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05/10/2055
Maine, Pittsburgh, and Windy City enjoyed the fruits of a good week as they all went 5-2. None of them are first in their division, but they all have winning records to date. In the ELO rankings Pawtucket had the biggest jump even while going 3-3, while Washington dropped over 10 points thanks to a 3-4 week.
ELO Rankings
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| 1 | Washington | IL | -10.8 | 1568.7 | ||||||
| 2 | Seattle | IL | 4.4 | 1553.1 | ||||||
| 3 | Dallas | DL | -0.0 | 1550.4 | ||||||
| 4 | Pittsburgh | DL | 2.1 | 1545.4 | ||||||
| 5 | California | IL | -0.8 | 1543.8 | ||||||
| 6 | Hartford | DL | -1.3 | 1531.0 | ||||||
| 7 | Los Angeles | IL | 5.8 | 1528.2 | ||||||
| 8 | Syracuse | DL | 5.0 | 1523.3 | ||||||
| 9 | Windy City | IL | 1.5 | 1518.7 | ||||||
| 10 | Pawtucket | DL | 5.9 | 1518.3 | ||||||
| 11 | Indianapolis | DL | 5.1 | 1512.1 | ||||||
| 12 | Carolina | IL | -0.1 | 1511.7 | ||||||
| 13 | Baltimore | IL | 1.5 | 1508.7 | ||||||
| 14 | Santo Domingo | DL | -5.4 | 1500.5 | ||||||
| 15 | Maine | DL | 4.6 | 1496.0 | ||||||
| 16 | New York | IL | 1.1 | 1486.4 | ||||||
| 17 | Denver | IL | -1.7 | 1484.9 | ||||||
| 18 | New Orleans | DL | -3.8 | 1482.7 | ||||||
| 19 | Wilmington | DL | -9.0 | 1479.8 | ||||||
| 20 | Montreal | DL | 1.1 | 1474.5 | ||||||
| 21 | Phoenix | IL | -2.5 | 1430.2 | ||||||
| 22 | Batavia | IL | -2.6 | 1423.9 | ||||||
| 23 | Philadelphia | IL | 4.2 | 1422.8 | ||||||
| 24 | Toronto | DL | -4.2 | 1404.3 |
P Blake Visco - On Cinco de Mayo, the 31 year old and former 7th round pick turned in the #1 pitching performance of the season against the Freedom. Over the course of a complete game shutout he allowed five hits, no runs, no walks, and struck out 13. Thanks to a seven run second inning the Tobs were able to squeak by 14-0. On the season Visco is 3-3 with a 4.15 ERA in six starts. The journeyman didn't break into the BLB until he was 25, and since then has played for Dallas, Pawtucket, and now Carolina.
Prospect of the Week
P Kelvin Ellis - The #1 overall prospect in all the land is 22 years old and currently playing for the Sand Tigers in AA for Baltimore. Drafted a cool 148th overall he's been the top prospect for over a year now. He can hit 101 mph on the gun, throws five pitches, and has the stamina to regularly go 90-95 pitches in a game. This season in AA he's 3-0 with a 1.39 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in five starts. Looks like Baltimore is about to get a shot in the arm...the pitching arm that is.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. The Lager has one winning team, Dallas. The Ale has no losing teams. Could we see a scenario down the road where five of the six playoff teams come from the Ale? In other Domestic news the Dallas Drillers have two hitters at .400 or above. Could this be a repeat of 2039 when Seattle had the only .400+ hitters in league history? For those that don't remember all those years ago Richie 'Powder' van Luik hit .402, while Johnny Thompson hit .401. Everyone knows van Luik, who retired at the end of last season and is a future Hall of Fame member. What about Thompson though? After hitting .401 in '39, he hit .297 in '40, then .105 in 12 games in 2041. He was sent down to the minors and never played in the majors again. He became a free agent in 2042, signed with Santo Domingo in 2043, but was released in 2044. He retired a few months later. The ultimate one-hit wonder.
2. In a weird season we have two playoff teams, including last years Brew runner up, struggling. Currently the Wilmington Wildcats are 12-22, while the Carolina Tobs are 14-19. Last season the Tobs won 94 games while the Wildcats won 90 games. Wilmington broke a streak of not going to the postseason since 2038, the longest in the league. Meanwhile Carolina went back to back to the playoffs, their first time since 2038 as well. Can they turn it around...we certainly think so. The Wildcats bats have been ice cold as they are 22nd in the league in average, OBP, and slugging percentage. They are also last in the league in runs allowed (199) and opponents average (.305). When it rains it pours but we still have a lot of baseball left.
3. Philly is 10-22 but they had their first winning week this season as they went 4-2. They also aren't the worst team in the league anymore as they are slowly climbing out the cellar. This past week prospect Josh 'Earthquake' Frost also made his debut. Picked in the second round of the 2050 draft out of Basic HS (NV), he played 15 games in AAA this season before getting the call up last week. In six games he hit .318/.375/.864 with 3 HRs and 9 RBI's. His first career home run was on May 4th against Carolina. In the top of the third with two on, he took a 0-1 pitch by Chase Vaughan and drove it 372 feet over the wall. The organization is hoping that Frost can give the offense, currently 22nd in runs scored, a much needed slugger.
4. Julian 'Skeeter' Ludin's 27 game hitting streak came to an end on May 9th against Seattle when he went 0-4. The streak started the third day of the season against Batavia when he went 1 for 4 as the reigning Stout Slugger was then hitting .083. With the streak now finally over his .380 average is third in the league behind the two Drillers mentioned above. The 3x All-Star, 3x Designated Driver, 2x champion, and 2054 Stout Slugger is only 29 and just keeps on rolling. Between his ability to hit, field, and speed on the basepaths he's a top five player in the league.
5. What's on tap? This week we are back to interleague once again. Some fun match-ups are Dallas at Carolina, Maine at Baltimore, and Pittsburgh at California. Steak wise Stan Sikes (CAL) and Lawrence Gatzioudis (TOR) now have the longest hitting streaks in the league at 13 games, while team wise there are no streaks longer than four games.
Stat of the Week
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| Most Hits in Debut Season (Top 25 Players, Inaugural Season Ignored) |
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