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04/20/2054
California continues their smoking start to the season as they go 5-1 and take over the top of the Power Rankings. Joining them in the 5-1 club were Pittsburgh and Windy City. The champion of the week though was the Seattle Pilots who went to the Domestic and swept New Orleans and Santo Domingo for a perfect 6-0 week. On the other side of the life New York, Phoenix, Batavia, and New Orleans all went 1-5.
Power Ranking
1) California Kodiaks (161.3, +)
2) Seattle Pilots (137.6, ++)
3) Carolina Tobs (130.6, o)
4) Pittsburgh Millers (130.6, ++)
5) Windy City Blues (127.0, ++)
6) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (119.0, --)
7) Dallas Drillers (113.8, --)
8) Syracuse Snappers (109.8, --)
9) Wilmington Wildcats (109.8, -)
10) Denver Bulls (98.9, o)
11) Indianapolis Clowns (97.9, +)
12) Washington Bats (97.9, --)
13) Pawtucket Patriots (96.9, ++)
14) Maine Guides (84.1, o)
15) Los Angeles Dinos (83.1, +)
16) Philadelphia Freedom (77.0, +)
17) Toronto Canadians (67.2, ++)
18) Batavia Muckdogs (64.2, --)
19) Baltimore Bulldogs (54.4, ++)
20) Hartford Whalers (52.0, -)
21) New York Cyclones (49.4, --)
22) Montreal Exports (35.5, +)
23) New Orleans Voodoo (35.5, --)
24) Phoenix Roadrunners (30.5, --)
Performance of the Week
P Charlie Spence - With the 23 year old Spence on the mound the Tobs have found a sure fire ace in the making. This past week he beat up on Pawtucket with an eight inning, three hit, no run, 10 K performance during a 2-0 victory. He's now 2-0 with a 1.25 ERA and 324 ERA+ in three starts this season. Drafted 10th overall in 2047 he's in his third season already and isn't even at his prime yet.
Prospect of the Week
P Mark 'Million Dollar' Myers - He got the nickname after his sophomore season when he was a national HS All-Star while going 2-2 with a 3.45 ERA. Scouts loved his potential and teammates starting calling him the Million Dollar Man. Then disaster struck his junior season when at only 16 years old he tore his UCL in March of 2053. After a tough rehab the kid is back, and made his first start again two days ago. Over 5.1 innings he allowed five hits, one run, and struck out two in a 6-5 Mater Dei victory. At 6'2 he's still considered a power pitcher, but many think his velocity will never be elite. What they do think is that his movement and control are top of the line, and he could be a 2nd or 3rd round pick in the upcoming draft.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Congrats to Dominique Graham for reaching 2500 career hits on April 14th against California. The 37 year old got a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth to give Dallas some hope, but Moussa Evans flew out to end the game on the very next pitch. We talked about Graham last week but it's worth noting he is the 50th player in the history of the league to reach this milestone. He's projected to get another 200+ hits this season, which would put him in the top 30 all-time by seasons end. He was the first overall pick of the 2037 draft by Baltimore and is looking to go to his 10th All-Star game this season.
2. Rice Mesyan was discovered out of Kazakhstan in 2041 by Denver Bulls scouts and sent to their International Complex. In 2043 he made his minor league debut, and in 2046 he made his BLB debut with the Bulls. In three and half season with the Bulls he made about $2 million and hit .262/.283/.417 while posting a 7.5 WAR. He was then traded mid-season 2049 to Seattle for a 3rd round pick. In three and half seasons with the Pilots he is hitting .295/.316/.434 while posting a 17.0 WAR. He also just signed a six year contract extension this off-season for a cool $129,200,000.
3. Dez Swanson and Will Harper won't have to watch while all the other kids get to play, as they were signed this past week by Indy and New Orleans respectively. Swanson played for Indy last season where he hit .340/.416/.525 with 17 HR and 108 RBI. He wanted to get paid for two great years of work in Indy, but they said no and let him walk. Now here he is back for $10m and he should be a shot in the arm for the Clowns offense. Harper meanwhile has only played for Pawtucket and Toronto in his career. He was traded from Toronto to Pawtucket in 2043, from Pawtucket to Toronto in 2047, and then once again from Toronto back to Pawtucket in 2048. He opted out in 2052 from the Patriots, and like Swanson expected a big payday. Unfortunately for him and his former agent (whom he later fired), he waited until July before Toronto felt bad enough to give him $3.9m to come back home. This time the 2x All-Star only had to wait two weeks as he reportedly told his agent to "get something done or join your pal."
4. Carolina is 9-4 and doesn't have the first pick in the 2054 draft...that is progress. After a complete rebuild where they won 152 total games in three seasons from 2050-2052, the resurgence has started. Looking at their pitching staff they have the above mentioned Charlie Spence (23), Chase Vaughan (24), Kevin 'Dingus' Tickles (23), James Tuel (25) and old man Judean Dang (26). Throw in 20 year old Evan Turner who hit .297 with 37 HR last season (but is hitting .184 with 1 HR so far this year) and we're all in on the Tobs! Even their notoriously grumpy GM must be a little bit excited about the future.
5. What's on tap? This week we get our first grudge match of the season as California travels to Seattle for a three-game series. Last season these two went down to the final week of the regular season before the Pilots took the division crown, their second straight and third in four seasons. Seattle has also knocked California out of the playoffs the last three seasons. California's nemesis used to be Washington, but we think the Pilots have taken over that role. Get your popcorn ready!
Stat of the Week
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