Tweet
08/28/2062
Seattle and Syracuse heat things up with a 5-1 week. The season is long over for the Pilots, but amazingly the Snappers are 58-69. Which in the Domestic means you're only 4.5 games back from a Wild Card spot. If they were in the Import they'd be 11 games back...but we won't beat that horse any longer. Other top weeks were Montreal and New York who both went 5-2. The Exports now boast a 5.5 Lager lead, while the Cyclones have a three game lead in the Stout over the Bats. On the other side of life Batavia went 0-6, while Cali and SDR went 1-5. The Muckdogs are now 24.5 games back in the division, while Santo Domingo falls back under .500.
Power Rankings
1) Denver Bulls (120.6, o)
2) Montreal Exports (117.8, o)
3) Wilmington Wildcats (108.2, +)
4) New Orleans Voodoo (105.1, -)
5) Windy City Blues (102.4, +)
6) New York Cyclones (101.2, ++)
7) Los Angeles Dinos (100.1, +)
8) Carolina Tobs (100.0, ++)
9) Washington Bats (98.8, -)
10) Phoenix Roadrunners (98.2, -)
11) California Kodiaks (93.6, --)
12) Pawtucket Patriots (92.9, +)
13) Toronto Canadians (90.3, ++)
14) Syracuse Snappers (89.2, ++)
15) Indianapolis Clowns (87.3, o)
16) Maine Guides (86.2, +)
17) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (83.6, --)
18) Pittsburgh Millers (81.7, --)
19) Baltimore Bulldogs (74.1, ++)
20) Dallas Drillers (72.1, o)
21) Philadelphia Freedom (68.9, +)
22) Hartford Whalers (65.9, -)
23) Seattle Pilots (64.6, +)
24) Batavia Muckdogs (55.1, --)
Performance of the Week
3B Julian Irwin - No one broke into the Top Performances of the season this past week, but Irwin put together a nice 'total performance' of the week. Not only did he hit .429 with 4 HR and 10 RBI and took home the Player of the Week award, but he reached 1500 RBI for his career in doing so. The 39 year old is now the 28th player in the history of the league to reach that number. Not bad for a guy who was taken in the 8th round of the 2040 draft. Since then he's turned into a 2x Stout Slugger, 8x All-Star, and 3x BLB champion.
Prospect of the Week
P Joseph LeMaire - The second round pick in this years draft by Syracuse is playing in the RL and has started 11 games for the Gamblers. Scouts think he's a top of the rotation pitcher if he develops, and so far he's showing it. At 4-4 with a 1.69 ERA and 296 ERA+ he's been dominating hitters with his fastball and slider. Throw in a sinker he's been working on and this 20 year old might be going places. The only question is how much longer the Snappers will let him pitch since he's already thrown 60.1 innings in the CCBL this year.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. It's roster expansion as the season enters the stretch run. In the Import there are seven teams battling for five spots as NY, Was, WC, Pho, Cal, LAD, and Carolina all play musical chairs. It appears that Denver will be in, as they lead all in the IL with a 99.9% chance according to our friends at Stats+, but for everyone else who knows what the future holds. In the Wild Card right now from first place Windy City to sixth place Carolina it's only separated by three games. Meanwhile second place in the Stout, Washington, only holds a half game lead over LAD in the WC race. Literally every week things are a changing.
2. The Domestic League is a little calmer as it looks like Pawtucket will win the Ale (even though they are 11-15 in August), and Montreal or NO will win the Lager. Both the later are so far ahead of everyone else that whoever doesn't take the crown will at least host a Wild Card series at home. The true battle is for the final two Wild Card spots. Toronto, SDR, Pittsburgh, Indy, Syracuse, and Maine are all just five games apart. With the trade deadline over all the cards are down on the table. Whomever comes out on top only the BLB gods know.
3. After being eight games under. 500 at the end of May, the Bulls are now +37 since then. Part of their turnaround is the ball started bouncing their way, literally, on defense. They are first in the league with a +38.55 ZR, with catcher being the only position they are negative in. Right behind them is LAD at +37.78, while Windy City is at +31.03 in third. On the other end of the chart is Batavia at a whopping -58.77 ZR. When you are 50 points below the league average that helps explain being last in the league in opponents average, on base percentage and BABIP.
4. Can the Evan's lead Carolina to the playoffs? Evan Olsen, in his first full year, is hitting .349 with 23 HR, 104 RBI, and is on pace for a 9.4 WAR. Evan Turner meanwhile is having his best season since 2056. It's hard to believe he's only 28, but Turner is hitting .312 with 28 HR, 98 RBI, and is on pace for a 7.3 WAR. After missing the All-Star game from '58-'60 he's been selected now in back to back seasons. Then there is 37 year old FA pickup Evan Buhler, who has played 92 games at catcher this year. He's hit .243 while tallying a +1.6 ZR at catcher and throwing out 31.5% of base runners. Finally there is Evan Ochs. The least known of the Evan's is only 21 and a former first round pick in 2058 by Baltimore. He's a utility IF who can steal bases and pinch hit when needed. Scouts like his potential at the plate though and believe he can be a starter at second base down the road.
5. What's on tap? How about some Wild Card shake me up as Phoenix travels to Windy City, Toronto heads to Santo Domingo, and California heads across the country to play the Bats (after the Kodiaks host the Bulls). Streak wise Denver has won four straight, Batavia has lost six straight, and Rory Elia Jr. (CAL)has a nice 14 game hitting streak going.
Weekly Milestones
1B LaMark Canete (PIT), 26 yo, reached 500 hits
RF Byron Carlton (PIT), 25 yo, reached 250 RBIs
C David Mitchell (PIT), 27 yo, reached 300 extra base hits
P Justice Michael (PIT), 27 yo, reached 750 strikeouts
LF Derek Engledow (MAI), 29 yo, reached 1000 hits
3B Isaac Murphy (PAW), 25 yo, reached 250 hits
RF Derell Machuca (MON), 22 yo, reached 100 hits
3B Billy Ojala (BAL), 23 yo, hit his first home run
3B Julian Irwin (SEA), 39 yo, reached 1500 RBIs (28 players have reached this milestone)
LF Eli Tracy (MON), 24 yo, reached 250 RBIs
1B Spencer Buccheri (SYR), 23 yo, reached 250 RBIs
2B Brayden Carlson (PAW), 26 yo, reached 250 RBIs
2B Joseph Flynn (PHI), 30 yo, reached 250 RBIs
RF Kelvin Kenney (TOR), 25 yo, reached 250 RBIs
LF Trent West (PAW), 27 yo, reached 300 extra base hits
2B Max Johnson (MON), 28 yo, reached 300 extra base hits
LF Evan Olsen (CAR), 21 yo, reached 100 extra base hits
P Hudson Bell (MON), 29 yo, reached 100 wins
P JaQuan Wamugunda (TOR), 37 yo, reached 3000 strikeouts (30 players have reached this milestone)
P Saxby Lucas (LAD), 29 yo, reached 750 strikeouts
P Devon DeGasperis (MAI), 27 yo, reached 750 strikeouts
P Nic McClelland (SEA), 31 yo, reached 750 strikeouts
P Webb Martinez (DEN), 25 yo, reached 500 strikeouts
P Tommy Pitz (WAS), 30 yo, reached 500 strikeouts
P Sherwin Kendrick (LAD), 27 yo, reached 250 strikeouts
Stat of the Week
.
| Largest Decline in Team Wins (Top 25 Teams) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|