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07/14/2064
The Voodoo and Dinos each go 6-0 last week to go shooting up the Power Rankings and the standings. New Orleans is now second in the Lager (8 games back from Wilmington), while LAD has overtaken the Stout lead by a game. We put way too much bad juju on the Blues when we anointed them after a 22-7 May, and they are 22-18 since. Our bad guys. Throw in Pawtucket who went 5-1 and there were a more than a few happy fans this week. One of the not so happy franchises was Batavia who went 0-6 and saw their playoff odds plummet to 3.6%. Three more pits of despair would be Dallas, Montreal, and Baltimore who all went 1-5. It isn't that bad though as the Drillers and Exports are still over .500, and Baltimore is just a game under.
Power Rankings
1) Washington Bats (123.6, o)
2) Los Angeles Dinos (120.7, ++)
3) Wilmington Wildcats (120.7, -)
4) New Orleans Voodoo (108.8, ++)
5) California Kodiaks (108.6, -)
6) Windy City Blues (107.7, -)
7) Carolina Tobs (103.8, +)
8) Hartford Whalers (99.8, ++)
9) New York Cyclones (98.9, -)
10) Pittsburgh Millers (97.9, --)
11) Pawtucket Patriots (95.9, ++)
12) Toronto Canadians (95.0, +)
13) Indianapolis Clowns (93.9, ++)
14) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (89.9, +)
15) Montreal Exports (89.9, --)
16) Dallas Drillers (86.9, --)
17) Baltimore Bulldogs (83.9, --)
18) Batavia Muckdogs (67.2, -)
19) Denver Bulls (65.3, o)
20) Syracuse Snappers (63.1, +)
21) Seattle Pilots (62.3, o)
22) Philadelphia Freedom (59.9, -)
23) Phoenix Roadrunners (59.6, o)
24) Maine Guides (54.7, o)
Performance of the Week
P Allan Allen - The ninth round pick is now in his 10th straight season with the Patriots and still going strong. This past week the 31 year old shut down the Pilots with a 7.1 inning, two hit, no run, 10 K performance where the Patriots won 7-0. He's now 8-6 with a 3.86 ERA on the season.
Prospect of the Week
1B Julian Davis - Drafted last month in the second round by the Voodoo, Davis is already the 19th best prospect in the land thanks to his "plus-plus power potential" that scouts are raving about. In four seasons at Cal State he hit 39 home runs while putting up a .606 slugging percentage. So far in just 23 Rookie League games he's already smacked seven home runs. At just 20 years old he's currently projected to be in the BLB by 2066.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. It's All-Star week in the BLB, and the Import playoff race is down to New York and Baltimore apparently. With the Dinos, Kodiaks, Blues, Bats, and Tobs having five of the top six records in the league, there is only room for one more postseason club. Currently New York has an 82% chance of making the playoffs, Baltimore is at 17.6%, Batavia is a 3.6%, and Denver is at 1.2%. In the Domestic it appears the Wildcats are the only lock to make the postseason, with Hartford and New Orleans the only two other teams with an 80+% probability according to our friends at Stats+. When you have eight teams within six games it's going to be a fun ride.
2. Carolina has swiped 186 bases this season, and their wSB of +7.15 is tops in the league at the moment. A big reason for that number though is also that they are second in walks with 327, trailing only Washington. The Bats meanwhile have a -0.39 wSB, but post a league high +9.26 UBR, almost six points higher than second place. In fact only seven teams post a positive UBR, with Maine coming in last at -10.43.
3. Look at the 'Amazing Ale' which now has four teams with winning records. This was the division that a few years ago had one team with a winning record at the end of the season. Now there are just winners everywhere. What's helped is the downfall of Maine. The Guides have the worst record in baseball and are 8-22 against their Ale foes. Considering each division plays 12 games against each divisional foe, and there are still a lot of chances for Hartford, Indy, Pittsburgh, and Pawtucket to pad those wins.
4. Two teams with a winning record, Pawtucket (-3) and New York (-22) have a negative run differential. Meanwhile only one team with a losing record, Santo Domingo (+8), has a positive run differential. On the PYT side the poor Bulls are -6 and Hartford is -5, while Wilmington is +7 and NYC is +5.
5. What's on tap...it's a short week due to the All-Star game but here are the noteworthy series.
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Streaks
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| Devyn Glover (MON) has a 14 game hitting streak |
| Fred Etheridge (NYC) has a 14 game hitting streak |
| Jim Mjima (NYC) hit a HR in 3 straight games |
| Logan Osborne (CAL) has converted 22 straight save opportunities |
| Liam Polyak (PHI) has lost 8 straight decisions |
| Turk Zander (MAI) has lost 8 straight decisions |
| Jerry Cook (DEN) hasn't lost in 11 straight starts |
| Rich Mount (TOR) hasn't lost in 10 straight starts |
Who's Hot
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Stat of the Week
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| Highest Percentage of Hits As Home Runs (Top 25 Players, Minimum 200 career hits) |
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