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08/20/2063
California and Washington each go 6-1 as the two top team are on a crash course to contend for the Import League title this season. The Bats have been a runaway train (more on that later), while the Kodiaks have pulled ahead of Windy City and Denver by a smidgen. Hartford also put together a nice week by going 5-2, as the Whalers are now tied with Maine and SDR for the final Domestic Wild Card spot. All three teams are 58-62, with Toronto just a game behind them. It's gonna be a pillow fight down the stretch! On the other side of life Baltimore went 0-7 while Batavia went 1-5. After winning 70 games last season it appears the Bulldogs run is over...for now. It was a great run though that featured 10 playoff appearances in 11 seasons that was capped off by winning the 2058 Brewmasters Cup.
Power Rankings
1) Washington Bats (130.0, o)
2) California Kodiaks (124.5, ++)
3) Denver Bulls (121.1, o)
4) Wilmington Wildcats (116.5, +)
5) Windy City Blues (115.0, --)
6) Los Angeles Dinos (110.3, -)
7) Montreal Exports (97.2, +)
8) New York Cyclones (94.2, +)
9) Indianapolis Clowns (92.2, -)
10) New Orleans Voodoo (90.5, +)
11) Hartford Whalers (90.0, +)
12) Carolina Tobs (87.5, ++)
13) Pittsburgh Millers (86.5, +)
14) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (86.0, -)
15) Pawtucket Patriots (83.8, ++)
16) Toronto Canadians (83.4, -)
17) Maine Guides (81.0, --)
18) Seattle Pilots (74.5, ++)
19) Syracuse Snappers (73.6, ++)
20) Batavia Muckdogs (72.9, --)
21) Philadelphia Freedom (69.5, -)
22) Dallas Drillers (66.0, +)
23) Baltimore Bulldogs (64.1, --)
24) Phoenix Roadrunners (44.5, o)
Performance of the Week
P Dave Hunt - The guy signs a big contract, gets a blurb in the Daily Keg, then proceeds yesterday to go out and throw a 10 inning no-hitter against Wilmington. He was an error away from a nine inning perfect game, beaned a guy in the 10th, got pulled to start the 11th, then Maine blew it in the 13th when the Wildcats scored two runs. His 104 game score is the only pitching performance above 100 this season, and eight points higher than second place. Alas he's still 10-3 with a now 3.24 ERA.
Prospect of the Week
P Rohan 'The Professor' Zezulka - The second overall pick of this years draft by Seattle is the 13th overall prospect in the league and scouts are already making bold predictions. With six pitches, and knee buckling movement on those said pitches, he's projected to be one of the best pitchers in the league someday. At only 17 years old he has a long way to go, but so far in the Rookie League he's 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA in 10 starts this season. He already threw 51 innings though at Alac C Pope HS this year, and he's over 41 innings with the Bobcats, so we wonder how many more he'll get before the Pilots shut him down.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Washington won just 81 games in 2060, 87 in 2061, and 88 in 2062. This season they have 82 wins, and it's only August 20th. They currently have eight players on the "Who's Hot" list, are 15-3 in August, and have built a 20.5 game lead in the Stout. Their run differential of +212 is 47 more than the Kodiaks who are in second, and 206 higher than the Cyclones who are behind them in their division. Their six man rotation features a first round pick (Lovins), a seventh round pick (Casey), a ninth round pick (Baker), two free agents (Krauss and Hein), and a player they traded for (Lynn). On the hitting side only backup catcher Allen Cullin has a negative WAR on the season. Year after year, season after season, this team just wins.
2. Looking at the future stars of the league, we were shocked to see Fredrick 'Turf' Palumbo already playing in AA. The 17 year old is one of four 17 year olds on the Top Prospect list, with the other three still playing in the Rookie League. Picked first overall this season he was in the Rookie League for only 13 games before he got called up to A ball. Then after 24 games there he got the called up once again. Now in 16 games at AA he's hitting .222/.279/.333. We're hoping for Palumbo's sake this isn't a repeat of Wade 'Bulldozer' Cummins. Drafted second overall in 2056 he was in the BLB the following season at just 18 years old. He's now 24 and having his best year to date (.276, 27 HR, 79 RBI), but he's had a rough time getting there. The BLB is definitely in the age where younger players are making huge impacts, but scouts around the league seem to agree it's almost always beneficial to let them develop with players more their age. Especially when they are just out of high school.
3. It looks like the Import League playoff race comes down to New York and Carolina for the final Wild Card spot. The Cyclones are currently favored according to our friends at Stats+, who have them penciled in with an 80.4% chance of making the postseason, while Carolina sits at just 19.4%. If you check in with our other friends though at StatsLab, New York only has a 64%-32% advantage there. The Tobs have the easier remaining strength of schedule (.477 over .494), but the bad news for Carolina is these two teams have already played nine times this season with only a three game series in September left. That series happens to be in New York, and the Tobs are 21-38 on the road this season. Carolina is only 3.5 games back though, so as we all know those percentages can change in a week.
4. Over in the Domestic the Wildcats, Exports, Voodoo, and Clowns are the heavy favorites to make it, with Wilmington being the current lock. The other two teams will come down to Pittsburgh, Hartford, Maine, Pawtucket, Toronto, and Santo Domingo. It appears only Dallas and Syracuse have unfurled their "wait until next year" banners outside the stadium. When you have 10 of the 12 teams in a league still with a playoff shot (and a decent one at that as SDR is the low team at 20%) it makes for a really fun September. SOS from easier to hardest of those other six: Pittsburgh, Pawtucket, Toronto, Hartford, Maine, Santo Domingo. Good luck to all!
5. What's on tap? Some great series this week that will feature: Wilmington at Indy (division leaders in the DL), Denver at Washington (Bats 6-2 in the season series but Bulls have won 4 straight), and Pittsburgh at Hartford (DL Wild Card battle). Streak wise...
Let's Go Streaking
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| Blake Bateman (HAR) has a 18 game hitting streak |
| Greg Thomas (CAL) hit a HR in 3 straight games |
| Jordy Wovchanoff (DEN) has an RBI in 7 straight games |
| Brian Clark (DEN) has converted 22 straight save opportunities |
| Justin Casey (WAS) has won 9 straight decisions |
| Jakob Hilliard (MON) has won 8 straight decisions |
| Charlie Spence (CAL) has won 8 straight decisions |
| Xavier Cook (DAL) has lost 9 straight decisions |
| Mason Norton (PHO) has lost 9 straight decisions |
| Arthur Helman (SDR) has lost 8 straight decisions |
| Jakob Hilliard (MON) hasn't lost in 19 straight starts |
Weekly Milestones
1B Larry Collier (SDR), 29 yo, reached 500 hits
1B Quinton Brown (CAR), 29 yo, reached 500 hits
3B Trevor Master (SEA), 23 yo, reached 250 hits
C Khaleen Romero (PAW), 28 yo, reached 250 hits
LF Henry Keddie (WAS), 22 yo, reached 100 hits
SS Jim Jimenez (WIL), 23 yo, reached 100 hits
RF Steve bin Hakim (TOR), 22 yo, hit his first home run
SS Gage Hay (PAW), 37 yo, reached 800 extra base hits
P Oscar Dudzik (NYC), 30 yo, reached 100 wins
P Ron Thomas (WIL), 30 yo, reached 75 wins
P Kurtis McClellan (PIT), 29 yo, reached 50 wins
P Billy Zook (IND), 26 yo, reached 50 wins
P Zack Fleming (WIL), 32 yo, reached 2000 strikeouts
P Tucker Key (PAW), 29 yo, reached 1000 strikeouts
P Solomon Dockery (LAD), 24 yo, reached 250 strikeouts
P Charles Young (NO), 30 yo, reached 250 strikeouts
Who's Hot / Who's Not
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Stat of the Week
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| Highest Runs Scored/Runs Allowed Combination Relative To League (Top 25 Teams, SD is number of standard deviations better than league average) |
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