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We looked pretty darn good last week, not much to complain about. We were able to play pretty good at home but even better on the road. So far this season, we are an amazing 13-4 on the road, tied for the best road record (with Philly) in the BLB. With our 5-1 week we were able to push ahead of Philly one more game for the wildcard, while cutting California's lead in the Porter to just one game.
The Good
Angelo Barrios (OF) is making a lot of teams wishthey traded for him now and making me very happy that we didn't move him. Top 3 in WAR, Hits, Triples, RBI, XBH and TB in the IL. The kid is a real stud and should be in the early conversation for All-Star consideration. Last week in our 9-4 win over Los Alamos, Barrios had his 2nd two home run game in less than a week.
Doug Coates is playing well and earning that big contract we signed last year. Tied for 2nd in QS%, he has embraced the roll as a leader of the pitching staff alongside fellow ace, Derek Vleugel who also had a good week.
We finally pitched well as a team, posting an IL leading, 2.25 ERA last week. Our starters finally looked decent but, as always they were out pitched by the bullpen again who gave up just 4 ER in 27.0 IP.
The Bad
Japanese star, Masaoki Matsumoto, had his first bad sim of the year. I think he may just be wearing down a bit. He hit just 2/26 for the week making him by far our least efficient batter last week.
Former Whaler, Bao-tian Ching, has had his ups and downs in his first year in Baltimore, but this past week was definitely a down. In our only loss of the week, Bao gave up 4 H and 2 ER in a relief appearance for us. He's still playing well overall, but he can definitely do better.
The Ugly
Nothing really to complain about.
The Injured
Kazuyoshi Maekawa (SS) finished up his rehab stint in Annapolis (AAA) this week. The former Rule V draft pick showed there wasn't much rust to remove as he hit .345/.424/.586 with the Admirals. His return to the lineup should pay dividends to a defense ranked 9th in the IL.
The Farm
Dave Doggett (A) moved back up to #100 this week. Still trying to work on his stamina to hopefully get a guy who can shut down a team for 5.2 IP and pass it off to the pen unscathed.
The Week Ahead
A couple of big tests. We head to D.C. to face the Bats, who are in a dogfight for the Stout right now, followed by a huge 4-game series against the division leading, Kodiaks. I'll go 4-3 for the week.
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