SIM COMPLETE - 1989 - Regular Season 4

[Andrew]

Next sim: Wednesday

[Spear]

All that hard offseason work...downward spiral.

2-5

Lost Len John last week, now we lose Victor Fernandez for 2-3 months! At least it can only get better at this point. At least nobody is running with the Bock so we aren't too far behind the pack, nonetheless its still concerning.

[Jake]

Must have gotten my sim in a minute late, or screwed it up. Rotation was kinda screwed up. 4-3 sim though, 1 game out of first. As expected in the great, great Pilsner, it's crowded at the top. Dallas, Denver, and us, all separated by one game. Still waiting on the fucking clown to get his stuff together and join us...

[Delandis]

Baltimore Bulldogs (16-10)

1-1 @ California
1-1 vs. Philadelphia
3-0 @ Windy City

The Good
-We got another winning sim and have looked pretty good, especially on the mound. I'm happy we were able to pull one out in California. I'm especially happy that we swept Windy City. That was completely unexpected.


-Marlon Todd had a good week and was crucial in our win against California. He hit .471/474/.706 including a game where he went 5-6 with 5 RBI against Cali.

-Gabriel Huxham must've shaken off the cobwebs as well. He hit .435/.552/.739 and had 4 doubles and 7 RBI last week.

-I'm glad I didn't trade Manny Lopez as I had planned. Manny has hit a helluva groove so far this year as a reliever. He has come in and dominated in relief, 4-0 with a .57 ERA through just over 15 innings.

- Pat Washington is not putting up the monster numbers that he did early in '88 but that's ok with me. He's getting on base at a slightly higher clip than the last couple of years. Also to my surprise, he has definitely worked on his patience this past off-season not swinging at everything that people throw at him and striking out a lot less often.

The Bad

Joe Soto got man-handled early against Philly this past week and I can't help but worry that he may have lost a bit. It may also be the fact that he's worried about a contract extension as he sent me an email about extending his stay in Baltimore.

The Ugly

Takanibu Sato was injured in a game against Philadelphia and is out for about three weeks. Its slightly ironic that I was worried about where and how often I would get to play Mark Mabbett with the hot bats of Amistad Caballero, Takanibu Sato, and Loren Wallace. Looks like that issue was sorted out for me.

[Spectre]

Wow that was a bad sim :)

[Ryan]

Must have gotten my sim in a minute late, or screwed it up. Rotation was kinda screwed up. 4-3 sim though, 1 game out of first. As expected in the great, great Pilsner, it's crowded at the top. Dallas, Denver, and us, all separated by one game. Still waiting on the fucking clown to get his stuff together and join us...

You guys go on without me, I'll catch up.

[spot]

Thank you to whomever gave me my players back. It's nice to return to the normalcy that its Bandit baseball besides I missed them...

[Clay]

I'm not emotionally prepared to breakdown the Colonials' week yet, but I do want to give props to the Pawtucket Patriots for a solid week. I did very little at the BLB level other than go to a more logical lineup and the guys I moved around flat out produced this week. They still need a lot of patience and TLC from the next owner, but I really like the Top 5 in this team's lineup.

[Pat]

Washington Bats (17-9) - Sim #4
1-1 @ Morgantown: 4-2, 1-2
2-0 @ Virginia: 3-1, 10-4
2-1 vs. Davenport: 4-9, 9-7, 4-0

The Good
-My team hit .292 with a .805 OPS this week.
-Carl Pateshall has really been leading the staff. 2-0, 14 IP, 1 ER, 13 K

The Bad
-Joe Rodriguez continues to struggle. 4 ER in 5.2 IP isn't awful, but it's far from good.
-I really need Jose Sanchez back. Brody Whiteley hit .167 this week, lowering his season average to .225.

The Ugly
-D.T. Fitts was finally waived and DFA.

The Injured
-RP River Matthews makes his return this week. It's been a long time coming but Matthews hopefully is ready to go!

The AAAs
#6 prospect - SP Ivan Garcia - Five starts. One earned run. Wait...what? Yeah, you heard me right. 32 IP, 1 ER, .28 ERA. I still think he needs to work on his control but man is this guy going to be great.
#30 prospect - SS Clint Johnston - "Possibly ready for Major League Level," just like Garcia...but I'm not sure. I've been waiting for his eye to develop and his ratings just haven't improved for awhile. Maybe he needs the bump to continue his development. The "Ron Washington."

[Lintyfresh85]

California Kodiaks (12-14) - Sim #4
1-1 vs Baltimore
0-2 @ Batavia
2-1 vs. Virginia

The Good
- Starting pitching was much better this week.
- Jared Austin had a huge week

The Bad
- Its time to give up on Roman Magueu. After coming off a year where he made his second all-star appearance, he's completely fallen apart this year. Hope he can regain his form in middle relief... but judging by his ratings, I doubt it.
- Robby Shannon has no more power. Still hits for average, takes his walks and hits the ball to the gaps... but other than that, he's not nearly the same player.
- Tad Jackson is a funny player. I can deal with the low average, mainly because he walks a lot and has decent gap power to bring up his SLG... but I can't deal with the crappy defense he has shown all year. My scout loves his defensive ratings... yet the guy makes error after error and lets tons of ground balls by the bag at 3rd. He needs to pick it up if he doesn't want to lose his spot.

The Ugly
- Two blown saves on the week stop me from having a nice 5-2 sim

[Clay]

Virginia Colonials (14-12)
1-1 @ Wilmington
0-2 vs Washington
1-2 @ California

THE GOOD

-- Calling His Shot: While it's impossible to get excited about a 2-5 week, I take a small amount of pride that I did call my shot predicting a 2-5 week in my Let's Light This Candle post.

-- Full Nelson: Danny Nelson continues to produce in full-time action. While not earth-shattering, his .348/.375/.478/.853 was one of the better weeks turned in by anyone on the team.

-- Ring the Doorbell: The remainder of Mel Woodbury's rehab was successful and he's been cleared to return this week. Thank you!!!

-- Locked Down: The Colonials agreed to terms with Nate 'The Skull' Magness on a 5 year package for $41.5.

THE BAD

-- Bats Out of Hell: Just can't get over that hump so far this season with Washington. They're consistantly handling us pretty easily.

-- No Free Passes: Colonial hitters are showing no patience at the plate drawing only 11 walks this week. Maybe they're pressing, but this team should be better at getting on base.

-- Ironfisted: Pancho Herrera got touched up by the Kodiaks for easily the worst start of his career. After being given a 2-0 lead on a Yoritoki Maeda 1st inning HR, he let the first 7 Kodiaks reach base before finally drawing a double play ball and a hook. Final Line: 0.2 IP - 6 Hits - 1 BB - 0 K - 5 ER - 1 early shower

-- The Pen is Mightier Than No One: While there have been some nice performances from guys like Montgomery, rookie Sammy Scott and Ivan Perez, there are still gaping holes in the bullpen. I move to the farm system or a look at the Free Agent market may be inevitable for this group.

THE FARM

-- Gus Jenkins (#14 BA - #1 ORG) the team's top pitching and overall prospect has been dazzling in his last 5 starts working 40 innings with 29K/5BB and only 3 ER in picking up WINS in all 5 outings.

-- Lonnie Scott (UR BA - #12 ORG) is a mostly unheralded 6th round pick from 1985 out of Stone Mountain, Georgia that caught Virginia's eye because of his speed, defense and ability to hit switch. Though slow to develop and with two major injuries in 1986, most had written him off as a legit prospect. After a change in personnel in the Colonials' low minors, Scott has started to bloom. After tearing through AA in the first few weeks of the season, he was promoted to AAA Detroit where in just 18 games he's hitting .419/.538/.871/1.409 with 7 HR, 19 RBI and a 16:6 BB/K ratio. Lonnie Scott is surely one to watch right now!

ON-DECK

Finishing up our early season match-ups with the BOCK, the Colonials play host to Los Alamos (10-16) before heading to the Windy City for a 3-game set with the Playboys (13-13). The return of Mel Woodbury will hopefully be a major spark. 2 full days off in the next 8 should give the team some well-deserved rest as well.

[Pat]

-- Bats Out of Hell: Just can't get over that hump so far this season with Washington. They're consistantly handling us pretty easily.

I'm going to dominate this season series. Got your number this year.

[Clay]

I'm going to dominate this season series. Got your number this year.

You've yet to play me with my best player in the lineup. It's part of the game, but as close as most of the games have been, having my top guy and arguably the best position player in the league in the lineup will help.

[Pat]

You've yet to play me with my best player in the lineup. It's part of the game, but as close as most of the games have been, having my top guy and arguably the best position player in the league in the lineup will help.

I hope for your sake, you're right.

[Clay]

I hope for your sake, you're right.

Not sure I could be wrong....

FACT or OPINION: Virginia is better with Mel Woodbury than without?

I think that's a 100% fact. Does it translate to wins? Maybe, maybe not. But there's a 0% chance that I'm better without him.