2008 Regular Season SIM 1 Complete - Next Sim Mon 9/1

[Carlos]

Haven't seen the sim. I'm assuming this means we did well.

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6-1.
We did indeed do well. A very good start to the Denver BC era. Some outrageous performances however so I don't expect many of these just yet, but I do think we have ourselves a nice collection of capable players.

Starting it off right off the bat in...

Game 1: Facing lefty Zack Reeves, we went with our mostly right handed lineup on Opening Day which meant we were sitting our all left-handed hitting outfield and several other regular starters.

Despite this, it was Jamie McPherson pinch-hitting in the 7th with a double to tie the game at 1. Two batters later, Dave Perkins hits a 1-0 pitch into the stands for a Grand Slam and Denver goes up 5-1, eventually winning 5-4.

Game 2: Another lefty in David Arce. Another big pinch hit from a lefty in the 7th. Jamie McPherson led off the inning with a pinch hit double. He eventually scores on Player of the Week Henry Rodrigues's single. Denver wins 1-0 as Travis Hoffman throws 8 shutout innings in his Denver debut.

McPherson hit .389 with a pair of home runs and 2 stolen bases.

Dave Perkins batted .421(!) with two home runs and 3 steals.

Henry Rodrigues was Player of the Week with a .484/.484/.645 slash line. He drove in a team high 8 runs and had 15 hits.

Verba showed some power in the 9th inning of Game 7 but mostly had a decent week.

As a team we hit .295/.369/.459. I really don't expect that every week, but it's a joy to see. 13 stolen bases (1 caught stealing).

The pitching struck out 64 batters in 62 innings and posted a 3.05 ERA with a 1.00 WHIP.

The top three were the most impressive. Tamieke was 1-0, 2.13 ERA. Hoffman went 2-0 going into the 8th in both starts. Vleugel struck out 10 hitters in his win.

Not to be outdone, Leo Garcia struck out 11 the next game.

Tony Perez had one rough inning in Game 1 but picked up 2 saves. And Cunningham got beat up a bit in his three outings. Outside of that, the pen was solid.

Next we face undefeated Maine. Something has to give.

[Z]

2-5. Maine came into Toronto and destroyed us. Happy with the offence but hope the arms can turn it around so we don't dig ourselves a hole in April.

YEAH!

We took last year off, but now we're BRINGING IT! WATCH OUT DL!!!

[Delandis]

1-6 and not how we expected to start the year.

We gave up ALOT of late inning runs and had to adjust the lineups a bit. We also just had a lot of guys that seemed not to be ready for the new season. Also, I'm wondering how much having a new manager impacts our play this year.

I know its just one week but, we may we may burn this bitch to the ground if I see us worse than Pawtucket in Power Rankings again.

[Jimmy]

1-6 and not how we expected to start the year.

We gave up ALOT of late inning runs and had to adjust the lineups a bit. We also just had a lot of guys that seemed not to be ready for the new season. Also, I'm wondering how much having a new manager impacts our play this year.

I know its just one week but, we may we may burn this bitch to the ground if I see us worse than Pawtucket in Power Rankings again.

Anyone worse than Pawtucket should rethink their strategy.

[Pat]

It's really a bummer the minors didn't start on time this year. I'm already feeling stat deprived.

[Carlos]

It's really a bummer the minors didn't start on time this year. I'm already feeling stat deprived.

Agreed. I would have spent today looking over minor league stats.

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[Pat]

Tomorrow's sim will be a juicy one.

In Washington the rotation is full of question marks. Troy Hanback and CJ Skinner are both Top 20 Pitchers but beyond them are question marks. I'm not sure if ancient Duane Porter can cut it. Still rusty from a late Spring Training signing and with a wrecked injury history if he ever gets it going it probably won't be for long. Once prized prospect Zachary Lewis never developed that control and at 26 might be "just a guy." Jimmy Whitworth, a waiver claim from Baltimore last year, will get his first start of the season against his former club.

If those three don't find some magic, I will have to take chances with a handful of Four-A types because there isn't any money left to dip into free-agency or acquire a veteran via trade.

Could be a long year.

[BradZ]

SIM 1 represented an absolute offensive explosion for the Freedom. Rookie TBell put up a week that would normally garner attention for PotW type honors with a .444|.516|.741 slash line with 11 runs scored, 5 2B's, a HR and 4 SB, but he was outdone (in the eyes of the award pickers) by the old man Tom Swanson who went .406|.424|.625 with 2HR and 13 RBI. 13 RBI is a good month for anyone in our lineup, usually.

Swanson was re-signed late last season to serve as a 4th OF and short side platoon option as he winds down his career. Nice to see he's still capable (albeit in short bursts) of creating havoc at the plate.

Pitching was a little up and down in the first week, but over the long haul we're expecting it to be a solid pitching staff. Nice first effort out of John Ayala who we're expecting to take another step forward this season.

All-in-all, solid opening to the 2008 season from the Freedom.

[Pat]

I'm high on the Freedom this year. Wild Card will be possible.

[Delandis]

Anyone worse than Pawtucket should rethink their strategy.

Agreed.

[Jake]

BNN Stats: Active Career Pitching Leaders
Monday, April 14th, 2008
Which active pitchers are leading the Brewers League Baseball in career fielding independent pitching (FIP)?

Koichi Nakashima, SYR, 2.02
J.J. Ballos, SYR, 2.19
Abayghur Tulun, CAR, 2.69
Víctor Rivera, TOR, 2.76
Edgar Mejia, CHI, 2.77

These guys have been incredible, and crucial to our success, during our run.