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04/20/2037
(AP)
Hartford continues their dominance of the league with another 5-2 week as they are now 15-5 on the season. Is this the Year of the Whalers? With free agents Yu-Hsiang 'Skull' Xiang and Ron Snider joining Ron 'Vampire' Hutchison this offense is now #1 in the DL in OBP, OBS and runs scored. When you score over six runs a game things usually work out well for you. Other big weeks belonged to New York and Pittsburgh who each went 5-1 while Santo Domingo, Indy, and Batavia all went 5-2. On the other end of the spectrum the poor Clowns from Wilmington went 1-6 as they only scored 15 runs in seven games and hit .170.
Power Rankings
1) Hartford Whalers (143.0, o)
2) Indianapolis Racers (123.0, ++)
3) New York Knights (118.7, ++)
4) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (113.0, ++)
5) Seattle Pilots (112.0, ++)
6) Batavia Red Jackets (111.2, ++)
7) Windy City Blues (109.0, --)
8) Washington Bats (106.0, --)
9) Los Angeles Dinos (105.2, --)
10) Phoenix Roadrunners (100.0, -)
11) California Kodiaks (97.7, o)
12) Pittsburgh Millers (97.7, ++)
13) Philadelphia Freedom (92.0, +)
14) Carolina Tobs (83.0, --)
15) Pawtucket Patriots (81.0, +)
16) Wilmington Clowns (79.3, --)
17) Montreal Exports (79.0, ++)
18) New Orleans Voodoo (74.0, ++)
19) Baltimore Bulldogs (71.0, --)
20) Maine Guides (68.0, --)
21) Miami Sharks (58.3, -)
22) Toronto Canadians (51.8, o)
23) Denver BC (50.0, o)
24) Syracuse Snappers (36.0, o)
Performance of the Week
LF Zheng-xin Yang - The former Freedom star came over to Pittsburgh last season via FA to eventually replace Robby Lee and he's done what has been asked. On April 21st against Pawtucket he tallied three hits, one home run, six RBI's, and scored four times in a 13-6 victory. On the season he's hitting .377/.395/.610 with 3 HR's and 18 RBI's while Robby Lee is sitting quietly at home waiting for his phone to ring.
Injury of the Week
P Birch Cash - The 24 year old was a former 4th round pick who worked his way up to starting for the Voodoo this season. Sadly on April 26th against Wilmington he had a disastrous second inning that was only made worse when he had to leave the game after getting Gareth Rivera to fly out. He was taken to the locker room and an MRI showed he has a partially torn UCL and will miss at least 10 months. On the year he was 1-0 with a 3.80 ERA in four starts.
Prospect of the Week
1B Alex Bourgeois - The 17 year old is hitting .464/.522/.971 with 14 HR's and 43 RBI's in 33 games for the American Heritage Patriots. He recently hit his 50th career HS home run and was selected to the 2037 HS All-Star game. Coaches say he's a "baseball rat" and the first one to the park and last one to leave.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. The New York Knights have started out hot as they are 12-7 and lead the Stout. One of the reasons is closer Zack Coffey. Originally picked in the 2nd round of the 2026 draft he's had a dominant career until last season, when he went 1-10 with 28 saves and a 4.58 ERA. This year though in 10 games he's tallied up nine saves, allowed no runs, and struck out 10.
2. Since we had a little early interleague action what is usually impossible at this stage of the season is happening as 10 of the 12 teams in the IL are .500 or better, including five of six in the Bock with winning records. While the DL playoff odds already have Hartford at 100% and SDR and Indy at 99.8% the IL looks wide open this year. We know...small sample size...but it's better than having a runaway train from the beginning. In other related news there are rumors that California is petitioning to move back to the DL so that they can win another Brewmasters.
3. With runs being scored left and right these days the April 23rd match-up between Pawtucket and Miami was in rare form. Going into the bottom of the 9th Pawtucket's Kaleb Kay had pitched a nine inning, two hit, six K masterpiece. Meanwhile Miami's starter Louie Reutter had an eight inning, one hit, eight K masterpiece. Unfortunately for Louie he was taken out of the game after getting two quick ground outs. In came DJ Koch who promptly gave up the two out single to Yifter Hakki, walked Mike Dominguez, and then allowed a walk-off single to Joey Williams. Reutter was apparently quite upset as post game he was not available for comment.
4. Some good news for Miami this week was that Geoff 'Mr. Reliable' Dail got his 2500th career hit on April 22nd. Dail was the 8th overall pick in the 2018 draft by Windy City but was traded to the then Dallas Sharks in 2021 for a 1st round pick. Playing his entire career with Dallas/Miami he has hit .291/.353/.431 with 216 HR's, 848 RBI's, 1303 runs scored, and 632 stolen bases. He is now 36th all-time in hits but second all time in stolen bases as many figured he would pass leader Jerry Daly who had 677. Dail though only stole seven bases last season and just one so far this year, so unless he finds some new speed in his 36 year old legs we don't think it will happen.
5. Pitching and defense still seem to win games in the BLB as division leaders check in with these zone rating numbers. Hartford with +8.8, Indy with +7.0, New York with +7.5 and Seattle with +8.8. The Whalers and Pilots lead the league while New York is 4th and Indy is 6th overall.
Stat of the Week
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| Most Consecutive 20 HR Seasons (Top 25 Players) |
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