(AP)
Baltimore continues to stay on top all though a few teams narrowed the gap this week. With everyone playing six games Philly, Windy City, and Pittsburgh all went 5-1 while seven teams posted 4-2 weeks. On the other side Toronto, New Orleans, and Carolina all went 1-5. Some team leaders this week: Syracuse hit 13 home runs, California stole 9 bases, Batavia only allowed 15 runs, and the Freedom struck out 50 batters.
Power Rankings
1) Baltimore Bulldogs (127.5, o)
2) Pittsburgh Millers (127.4, o)
3) Windy City Blues (117.9, ++)
4) Philadelphia Freedom (116.0, ++)
5) Maine Guides (107.2, o)
6) Syracuse Snappers (102.5, ++)
7) Miami Sharks (100.5, --)
8) Phoenix Roadrunners (100.5, +)
9) Batavia Red Jackets (100.3, ++)
10) Pawtucket Patriots (98.3, +)
11) Hartford Whalers (93.4, ++)
12) Indianapolis Racers (93.0, ++)
13) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (92.4, --)
14) Los Angeles Dinos (91.4, --)
15) New York Knights (91.0, --)
16) New Orleans Dukes (80.7, --)
17) California Kodiaks (74.5, +)
18) Washington Bats (70.0, o)
19) Carolina Tobs (68.8, --)
20) Denver BC (66.3, ++)
21) Montreal Exports (65.3, +)
22) Wilmington Clowns (62.1, -)
23) Seattle Pilots (56.3, +)
24) Toronto Canadians (56.3, --)
Performance of the Week
3B Joey Pearson - Finally a new #1 in batting score as Pearson smashed three home runs and drove in nine against Toronto in a 10-4 victory on May 11th. He hit a two run shot in the 1st, crushed a grand slam in the 4th and then hit a three run blast in the 6th. The 26 year old who was the 26th overall pick in the 2027 draft is now hitting .354 with 10 HR's and 33 RBI's and this looks like a potential huge breakout season for him.
Injury of the Week
CF Ian 'Viper' Lisch - On May 10th 'Viper' went down in the 1st inning after diving for a fly ball and is expected to be out for a month with a wrist injury. All though he's only hitting .193 with 4 HR's and 13 RBI's in 30 games he has started every game in center for the Bats where he has committed just one error in 82 total chances.
Prospect of the Week
1B Hayden Theroux - The 17 year old for the Jackson High Polar Bears is hitting .303/.426/.590 with 9 HR's and 32 RBI's in 34 games this season. He's extremely loyal, as seen earlier in the season when he was involved in a bench clearing brawl, and scouts say he's "often found talking with coaches long after drills are over."
Five Things We Think We Think
1. When Joey Person drove in nine runs as mentioned in the POTW above many wondered what the record was...well it's 10 currently held by two players. Can you guess who? Look below the SOTW for the answer.
2. We predicted a breakout season for Windy City's Dusty Dills and so far he's 3-0 with a 3.74 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in seven starts, not that impressive but it will do. The more impressive stat though is that he's won eight consecutive games and hasn't lost a start in 16 straight games.
3. Let's check in on the two best young CF's in the league, Seth Blankenship for Syracuse and Dave Marion for Batavia. Blankenship is 22, in his 2nd full season, and is on pace to hit .257 with 43 HR's, 115 RBI's and 38 stolen bases. He has a ZR of -0.3 but has committed no errors in 110 total chances and posted a +10.1 last season. Marion is 24, in his rookie year, and is on pace to hit .269 with 31 HR's, 105 RBI's, and post a WAR of 3.8. He currently has a ZR of -1.1 and has committed two errors in 105 total chances.
4. It's only the middle of May and most of the single season records look out of reach already but two are still holding strong. Dave Grubel of Denver currently has 58 hits and is on pace for 247, which would be four short of Joe Lopez's record of 251 in 1995. The second is JR Walling of Miami who has 44 RBI's and is on pace for 188, which would shatter the record of Turell 'Two Ton' Morris when he drove in 168 in 2030.
5. In both the IL and the DL the last placed team is only 5.5 games out of the final wild card spot. Meanwhile Washington's playoff odds sit at 15%, Seattle is at 1.5%, Baltimore is at 99.5%, and Windy City is at 92%. What an interesting season so far in the BLB!
Stat of the Week
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Players With A HR In Their Only At-Bat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The first is Ray 'Voodoo' Davilla who drove in 10 on Sep 5, 2008 and the second is Tex Watts who drove in 10 on July 10, 1998.
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