yet another extra inning game). He didn't pitch all that well though (6 IP, 8 H, 4 ER). MacKenzie picked up the win and Shimizu got the save. Massengill had a career high 3 hits and Mutsuhito hit a 3 run blast in the 13th to put us up for good (the teams 3rd homerun of the season).
4/12 - 2-0 loss @ California - Schuh and Warner (a double) were the only guys to get hits for us. Herold pitched exceptionally (7 IP, 5 H, 7 Ks), but still ended up taking the loss.
4/13 - 3-2 WIN @ California - The story of this game was the early brilliance of Salvatore Perez. He pitched 7 innings allowing 6 hits, 2 ER, and picked up 6 Ks to raise his ERA to 1.88. 4 of our 9 hits were doubles (Tolerton and Long had multiple hits).
4/14 - 6-1 loss vs Nevada - McKie can't be great every game (7 IP, 7 H, 4 R). Jerkins hit the teams 4th homerun of the year.
4/15 - 5-1 loss vs Nevada - We again managed only two hits (both doubles: Mingo and Warner). Steelman didn't really help up out on the defensive end either. Pretty ugly game all around.
4/16 - 3-0 loss vs Washington - We again get no offense to help out Mr. Long. This game he was brilliant (8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, no earned), but still picked up his first loss of the season. Shuh and Koenig had two hits apiece.
4/17 - 12-11 WIN vs Washington - 6 pitchers used for each side with none of ours going longer than 2.1 innings (Herold was the longest, but he allowed 7 runs). The team had 9 doubles lead by the top 4 in the order who went 12-20 (all of whom had 3 hits and at least 2 runs).
4/18 - 5-1 WIN vs Washington - Salvatore Perez is making an early run at becoming a fan favorite with another fantastic performance (8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER). Hennen led the team with 2 RBI.
4/19 - 2-1 WIN @ Kansas - Jerkins takes over the team lead in homeruns (with 2) and McKie rocks it out with a nice 7 inning outing (5 hits, 1 R).
4/20 - 8-2 loss @ Kansas - Steelman drops to 0-3. Mingo and Koenig each have doubles. There isn't too much more good things that I can say about this game.

Standings

Great Explorers Standings
East
Team	    W  L  PCT  GB Stk L10
Texas	   12  3 .800	-  W2 8-2
Wisconsin   9  6 .600 3.0  L1 6-4
Kansas	    8  7 .533 4.0  W1 5-5
New Mexico  7  8 .467 5.0  L1 4-6
Minnesota   5  9 .357 6.5  L2 4-6
Illinois    4 10 .286 7.5  W2 3-7

West
Team	    W  L  PCT  GB Stk L10
Nevada	   10  5 .667	-  W1 7-3
Utah	    8  6 .571 1.5  L2 5-5
Idaho	    7  8 .467 3.0  W1 4-6
Washington  6  8 .429 3.5  W1 5-5
California  6  9 .400 4.0  L2 3-7
Colorado    6  9 .400 4.0  L1 5-5

It's still surprising to me how poorly Washington is doing this season. I guess it's just early season jitters.

Pitching

   Name	        G GS  W L SV   ERA  IP	HA  R ER BB  K
s1 P. Long	3  3  0 1  0  3.66 19.2	21  9  8  1  9
s2 C. Herold	3  3  0 2  0  7.20 15.0	19 14 12  2 14
s3 S. Perez	3  3  2 0  0  1.61 22.1	18  5  4  9 15
s4 C. McKie	3  3  2 1  0  3.18 22.2	22  8  8  3  6
s5 C. Steelman	3  3  0 3  0  8.31 17.1	26 17 16  7 10

mr D. MacKenzie	4  0  1 0  0  3.18  5.2	 4  2  2  5  0
mr R. Souza	6  0  0 0  0  1.08  8.1	 8  1  1  3  7
mr T. Shimizu	6  0  0 0  1 10.50  6.0	13  7  7  2  4
mr A. Jacobs	1  0  0 0  0  6.75  1.1	 2  1  1  1  0
su L. Briscoe	5  0  0 0  1  4.91  3.2	 7  2  2  0  1
su W. Chee	7  0  0 0  0  1.17  7.2	 6  1  1  1  5
cl A. Stier	5  0  1 2  2  6.00  6.0	 8  4  4  1  3

If there was a rookie that I thought was going to take over, I definitely didn't think it would be Perez. But he has impressed me early on in this season. I wonder if it will last.

Souza is looking pretty good for a 40 year old.

Lineup

     Name	    G AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB  K  AVG  OBP  SLG
1 CF L. Mingo	   15 66 17  6	2  0   5 8  3  8 .258 .290 .409
2 RF E. Schuh	   12 46 13  4	0  0   6 5  1  9 .283 .298 .370
3 LF J. Hennen	   14 56 14  6	0  1   7 5  3  6 .250 .288 .411
4 3B N. Massengill 13 41 11  4	0  0   3 3  5  6 .268 .348 .366
5 2B V. Koenig	   14 48  9  1	0  0   0 2  7 10 .188 .316 .208
6 SS K. Warner	   15 49 11  6	0  0   2 3  5  9 .224 .296 .347
7 1B J. Tolerton   13 48 11  2	0  0   4 2  0  7 .229 .229 .271
8 C  C. Baker	   12 37  6  1	0  1   1 3  1  5 .162 .184 .270

  1B S. McLaughlin  6  9  4  0	0  0   0 1  0  1 .444 .444 .444
  3B R. Jerkins	   15 37 14  3	0  2   7 4  2  5 .378 .410 .622
  OF D. Pecora	    9 22  7  0	0  0   3 1  1  4 .318 .348 .318
  C  R. Long	    6 18  5  3	0  0   2 5  0  3 .278 .278 .444     
  1B N. Mutsuhito   7 16  4  1	0  1   3 3  1  3 .250 .294 .500

Our team isn't going to win any offensive awards. Well, maybe Least Likely to hit a homerun (as we are last in the league in dingers). Wow, we have an ugly offense.

A bright spot is the good play of Jerkins, who even though he sits the bench vs righties, still gets his at bats.

Team Rankings
Batting AVG: .248 (18th)
Homeruns: 5 (24th)
Walks: 29 (24th)
Stolen Bases: 7 (17th)
Runs Scored: 49 (21st)

Pitching ERA: 4.38 (14th)
Opponents AVG: .281 (22nd)
HRs Allowed: 13 (16th)
Walks Allowed: 35 (T-8th)
Runs Allowed: 71 (17th)

[ifspuds]

Sign me up for a Salvatore Perez jersey!

[Y0DA55]

Maybe it's just rookie luck, but I can't believe how good he's been this year!

[Y0DA55]

Team Record: 9-13
Sim Record: 3-4

Games
4/21 - 6-5 loss @ Kansas (15 innings) - This wasn't the game to pull your starter after 4.2 innings as we did Long. He DID have 9 walks though. My bullpen was solid, allowing just 2 runs (1 in the 7th (Stier) and 1 in the 15th (Souza)). We almost double the amount of homeruns we have hit this year with Koenig, Jerkins, and Schuh (his first major league homerun, off of Galon Thrace) each hitting shots.
4/22 - Off Day
4/23 - 3-2 WIN vs Illinois (13 innings) - Massengill won PoG honors with a 3-5 day with a run and an RBI. Koenig chipped in with a 2-6 day and 2 RBI, including the game winner (that scored Mingo). Chip Herold pitched like I had hoped he would (7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 6 Ks).
4/24 - 6-3 WIN vs Illinois - James Hennen wins PoG this game with a 1-3 outing, getting 2 runs and 3 RBI (he basically got it for his 3-run homerun in the 7th). Salvatore Perez continues to be the biggest surprise of the season (7 IP, 10 H, 3ER, 7 Ks).
4/25 - 4-1 WIN vs Illinois - McKie is supposed to be getting old. I don't know how he keeps doing this (7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER). Massengill and Tolerton each have 3 hits and 1 RBI each.
4/26 - Off Day
4/27 - 4-2 loss vs Wisconsin (10 innings) - Mingo has 2 hits (our team has 5) and Baker scores 2 runs. No other offense. Of COURSE this happens when Long is pitching. The man can't BUY a win. His line: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R.
4/28 - 5-3 loss vs Wisconsin - No runs allowed in the first 6 innings, and then 2, 1, and 2 runs scored by the Lumberjacks. Herold had another good game, but Stier and Chee couldn't hold on. Koenig and Warner each had 2 hits.
4/29 - Off Day - Another one? I think this is as close that we'll come to playoff atmosphere all year.
4/30 - 6-2 loss @ Texas - When you have to talk about your pitcher as an offensive star, things can't be good. Perez and Warner each had doubles, but the rest of the team had 4 singles to waste another beautiful Perez start (6 IP, 8 H, 3 R).

Standings

Great Explorers Standings
East
Team	    W  L  PCT	GB Stk L10
Texas	   17  6 .739	-   W2 7-3
Wisconsin  16  6 .727	.5  W7 9-1
Kansas	   14 10 .583  3.5  L1 7-3
New Mexico  9 14 .391  8.0  L3 3-7
Illinois    8 15 .348  9.0  W1 5-5
Minnesota   7 16 .304 10.0  L6 2-8

West
Team	    W  L  PCT	GB Stk L10
Nevada	   14  9 .609	-   W3 5-5
Washington 12 12 .500  2.5  W1 6-4
Idaho	   11 12 .478  3.0  L1 5-5
Utah	   11 12 .478  3.0  L2 3-7
California 10 13 .435  4.0  W4 4-6
Colorado    9 13 .409  4.5  L3 5-5

I still don't understand the three off days this sim. We had our ups and downs... we need out offense to catch up, which is something that I will work on getting in the future.

Pitching

   Name	         G GS	W L SV	 ERA   IP HA  R	ER BB  K
s1 P. Long	 5  5	0 1  0	3.86 30.1 32 15	13 10 11
s2 C. Herold	 5  5	0 2  0	4.97 29.0 33 18	16  5 23
s3 S. Perez	 5  5	3 1  0	2.55 35.1 36 11	10 12 23
s4 C. McKie	 4  4	3 1  0	2.67 30.1 28  9	 9  5  7
s5 C. Steelman	 3  3	0 3  0	8.31 17.1 26 17	16  7 10

mr T. Shimizu	 9  0	1 0  2	6.30 10.0 14  7	 7  3  4
mr D. MacKenzie	 6  0	1 0  0	2.25  8.0  5  2	 2  5  1
mr R. Souza	10  0	0 1  0	3.29 13.2 14  5	 5  3 10
mr A. Jacobs	 2  0	0 0  0	2.70  3.1  4  1	 1  2  2
su L. Briscoe	 9  0	0 1  1	2.79  9.2 10  3	 3  2  4
su A. Stier	10  0	1 3  3	7.00  9.0 14  7	 7  1  5
cl W. Chee	11  0	0 0  0	2.25 12.0 10  3	 3  3  9

Long is having the worst luck out of any of our pitchers. We just can't score runs for him.

I hope I am saying this all season, but I am still surprised at how well Perez is pitching.

Lineup

     Name	    G AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI  R BB	K  AVG  OBP  SLG
1 CF L. Mingo	   22 93 23  7	2  0   6 10  3 13 .247 .278 .366
2 RF E. Schuh	   19 70 17  5	0  1   8  6  2 14 .243 .264 .357
3 LF J. Hennen	   21 84 17  6	1  2  11 10  9 10 .202 .280 .369
4 3B N. Massengill 20 66 19  6	0  0   5  5  8 11 .288 .365 .379
5 2B V. Koenig	   21 78 18  1	0  1   4  7  9 13 .231 .333 .282
6 SS K. Warner	   22 68 15  8	1  0   4  6  6 10 .221 .284 .368
7 1B J. Tolerton   20 73 19  5	0  0   7  4  2 12 .260 .280 .329
8 C C. Baker	   19 58 11  4	0  1   2  5  3  7 .190 .226 .310

  3B R. Jerkins	   22 55 18  5	0  3  10  7  2 10 .327 .351 .582
  1B S. McLaughlin  8 14  4  0	0  0   0  1  0	2 .286 .286 .286
  C  R. Long	    9 25  7  4	0  0   2  5  0	3 .280 .280 .440
  1B N. Mutsuhito  10 18  4  1	0  1   3  3  2	3 .222 .300 .444
  OF D. Pecora	   16 39  8  0	0  0   4  1  4	7 .205 .279 .205

Ouch! only 3 regular players hitting over .250. I might just have to have Jerkins play first or second. He can't sit on the bench. Koenig is declining. I think he'll come back, but he won't be at the level that I am used to seeing him at. I also think that I may try Long at catcher again. If you can't hit above the Mendoza line, then (you can stay on the team but) you can't stay in the starting lineup. Speaking of the Mendoza line... Hennen is teetering awfully close to that.

Team Rankings
Batting AVG: .237 (22nd)
Homeruns: 9 (T-22nd)
Walks: 50 (23rd)
Stolen Bases: 9 (20th)
Runs Scored: 74 (21st)

Pitching ERA: 3.99 (13th)
Opponents AVG: .272 (21st)
HRs Allowed: 21 (T-16th)
Walks Allowed: 58 (8th)
Runs Allowed: 98 (10th)

The Farm
It's time for an update...

Batters
#  Name	               Age Pos  Level     AVG  HR RBI
4  Bates Schatz	        22  2B	  AA	.333   1  12
6  James Hennen	        25  LF  Majors	.202   2  11
7  Earl Schuh	        25  LF  Majors	.243   1   8
8  Nevada Ramirez	21  LF    A	.305   1  15
9  Tony Jalon	        21  1B	  A	.275   2  11
10 Nightmare Massengill	22  3B  Majors	.288   0   5

Pitchers
# Name	       Age Role	Level	Rec   ERA  IP	HA  BB	 K
1 Panic Mesick	19  SP	 AA	2-1  1.89 38.0	30  10	34
2 Paydirt James	19  SP	 AA	2-1  5.40 18.1	19   6	15
3 Armando Renez	19  SP	  A	3-2  5.28 30.2	43   8	17
5 Chip Herold	25  SP Majors	0-2  4.97 29.0	33   5	23

Illinois leapfrogged us as the best minor league system as they have been busy on the trade front recently. We are still solidly number 2 though.

You may see Panic Mesick in the majors sooner than you think. He's tearing up AA ball right now. I'll give him a few more weeks down there and then off to AAA he goes. With that, I am really excited about all of our young pitchers. Perez (who has been an amazing surprize this year) isn't even on the top prospect list. Yeehaw!

However, I can't say that I am all that excited about our hitters. I'm still waiting for Schatz to develop, but if he doesn't, we really don't have an impact bat coming up through the minors.

[Y0DA55]

Team Record: 14-17
Sim Record: 5-4

Games
5/1 - 7-1 WIN @ Texas - We brought the bats out today with 7 runs on 11 hits. McKie got the win with 7 strong innings of pitching.
5/2 - 6-2 WIN @ Texas - Paul Long got his first win of the year (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER). James Hennen hit his 3rd homerun of the year and Leandro Mingo had 2 runs and 3 hits.
5/3 - Off Day
5/4 - 10-3 loss vs Idaho - Herold pitches well, but Briscoe, Stier, and MacKenzie get ROUGHED up. Jerkins hit his 4th homerun.
5/5 - 5-4 loss vs Idaho (15 innings) - They scored their first 4 runs in the 2-4 innings. We scored ours right after that. We couldn't hold them when we go that deep into the bullpen. Perez pitched another solid game and Hennen kept up with Jerkins for the team lead in homeruns.
5/6 - 4-3 WIN vs Idaho - Massengill had 4 hits and Warner added three. Souza ended up getting the win in relief.
5/7 - 3-2 loss vs Utah - Koenig had 3 hits and 2 RBI, but that wasn't enough as Paul Long allowed 2 unearned runs to go along with the 1 earned in 7 innings of work.
5/8 - 5-2 loss vs Utah - Hennen hit his 5th homerun of the year. Steelman isn't showing any kind of drive to be a starting pitcher as this was his line: 0.1 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 1 BB.
5/9 - 2-1 WIN vs Utah - Chip Herold goes 7.1 innings, giving up 4 hits and 1 run, but doesn't get the win (Stier got it in his .2 innings of work). Baker hit a homerun.
5/10 - 2-1 WIN vs California - Perez won PoG with an 8 inning, 3-hitter, allowing 1 run with 7 Ks. Rookie of the year award, anyone? Mingo and Hennen each had triples.

Standings

Great Explorers Standings
East
Team	    W  L  PCT   GB Stk L10
Wisconsin  25  6 .806	-  W16 10-0
Texas	   22  9 .710  3.0  W5 7-3
Kansas	   19 14 .576  7.0  L1 5-5
New Mexico 12 20 .375 13.5  W1 3-7
Illinois   10 21 .323 15.0  L3 3-7
Minnesota   7 25 .219 18.5 L15 0-10

West
Team	    W  L  PCT	GB Stk L10
Nevada	   21 11 .656	-   W5 8-2
California 16 15 .516  4.5  L1 8-2
Washington 16 17 .485  5.5  W1 5-5
Idaho	   15 17 .469  6.0  L5 4-6
Colorado   14 17 .452  6.5  W2 5-5
Utah	   13 18 .419  7.5  L2 2-8

Check out the streak that Wisconsin is on. 16 straight wins! Wowza! And then you see Minnesota with a streak of its own.

We are still very much in the playoff hunt, but I am not getting my hopes up. I just don't think we have the bats to compete this year.

Pitching

   Name	         G GS  W L SV   ERA   IP  HA  R	ER BB  K
s1 P. Long	 7  7  1 2  0  3.12 43.1  41 19	15 12 18
s2 C. Herold	 7  7  0 2  0  3.98 43.0  41 21	19  8 33
s3 S. Perez	 7  7  4 1  0  2.68 50.1  48 16	15 15 31
s4 C. McKie	 6  6  4 1  0  2.05 44.0  41 13	10  8 14
s5 C. Steelman	 4  4  0 4  0 10.70 17.2  30 22	21  8 10

mr R. Souza	16  0  1 1  1  2.21 20.1  18  5	 5  6 15
mr T. Shimizu	12  0  1 0  2  3.94 16.0  16  7	 7  4  9
mr D. MacKenzie	 9  0  1 1  0  2.63 13.2   9  4	 4  5  2
mr A. Jacobs	 2  0  0 0  0  2.70  3.1   4  1	 1  2  2
su L. Briscoe	13  0  0 2  2  3.52 15.1  14  6	 6  4  7
su A. Stier	13  0  2 3  3  7.30 12.1  21 12	10  1  5
cl W. Chee	14  0  0 0  1  1.72 15.2  11  3	 3  5 10

Perez and McKie... who would have thought? Long got his first win, and Herold would have had he had some offense behind him. Speaking of the offense...

Lineup

     Name	    G  AB  H 2B	3B HR RBI  R BB  K  AVG	 OBP  SLG
1 1B R. Jerkins	   31  92 24  7	 0  4  12 11  4	17 .261	.292 .467
2 CF L. Mingo	   31 132 38 10	 3  0   8 14  5	20 .288	.319 .409
3 3B N. Massengill 29  96 28  6	 0  0	8 10 13	17 .292	.382 .354
4 LF J. Hennen	   30 119 29  7	 3  5  19 17 14	13 .244	.323 .479
5 2B V. Koenig	   30 110 28  3	 0  1	9  9 10	15 .255	.336 .309
6 SS K. Warner	   31 102 23  9	 2  0	7  7  9	17 .225	.288 .353
7 RF D. Pecora	   25  72 13  1	 0  0	5  3  5	15 .181	.234 .194
8 C  C. Baker	   28  84 18  7	 0  2	4 11  3	12 .214	.244 .369

  C  R. Long	   11  32  9  5	 0  0	3  5  0	 5 .281	.281 .438
  1B S. McLaughlin 10  15  4  0	 0  0	0  1  0	 2 .267	.267 .267
  1B N. Mutsuhito  16  27  7  1	 0  1	4  3  3	 5 .259	.333 .407
  2B J. Tolerton   26  84 21  6	 0  0	8  4  2	12 .250	.267 .321
  OF E. Schuh	   25  75 18  5	 0  1	8  6  3	14 .240	.269 .347

The top of the lineup doesn't look too bad, but then you look down a little bit more and see how big our problem is. I shook up our lineup a little bit putting Jerkins in full time as he has a hot bat right now. Our best bat prospect (2nd baseman Bates Schatz) probably won't see the light of day in the majors until mid next year.

Team Rankings
Batting AVG: .242 (19th)
Homeruns: 14 (T-21st)
Walks: 71 (22nd)
Stolen Bases: 14 (18th)
Runs Scored: 106 (20th)

Pitching ERA: 3.54 (9th)
Opponents AVG: .255 (11th)
HRs Allowed: 24 (T-12th)
Walks Allowed: 78 (7th)
Runs Allowed: 129 (9th)

[ifspuds]

Granted, when you're rebuilding, a 5th starter is a luxury, but wow... Steelman is bad bad bad. Long, Perez and McKie are sure looking nice though.

Massengill's got a nice OBP. Does he have hope for developing power?

[Y0DA55]

Originally Posted by ifspuds

Granted, when you're rebuilding, a 5th starter is a luxury, but wow... Steelman is bad bad bad. Long, Perez and McKie are sure looking nice though.

Massengill's got a nice OBP. Does he have hope for developing power?

Steelman's inability to pitch this year is surprising, considering he was fairly decent last year. I expect him to start pitching a little better than he has. Luckily, we've had a ton of off days recently and haven't really had a need for a 5th starter. I've actually been toying with the idea of throwing Souza in the 5th spot (even though he has a 5 in endurance) so he can end his career as a starter. He'll probably pitch the last game of the season if I have anything to say about it.

Nightmare has pretty much maxed out and exceeded his power potential (unless he gets a good bump in talent sometime soon). I see him as a #2 hitter in the future, we just don't have ANY power on our team right now.

[jeheinz72]

I like Nightmare a lot. I remember I had 3 #1's in that draft and I almost grabbed him at #14 because I could've used a 3B, but didn't because I wanted to try and have Shenk learn it instead, so I picked a C.

His vsR line (.765 OPS) this season is really nice. I expect his BB numbers to increase as we go, though I don't know if he's quite a 30-2B kind of guy.

[ifspuds]

Originally Posted by Y0DA55

I see him as a #2 hitter in the future, we just don't have ANY power on our team right now.

Nothing wrong with having a good #2 hitter.

[Special K 9274]

How's my boy Panic doing?

[Y0DA55]

Originally Posted by jeheinz72

I like Nightmare a lot. I remember I had 3 #1's in that draft and I almost grabbed him at #14 because I could've used a 3B, but didn't because I wanted to try and have Shenk learn it instead, so I picked a C.

His vsR line (.765 OPS) this season is really nice. I expect his BB numbers to increase as we go, though I don't know if he's quite a 30-2B kind of guy.

Yeah, he'll be playing 3rd for a while (as I currently don't really have anyone else who could the position. And I'm okay with that.

Originally Posted by ifspuds

Nothing wrong with having a good #2 hitter.

Or potentially number 1, except for the fact that he's not all that fast.

[Y0DA55]

Originally Posted by Special K 9274

How's my boy Panic doing?

Panic is an interesting one. About 2 sims ago, I auto-managed my minors and the moved Panic up from AA to AAA. I figured that it was a little too early to do that, so I left him down there just to get a little more experience. I'll probably move him up towards the middle of the year. Depending on how he develops, he could be in the rotation next year. But two or (definitely) three years seems more realistic. Also of note, Panic is now the #2 overall prospect behind Illinois' 3B, Jose Chavero (who was taken two picks after Paydirt James).

Neither of the two pitchers are stunning this year in AA, but they are both pretty solid and I am VERY excited for the time when our rotation looks something like this:

LHP - Mesick
LHP - James
LHP - Long
LHP - Renez
LHP - Herold

What's interesting is that ALL of my young pitchers are left handed. Could give some teams some problems, potentially. All three of Mesick, James, and Renez are 19 years old. Renez has a lot of development left to go, but James and Mesick could be closer than I think.

Their lines:

Panic Mesick

Year	 G GS W	L SV  ERA  IP  HA  R ER	HR BB  K CG SHO	WHIP BABIP
2022, AA 7  7 2	3  0 3.91 48.1 48 22 21	 3 13 38  1   1	1.26  .319

Paydirt James

Year	  G GS	W L SV  ERA  IP	   HA  R ER HR BB  K CG	SHO WHIP BABIP
2021, A	 29 29	8 9  0 2.93 190.2 177 66 62 12 52 96  1	 0  1.20  .267
2022, AA  5  5	4 1  0 3.28  35.2  27 14 13  2	6 27  1	 0  0.93  .253

[Y0DA55]

Team Record: 17-23
Sim Record: 3-6

Games
5/11 - 6-5 loss vs California - We score 4 runs in the first inning, and still lose. McKie wasn't really on his game (5 IP, 8 H, 5 R). Mingo, Hennen (2), Koenig, and McKie all had doubles.
5/12 - 3-1 loss vs California - Long was fantastic (7.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 5 Ks), but still took the loss because our offense really, really stinks. Hennen and Warner each had 2 hits while the rest of the team had 4.
5/13 - 8-3 loss vs Nevada - Massengill hit his first homerun of the year! Steelman had a typical 2022 Steelman outing (2.1 IP, 6 H, 7 R).
5/14 - 4-3 loss vs Nevada (12 innings) - Herold had a nice start, but we just couldn't fend off the first place Jacks. Koenig had 3 hits.
5/15 - 4-1 loss vs Nevada - Perez walked 5, but only allowed 4 R. However, we managed just 7 hits with the lone run coming on an RBI single from Vin Koenig (to score Jerkins).
5/16 - 6-5 WIN vs Nevada (10 innings) - McKie pithed as expected (I can pretty much count on him for 7+ innings and 3 or 4 runs). Warner had the game winning homerun in the 10th. Koenig had our other homerun.
5/17 - Off Day
5/18 - 11-1 loss @ New Mexico - Paul Long got rocked a little bit (5 IP, 12 H, 5 ER) and our offense (other than Mingo who had a single, a double, and a run scored) sputtered.
5/19 - 4-0 WIN @ New Mexico - Robert Long had a career high 3 hits and Mutsuhito and Tolerton provided 2 solo homeruns to propel us to victory. Chip Herold allowed 3 Hits and zero runs in 5.2 innings.
5/20 - 9-4 WIN @ New Mexico - Every one of our starters had a hit and scored a run (Massengill had 3, Hennen had 2). Perez picked up his 5th win with a solid outing. Christopher Baker had a 2-run homerun to pick up Player of the Game honors.

Standings

Great Explorers Standings
East
Team	    W  L  PCT	GB Stk L10
Wisconsin  30 10 .750	-   L2 6-4
Texas	   26 14 .650  4.0  L2 5-5
Kansas	   25 17 .595  6.0  W2 6-4
Illinois   15 25 .375 15.0  L1 5-5
New Mexico 15 26 .366 15.5  L2 4-6
Minnesota   8 33 .195 22.5  L8 1-9

West
Team	    W  L  PCT	GB Stk L10
Nevada	   27 14 .659	-   L2 7-3
Washington 23 19 .548  4.5  W2 8-2
Idaho	   22 19 .537  5.0  W2 7-3
California 20 20 .500  6.5  W1 4-6
Colorado   17 23 .425  9.5  W2 4-6
Utah	   16 24 .400 10.5  W3 3-7

Look out! Washington is back in this race (like I thought they would be). Nevada continues to surprise. Minnesota seems to be making a huge push for the #1 pick next year.

Pitching

   Name	         G GS	W L SV	 ERA    IP HA  R ER BB	K
s1 P. Long	 9  9	1 4  0	3.72  55.2 59 27 23 15 26
s2 C. Herold	 9  9	1 2  0	3.33  54.0 48 23 20 13 40
s3 S. Perez	 9  9	5 2  0	3.21  61.2 61 23 22 25 35
s4 C. McKie	 8  8	4 1  0	3.00  57.0 60 22 19  9 21
s5 C. Steelman	 5  5	0 5  0 11.70  20.0 36 29 26 10 12

mr A. Jacobs	 3  0	0 0  0	2.08   4.1  4  1  1  2	4
mr R. Souza	23  0	1 1  1	1.71  26.1 20  5  5  9 19
mr T. Shimizu	16  0	1 1  2	3.86  21.0 20  9  9  5 11
mr D. MacKenzie	12  0	1 1  0	3.15  20.0 17  8  7  7  6
su L. Briscoe	19  0	0 2  2	3.27  22.0 22  8  8  4 10
su A. Stier	19  0	2 4  3	5.12  19.1 28 15 11  3  8
cl W. Chee	16  0	1 0  1	2.04  17.2 12  4  4  6 12

Chee looks to be out the door as we look to become younger. However, the oldest person on the team has a 1.71 ERA which leads the team. Interesting.

Among the league leaders... lets see... Souza is 8th in games pitched, Perez is 10th in IP, Perez is tied for 2nd (with a whole bunch of people) with 5 Wins, Steelman is tied for 4th in Losses, Herold is 7th in K/BB, we also have a few guys in categories that aren't too favorable to us (Hits batsmen, BB, Hits allowed).

Lineup

     Name	    G  AB  H 2B	3B HR RBI  R BB	 K  AVG	 OBP  SLG
1 1B R. Jerkins	   39 126 32  9	 0  4  15 15  6	22 .254	.288 .421
2 CF L. Mingo	   39 160 47 13	 3  0  11 18  9	26 .294	.333 .412
3 3B N. Massengill 38 130 39  8	 0  1  10 15 18	19 .300	.393 .385
4 LF J. Hennen	   39 150 36 10	 3  5  24 22 17	13 .240	.317 .447
5 2B V. Koenig	   39 144 40  5	 0  2  17 12 12	19 .278	.358 .354
6 RF E. Schuh	   34 104 23  6	 0  1  11  8  6	17 .221	.264 .308
7 C  R. Long	   17  52 15  6	 0  0	4  5  0	 9 .288	.288 .404
8 SS A. Oberlin	    2	8  1  1	 0  0	1  1  0	 1 .125	.125 .250

  1B N. Mutsuhito  21  38 10  1	 0  2	5  5  4	 6 .263	.333 .447
  IR K. Warner	   38 127 31 12	 2  1	8  8  9	19 .244	.304 .394
  1B S. McLaughlin 13  17  4  0	 0  0	0  1  0	 2 .235	.278 .235
  2B J. Tolerton   35  99 23  6	 0  1	9  5  2	13 .232	.248 .323
  C  C. Baker	   35  97 20  7	 0  3	6 13  4	16 .206	.240 .371
  OF D. Pecora	   34  92 16  1	 0  0	7  5  6	20 .174	.224 .185

In the first game against New Mexico this sim, Warner went out with a Ruptured Tricep Tendon. He'll be out for 6 weeks. I have to see if anyone in the minors is ready, but Oberlin was brought up for the few games that we needed a SS this sim. We at Colorado Ram Headquarters will say that he is NOT the answer.

Among the league leaders, Mingo is 8th in at bats and 4th in doubles (Warner is 7th in doubles). Hennen and Mingo are tied for 2nd in triples. Hennen is also 5th in extra base hits. We are impressive, aren't we?

Ben Lamela Watch
Big Ben was up to his old tricks again. He posted this line against New York this sim:

9 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB, 6 Ks

His record is now 4-3 (and it should be much higher.

For those that need some background, Ben pitched 11 1/2 years in Colorado and picked up 161 Wins (which is a team record) with a 2.06 ERA. This man is destined for the Hall of Fame.

Team Rankings
Batting AVG: .243 (17th)
Homeruns: 20 (20th)
Walks: 94 (20th)
Stolen Bases: 20 (16th)
Runs Scored: 139 (20th)

Pitching ERA: 3.68 (10th)
Opponents AVG: .261 (16th)
HRs Allowed: 32 (T-16th)
Walks Allowed: 108 (9th)
Runs Allowed: 174 (11th)

[jeheinz72]

Man, that loss to you killed me. How the heck do we blow a 5-2 9th inning lead...

Oh well, hopefully now that I have my main man Ward Chee, that won't happen again.

Go Nevada Jacks! Fight! FIGHT! FIGHT!!!!

[jeheinz72]

What, no massive breakdown of our epic trade?!?!

[Y0DA55]

Originally Posted by jeheinz72

What, no massive breakdown of our epic trade?!?!

MASSIVE Breakdown of Our Epic Trade!!!!

Ok... so it's not exactly a blockbuster, but we are getting rid of our closer, Ward Chee. Here's the deal:

Nevada Jacks get:
CL - Ward Chee

Colorado Rams get:
MR - John Montana
Nevada's 2023 4th Round Draft Pick


Analysis
We aren't exactly sprinting for a title here in Colorado. Ward Chee has never been AMAZING, but he's been a solid contributer for a while (see stats below). However, he's 33 and probably won't be around or worth that much to me once we do start winning.

Montana was a 4th round pick in 2019, yet he's only 21, so he's not fully developed. Although he won't be a star, he will definitely be a solid pitcher if he develops as I expect him to. With him, we get what will probably be a late 4th round pick. It's not worth a whole lot, but we might get lucky.

Ward Chee's Stats - 33 Years Old

Year	G GS  W	 L SV   ERA   IP   HA	R  ER HR  BB   K WHIP	BABIP	Teams
2013	2  0  0	 0  0  0.00   3.1   2	0   0  0   0   1 0.60	.182	Col
2014	3  0  1	 0  0 12.00   3.0   4	4   4  0   1   0 1.67	.333	Col
2015   28  0  0	 0  1  2.76  29.1  24  11   9  2  12  15 1.23	.239	Col
2016   42  0  4	 2  0  5.92  48.2  61  33  32  7  16  31 1.58	.331	CO
2017   41  0  2  1  0  3.21  47.2  32  17  17  1  11  16 0.90	.207	CO
2018   81  0  4	 3  1  3.80  83.0  80  35  35  8  41  49 1.46	.285	CO
2019   60  0  2	 3 10  3.34  56.2  46  24  21  2  29  33 1.32	.250	CO
2020   75  0  6	 4  1  3.22  67.0  55  26  24  2  43  51 1.46	.266	CO
2021   79  0  3	 2  8  3.12  78.0  62  27  27  8  36  60 1.26	.249	CO
2022   16  0  1	 0  1  2.04  17.2  12	4   4  2   6  12 1.02	.196	CO
Total 427  0 23	15 22  3.58 434.1 378 181 173 32 195 268 1.32	.261	

John Montana's Stats - 21 Years Old

Year   G GS W L	SV  ERA	  IP HA	 R ER HR BB  K	WHIP	BABIP	Teams
2020  16  0 0 2	 0 6.75	14.2 19	13 11  3  4  7	1.57	.320	NV
2021  39  0 3 0	 3 3.67	41.2 45	19 17  2 16 14	1.46	.291	NV
2022   8  0 2 1	 1 6.97	10.1 11	 8  8  1  6  6	1.65	.294	NV
Total 63  0 5 3	 4 4.86	66.2 75	40 36  6 26 27	1.52	.297	

[Y0DA55]

Team Record: 22-28
Sim Record: 5-5

Games
5/21 - 12-9 WIN @ Minnesota - We scored 7 runs in the 8th inning to put this one away. Vin Koenig won player of the Game with a 3-5 day with 1 run and 6 RBI. McKie was the winning pitcher.
5/22 - 5-3 loss @ Minnesota (15 innings) - Alan Jacobs allowed a 2-run homerun to John Gleaves (413 Career Homeruns) in the bottom of the 15th. This game marked the very first good pitching game by Chris Steelman (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R).
5/23 - 1-0 WIN @ Minnesota - James Hennen's triple in the 7th inning allowed him to score the games only run on an Earl Schuh single. Paul Long went 7.2 innings giving up only 2 hits (with 5 Ks) to pick up his second win.
5/24 - 2-1 loss vs Illinois - Chip Herold walked 6 guys in 5 innings (along with allowing 4 hits), and our offense just couldn't get it going (a single by Baker and Ramos' first major league homerun was the ENTIRE offense).
5/25 - 8-4 loss vs Illinois - Perez allowed the most runs in one of his games all year (5) and our offense couldn't keep up. Robert Long had 2 hits and 2 runs.
5/26 - 5-0 loss vs Illinois - Doubles by Massengill and Koenig along with 3 other hits was not enough to keep pace with Illinois. McKie allowed 4 runs in 6.1 innings.
5/27 - Off Day
5/28 - 6-1 loss vs Kansas - The put a whupping on Paul Long (5.1 IP, 6 ER). Mingo was the only bright spot in this game, picking up 3 hits and an RBI.
5/29 - 5-4 WIN vs Kansas (10 innings) - Ramos singled home Massengill in the bottom of the 10th inning to take this one. Koenig had 3 hits to pace the offense. Shimizu picked up the win.
5/30 - 2-1 WIN vs Kansas - We scored once in each of the 7th and 8th innings and the combo of Stier and Montana were able to hang on, with Stier picking up the win. Perez was up to his old stuff (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, PoG). Jerkins scored the winning run on a Vin Koenig sacrifice fly.
5/31 - 5-4 WIN vs Texas (10 innings) - Benedicto Ramos singled home Drew ""Mr. Irrelevant" Pecora to win the game in the bottom of the 10th. Souza picked up the win and McKie pitched solidly for 7.1 innings.

Standings

Great Explorers Standings
East
Team	    W  L  PCT 	GB Stk L10
Wisconsin  36 13 .735	-   L2 6-4
Texas	   32 18 .640  4.5  L1 6-4
Kansas	   30 21 .588  7.0  L2 6-4
Illinois   20 30 .400 16.5  L1 5-5
New Mexico 18 33 .353 19.0  L2 3-7
Minnesota  10 40 .200 26.5  L3 2-8

West
Team	    W  L  PCT 	GB Stk L10
Nevada	   33 17 .660	-   W2 6-4
Washington 30 21 .588  3.5  W6 8-2
Idaho	   28 23 .549  5.5  W2 6-4
California 23 27 .460 10.0  W1 3-7
Colorado   22 28 .440 11.0  W3 5-5
Utah	   19 30 .388 13.5  L1 4-6

Minnesota is now the worst team in the NPBL (ahead of Pennsylvania by 1 game). Washington is getting back to form and the race for the playoff spots looks good at this point in the season.

Pitching

   Name	         G GS  W L SV  ERA   IP	 HA  R	ER BB	 K
s1 P. Long	11 11  2 5  0 3.80 68.2	 69 33	29 18	33
s2 C. Herold	11 11  1 3  0 3.52 64.0	 59 28	25 22	43
s3 S. Perez	11 11  5 3  0 3.35 75.1	 73 29	28 30	42
s4 C. McKie	11 11  4 2  0 3.84 77.1	 87 37	33 15	28
s5 C. Steelman	 6  6  0 5  0 9.35 26.0	 40 30	27 13	17

mr R. Souza	29  0  3 1  1 1.91 33.0	 28  8	 7  9	21
mr T. Shimizu	21  0  2 1  2 3.86 25.2	 21 11	11  7	12
mr D. MacKenzie	14  0  1 1  0 2.74 23.0	 19  8	 7  9	7
mr A. Jacobs	 4  0  0 1  0 5.06  5.1	  6  3	 3  3	7
su L. Briscoe	25  0  0 2  2 3.14 28.2	 25 10	10  5	13
su A. Stier	25  0  3 4  3 4.01 24.2	 34 15	11  5	11
cl J. Montana	15  0  2 1  3 5.29 17.0	 19 10	10  7	8

Nothing much to see here at this point. Montana (who I acquired in the Chee trade) was put into the closers role this week, but I'm not sure if he will stay there or not.

Lineup

     Name	    G  AB  H 2B	3B HR RBI  R BB	 K  AVG	 OBP  SLG
1 1B R. Jerkins	   48 166 39 12	 0  4  17 19  8	29 .235	.269 .380
2 CF L. Mingo	   49 202 59 14	 3  0  12 22 12	31 .292	.333 .391
3 3B N. Massengill 48 169 48 10	 0  1  14 20 22	19 .284	.376 .361
4 LF J. Hennen	   48 179 43 10	 4  5  27 27 24	16 .240	.328 .425
5 2B V. Koenig	   48 179 50  6	 0  3  25 13 14	24 .279	.353 .363
6 RF E. Schuh	   43 134 33 10	 0  1  13 11 10	24 .246	.299 .343
7 SS B. Ramos	   10  37  9  1	 1  1	6  4  5	 8 .243	.341 .405
8 C  R. Long	   26  82 25  8	 1  0	6  9  1	10 .305	.313 .427

  1B S. McLaughlin 15  19  5  0	 0  0	0  1  0	 2 .263	.300 .263
  2B J. Tolerton   44 109 25  6	 0  1  11  5  5	15 .229	.263 .312
  C  C. Baker	   44 110 22  8	 0  3	7 16  4	19 .200	.231 .355
  1B N. Mutsuhito  28  52 10  1	 0  2	5  5  5	10 .192	.263 .327
  OF D. Pecora	   40 101 17  1	 0  0	7  6  7	20 .168	.222 .178

Who would have thought that Tanocito Long would have the best average on the team at this point? Not me!

Hennen has the best OPS out of anyone on the team, even though he's carrying a .240 average. If only he'd hit better.

I brought Ramos up as Warner's replacement. He had pretty good numbers down on the farm and he helped us win a few ballgames last sim. Don't look for him to be a permanent fixture in the infield.

Down on the Farm

Batters
#  Name	         Age Pos Level	 AVG  HR  RBI
4  Bates Schatz	  22  2B  AA	.330   4   23
6  James Hennen	  25  LF Majors	.240   5   27
8  Earl Schuh	  25  LF Majors	.246   1   13
9  Nevada Ramirez 21  LF   A	.283   1   22
10 Tony Jalon	  21  1B   A	.258   3   22

Pitchers
# Name	         Age Role Level	 Rec  ERA  IP	HA  BB	K
1 Panic Mesick	  19  SP    AA	 2-5 3.36 75.0	71  18	56
2 Paydirt James	  19  SP    AA	 6-2 2.82 54.1	44  10	39
3 Armando Renez	  19  SP    A	 6-2 3.33 73.0	64  24	37
5 Salvatore Perez 21  SP Majors	 5-3 3.35 75.1	73  30	42
7 Chip Herold	  25  SP Majors	 1-3 3.52 64.0	59  22	43

Our pitchers continue to look good. We are also back on top of the Minor League system rankings.

ETA on these guys:
Schatz - It all depends on how Koenig plays. I don't want to rush Bates, so he may see some (significant) playing time next year, but he will probably be full time in two years.
Ramirez - He's two or three years away. I also have no idea where he's going to fit in if both Hennen and Schuh continue to improve as he only plays left and right.
Jalon - I can't say that I am super excited for him to get up to the bigs. He's got good numbers, but he doesn't have a very high ceiling. Regardless, he's two years away.
Mesick - He's stalled a bit at AA, but I could see him being brought up at the end of next year, possibly for good.
James - James could come up now if I really needed him. He wouldn't even crack our starting rotation at this point (and that's saying something with Steelman). So he's going to get some more seasoning. I would say he's 2 years away.
Renez - Renez is probably 3 years away at this point. He's good, no question, but he's a slow developer.

Team Rankings
Batting AVG: .244 (15th)
Homeruns: 22 (T-19th)
Walks: 128 (19th)
Stolen Bases: 24 (18th)
Runs Scored: 173 (19th)

Pitching ERA: 3.73 (11th)
Opponents AVG: .260 (16th)
HRs Allowed: 42 (18th)
Walks Allowed: 143 (11th)
Runs Allowed: 218 (14th)

How About Ward Chee?
There are his last three games:

Date Opp. Result  IP	H  R  ER  BB  K	Dec	
5/16  NV   W 6-5   1	0  0   0   0  1	  W	 	 	 	 
5/21  IL   W 8-1   1	0  0   0   0  2	 	 	 	 	 
5/28  WI   L 1-7   1.2	0  0   0   1  1

I added the last game he played for us because it was a win against the team he was traded to.

In comparison, this is the guy we received for him, John Montana:

Date Opp. Result   IP	H  R ER	BB  K  Dec	 	 	 	 
5/21 @MN  W 12-9  0.2	0  0  0	 0  0	 	 	 	 	 
5/22 @MN  L 3-5	  1.2	2  1  1	 0  0	 	 	 	 	 
5/23 @MN  W 1-0	  1	0  0  0	 0  0	SV	 	 	 	 
5/25  IL  L 4-8	  0.2	1  0  0	 0  1	 	 	 	 	 
5/29  KS  W 5-4	  0.2	1  0  0	 0  0	 	 	 	 	 
5/30  KS  W 2-1	  1	2  0  0	 1  1	SV	 	 	 	 
5/31  TX  W 5-4	  1	2  1  1	 0  0

[jeheinz72]

Chee definitely helped us this sim, with those 2 solid outings. I liked Montana, but he was a luxury I didn't have to have. He was a 4th rounder, coming out of the draft at 5/5/7 talents, but he bumped to 5/7/9 then piddled around to get to his 3/9/7 he has now. His net gain from the draft is only +2, but I like 3/9/7 pitchers more than 5/7/7 ones. I figure once his control gets up to his talent, he should be a solid arm for you.