The 2056 Daily Keg - Week 16

[Matt]

07/31/2056

The Dinos go shooting up the Power Rankings like a rocket into space as they go 6-0 and have won eight straight. They are now only two games back from Seattle and in second for the Import wildcard race. Meanwhile Washington went 5-1 to push the Stout division race to double digits, and the New Orleans Voodoo went 5-2 to close their gap on second place Dallas in the Lager. On the other side of life Phoenix, Pawtucket, and Philly all went 1-5. The POTW were Wilmington's Vince Cox, and Windy City's J.J. Evans.

Power Rankings

1) Washington Bats (127.4, o)
2) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (124.4, o)
3) Los Angeles Dinos (111.5, ++)
4) Dallas Drillers (108.1, o)
5) New Orleans Voodoo (105.6, o)
6) Hartford Whalers (101.4, --)
7) Seattle Pilots (100.0, +)
8) Baltimore Bulldogs (95.6, -)
9) Syracuse Snappers (91.0, +)
10) Denver Bulls (90.9, ++)
11) Pittsburgh Millers (90.8, +)
12) Carolina Tobs (90.3, --)
13) Phoenix Roadrunners (89.0, --)
14) Windy City Blues (86.5, +)
15) Indianapolis Clowns (85.1, ++)
16) California Kodiaks (84.8, +)
17) Wilmington Wildcats (83.8, -)
18) Batavia Muckdogs (82.5, --)
19) Toronto Canadians (81.2, o)
20) New York Cyclones (78.8, +)
21) Maine Guides (73.4, +)
22) Pawtucket Patriots (66.9, -)
23) Montreal Exports (60.2, o)
24) Philadelphia Freedom (52.6, o)

Performance of the Week

LF Zeke Lebron - The home run derby champion continued to have the hot bat as he turned in the 5th best hitting performance of the season on July 29th against Indy. In four at bats he hit three home runs, drove in seven, and scored three times as the Wildcats won 11-6. He's hitting .243, but he's on pace for 43 HRs and 63 SBs.

Prospect of the Week

C Devon Richardson - The 20 year old was playing for the Titans just over a month ago, but he's now a member of New York's RL team, the Rocky Mountain Oysters. So far in 34 games he's hitting .347/.434/.766 with 15 HRs and 36 RBIs. He was the 6th overall pick of the draft and is currently the 28th overall prospect in the league. Richardson looks like one of a few offensive catchers that will be coming in the league in a few short years.


Five Things We Think We Think

1. The Bats have run away with July as their 19-4 record is one of the top monthly records we've seen in a long time. Winners of three of the last four Brewmasters, it's like days of old when they won three straight Brewmasters from 2002 to 2004, then went back again in 2006 (albeit they lost that one to Maine). They are second in runs for the month with 144, first in home runs with 44, and first with an .898 OPS. Who is seriously going to beat this team? Parker Lee leads the league with home runs, and is 25. Andy Dillon is second, and is 26. Injury wise they have used the injury list for 14 days this season, and have lost only $22k. That's total. It's a good time to be a Bats fan, and a bad time to be a fan of any other team.

2. Twenty-two of the twenty-four teams in the league have a chance of making the playoffs according to our friends at Stats+. True Pawtucket and Toronto both come in at 0.8%, but there is still a chance! It seems like a good year for parity lovers as 14 teams currently have a win total between 45 and 55 games. So far the only teams at 100% are Washington and Santo Domingo, and the only teams at 0% are Montreal and Philadelphia. With the trade deadline coming up August 15th we could see a lot of moment as teams try to find that missing piece, or no movement at all as almost everyone still has a chance.

3. Three teams have a negative zone rating and a winning record: Denver, Dallas, and New Orleans. The Bulls (51-50) currently sit at 22nd in the league with a shocking -24.12 ZR, the Drillers (59-42) are 18th at -8.24, and the Voodoo (57-44) are 15th at -0.36. On the top end of the spectrum is Los Angeles (shocking we know). The Dinos are +32.71, while Seattle is second at +22.80. Meanwhile the Bats, who came in third last season, are third once again at +18.17. The best offense and a top defense...come on!

4. Congrats to Roadrunner second basemen Collin 'Reach' Makuch who reached 2000 hits this past week. The 36 year old was the 7th overall pick of the 2041 draft by Dallas, where he played in the BLB from 2044 to 2050. Since then he bounced over to Pawtucket via free agency, Montreal via free agency, and now Phoenix via free agency. Lifetime he's a .294/.353/.466 hitter with 242 HRs, 978 RBIs, and 127 SB. Another achievement this past week was Melchior Werth, who became the 59th player in BLB history to reach 900 XBH. This year alone he has reached 1000 runs, 400 home runs, and now 900 extra base hits. The lifetime New Yorker is a 6x All-Star and 2x Stout Slugger.

5. What's on tap? This week we get Phoenix at Denver (Bulls lead Roadrunners by a half game for the final IL wildcard spot), Carolina at Seattle (Pilots 35-19 at home, Carolina 20-32 away), and Los Angeles at California (LAD second in the Bock, Cali sixth...they are separated by only 6.5 games). Streaks: LAD has won 8 straight, Pawtucket has lost five straight, Dane Jennings (SDR) and Daryl Walken (SYR) have 13 game hitting streaks, and Bailey Feder (WAS) has converted 17 straight save opportunities.


Stat of the Week
.
Most Wins without Starting a Game

Name Lucas Sharp	Team DAL	Year 2053	Age 26	Wins 16	IP 127.0	Games 53
Jon Vejar	LAD	2007	31	15	119.1	80
Ben Fisher	HYU	1978	21	14	102.1	62
Davon Charles	WIL	2021	30	14	97.1	88
Dave Esterline	SYR	2035	26	14	104.2	72
Nicoli Porcaro	DEN	2045	35	14	145.0	60
Roberto Degarcia	PIT	1983	30	13	85.2	55
Alejandro Portillo	NYK	2019	25	13	100.1	86
J.P. Larrison	CAR	2021	29	13	107.1	77
Geremia Barichello	CHI	2039	27	13	114.0	61
D.J. Andrews	LAD	2027	22	13	90.2	64
Raśl Reyes	AFR	1995	29	13	97.1	94
Juston Dickson	MAI	2053	33	13	101.2	61
Herbert Connolly	PAW	2045	27	13	75.0	58
Darius Huschke	DAL	2051	26	13	168.2	74
Quinto Rivena	AFR	1984	35	12	80.1	67
Ronnie Tribe	PIT	1985	39	12	101.2	65
Firhun Luwandi	CAR	1985	33	12	77.1	57
Montego Rugamas	DEN	1983	36	12	128.2	73
Doug Liggins	WIL	1985	29	12	91.2	75

.