Rookie Debuts

[Delandis]

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3B Jerrod Baker

Jerrod is a former first round selection of ours from the 2018 draft. A former 2X HS Outstanding Hitter Award winner, Jerrod hasn't progressed as I'd hoped at the plate. He doesn't seem like the "light" is coming on for him in Annapolis despite the team being competitive at that level.. Also, with 2B Pat Bryan not really adding anything and earning his demotion to AAA, we're going to call Jerrod up to see if he can take his game to the next level learning behind guys like All-Stars 1B DJ Gosser, SS Goeff Perritt, hard workers like C JJ Hanson, as well as our excellent, long time hitting coach, 63 year old Mark Schell. Baker get starts here and there vs. LHP but is mainly on the roster to learn from the vets from the bench and in practice.

On the plus side, Jerrod can play third base and shortstop pretty well and is currently learning the subtle nuances of playing second which gives us more defensive versatility than what Bryan was able to provide.

[PaulC]

P Dave Morlan

The highly touted prospect finally made it to the BLB this week and did not disappoint. Originally the 18th pick in the 2017 draft, that also saw California draft JD Colovos (23) and Sylvian Brouwer (24) in the first round, struggled in his introduction to pro ball. He languished in A ball for three season before finally getting a chance and tearing up AA. This prompted a promotion to AAA ball in 2021 where he finished up two strong years with 28 and 29 saves. Big things were on the horizon, when Dave decided to shock the organization and retire.

A change of heart brought him back this year, and he destroyed AAA batters to the tune of a 1.56 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. With the struggles of the big club, he was promoted and promptly got the win in his BLB debut with two strong innings of relief that included giving up 1 hit and striking out 4. He pitched twice more, including a strong three innings of shutout ball in Toronto to close out a great first week.

[Guest]

This week, CG T.J Spaulding made his BLB debuts,a much anticipated moment for the Windy City fan base. If his first game was a complete reality check, being shutout to 4 at-bats, struck out once. The three next games were quite promising for his future: scoring 5 hits on 11 ABs, 2 HR and 5 RBIs. He is part of a limited core for the future but quickly show great promise.

[Hank]

With Damion Pratt struggling at the BLB level, we sent him back to Quebec for some seasoning, and called up J.D. Fazlic in his place.
Fazlic is a terrible defender and will either learn to play 1B or be a full time DH, but the dude flat out crushed the ball this week, slashing a line of 9 hits, 4 HR's, 8 RBI and hitting .409 with a 1.480 OPS.
According to my scout, his Contact and Power both jumped from 5 to 6 this week as well.

I've decided to call-up Dave Maldonado for the coming week as well.

[PaulC]

With Damion Pratt struggling at the BLB level, we sent him back to Quebec for some seasoning, and called up J.D. Fazlic in his place.
Fazlic is a terrible defender and will either learn to play 1B or be a full time DH, but the dude flat out crushed the ball this week, slashing a line of 9 hits, 4 HR's, 8 RBI and hitting .409 with a 1.480 OPS.
According to my scout, his Contact and Power both jumped from 5 to 6 this week as well.

I've decided to call-up Dave Maldonado for the coming week as well.

Does Montreal still have a team??

[PaulC]

California's top two picks from the 2022 draft will be making their debut this week. First round pick Pat Fiume, at CF, can run, field and hopefully hit enough to stay with the big roster for years to come will be patrolling the outfield with the injury to Horning. Second round pick Erik Redding, our top prospect, will be taking his defensive ratings to third base, as well.

With our offence in the toilet most games, I have left this week up to the manager, and he his instilled these two at the top of the order in front of Mike Morla... I guess we'll see if their reading soon enough.

[Hank]

Does Montreal still have a team??

Aren't we only separated by 1 game? And I'm tanking! You're Middle Bear at the very least.

[mike]

Aren't we only separated by 1 game? And I'm tanking! You're Middle Bear at the very least.

Openly admitting tanking should come with repricussions from the league....that’s not in the competitive nature of the game....

[Guest]

Openly admitting tanking should come with repricussions from the league....that’s not in the competitive nature of the game....

But tanking is the only way to win because everyone wants 3 firsts for their good players

[PaulC]

Openly admitting tanking should come with repricussions from the league....that’s not in the competitive nature of the game....

Maybe he should’ve put 25 guys on the DL instead...

[mike]

Maybe he should’ve put 25 guys on the DL instead...

Bad move Paul. Price for the player we talked about just went up. Call it the Cali bump

[PaulC]

Bad move Paul. Price for the player we talked about just went up. Call it the Cali bump

We already use the term Cali Bump for our road attendance increases in other parks.

I think the main point is we all try to be successful within the rules as they are scripted.

[Sharkn20]

Openly admitting tanking should come with repricussions from the league....that’s not in the competitive nature of the game....

We went through that route already and it seems that the "normal" thing to do is to tank in order to win at some point. I don't agree either, we should penalise teams that don't win "X" amount of games in 2 or 3 consecutive years.

[umd]

We went through that route already and it seems that the "normal" thing to do is to tank in order to win at some point. I don't agree either, we should penalise teams that don't win "X" amount of games in 2 or 3 consecutive years.

Just as we should enforce running $100m debts. -$97.2 million and counting...

[PaulC]

Just as we should enforce running $100m debts. -$97.2 million and counting...

Ouch... I guess each of us plays the rules in our own ways...