Tweet
07/01/41
Who is going to stop the Snapper train as they continue to remain on top of the Power Rankings? So far only the Voodoo have kept up as they now only trail Syracuse by .3 of a point. This week though it was California and Toronto who won the week after they went 5-1. The Kodiaks now lead the Bock by two games while Toronto used a winning month to get back into playoff contention. Other nice weeks were Syracuse and Baltimore who each went 5-2. We already mentioned the Snappers but look out for the Bulldogs as they are now above .500 and just like the Canadians have moved into the playoff race.
Power Rankings
1) Syracuse Snappers (130.6, o)
2) New Orleans Voodoo (130.3, o)
3) Washington Bats (117.1, +)
4) California Kodiaks (111.9, ++)
5) Wilmington Clowns (110.8, +)
6) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (110.1, --)
7) Pittsburgh Millers (104.5, --)
8) Windy City Blues (102.8, +)
9) Phoenix Roadrunners (100.9, +)
10) Seattle Pilots (99.2, --)
11) Baltimore Bulldogs (92.2, +)
12) Hartford Whalers (91.0, ++)
13) Philadelphia Freedom (87.8, o)
14) Toronto Canadians (82.8, ++)
15) Denver Bulls (82.6, --)
16) Los Angeles Dinos (78.7, +)
17) Pawtucket Patriots (75.5, ++)
18) Maine Guides (73.3, +)
19) Batavia Red Jackets (73.2, --)
20) Dallas Drillers (68.5, +)
21) Carolina Tobs (68.2, -)
22) Montreal Exports (68.2, --)
23) New York Knights (65.5, o)
24) Indianapolis Racers (38.8, o)
Performance of the Week
1B Ty O'Neil - The former 2031 third round pick had quite the day on June 28th when he turned in the #2 hitting performance of the season. Against Carolina he recorded five hits, drove in five runs, and scored twice in a 5-2 Windy City victory. The biggest hit of them all though was his last when he smacked a three run walk-off home run against Patrick Burgess to end the game. On the season the 27 year old is hitting .306/.349/.536 with 17 HR's and 69 RBI's.
Injury of the Week
P Redford Jeralds - The 38 year old has been around so long that his first season in the league was 2026 when he won the Brewmasters Cup with the Seattle Pilots. Originally a 6th round pick by those Pilots since then he's played for Wilmington, Indianapolis, Montreal, Phoenix, Seattle (again), Indianapolis (again), Santa Domingo, Montreal (again), Syracuse, Pawtucket, Indianapolis (again), and finally Toronto. We think he might finally be able to unpack his boxes though after he tore his rotator cuff on June 26th and will be out at least the next year. Rumors are that he plans to retire and who can blame him. Lifetime he's played in 425 games with 1915.1 innings pitched and a record of 87-110.
Prospect of the Week
P Aman Djorovic - The 22 year old was discovered out of Slovenia back in 2034 and is currently the #8 prospect in the league. He throws 101 mph, has four really good pitches, and is currently 5-1 with a 2.92 ERA in twelve AAA starts. He's also so ready to be in the show that he refused to take his AAA photo without his BLB jersey. Leave it to those pesky Clowns to go from Plumley to possibly Djorovic and not miss a beat.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Go Dave Nichols Go! The 30 year old catcher 'only' hit .295 last season and many wondered if his decline was imminent. Now we're into July and he's leading the entire league with a .370 average, including an amazing 6-6 game this past week against the Rum Runners. The 1st round pick back in 2028 is a 4x All-Star and 4x DWI winning catcher who is making $21m a season until at least 2043, but with the Drillers rebuilding a trade to a contender is not without possibility.
2. Wilmington loves JJ Plumley and management treats him well by having a bunch of guys can can catch the ball. The Clowns currently have a +24.1 zone rating as a team, the highest in the league. Second place is Washington who is +16.5. Coming in last is Hartford who is -28.7. They can look no further than poor Thomas Davis who is a very good corner outfielder but has had to play 73 games in center and posted a -12.4 ZR.
3. Zane Burns was a 4th round pick back in 2037 by Washington but was traded in 2040 to California along with a pick for outfielder Adam Watson. After hitting .255/.339/.439 in 526 games with California, Watson has hit .210/.264/.404 in 114 games with the Bats and has been a disappointment to Washington management. You know who hasn't been a disappointment...Zane Burns. The 24 year old is in his first full season with the Kodiaks and is hitting .310/.375/.573 with 12 HR's and 43 RBI's in 62 games. He also as of today took home two awards when he was named the Rookie of the Month and Batter of the Month for June. Considering he can play second, third, or shortstop...and also the outfield as well...he might be a future star.
4. We got a six game winning streak on our hands by none other than Voodoo starter Trey McCaffery. Last seasons 2-17 record is just a bad memory as Trey is now 6-1 with a 3.69 ERA and 1.21 WHIP. Meanwhile Sidney 'Doofus' Ishibashi is hitting .317/.366/.555 with 16 HR's and 45 RBI's and is on pace for a 5.1 WAR season.
5. The last spot in the Domestic wildcard race might go to a team with a losing record. Currently Hartford owns the spot with a 39-39 record but they are going to have to hold off Toronto and Montreal, and as we discussed they have a hard time fielding the ball. Meanwhile the Canadians had a winning record in June while the Exports have been making some big moves as of late. Both teams are far far better than their records indicate and with Montreal having one of the easiest opponent records down the stretch we think the Exports are going to sneak in. Maybe they can do what the New York Knights did in 2029 when they only won 83 games yet took home the Brewmasters Cup.
Stat of the Week
.
| Longest Championship Drought |
| |
Comment