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04/18/2039
(AP) With chants of "Go Pilots Go" echoing through the stadium Seattle capped off a perfect 6-0 week by completing the sweep of the Syracuse Snappers yesterday afternoon. The Pilots have moved up to #2 in the Power Rankings behind division rival Windy City who posted the second best record of the week at 5-1. Other winning weeks belonged to Miami, Batavia, LAD, Baltimore, Carolina, and Maine who all went 4-2. On the flip side Toronto and Phoenix went 1-5 while Syracuse felt the broom twice last week and went 0-6. With everyone playing six games here are some team leaders: Batavia scored 50 runs, Washington swiped nine bases, Seattle only allowed 12 runs, Baltimore struck out 58 batters, and Windy City only allowed one home run.
1) Windy City Blues (130.6, ++)
2) Seattle Pilots (130.0, ++)
3) Washington Bats (127.6, -)
4) Maine Guides (125.6, +)
5) Los Angeles Dinos (113.8, ++)
6) Montreal Exports (111.8, --)
7) New Orleans Voodoo (110.0, -)
8) Batavia Red Jackets (106.0, ++)
9) Miami Sharks (101.9, ++)
10) Carolina Tobs (98.9, +)
11) Baltimore Bulldogs (97.9, ++)
12) Denver Bulls (97.9, -)
13) Indianapolis Racers (94.9, --)
14) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (84.1, ++)
15) Toronto Canadians (82.1, --)
16) Hartford Whalers (81.1, --)
17) New York Knights (81.1, o)
18) Phoenix Roadrunners (78.1, --)
19) California Kodiaks (66.2, --)
20) Wilmington Clowns (65.2, -)
21) Pittsburgh Millers (64.2, -)
22) Philadelphia Freedom (55.4, +)
23) Pawtucket Patriots (43.0, +)
24) Syracuse Snappers (7.7, -)
Performance of the Week
SS Antonio Melendez - The 37 year old free agent sat around waiting for a call all offseason and one never came. Finally on April 8th the Knights rang and offered him a one year deal worth a cool million dollars. He accepted and flew to meet the team in Wilmington a few days later. Expecting a lot of rust after missing all of spring training New York reluctantly threw him into the starting lineup and he answered with a three home run, six RBI performance on April 11th in a 12-5 victory.
Injury of the Week
P Jamie 'M.C.' Breed - He was traded from Washington to Montreal late last year and the Exports were expecting big things from him this season. Instead on April 14th he tore his labrum and will be out at least four months. Last season he was 9-4 with a 3.68 ERA and 1.28 WHIP while throwing 127.1 innings.
Prospect of the Week
2B LeBron Arroyo - The Texas Longhorn sophomore has only played one season in the NCAA and is hitting .180/.325/.391 after batting.143 in his first month of college ball. He has slowly rebounded though and on April 13th against Miami he hit two grand slams during a 12-3 Texas victory. He has great fielding potential and is currently a fringe draft pick, but if he keeps improving he could still get signed as an undrafted free agent and continue the dream.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Syracuse has lost 10 in a row as their third straight season of futility looks like reality. Take heart though fans as the Snappers currently have the #1 farm system in the league and the first pick in the upcoming 2039 BLB draft. With last years 1.1 Christian Vines looking like everything they dreamed of combined with #9 prospect P Tyler Girard and #38 prospect P Phil Curry the starting rotation for the 2040's looks already in place. Will they try and add another future ace to the staff or go with a bat in hopes of replacing 30/30 man Seth Blankenship...only time will tell.
2. Can you call a guy who had a 6.6 WAR last season underrated? Maybe not, but the DK's Stout Slugger prediction Elmer 'Bane' Caceres has burst into 2039 like a man who arrives at the party, kicks off the door, drinks all the Zima, and then steals your girl. So far he's hitting .375/.434/.896 with 6 HR's, 14 RBI's, and a projected WAR of 13.5. On April 17th against Los Angeles he was not only the POTG in an 8-2 victory, but he already hit for the cycle by the 7th inning. He was the 5th overall pick of the 2033 draft by the then Dukes and is currently ranked the #9 overall hitter in the league by the OSA.
3. Denver's AJ Ingle continues to pitch well despite being 43 years old. Currently in four games and seven innings he has a 1.29 ERA and 0.86 WHIP. Meanwhile lights out closer Tom 'Tarantula' Kastner has struggled so far with four saves in seven appearances but also a loss and 14.29 ERA after two rough outings in Santo Domingo. Maybe the Bulls can throw Ingle in at closer for a week and he can break the 61 year old record of two saves for 43 year olds held by Lawrence Bewley.
4. Speaking of closers, when Ethan Jackson's 93 game save streak ended last September the new active leader is now 26 year Toronto closer Nigel Reese...who has 29 in a row. He was the 2038 IL Last Call winner after going 5-5 with 45 saves and a 1.82 ERA in 69 games. Those are some nice numbers for the former 5th round pick in 2030.
5. We're still impressed with what Baltimore did with their final flurry of FA signings. Against right handing pitching now their lineup is a murderers' row of #2-#7 featuring Josh Allen, JD Rice, Owen Kleindienst, Rory Smith, Turell Morris, and Brendan Matson. They went 4-2 this week and are now 7-6, their first time above .500 in over a season. Word on the street though is that Matson and Morris are already not seeing eye to eye and one of them might be let go soon.
Stat of the Week
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| Most Saves by Age (Earliest Occurrence Shown) |
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