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07/20/2048
In the short All-Star game week, which was easily won by the Domestic 6-2, we had a few series sweeps. Get out your brooms fans of New Orleans, Seattle, Philadelphia, California, and Wilmington. Alas when there is only one series then the victims of those sweeps were Santo Domingo, LAD, Washington, Windy City and Hartford. With everyone playing three here were some team leaders: Wilmington had 20 runs (WC 2), Seattle swiped nine bases (Cal/Tor 0), California allowed two runs (Har 20), and Toronto K'd 39 opposing batters (Ind 10).
Power Rankings
1) California Kodiaks (115.4, +)
2) Philadelphia Freedom (112.6, o)
3) Toronto Canadians (109.1, -)
4) Wilmington Clowns (102.8, ++)
5) Pawtucket Patriots (102.5, -)
6) Montreal Exports (102.4, +)
7) Maine Guides (100.4, +)
8) New Orleans Voodoo (99.8, ++)
9) New York Cyclones (98.7, --)
10) Pittsburgh Millers (94.9, --)
11) Phoenix Roadrunners (93.9, ++)
12) Dallas Drillers (89.9, +)
13) Seattle Pilots (89.2, ++)
14) Syracuse Snappers (87.3, +)
15) Carolina Tobs (85.2, ++)
16) Baltimore Bulldogs (85.1, +)
17) Denver Bulls (83.3, +)
18) Windy City Blues (83.0, --)
19) Los Angeles Dinos (81.8, --)
20) Washington Bats (81.1, --)
21) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (78.3, --)
22) Batavia Red Jackets (76.2, o)
23) Indianapolis Racers (63.9, o)
24) Hartford Whalers (43.3, o)
Performance of the Week
2B Collin 'Reach' Makuch - On July 13th against the Canadians ol' 'Reach' went around the bases three times, all of them via home run, as the Drillers held on to beat Toronto 5-4. Makuch was responsible for all five RBI on the day, and the 27 year old is now hitting .331/.382/.571 with 17 HRs and 57 RBI on the season. He also played in his third straight All-Star game as the former 1.7 pick of the 2041 draft has turned into everything the Drillers hoped he would be.
Prospect of the Week
1B R.J. McCarthy - Called 'Big John' by his teammates McCarthy has 52 hits on the season, and 20 of them are home runs. The 6th overall pick of last years draft is only 21, and he's having trouble putting the bat on the ball for now, but when he does connect it's often gone. Scouts think he still has a lot of room to grow and when he does get that contact up he will be one to watch.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. The All Star Futures game was played this last week, and once again the Domestic dominated their Import counterparts 5-0. Eight DL pitchers worked together to fashion a four pitch shutout in a complete whitewash of the IL bats. Along with only four hits, the DL hurlers combined to throw 12 strikeouts including four by Voodoo prospect Greg Padgett. Offensively, Beck Behanna (Pawtucket), Gavin Tucker (Pittsburgh), and All Star game MVP R. J. McCarthy (Indianapolis) all hit home runs. There was also a great showing as 35,000 fans were in attendance to watch the future heroes of the BLB.
2. What a week for throwback pitching performances. In the day of short starts and power bullpens, and with a short week, three starters threw nine innings this week. First up was Maine's Nicholas Hubscher who dominated Syracuse in a complete game 5-0 shutout. With only 96 pitches, Hubscher allowed only 3 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 7. Not to be outdone, Toronto's Joshua Businelle cruised past the Dallas Drillers 6-1 this week with a complete game where he allowed only 3 hits, 4 walks, and struck out 10. In the hard luck catagory, Windy City's Devontae Buenteo silenced California's bats for 9 innings to the tune of 0 runs and 4 hits, only to see the Blues fall to the Kodiaks 2-0 in 13 innings.
3. With the All Star game behind us there is less than half a season to go as teams and fans start to think about the playoffs. In the Domestic, it appears that eight teams have a legitimate shot to make the final six spots. The Voodoo (1.5 GB) and Millers (2 GB) are currently on the outside looking in, with Pawtucket, Toronto, Maine, Montreal, Wilmington, and Dallas currently holding down spots. In the Import it's even wilder as every team is within five games of the final Wild Card spot. With Seattle, after their recent fire sale, appearing to be the only team out of the running, this wild ride will certainly go down to the final week of the season.
4. The Dinos went from up in the Bock, to suddenly five games back and in second place as the Kodiaks have found their bats once again. After being +3 in April, +3 in May, and +2 in June, LAD is suddenly 5-9 in July so far. They are still first or second in almost every offensive category but their pitching has been suffering. Is it time to bring up the 'Chosen One'? For those not in the know that would be the #1 prospect in the land, Dwan 'Chops' Tamarovsky. In AAA the 22 year old is now 12-1 with a 1.95 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 187 ERA+ in 15 starts. This kid could be the next Christian Vines and it might be time for the 'in case of emergency break glass' call-up.
5. What's on tap? After the All-Star break we're back at it with some series that might actually start to clean-up the playoff picture. As mentioned there are a plethora of teams still in the running, and this week we get to see a few of them head to head. In the Domestic we get Wilmington at Maine for three, and in the Import we get New York at LAD for four. In the first one the Guides are currently second in the Ale with the Clown only a game behind them. This will be the last time they play each other in the regular season as they've already played nine games, with Wilmington taking five of them. Both teams come into the game with a handful of 'who's hot' players and the series could go either way. The other series two teams which used to be tops in their respective divisions but have fallen to second. So far the Cyclones and Dinos have battled seven times this year, and New York has won every game. This is the last time they meet and LAD needs to get some wins to stop their slide. Rankings wise they are the better team and they are second in runs scored and third in runs allowed. Will that translate to the field...we're not sure.
Stat of the Week
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| Most Wins With Two Different Teams (Top 25 Players, Sorted by Lower W Total) |
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