Tweet
08/20/2046
Pawtucket maintains the top spot in the PR with a 5-2 week by going 3-1 against Montreal and 2-1 against Wilmington. The Patriots let everyone know they are the top team in the Domestic and appear to be cruising towards HFA throughout the playoffs. The winner of the week though was the Maine Guides who went 6-1. Their only loss was a 19-5 drubbing to the Racers. Other top weeks were Phoenix, Syracuse and LAD who all went 5-2. On the flip side Philadelphia went 1-6 while Wilmington went 1-5. The Freedom are now five games back in the Import wildcard while the Clowns are barely holding on to the third wildcard in the Domestic.
Power Rankings
1) Pawtucket Patriots (117.5, o)
2) California Kodiaks (109.3, o)
3) Batavia Red Jackets (105.3, o)
4) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (101.0, ++)
5) Syracuse Snappers (100.6, ++)
6) Montreal Exports (99.5, -)
7) Seattle Pilots (99.0, o)
8) Phoenix Roadrunners (95.5, ++)
9) Dallas Drillers (95.2, --)
10) Washington Bats (94.0, --)
11) New Orleans Voodoo (92.5, o)
12) Maine Guides (91.3, ++)
13) New York Knights (91.2, --)
14) Los Angeles Dinos (90.3, ++)
15) Pittsburgh Millers (89.8, --)
16) Windy City Blues (87.5, o)
17) Wilmington Clowns (85.7, --)
18) Denver Bulls (81.0, ++)
19) Baltimore Bulldogs (76.1, +)
20) Philadelphia Freedom (74.0, --)
21) Toronto Canadians (72.2, +)
22) Indianapolis Racers (72.0, --)
23) Carolina Tobs (70.4, +)
24) Hartford Whalers (64.5, -)
Performance of the Week
RF Xzavier 'Blockhead' Medellin - On August 18th 'Blockhead' turned in the #4 performance of the season in that 19-5 drubbing of the Guides. In six at bats he had five hits, one home run, five RBI's and scored five times. On the season the 29 year old 3x All-Star is hitting .333/.390/.573 with 28 HRs and 83 RBI's.
Prospect of the Week
P Cayden Wittmeyer - Checking back in on the 1.1 of this years draft we see that Wittmeyer is now 6-2 with a 3.03 ERA in 11 starts. He has only nine walks while striking out 85 batters and his 9.4 K/BB is second in the league for starters. Our only question is when will Maine shut him down? Between his time at North Carolina before the draft and now A ball he's over 120 innings pitched. Barre currently leads their division so they'll be playing in the postseason as well. Let him go or sit him...that's the question for the GM.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Grant Hockensmith of the Tobs smashed three home runs against Denver this week, the sixth three-HR game this season by a BLB player. The previous high was nine back in 2044 and we might have a chance to tie it. Hockensmith helped lead Carolina to a title in his rookie season back in 2037, and he's always been known for the long ball. His lifetime career average is .228 with 291 career home runs, and no one with more home runs has a lower average.
2. Phoenix trades Derek Bell and is now 61-59 and in the final Import wildcard spot. Not only has jettisoning that boat anchor helped them in the win column, but apparently it helped their bottom line. This past week they handed out $75,000,000 to reliever Corey Galindo and first basemen Judd Ramirez in contract extensions. Galindo has pitched in 49 games and has a 2.34 ERA and 1.1 WAR, while Ramirez is hitting .223 with 21 HR's and 61 RBI's in 112 games.
3. Batavia and California squared off this week in San Jose for a nice four game series between the two top teams in the Import. California won two (2-1, 9-1) and Batavia won two (13-2, 6-1). Both teams are now 71-47 and have sizable leads in their respective divisions. Their playoff odds are both at 100%, Batavia has the easier opponent record down the stretch, but the Red Jackets PYT is +5 while the Kodiaks are at -5. What does all this mean...we have no idea other than it will be interesting to see who takes home field between these two.
4. We're not sure how the Triple Crown will be decided for pitching now that Derek Bell plays in the Domestic. If we ignore Bell then Christian Vines is currently first in ERA, wins and strikeouts. If we count Bell then his 1.67 ERA takes Vines and his pathetic 1.88 ERA out of the picture. If Vines manages to get the win then it will be his second pitching TC, tying him with Barton Mejia.
5. Eight time All-Star Erik Foley is 12-8 with a 2.69 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 24 starts this season. He has also struck out 162 batters, giving him 2500 K's on the dot for his career. That places him 39th all-time and third among active players. In 400 career starts he's 178-106 with a 3.22 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. Last season in leading the Voodoo to the Brewmasters title he went 17-5 with a 2.61 ERA and picked up two more wins in the postseason.
Trivia of the Week
Who are the two active pitchers with more strikeouts than Erik Foley?
Spoiler
Stat of the Week
.
.
Comment