SIM COMPLETE - 1987 - Regular Season 5

[Carlos]

The pitching was great for Denver this week. 4-2 sim. Very good pitching outings, even from those that took losses.

Gagne was demoted to Triple A and has even struggled there. He's done. I'm willing to trade him for peanuts if anyone needs another arm to give up a few runs an inning.

[mahoney2]

Still in first place due to the clusterfuck that is known as the DL. I can't remember the last time Maine was in 3rd place either. I don't expect this to last.

Another 3-3 sim. SHockingly the bullpen hasn't lost as many games as I would suspect. Outplaying the pytag by 3 games this early on though is not a good sign.

[Clay]

Virginia Colonials (16-16)

This Week: 4-2

3-0 vs Los Alamos

Super happy to catch the Bandits before their bats woke up in Morgantown. My bottom three all pitched very well to earn the wins. Solid work from the bullpen in all three outings to secure the victories.

Our bats stayed pretty quiet, playing small ball the entire series. Tom Zimmerman continues to be a steal in FA really anchoring that #2 spot in the lineup and spending a lot of time on base.

1-2 @ Windy City

Came in with confidence and handled the Playboys easiliy in Game 1 before dropping two 1-run contests to lose the series. Former Windy City All-Star Vernon Simmonds had a nightmare outing in Game 2. Handed a 3-run lead, he throws two pitches and suddenly there are runners on 1st and 2nd. He bears down and gets the next two hitters. A Jeff Longstreet double then clears the bases and pulls the Playboys within a run. That's when Jared Kirby took a 2-0 pitch to somewhere near West Virginia. A mammoth shot to right that measures 445 and put a fork in the evening.

Rookie OFer Artie Rhodes had a nice series going 5-for-11 with a HR and 5 RBI while stealing three more bases to bring his IL leading total to 13. Solid Pitching efforts from Nate Magness and Pancho Herrera were good signs for the Colonials, but not enough to get wins.

Coming Up...

vs B'More and @ Carolina - We're playing really good ball at home right now... we need to continue to weather another road heavy month before a June that plays out very favorably. I still like where we are and where we're going.

[spot]

I would've loved to spread those 35 runs from out 2 wins out a bit. It's hard to find the positive when we went 2-4 including getting swept by VA. At least Tardif had a nice outing.

[Clay]

I would've loved to spread those 35 runs from out 2 wins out a bit. It's hard to find the positive when we went 2-4 including getting swept by VA. At least Tardif had a nice outing.

How about just a little respect for how good Virginia is????

I think there's a ton of positive. I think some of your pitchers were good. You held a team (VIR) who was leading the league in HRs to just 1 in 3 games in a park they are custom built to hit HRs in.

Plus... come on.... your boy had the best statistical offensive performance in BLB History. Come on... 12 RBIs! 2 Grand Slams in a Game (plus a three run shot for good measure)! All that AND Windley was player of the week. I think your team is on the rise.

[Lintyfresh85]

I don't see how Windley got the player of the week. Bovey hit 4 HR's with 16 RBI's.

If that's not player of the week, I don't know what is.

[Pat]

2-1 vs. Philly
2-1 @ California
I think that is exactly what I predicted. Both games lost were by one run.

The Good
-Totally unexpected, but Joe Chavarraga and Romano Gonzalez are playing great baseball. Chav pitched his 2nd straght complete game. After two years of 3.00+ ERA, he is 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA, .95 WHIP, 2 CG, 1 SO, 33/7 K/BB. Phenominal. Gonzo has lost all ability to strike anyone out anymore (16 in 39 IP) but his 2.54 ERA is the best since '83.

-Is Joe Sierra back? Still early in the year but the fallen superstar is hitting .303 and he just hit his first homerun of the season. If he can hit .300 and not strikeout a lot, regardless of power, he will be great in the #2 spot all year.

The Bad
-Catcher Mike Murdock has cooled off. The #4 hitter has now dropped to .275 with a .781 OPS. Not bad by any means. If he hits that the whole season I will be pleased. He just dominated the first few weeks and my expectations were probably too high for his 2nd season.

-Second basemen R.A. Grounds who has been on the disabled list all season, has rejected a second straight contract offer. He is a FA at years end and I don't want to lose him. He is starting to get upset. If he decided to bolt, I do have other options for the position, but he is one of my main guys.

The Hurt
-Closer Grant Lewis comes off the DL this sim, but will miss the first three days. Last years IL ROY, SP Joe Zazueto, who has given up just five hits in 16 IP, also returns from injury. My bullpen is finally back to normality, no situational closers and my rotation is back to six-man, giving those veterans an extra days rest.

Down on the Farm
-Top prospect, #26 overall, 2B/SS Robert Abbott is hitting .321 with a .909 OPS down in Triple-A Richmond. He is probably ready for the bigs, but I'm going to leave him down there for a bit. No real spot for him to play. He would be an upgrade over Bob Burleson, (Grounds replacement at 2B), but Grounds is back in two weeks and then Abbott would be sent to the bench. Abbott might continue to get experience all over the infield (planning on getting him some more innings at 1B and 3B) and be a September call-up. Likely the starting SS in 1988.

[Lintyfresh85]

3-0 @ Wilmington
1-2 vs. Washington

The Good
-Conan Wilkerson continues to pitch pretty well in his freshman season in the BLB. He doesn't have the wins to back it up, but he's quietly building a case as to why he may be the IL Refreshing New Brew.

-Alberto Grandon hit .260 this week! WTF? I'd love for him to hit that way the rest of the year but I expect him to be back to .180 in no time.

The Bad
-Joe Toapanta got the win but for the second straight start he's been anything but solid. I hope he can turn it around next sim.

-François Dupuis went 0/13 in his return from a concussion.

Next Week: 3 @ Davenport, 3 vs. Windy City

[Clay]

The Good
-Conan Wilkerson continues to pitch pretty well in his freshman season in the BLB. He doesn't have the wins to back it up, but he's quietly building a case as to why he may be the IL Refreshing New Brew.

I think this is going to be a fun race to track all season... I think if you're scoring through 6 weeks... I think the voting is...

- Ivan Solis
- Conan Wilkerson
- Artie Rhodes

But there's a lot of season to go!!

[Lintyfresh85]

Does Len John qualify as a rookie?

He's also smacking the ball around for Davenport.

[Clay]

No, John broke his cherry last season.

[Pat]

Solis is head and shoulders, right now, above both of those two.

[Guest]

Does Len John qualify as a rookie?

He's also smacking the ball around for Davenport.

Was fucking retarded of me to trade him...I'm an idiot.

[Lintyfresh85]

Solis is head and shoulders, right now, above both of those two.

Solis can't be a rookie. He had close to 500 at bats last year for Davenport.

[BradZ]

Solis isn't eligible (unless I'm missing something). He had nearly 500 ABs in '86.