SIM COMPLETE - 1987 - Regular Season 7

[Andrew]

Next sim: Thursday

Reminder:
- Thursday's exports are due by noon ET on Thursday
- No sim on Sunday

[Whale]

Swept Indy in 3 games, and went 1-2 against Dallas. In the DL, I have no idea what to think as everyone is within a few games. However, I still have to be happy to be tied for first after my oddly started season at 0-6. Pitching is showing what they really can be, moving their way up the chain in stat categories. Offense is going to have to show some more, especially Albors who has been cold. But as most teams would agree, until someone makes a move in the DL, it's wait and see...

[Jake]

Another 3-3 sim. We're stuck in neutral.

Probably the wrong decision but I'm sending Don Stevens down to AAA to get his shit together. He's 0-5 in 5 starts with a 7.09 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP since returning from injury.

Joe Cuevas has been unbelievable since returning to Syracuse. Last sim he hit .529 with a 1.678 OPS.

Noah George has been great this year as well, and made his debut on the top players list this sim. It's the first time Syracuse has had a top player since we traded away Kang all the way back in 1984.

[Guest]

Even though I'm only 5 games back, I think I'm a start the rebuilding phase.

[Carlos]

Third straight 4-2 sim pushes Denver to .500.

Seltzer responds to demotion by hitting the ball hard in AAA. However, if Soloeano hits the ball like he did this week, then he'll hold onto the job and Norm will grow up a bit in the minors.

Montero actually gets on-base this time and doesn't steal any bases. Backwards player, that one.

I really can't wait till Erwood is healthy so help solidify this rotation a bit more. I like what I have, but thinking about Erwood in that rotation is making me happy.

Won the first four before losing two straight to Maine.

[Matt]

1-5

1-2 vs. Windy City
0-3 vs. Virginia

Bad

- We scored 1 run in 3 games against Virginia. I just don't understand. Another year of 1st place pitching and last place hitting.

[BradleyB]

plummeting back down to reality.

[Jistic]

3-3 which for us is a victory. As much as I'd like to panic and cut everyone, I'm only a few games out somehow. I have so many under achievers, it's crazy. Just gotta be patient I guess, which sucks.

[Clay]

Virginia Colonials (23-21)

1-2 @ Philly
3-0 @ Batavia

I anticipated a tough week... I actually game out a game ahead of where I thought I would so I certainly can't complain... what I didn't anticipate was getting backdoored by the injury bug again.

After losing Tom Zimmerman and his All-Star caliber season last week... we lose Zimmerman's replacement at 2B Cristian Martinez... Jeff Franklin goes down... Even Llombart and Artie Rhodes take a hit during the week... but both should be short term.

All in all didn't play awful in Philly. The Franklin injury came three innings into an overall good performance in Game 1. Tim 'Vampire' Pardue came unglued late in the game after taking over in a 1-1 game.

Game 2 saw the Freedom jump on Delmar Oyos early, but the Colonials beat themselves in the end. Virginia stranded 13 baserunners in the 5-3 loss blowing opportunities in every inning.

Looking to avoid the sweep, Elieis Vizcarra took the bump and shut down the Philly bats. He carried a no-hitter deep into the game before Mel Woodbury broke it up with 2 outs in the 6th innings. He'd give up two more hits in the 8th before closing the door on his night with an 8 innings, 3 hit performance. Vernon Simmonds came in to close the door with an 18 pitch performance and 3 K's.

The matchup of IL 5-1's Joe Arrendondo and Nathan Athey in Game 1 of the Viriginia/Batavia matchup did not dissappoint. Both hurlers threw 7 scoreless innings before giving way to their pens in a game that wouldn't be settled till the 11th. The 1-0 final left the nearly 37,000 in attendence glued to their seats the entire way.

Nate Magness took the ball for the Colonials in Game 2 and turned in a rock-solid complete game performance. "The Skull" gave up 4 singles in his 115 pitch evening. The Colonials soundly took the second matchup 6-0 and got offensive contributions up and down the lineup including Josh Poling's team leading 10th HR.

Vincent Nino caught Poling in the last game of the week reaching the seats for the 10th time on the season. Rookie Pancho Herrera followed his mentors by cashing in the 4th straight great pitching performance of the week going 7.2, giving up 1 earned and striking out 5. 3-1 and a series sweep would be the final.

COMING UP...

The injury bugs are going to really challenge the Colonials and their push for the IL Wildcard. Franklin's injury will move Virginia back to a more conventional 5-man rotation and adding an additional bullpen arm with the recalling of Ivan Perez.

The gaping hole at 2B will be a much bigger challenge. Utility IF Rodney Nakagawa is not an everyday player and can not cover the 4 week absense of Martinez. While nothing has been confirm at this time, rumors are that Joshua Poling will move over the 2B for the next month and the Colonials will call up BA Prospect (#52) Orinosuke Takahashi to play 1B everyday. Takahashi is hitting .382/.438/.605/1.043 at AAA Detroit this season.

3 at Colonial Park with the suddenly struggling Davenport Brawlers followed by a 4 game trip to Wilmington are coming up this week.

[Lintyfresh85]

California Kodiaks (25-19)

3-0 vs. Morgantown
2-1 @ Carolina

The Good
- Nick Duncan goes 7 IP, 2 ER with 5K's to pick up the first win of his career. He'll move back to spot starter role now that McMurdo is back... but I'm happy for the former #2 pick. He never reached his promise... but just making it to the show is an accomplishment.

- Bullpen continues to be a strength.

- Mark Steward put up an OPS over 1.000 this week. Always nice to see.

The Bad
- Oswaldo Escarcaga got no run support in our only loss of the week, 2-0. I'm not pleased with his BB/K rate either.

- Robby Shannon only hit .250 this week.

- The team only took 11 walks. I'd like to see something a bit higher.

Next Week: 3 @ Los Alamos, 4 vs. Baltimore

[BradZ]

Philadelphia Freedom (25 - 19, t-1st)

Reasonably successful week at home. 4-2 overall with fairly solid pitching and offense.

2-1 vs. VIR

We picked up the first two games vs. Virginia to get off to a quick start to the week. Ben Irvin pitched a gem in game 1 with 8.0 IP 1R (unearned) and sitting 7 hitters down on strikes. Irvin picked up his 6th W.

Nathan MacOwl took the hill in a game 2 victory and provided a solid, if not shaky performance. There were baserunners galore, but MacOwl pitched out of trouble allowing 3 ER in 7.0 IP. The bullpen came in and did their job culminating with Joe Alveraz setting down the side on 3 strikeouts in the 9th.

Then we ran into Elieis Vizcarra who kept the Freedom off balance all night long in game 3. Vizcarra pitched 8 strong innings allowing only 3 hits and giving up 1 earned run. It took a 2 out double in the 7th inning by Woodbury to put the first mark in the hit column.

2-1 vs. DAV

Former Freedom SP Carl Pateshall picked up the victory for the Brawlers in a 2-3 defeat in game 1. Star SP Joe Aurillo continued an uneven campaign by allowing 11 hits in 6.1 IP which resulted in 3 ER while picking up his 4th loss on the year (3-4 record).

Ben Irvin took the hill for game 2 and things did not go well to start the game. The game started out with a Vern Branch single followed by an Iván Solís single putting runners on the corners after two batters. Up stepped 1B Kenichi Sato who jumped on the 2nd pitch he saw and planted a 3 run HR into the seats. Irvin’s line at that point: 0.0IP 3H 3ER 0K. A quick visit to the mound by pitching coach Mike Jones seemed to do the trick as Irvin went on to throw 8 shutout innings without allowing another hit while striking out 8 Brawlers. The offense managed to erase the early damage by putting up 4 runs in an explosive 5th inning when Greg Josey and Mel Woodbury each hit 2 out, 2 run HRs. That was all the scoring the Freedom would manage, but thanks to Irvin settling things down it was enough. Irving improved to 7-1 on the year with a league leading 1.32 ERA.

Game 3 saw young Toby Heller taking the mound for his first start at Philly since being dealt to Davenport in the offseason Alsina deal. The Freedom offense did not treat him kindly, touching him up for 7 hits and 5ER in 4.2 innings. Freedom starter Nathan MacOwl picked up his second win of the week going 6 innings and allowing 2 ER in an efficient start.

Good:

Ben Ivin – 2 wins 16 IP 6 HA 1.69 ERA 15 K
Joe Alveraz – picked up 4 SVs in 4 victories allowing 1 hit, 1 BB while striking out 6
Nathan MacOwl – wasn’t outstanding, but was good enough to pick up 2 Ws

Not as Good:

Joe Aurillo – second mediocre start in a row.
Jim Newlin and Greg Josey – still waiting on this duo to get hot. They haven’t been bad, but they haven’t produced at their accustomed level.

[Pat]

Washington Bats (32-12)

3-0 @ Carolina
None of the games were really that close, which is surprising. Traveling down to Carolina is normally tough for the Bats.
3-0 vs. Los Alamos
The sweep of the Bandits was highlighted by a walkoff triple from backup catcher Alan Starr in the bottom of the 10th off closer Wayne van Slyke.

The Good
-If you don't know who Miguel Angel Padilla is by now, take note. The 21-year-old left fielder is having a breakout season. He just won his 2nd IL Player of the Week in May, I assume he will take the Player of the Month next sim. He also just hit for the cycle against Carolina. This is his 3rd full season in the BLB and he won't turn 22 until September.

-My starting pitching is unreal this season. I highly doubt they are benefitting from the 6-man rotation...but maybe? Everyone is having a much better season than expected, outside of Joe Rodriguez. Last years IL Rookie of the Year, SP Joe Zazueto, has given up just 12 hits in 30 innings pitched. And I thought last year was a fluke.

The Bad
-Dave Robbins really isn't getting it done. I only gave up a late 1st and an organization top 20 prospect for him and a ton of money, but it might be a deal I end up regretting if Robbins doesn't start to hit. His .219 average is not what I expected.

-Another struggling hitter is shortstop Jack Dynes. Never really known for his bat, the slick fielder is hitting just .223. He does provide great defense but if he keeps hitting like this, he will find his way to the bench.

The Ugly
-The Bats are 19-3 at home this season. I play 21 of 27 at home in June.

Tale from the farm
-Top prospect 2B Robert Abbott continues to hit really well at Triple-A Richmond. The minor league system report says "probably ready for the BLB" and he wants to be called up. I want to see if Jack Dynes can turn it around. If not, Abbott will be headed to the show.

[Carlos]

The Ugly
-The Bats are 19-3 at home this season. I play 21 of 27 at home in June.

You mean ugly for everyone else, right?

[Clay]

If you don't know who Miguel Angel Padilla is by now, take note. The 21-year-old left fielder is having a breakout season. He just won his 2nd IL Player of the Week in May, I assume he will take the Player of the Month next sim. He also just hit for the cycle against Carolina. This is his 3rd full season in the BLB and he won't turn 22 until September.

This Cat is a really interesting case. He's from the infamous 16-year olds draft of 1982. He's certainly not the only guy who's been good coming from that draft, but... when you consider that he came in 16... went Pro at 18... had significant injuries throughout his early career.... lead the league in K's just two years ago.... what he's doing this year is really impressive.

[Pat]

You mean ugly for everyone else, right?

Yes. The "Ugly" section goes both ways. Like Linty.

This Cat is a really interesting case. He's from the infamous 16-year olds draft of 1982. He's certainly not the only guy who's been good coming from that draft, but... when you consider that he came in 16... went Pro at 18... had significant injuries throughout his early career.... lead the league in K's just two years ago.... what he's doing this year is really impressive.

Yeah, he is a strikeout machine. Not awful this year, but my scout has his potential to avoid at a "3." I'm not sure he can hit like this all year, I'm just glad that the power is finally showing up.