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08/19/2058
The Drillers go 6-0 with sweeps of Indy and New Orleans, have won ten straight, moved to the top of the Power Rankings, and are now in...4th place in the division. Wait...what? With the Ale not posting a team above .500, the Lager is just off its rocker this year as the 69-51 Drillers are behind Wilmington, SDR, and New Orleans in the division. The other top week were those Wildcats who went 6-1 to open up a 4.5 game division lead. Wilmington swept Montreal, then took three of four from Pawtucket. Meanwhile five teams went 5-2 (Cal, Bal, SDR, Car, Was), while Hartford, New Orleans, and Seattle all went 1-6.
Power Rankings
1) Dallas Drillers (123.5, ++)
2) Wilmington Wildcats (120.0, +)
3) Washington Bats (117.9, -)
4) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (112.1, +)
5) Baltimore Bulldogs (111.5, +)
6) Los Angeles Dinos (102.1, --)
7) New Orleans Voodoo (99.5, --)
8) Toronto Canadians (98.5, o)
9) California Kodiaks (98.0, ++)
10) Carolina Tobs (94.5, +)
11) New York Cyclones (93.1, +)
12) Pittsburgh Millers (91.0, -)
13) Montreal Exports (85.9, ++)
14) Seattle Pilots (83.0, --)
15) Maine Guides (82.5, o)
16) Syracuse Snappers (81.5, +)
17) Phoenix Roadrunners (81.0, --)
18) Indianapolis Clowns (77.8, -)
19) Windy City Blues (76.8, +)
20) Denver Bulls (74.0, ++)
21) Hartford Whalers (68.6, --)
22) Pawtucket Patriots (67.4, -)
23) Batavia Muckdogs (62.4, +)
24) Philadelphia Freedom (60.4, -)
Performance of the Week
RF Ronald Anderson - We got a new #1 this week as Anderson put up a whopping 120 game score against Hartford on August 16th. In five at bats he smacked three home runs and plated eight as the Rum Runners won 13-5. The second overall pick of the 2051 draft is hitting .275 with 30 HR, 91 RBI, 28 SB, and a 144 OPS+.
Prospect of the Week
P Joel Major - The 12th overall pick of the 2055 draft is playing for Windy City's A ball team, and is having quite the year. So far in 21 starts he's 14-1 with a 2.56 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 182 ERA+. Coaches love his work ethic, and scouts think he can be a middle of the rotation pitcher down the road. At only 20 years old he has the time to grow, and we're excited to see what he will do.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. New Orleans fans just have to be shaking their heads, as it's déjà vu all over again. After going 1-6 last week they are now 71-49, and five games behind Wilmington for the division lead. At the start of July they were 54-26 and eight games up, and yet here we are again. The good thing is their playoff odds sit at 100%, which sounds pretty certain to us. The main problem is their bats have completely let them down. They are now 11th in the Domestic in batting average and ninth in runs scored. Meanwhile their pitching is top three in almost every category. Maybe it's the curse of Cory 'Boy Scout' Petit? 'Boy Scout' is currently second in the league with a .342 average while playing for division rival Wilmington. Looks like New Orleans could use some of those hits.
2. We had a milestone this past week as Wilmington closer Kristofer Humberto notched his 300th career save. He's the 57th player in the history of the league to do so. Picked in the second round of the 2047 draft by Batavia, he played there for almost eight season before being traded to Wilmington in 2054. He assumed the official closer role there, and in four and a half seasons he's notched 167 of those 300 saves. He can hit 101 mph on the gun, and his fastball is one of the hardest pitches to hit in baseball. This year he's 5-1 with 29 saves, a 0.79 ERA, and 0.79 WHIP. At only 31 years old he has a few seasons to move up the leader board, but we don't quite think he'll quite challenge Reynaldo 'Stinger' Jimenez ridiculous record of 762 saves.
3. Windy City re-signed starter Cade Hogan to a 3 year extension worth $39.6m this past week. We wouldn't think too much of it for a 2x All-Star and 2x Pale Ale winner who's 9-9 with a 3.74 ERA this season, but then we remembered Hogan is 39 years old! In 2039 he won the NCAA Outstanding Pitcher Award while playing for Pacific when he was 5-2 with a 0.87 ERA in 11 starts. He then got drafted by Phoenix fifth overall where he won back-to-back Pale Ale's in 2047 and 2048. Hogan was traded to Pawtucket in 2054 and became the gold standard of trades for a team looking to acquire talent for a postseason run. He closed out the regular season by going 5-1 with a 3.27 ERA, then went an amazing 5-0 with a 2.02 ERA in the playoffs as Pawtucket took down Carolina in seven games to win the Brewmasters Cup.
4. Jerry Markman was drafted by Washington in 2041, then traded to Denver in 2044. He played 13 seasons with the Bulls before being placed on waivers last month. He was scooped up by Maine and has posted a 3-0 record with a 2.73 ERA in 13 games so far. His real claim to fame this season though is that he's the only BLB pitcher to hit a home run. On May 24th against Philly he was the DH and batted sixth. In the 7th inning off of Moochie Cahn he blasted a 3-run shot 419 feet and over the wall that put the Bulls up 5-0.
5. What's on tap? This week we get California at Seattle to start off the week. The Kodiaks are now 60-60 and only trail the Pilots by two games in the Bock. Their playoff odds are also up to 34.1%. Meanwhile Seattle is trending down as they are 5-11 this month. They have scored just 49 total runs in August, which is tied for 23rd in the league. Wilmington also has a fun week as they travel to New Orleans before hosting Maine. The Voodoo trying to right the ship against the Wildcats isn't the best scenario, but they get to close off the week at Pittsburgh. Streak wise Dallas has won 10 straight, while Montreal, Baltimore, California, Baltimore and Carolina have all won four straight.
Stat of the Week
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| Most Consecutive 170 Strikeout Seasons (Top 25 Players) |
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