SIM COMPLETE - 1989 - Regular Season 2

[Clay]

I gave you two against Washington. Don't say I never did anything for you.

While I certainly don't want to sound ungrateful, I don't need you to beat Washington. I don't expect to win the division. I need you to beat Wilmington and the other Wildcard level teams.

Please try harder next time.

[Delandis]

While I certainly don't want to sound ungrateful, I don't need you to beat Washington. I don't expect to win the division. I need you to beat Wilmington and the other Wildcard level teams.

Please try harder next time.

Sounds good. We'll show up against the next Stout opponent we face.

[Jake]

Syracuse Slammers, 4-2 sim.

While I'll never complain about a winning sim, this week doesn't have me jumping for joy.

Good: Joe Aurillo wins in a dominant start, going 6.1 innings and only allowing 2 hits. I've got Bluto on a pitch count to start the year, and as long as he can get me into the 7th I'm extremely happy.

Teagan Cannell hit .346 for the week. Noah George .364. Raul Zamora hit .400; the roller coaster continues. Stu McGee is still holding it together after two weeks, hitting .353 on the year. Yet to draw a walk, however.

The bad: Joe Lopez got shelled, and Charlie O'Rogan got hurt. I need Lopez and O'Rogan to just be solid this year, but it's hard to do when you're sitting on the bench, or getting rocked like a cradle. Caz is clearly not starting material either; I'd love to move him to the pen ASAP, but with the injury to O'Rogan and Wilmington's claim of Clarence Nicholson from waivers (nice move) he'll probably get one more start. Ottavio Ciocchi will probably get a call up from AAA to fill in for O'Rogan; it'll probably also be a final audition for Caz's spot. Greg Josey is out 4 weeks with a shoulder, Cuevas out 1-2 weeks as well. Although we're certainly not top heavy, we do have a little depth in the OF down in AAA, so we'll take tonight to figure out what to do next.

[Carlos]

Denver Bulls (9-3, 1st Place in Pilsner)

Sim Results: 4-2

@ Pawtucket 3-2 W
@ Pawtucket 8-2 W
@ Pawtucket 10-2 W
vs. Pittsburgh 4-1 W
vs. Pittsburgh 1-0 L
vs. Pittsburgh 4-0 L

What Went Right

Denver swept Pawtucket and after a 4-1 victory against Pittsburgh, was running on all cylinders with an 8-game win streak.

Pedro Zamarida became the sixth player to score 1,000 career runs (one day after Cesaro Campoveroe achieved the feat) and the third to record 250 HR, 1,000 RBI and 1,000 Runs (first to also include 100 stolen bases).

He also added three home runs and 6 RBI for the week.

Rookie pitcher Don McDonald pitched his second scoreless game and has now thrown 12.1 IP giving up only 7 hits, no runs while striking out 10.

Jared Williamson made his pitching debut throwing 7.2 innings giving up one run on two hits.

What Went Wrong

The 8-game win streak came to an abrupt end when Pittsburgh's Curt Goodwin threw a no-hitter at Rocky Top Park. It was the first one thrown against Denver and the second no-hitter in Pittsburgh history. The outing was a great turn of events for Goodwin who only survived two outs into his start against Mississippi just six days prior.

Denver failed to score in that game and was then shut out in the rubber match.

Down On The Farm

SP Norm Coleman threw a no-hitter against the Bakersfield Cannon (AAA). His line: 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 93 PI. Coleman faced the minimum 27 as both runners to reach base were wiped clean on double plays.

Recently promoted catcher Cristobal Garza (#18 ranked prospect in Denver) started off strong in AA Oklahoma City. Garza collected 11 hits in his 27 at-bats along with a triple and 5 RBI.

Another top organizational prospect, Joe Melendez, didn't fare well in his AAA debut last season, but hit .321 last week in the Horizon League.

Jeremiah Gray (#76 in BLB) is looking to rebound from a mediocre season in Double A Oklahoma City. Having started strong in 1989, he will be out of action for 1-2 weeks with a sore shoulder.

Charging In

Denver closes its six-game home stand with a three game series against divisional rival Indianapolis Clowns. Then it's back to the road for 8 games where Denver is 8-1 for a four game set against second place Dallas to close out the month of April.

[Jistic]

I got some young bats starting to grow up, that's just what we need if we're gonna compete this year.

[Lintyfresh85]

California Kodiaks (6-6)

1-2 @ Windy City
1-2 vs. Los Alamos

The Good
- Lucio Mendez got a wake up call this spring training when I brought in Anier Tafur for some competition at SS. Since then, he's really responded with the bat. This past sim he racked up 9 RBI's and 10 hits. That's usually a good month for him.

-Robby Shannon looked pretty good this week. He's yet to really show much of a homerun stroke, but he did pick up 5 extra base hits this week. Hopefully his power will return with time.

-Jose Compres hit a cool .345 this past week. He's not showing much power either... but I won't complain if he keeps his average up.

-Joe Jaureguy seems to be one of the few that's actually getting it done in the California pen. I really need others to step up around him if I don't want a repeat of last year.

The Bad
- Robby Sears has looked like a complete bum to start the year. Not sure what's going on with him. I predicted he'd either be a 20 game winner or an all-star this year. He's got a long road ahead of him to live up to those expectations.

- Roman Magueu finally blew a save this week in the first game against Windy City. I'll give him another week as I try to figure out how to fix the pen... but he's on a very short leash at this point.

-Pitching BABIP. For the week, our pitchers gave up a BABIP of .304. Not sure if this was bad luck, or just really bad pitching... but we can't survive on it.

The Departed
-Francois Dupuis made his last appearance as a Kodiak this past sim as we DFA'd him and put him on waivers. I've gotten a lot of mileage off this waiver claim, but the day has come to bid him adieu. We wish him well in his future endeavors.

The Minors
Like what I'm seeing so far from all of my minor league teams. They've all got winning records and the players are doing well enough. I don't think I have any playoff contenders this year in the minors, but as long as things go smoothly in development, I'm a happy camper.

[Carlos]

I really like Jaureguy. I think he's going to put up Washington numbers for California. Though I don't know where I'd have put him, I offered a contract but he went for the sunshine in Cali. Can't blame him.

I fear that Shannon lost some of his power with the knee injury, though you never know. OSA sees a power outage but like you said, he has 5 doubles and a triple to go with a home run. That's power enough. Maybe he won't be a 35 homer guy again, but if he can continue to hit .300 and draw walks, then 25 home runs may not be so bad from him.

[Pat]

Washington Bats (10-2) - Sim #2
3-0 vs. Batavia, 5-1, 11-1, 6-4
1-2 @ Baltimore, 2-6, 1-5, 5-4

The Good
-The hitting on this team is unreal. As a team, on the year, we are hitting .306!
-Bullpen is still #1 in the league and River Matthews comes back from the DL in three weeks.

The Bad
-My #4-#6 SPs are leaving me concerned. Wes Emerson has pitched ok, but D.T. Fitts and Joe Rodriguez have struggled. Might have to shake things up before I want to.

The Minors
-#6 prospect - SP Ivan Garcia - It looks like 6.1 IP is his limit. Another 6.1 IP start, no ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 9 K.
#30 prospect - SS Clint Johnston - After going 14/30 in the first week, he hit 7/23 this week. His average is a shade under .400.

[Jim]

I really like Jaureguy.

Same here. I tried to get him the last time he was an FA and missed out. Even though I didn't have room for him I would've tried for him this time but didn't have any money.

[Pat]

Always loved Jaureguy. Got him in the Rule V from Maine way back when.

[Sully]

I had an offer in for Jarueguy, but he apparently liked sunny California more.

[Carlos]

Just noticed that Jim is trying Adrian Diaz as a starter. Interesting. He never mentioned the move on the boards or wrote an article talking about the idea.

Mixed results. Not sure he has the endurance. Definitely has the talent. Threw 83 pitches in his first start (6 innings), got hit hard in his second, but was then pulled after 53 pitches in 3 innings in his latest start. Weather had nothing to do with it either. He had only given up one hit too.

[Jim]

Just noticed that Jim is trying Adrian Diaz as a starter. Interesting. He never mentioned the move on the boards or wrote an article talking about the idea.

Mixed results. Not sure he has the endurance. Definitely has the talent. Threw 83 pitches in his first start (6 innings), got hit hard in his second, but was then pulled after 53 pitches in 3 innings in his latest start. Weather had nothing to do with it either. He had only given up one hit too.

I believe in curses in regards to posting about things on the boards. I try not to mention anything I'm experimenting with, injuries (or lack thereof)....actually it's basically anything that could backfire on me due to the OOTP gods.

With that said, experiment over. Diaz had a nice ST but after 3 starts I'm pulling the plug on it. My scout showed his ratings dropped slightly when position was changed from CL to SP. It was not significant but I took notice. After just the 3 starts I don't want to take the chance of ruining one of the best closers in the game. So, with the next sim Yi moves to set-up, McMonies as the first MR & Diaz moves back to the closer position. I've slid Chanez from MR to SP. I think Chanez is a lot more effective as an RP but I'll see if he can keep an ERA under about 4.50...if so I'll be content.

P.S. Quit spying on my team.

[Carlos]

Ha, I actually noticed because I was looking through some history and you are the first and only DL team (haven't checked IL yet) to have three Refreshing New Brews on your roster. Been like that since 1986.

So, I went to check Diaz's profile to see his career totals and that's when I noticed the starts. Did a search to see if you mentioned it and got nothing. So, I decided to out you like Ron Washington on a coke binge.

edit: Checked. Wilmington has you beat. When Alvarez won RNB in 1984, that was officially the first time a team fielded 3 Refreshing New Brews in the same season (Gorrie, Handley, Alvarez). Injuries limited Handley in 1984 and by mid-season 1985, he was released and eventually retired from baseball.

[Matt]

Sigh, 3-3.

Picked up two players off waivers who will hopefully help us, OF Montgomery from Batavia and MR Ojea from Denver.

Trust me next time...if we have him on waivers you don't want him.