Ruben "Streak" Souffront and the Denver Brewers

[BirdWatcher]

Next up for the Brewers is a big 3-game series against the first place Speed Devils.
Many believe that Phoenix has been playing over their head a bit this season (they have been exceeding their pythagorean expected wins by quite a bit thus far, while the Brewers, who have quite a bit better run differential, have under-achieved a bit) but the Brewers need to be able to defeat them head-to-head if they hope to catch them in the standings.

In game 1 they did just that, getting a convincing 8-0 victory in the first game of a Sunday doubleheader. Daniel Torres continued his fine 1971 performance, hurling a complete game shutout, allowing just 4 hits while striking out 5 and walking none (rare for the usually control challenged lefty). The Brewers hit 4 HR's in the game, including 2 off the bat of utility infielder Oscar Vargas, who now has 5 on the season in limited playing time. Ruben Souffront hit his 3rd and Bobby Erbakan his 12th. Chad Brown (.325/.351/.413) continued his hot hitting with a 4 for 4 game, also picking up his team-leading 16th stolen base.

Game 2 saw the Brewers win again, 6-3. Abel Pennington got the win to improve to 5-2 with a 2.78 ERA. Liann-wei Hua got his first save of the season and has an impressive 1.78 ERA. Backup infielder Danny Roman (.261/.348/.378) went 3 for 3 in the game, driving in 2 runs (10) and hitting his 4th double of the season.

The Brewers put an exclamation point on the series sweep with a convincing 12-4 win in the final game. Antonio Puente (.248/.335/.493) had a big game at the plate, going 3 for 5 while driving in 4 runs (58) and hitting his 19th HR of the season. Jamison Bash (.298/.389/.616) hit HR #27.

With the series sweep the Brewers move within 3 games of Phoenix in the race for the MGL pennant.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers now head east to face the lowly Baltimore Lords.
And behind great pitching, the Brewers get the sweep.

Game 1 sees the Brewers win 3-1. Steve Green pitched a solid 7 innings (1 run, 8 hits, 4 K, 0 BB) but did not get a decision. The Brewers scored 2 9th inning runs to break a 1-1 tie. The Brewers combined a pair of singles and an intentional walk along with a few productive outs to plate the 2 runs and give Miguel Solis a win in relief (4-7, 2.15). Eric Singer got credit for the save, his 7th (0.99 ERA.)

Game 2 was even tighter as the Brewers prevailed 2-1. Cheol-han Lee allowed just 1 run on 8 hits over 7 1/3rd innings to improve to 10-5 with a 2.49 ERA. Eric Singer got another save, his 8th and dropped his ERA down to 0.96.

Things were a bit easier for the Brewers in the third and final game of the series as they won 5-0. Easier but not without drama and loss, as last year's MGL Pitcher of the Year, Harry Lyerly, had to leave the game after hurling a fine first inning (1-2-3 frame including 2 strikeouts). Adam Getchell and Will Smart provided great coverage from the bullpen, combining for 7 scoreless innings. Chad Brown (.333/.360/.425) continued his great play with a 2 for 3, 2 run, 2 RBI game and hit his 8th double of the season. Brown was named Player of the Game for his efforts. He also stole his 18th base though he was also caught (for the 7th time) on another attempt.

On the same day that Lyerly left the game early with a yet undisclosed injury, the team received word that for the second season in a row they will be without the services of 5-time All-Star closer Miguel Solis down the stretch. Solis suffered a season-ending injury almost exactly a year prior to this latest serious injury and at age 31 there is some concern about him coming back from this second major arm injury in so many years and being as incredibly effective as he has thus far in his career. The team may have a tough decision to make in the off-season as they have the opportunity to opt-out on what would be the final season of his contract with a minimal $30,000 buy-out.

With the series sweep the Brewers have now won 8 games in a row after losing the first game post-All-Star break. They now trail the Speed Devils by just 2 1/2 games.

[BirdWatcher]

With the season-ending injury to Miguel Solis, the Brewers had to choose between several worthy candidates at AAA Chester to replace him in the bullpen, and went with 24-year old Dave Duncan, who was picked up by the team in mid-June in a straight up trade of relief pitcher prospects that sent Mark Amundson, a formerly high rated prospect, to Charlotte. Duncan is thought of highly by the Brewers scouting staff, who believe he could have a bright future as a set-up man in the WPK.

[BirdWatcher]

Two of the biggest stars in the game, both of whom had a decent chance of being his league's MVP for 1971, recently suffered season ending injuries.

Jesse Cibula, the superstar thirdbaseman for the San Francisco Velocity and the reigning MGL MVP, off to an historically good start this season, after missing a month earlier due to a fractured rib suffered on May 31st, has now suffered a broken kneecap which will sideline him for approximately 8 months. Had he stayed healthy, he was the odds on favorite for a second straight MVP award. With his season ending prematurely, the Brewers Jamison Bash becomes one of the leading candidates for the award at this stage of the season.

Over in the SJL, the San Antonio Keys' 26-year old firstbaseman Eric Brakeall is one of the premiere power hitters in the game and was on track to have his finest season yet when was sidelined by post-concussion syndrome which is expected to keep him out of action for at least 5 months.

[BirdWatcher]

Jamison Bash and the Brewers came to terms on a 3-year contract extension which could keep him in a Brewers uniform through his age 38 season.
Although there are some concerns about his age and his perceived poor work ethic, Bash has been an invaluable member of the team this year and is a strong candidate for league MVP. Bash does not offer anything like gold glove defense at thirdbase, but he is still adequate at the position and has a plus arm. But mostly Bash does what he does best, which is, of course, bash. He leads the league in HR's with 28. He also is hitting for a good average and has a good eye at the plate, leading to a .390 OBP.

He made it clear pretty early on that he wished to remain in Denver. And although he was reportedly looking for a 5-year deal that would have pretty much guaranteed he ended his career in a Brewers uniform, he was amenable to signing a shorter, but quite generous, 3-year contract. (The Brewers have an opt out on the third season.)

The reality is that there was no good option to replace him, at least nobody likely to offer his level of offense. Jose Careaga remains a decent prospect at AAA and could certainly start for someone in the WPK, but while he would provide somewhat better defense than Careaga there is no reason to believe he could approach his numbers at the plate. The Brewers have one other decent minor league prospect at AA in Mike Foster but again there is no expectation that he is likely to be anything more than a pretty average big leaguer.

[BirdWatcher]

I mentioned earlier that Harry Lyerly had to be pulled very early from his last start. As it turned out, Lyerly is suffering from bone chips in his throwing elbow. He has been placed on the 10-day DL and is expected to be out for about 4-5 weeks.

In his absence the Brewers brought up Justin Peacock from AAA. Peacock was named the 58th best prospect in the WPK at the beginning of the season. He has potential to be a decent back-end-of-the-rotation starter, but likely not more. He does have a nice 5-pitch repertoire and if his forkball and curveball both develop just a bit more, he could fashion a decent big league career.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers take their 8-game winning streak to Portland to face the last place Wild Things.

And in game 1 the Brewers make it 9 straight wins with an easy 10-0 shellacking of the Wild Things. Chad Brown (.341/.367/.430), who has been one of the hottest hitters in the WPK since the All-Star break, paced the attack with a 4 for 5, 2 runs scored, 3 RBI game. Bobby Erbakan (.249/.306/.430) was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and hit his 3rd triple of the season. Oscar Vargas (.209/.287/.359) hit his 6th HR of the season. Daniel Torres worked 7 2/3rds scoreless innings, giving up just 4 hits, to earn the victory and improve to 10-2 with a 2.06 ERA.

The Brewers winning streak came to end in game 2 as they lost 3-2. Abel Pennington pitched well enough to earn a victory, as he allowed just 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits in 6 2/3rds innings, but the score was tied 2-2 when he left the game. Eric Singer was unable to preserve the tie in the bottom of the 9th when he gave up a pair of walks and a pair of singles and suffered the loss, dropping to 4-3 with a 1.11 ERA. Bobby Erbakan (.253/.308/.442) hit his 13th HR of the season (going 2 for 4) in the losing effort.

While the Brewers bats remained cold in the third game (the opener of a Sunday doubleheader), the pitching and defense were terrific and the Brewers prevailed 1-0. Young Justin Peacock, in his first big league start, scattered 6 hits over 7 1/3rd innings, striking out 4 and walking 2, and earned his first WPK win. Eric Singer picked up save #9 (1.08 ERA.) The Brewers got the lone run when Danny Roman (.266/.360/.412) singled with 2 outs in the 3rd inning, stole second (5 SB), and then after Ryan Rodgers walked, scored on a Jamison Bash single.

The Brewers could not get the series victory however as they dropped the night-cap 5-1. Steve Green suffered the loss, allowing 5 runs on 10 hits (including 3 HR's) in just 6 innings pitched. Green drops to 8-5 with a 3.00 ERA.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers then head east to play 4 games against the 5th place Charlotte Sting.

Cheol-han Lee shuts out the Sting in the first game, allowing just 5 hits while striking out 3 and walking none, as the Brewers win 5-0. Lee improves to 11-5 and sees his ERA drop to 2.35. Antonio Puente (.244/.332/.479) goes 2 for 5 in the game with 4 RBI (63) and hits his 20th HR of the season. Tanner Yurek (.225/.317/.348) has one of his better games in a poor season at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a run scored and stealing his 4th base of the year.

The Brewers fall short in game 2, losing 4-3. Adam Getchell gets a rare start and works 6 innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits. Getchell falls to 3-2 with a 3.66 ERA. Chad Brown (.341/.367/.432) has another fine game, going 2 for 4 and hitting his 9th double of the season. Jamison Bash (.298/.390/.601) hits his 28th HR in the loss.

The Brewers bounce back nicely in game 3, winning 7-0. Daniel Torres continues his dominant season, going 8 innings while allowing just 6 hits, striking out 3 and walking 1. Torres improves to 11-2 with a league leading 1.94 ERA. The normally very poor hitting Torres also went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI in the game, including (improbably) his 6th double of the season.

Denver takes the series with an 8-1 victory in the final game. The Brewers were leading by a narrow 1-0 margin going into the 6th inning, when they erupted for 5 runs and that was that for the Sting. Abel Pennington, who got off to a poor start this season, pitched probably his best game of the season, getting the complete game victory, allowing the lone run on just 2 hits and a walk while striking out 2. Pennington improves to 6-2 with a 2.46 ERA. As has so often been the case this season, the offense was led by Chad Brown and Andrew Kennedy. Brown (.341/.368/.441) was 2 for 5 in the game while hitting his 11th double and 7th triple. Kennedy (.305/.333/.421) went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI (36) and hit his 4th HR of the season. Jamison Bash hit his WPK-leading 29th HR.

[BirdWatcher]

With the trade deadline approaching, the Brewers sent firstbase prospect Steve Hobza and 26-year old righthanded pitcher Adam Getchell to Charlotte for 23-year old lefty Matt Helm and 3 moderate prospects.

Hobza has the potential to be an above average big league firstbaseman but was trapped behind Bobby Erbakan and Andrew Kennedy at the position and the Brewers decided to trade him while his value is still high. Getchell, a former 1st round pick (#3 overall), still has potential to develop into a decent starter but with the Brewers having a surplus in that area but possibly needing some lefthanded help in the next few seasons, it was decided to take a chance on another former 1st rounder (#6 overall) in Matt Helm, who is 3 years younger than Getchell and has more room for growth. There is some concern that Helm may never develop the third pitch needed to be an effective starter, but at the very least he could provide a nice bridge between the bullpen and the rotation as a long-reliever/spot starter. Helm also provides another great leader (another captain!) in the clubhouse.
Among the other players the Brewers received in the deal, 21-year old secondbaseman David Bennett may be the most intriguing. Bennett has potential to be a very good contact hitter with average HR power (though below average gap power, which I am not thrilled about) along with above average defense and an exceptional skill during the double play. With Tanner Yurek showing some signs of diminishing skills as he enters his 30's, Bennett gives the Brewers another option for the future along with Danny Roman, who has played very well as a backup with the Brewers this season, and prospect Jonathan Koch.

[BirdWatcher]

Some of you might be wondering what is up with Ruben Souffront, the namesake of this thread?

Well, Ruben is still a Brewer and is contributing to the team on a part-time basis. For the 1971 season he is hitting .279/.298/.409 and has hit 12 doubles, 3 triples, and 3 HR's. He is also second on the team in stolen bases with 12 and has only been caught 3 times. On the other hand, Ruben continues to strike out far too often while rarely taking a walk. And for such a fast runner, he has the propensity to hit into double plays, seemingly always at the worst possible moment. Ruben is an adequate defensive rightfielder with a strong arm but not nearly as good a fielder as Antonio Puente or Pat Rondeau, both of whom are probably best suited to rightfield at this point. Ruben's generally a good clubhouse influence though as his playing time diminishes so does his clubhouse impact.

Long story short: while Ruben remains a Brewer after the trading deadline, this is likely his last season in Brewers' purple. With top prospect Joe McPhillips likely joining the team in early September and expected to be on the roster to start 1972, and Pat Rondeau providing much better defense and versatility than Souffront as the fifth outfielder, Ruben just doesn't fit in the future plans for the team. It will be sad to say goodbye, but it is almost an inevitability now.

(When the WPK switches over to OOTPXX and this thread ends to be replaced by another thread in the OOTP 20 subfolder, that thread will likely be entitled Harry Lyerly and the Denver Brewers. And hopefully that won't jinx poor Harry.)

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers return home to face the 3rd place Los Angeles Spinners (who had a 17-game winning streak from June 26th to July 15th to climb up the standings.)

Steve Green pitched a fine game as the Brewers took game 1 of 3 by a score of 3-1. Green went the distance, allowing the 1 run on just 4 hits while striking out 4 and walking 3. He improves to 9-5 with a 2.88 ERA. The Brewers scored their 3 runs all thanks to the long-ball, as Jamison Bash (.298/.389/.613) hit his 30th and Tanner Yurek (.226/.317/.361) hit his 7th.

The Brewers claimed an even narrower victory in the second game as they won 4-3 and needed 15 innings to do it. Once again, light-hitting defensive specialist Oscar Vargas (.201/.280/.361) was the unlikely (though at this point I guess we should have come to expect it) hero as he led off the bottom of the 15th with a long homer into the stands behind right-center. It is Vargas 7th HR in just 199 plate appearances. Jaden Francis got the win in relief, improving to 1-1 with a 1.89 ERA.

As the calendar turned to August, the Spinners avoided the sweep by winning 4-2 behind veteran ace Jaime Schardein (6-4, 2.33). Will Smart took the loss for Denver, falling to 4-1 with a 2.34 ERA after allowing 4 runs on 6 hits in 7 innings. Chad Brown (.338/.364/.443) had another fine game in the loss, going 2 for 4 and hitting his 4th HR of the season. (Although he also did commit his 22nd error in the game.)

[BirdWatcher]

I wanted to give this its own post so that it wouldn't just get lost with game reports.

But as you might have noticed, Brewers pitchers have very low ERA's at this rather advanced stage of the season. You might be wondering what the league context is for this and what these ERA's might mean.

Well, the MGL league average ERA is a very respectable 3.39. So this is a decent pitching environment.
But the Brewers team ERA is a bit more than a full run lower than that at 2.36.
The next best in the MGL: Phoenix at 2.93. Three teams in the league have team ERA's of 3.90 or higher, with Portland the worst at 3.98.

So, this Brewers staff (and ERA is just part of the picture) is something special!

[BirdWatcher]

Another one of the WPK's stars has been lost for the season: Rigby Muckenfuss of the Los Angeles Spinners.

The Spinners sit 8 games behind the first place Phoenix Speed Devils and 7 behind Denver and this loss will make it even tougher for them to gain the necessary ground to win the MGL this season.

[BirdWatcher]

Jamison Bash had a great month of July, bashing 12 HR's and getting on base at a .420 clip and was named the MGL Player-of-the-Month.

[BirdWatcher]

As well as the Brewers have been playing since early June, they still trail the Phoenix Speed Devils by a game. (For a few days, at the very end of July and beginning of August, the teams were in a virtual tie for first place.)

But when one looks at run differential, the Brewers are by far the best team in the WPK. (The Washington Night Train have the best run differential in the SJL- and are in first place- at +106. So the Brewers are more than 100 runs better in terms of run differential than any other team in the big leagues.)

Whether this is comforting or alarming to team officials is a good question. On the one hand, it is a point of concern that the Brewers, especially given the great leadership and off-the-charts team chemistry in the clubhouse, are underachieving by as much as they are. On the other hand, it is clear that the Speed Devils have been over-achieving most of the season and the sense is that there has to be a point where that catches up with them and they suffer a tail-spin.

No matter what, the only thing the Brewers can do is to just keep winning and remind themselves that there is still plenty of season left.

[BirdWatcher]

Well here's some good news:

[BirdWatcher]

Moving pretty fast now and will try to somewhat catch up here in the next few days.

Suffice it to say, we are a few days away from September, the Brewers are on a 9-game winning streak, have recently taken over first place (now lead Phoenix by 3 games).

Harry Lyerly has had one rehab start at AAA and will probably be given one more before he returns to the Brewers rotation. He will be needed as rookie Steve Green, having a fine season, was just lost for 7 weeks due to triceps tendinitis. Fortunately, Justin Peacock, who came up when Lyerly went on the DL has been pitching very well (2-0, 1.08 ERA) thus far.

Cheol-han Lee is up to a 14-5 record with the 4th best ERA in the MGL at 2.34. Daniel Torres continues to lead the league in the category at 2.04 and he is 13-3. (Harry Lyerly is still 6th in the MGL in ERA at 2.78.)

Jamison Bash continues to lead all of the WPK in HR's with 34. Antonio Puente is up to 23. And Bobby Erbakan, starting to show some power at age 24 is third on the team with 18.

But the real reason I wanted to post here tonight was to share this little tidbit. Chad Brown continues to have a fine season with a slash line of .330/.358/.445. He is third in the MGL in batting average, third in triples (9), third in stolen bases (23), sixth in WPA (3.07).
But then there is this thing I discovered recently: in 455 plate appearances thus far in the 1971 season, Brown has struck out all of 7 times. He's on pace to finish the season with single digit strikeout total (9). Sure he doesn't walk much either- he has drawn 18 bases on balls. But still- 7 (seven) strikeouts! His previous lowest season total was 25 in 1969.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers got off to a bit of an uneven start in August but had a great second half of the month: from August 15th on they won 13 of 15 games, including a 10-game winning streak.

With the Phoenix Speed Devils finally hitting a rough patch at the same time (they lost 10 of 16 from August 15th on), the Brewers have now taken over 1st place by 5 games over the second place Speed Devils.
As we enter the last month of the season, more than half of the teams in the MGL have been mathematically eliminated from contention. (While no team in the SJL is yet technically out of contention.)

As good as the Brewers are playing, they are still underachieving their pythagorean expect record by 5 wins. In not one major offensive or defensive/pitching category are the Brewers any lower than 3rd best in the MGL. The Brewers have a solid lead in runs scored with 606 while the next best in the MGL is Phoenix with 582.
But as is usual, it is in pitching that the team really shines greatest. The team ERA of 2.39 is by far the lowest in the league, with the next best being L.A. at 3.02. The league ERA is 3.54. The Brewers have given up 367 runs, nearly 100 fewer than the next best (L.A., at 459.) Brewers pitchers have allowed opponents a combined batting average of .228 (league BA is .250).

While the Brewers remain particularly spectacular at home (.746 winning percentage), the road record is also very solid (.620.) They have mostly evened out now against lefthanded and righthanded starting pitchers, indicating that the team is becoming more balanced offensively.

Jamison Bash (.304/.397/.602) continues to rake at the plate, leading in HR's with 36 (next best in all of the WPK is 28).

Chad Brown continues his great season at the plate and in the field. Brown has a slash line of .333/.359/.449, is third in the MGL in batting average, has hit 18 doubles, 9 triples, 5 HR's, and has stolen 25 bases while being caught just 7 times.

Ryan Rodgers has been hitting better of late and drawing more walks, and while he won't put up the kind of offensive numbers he did in 1970, his slash line of .308/.411/.390 is very solid and he plays a great leftfield. He also leads the team in doubles at 23.

Cheol-han Lee is now 15-5 with an ERA of 2.28, 3rd best in the MGL. He easily leads the MGL in WAR among pitchers at 6.7.

Daniel Torres is still leading the league in ERA at 2.00 and has an impressive 14-3 win/loss record.

[BirdWatcher]

With about 3 weeks left in the season, there is still plenty of time for things to fall apart, so the Brewers leadership is publicly signalling that it is far too early to express any confidence about a return trip to the WPK World Series. But the reality is that with the continued strong play by the Brewers and the weeks long struggles by Phoenix, there is very little chance of the Brewers not representing the MGL once again in the post-season.

The Brewers now have an 8 game lead on Phoenix and the only other MGL team not mathematically eliminated from contention is the Los Angeles Spinners, who are 11 games behind Denver.

This week's MGL Player of the Week, Jamison Bash, is a big part of the Denver success.

Recently, Tanner Yurek, who got off to such a poor start this season, has also been providing big contributions. Yurek (.247/.339/.430) has hit 7 of his 14 homers since August 1st. Yurek's resurgence sets up some interesting decisions for team leadership given how fine a season young Danny Roman has had. Roman (.277/.373/.406) has hit much better than expected in his rookie season while providing considerably better defense at second than Yurek. Roman does not hit for power the way Yurek does though, and Yurek has the advantage of being a fan favorite. They are both excellent base-runners but Roman has far more natural speed.
This doesn't even factor in that some of our best prospects in the minors are natural second-baseman. Not the least of whom is Jonathan Koch, who is playing well at AAA Chester and very nearly big league ready.
It's a nice problem to have, but eventually something will have to give.

[BirdWatcher]

After two consecutive seasons in which the Denver Brewers finished with identical 98-64 records, the team has now recorded a three digit win mark for the first time in franchise history.
With 15 games still remaining in the schedule the Brewers are currently 101-46. The team is on pace to win 111 games, which would easily shatter the previous WPK record of 104 wins, set by the Columbus Whalers in 1969. (Two teams have won 103 games in a season- the Los Angeles Spinners in 1966 and the Jacksonville Wolf Pack in 1970.)

The Brewers magic number is down to 9, although the second place Phoenix Speed Devils have been playing a bit better of late and are on a 3-game winning streak to stay alive, even if their chances of overcoming the Brewers are remote at this point.

The Brewers run differential is a very impressive +259. The team has a pretty sizable lead in both runs scored and runs allowed not just in the MGL but in the WPK overall.