(AP)
Into the middle of April and after two weeks the Windy City Blues are still on top of the league with a 9-4 record. They went 5-2 this week along with Hartford, Phoenix, and New Orleans. On the other side of the rainbow Carolina and Denver both went 1-6 while five teams only managed to eek out two wins. Some team leaders of the week: Baltimore smashed 15 home runs, LAD gave up only 16 runs, Phoenix hit .301, and Washington struck out 70 batters.
Power Rankings
1) Windy City Blues (131.6, o)
2) Baltimore Bulldogs (126.0, o)
3) Phoenix Roadrunners (117.8, ++)
4) Indianapolis Racers (114.8, o)
5) Syracuse Snappers (109.8, +)
6) Maine Guides (109.0, ++)
7) New Orleans Dukes (108.9, ++)
8) Hartford Whalers (108.0, ++)
9) Los Angeles Dinos (108.0, --)
10) Pittsburgh Millers (97.9, ++)
11) Toronto Canadians (94.9, --)
12) Washington Bats (89.0, ++)
13) Batavia Red Jackets (88.0, -)
14) Seattle Pilots (82.1, --)
15) New York Knights (81.1, ++)
16) Miami Sharks (80.1, --)
17) Philadelphia Freedom (77.0, ++)
18) California Kodiaks (74.1, ++)
19) Pawtucket Patriots (74.0, --)
20) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (74.0, --)
21) Montreal Exports (65.2, -)
22) Carolina Tobs (64.2, --)
23) Denver BC (46.4, --)
24) Wilmington Clowns (39.0, o)
Performance of the Week
P Louie Reutter - On April 16th against Santo Domingo he went nine innings, allowed no runs, struck out six...and didn't get the win. The game was 0-0 going into the 13th before the Sharks pulled it out 1-0. The 26 year old Ruetter is now 1-0 with a 0.78 ERA and 0.65 WHIP in three starts this season. Last year he was 15-8 with a 2.49 ERA and is one of only a handful of pitchers in the BLB that can throw six effective pitches.
Injury of the Week
P Sandy Perez - After going 15-5 with a 3.20 ERA in SDR last season he was sent packing to Pawtucket for a couple of prospects. Perez made it all of two starts before going down on April 11th in the 7th against New Orleans. He was diagnosed with a torn triceps and will be out 2-3 months.
Prospect of the Week
P Chayse Tijerina - The 16 year old originally from the Dominican is 2-0 with a 2.29 ERA this year and was just selected to the 2033 High School All-Star game. Last year in 10 starts he was 3-1 with a 2.16 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and ERA+ of 320.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. We tip our cap to Mike Morla who reached the 3000 hit club on April 18th when in the top of the 4th against Dusty Dills he took a 3-2 pitch and slapped a single into left. The game was briefly stopped and the fans in Chicago gave Morla a standing ovation. He is the 11th player in BLB history to reach the milestone and is now 546 hits short of Steve Suarez and the all-time record.
2. Turrell 'Two Ton' Morris hit a home run in five straight games this past week, giving him seven on the year. He's on pace for 95 which would be absurd for any other player but Two Ton. Ok we admit he won't make it to 95 (probably) but if he hits 50 or more that will be four straight seasons with that many and in 2029 he hit 48.
3. In eight games Dave Hoyt of Carolina has been beaned four times already. He was hit 12 times in 102 games last season. The 25 year old right fielder was the 4th overall pick in the 2028 draft and should be a big part in the Tobs resurgence if he can get out of the way.
4. Twenty-five year old Jimmy Laxton for Maine has speed to burn and is now the Guides starting right fielder in his rookie year. So far he's hitting .308 with 3 HR's and 6 RBI's but even more impressive is that he leads the league with five remote balls fielder in six chances. Watching him rundown fly ball after fly ball that most outfielders can only dream of reaching has made the fans come to their feet more than once already this season.
https://library.fangraphs.com/defens...edge-fielding/
5. Attendance numbers for the first two weeks have Washington leading the pack with 481,671 while Pawtucket have Phoenix are still at 0. The Road Runners finally get a home game today against LAD while the Patriots fans have to wait until tomorrow against Maine.
Stat of the Week
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Highest Career Hit to Strikeout Ratio for Batters (Top 25 Players, Min 100 Career Hits) |
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