Tweet
05/11/2065
We had to check with the league to make sure this was the correct Hartford logo we had in our files, because we haven't seen this in a long time. What's interesting is that four teams put up better records than the 5-2 Whalers, but Hartford swept the reigning champion Wildcats and shot to the top of the list. Some of those better records: LAD rebounded by going 5-1, New York and Batavia went 6-1, and the Santo Domingo Rum Runners went 6-0. Let me get this straight, the league brought in two new GM's for SDR and Seattle and they are both 21-12 and leading their divisions? Talk about making everyone else look bad. On the other side of life Phoenix went 1-6 while Carolina went 1-5.
Power Rankings
1) Hartford Whalers (133.8, +)
2) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (126.5, ++)
3) Windy City Blues (117.2, ++)
4) New York Cyclones (116.1, ++)
5) Seattle Pilots (111.5, -)
6) Dallas Drillers (109.9, -)
7) Batavia Muckdogs (108.3, ++)
8) Los Angeles Dinos (105.7, ++)
9) Carolina Tobs (104.9, --)
10) Denver Bulls (104.1, ++)
11) Montreal Exports (99.6, --)
12) Maine Guides (89.0, +)
13) New Orleans Voodoo (88.0, ++)
14) Philadelphia Freedom (88.0, --)
15) California Kodiaks (86.4, --)
16) Pawtucket Patriots (81.4, -)
17) Toronto Canadians (81.3, o)
18) Wilmington Wildcats (75.9, --)
19) Pittsburgh Millers (69.2, -)
20) Washington Bats (66.2, o)
21) Syracuse Snappers (58.5, o)
22) Baltimore Bulldogs (55.9, o)
23) Indianapolis Clowns (54.9, o)
24) Phoenix Roadrunners (30.4, o)
Performance of the Week
3B Dave Christal - The 24 year old Christal was a first round pick in 2058, and is already in his third full season with the Tobs. This past week against LAD he turned in the top performance of the season when he had four hits, two of which were home runs, drove in five, and scored four times as Carolina won 7-2. Early in the game, Christal had a 2-run home run for Carolina. It was his 4th home run of the season and put the Tobs on top, 2-0. "I thought we played some darn good baseball," said Tobs manager Edwin Cantu after the game.
Prospect of the Week
P Evan Rusiecki - We're onto the 2066 draft, where Rusiecki could be the first overall pick. At just 19 years old scouts are already raving, with one for the OSA saying he "may be in conversations for best pitcher in the game someday." Considering he already throws 96 mph and has the potential to throw four, yes four, high quality pitches...well we agree. The Roadrunners might have found another Derek Bell.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Bad, bad Levi Brown, he's the baddest man in the whole damn town. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't, but Brown has turned into arguably the best pitcher in the league. A few days ago against Washington he pitched a two-hit shutout where he walked one, and struck out 10 as Denver dominated the Bats 12-0. The former fourth round pick also racked up his 3,000th career strikeout, making the 4x All-Star and 2062 BLB Champion the 34th player in the history of the league to do so. The 33 year old is now 5-1 with a 2.64 ERA and is the front runner in the early Pale Ale race.
2. Washington and Wilmington, who played in the last two Brewmaster Cups, are a combined 29-38. Do we think their season is over, far from it, but it's not what anyone expected. To be fair to them, and everyone else, there seems to be a lot of parity this season. Over half the teams have between 15-20 wins, and only four teams in the league have less than twelve (Syracuse, Indy, Baltimore, Phoenix). Accordingly to our friends at Stats+, everyone still has a chance for the playoffs. Even the Roadrunners come in at 0.1%, which we find hard to believe, but hey stranger things have happened.
3. Want to talk about stranger things...New York has gone from 0-7 to 20-13 and leading the Stout. What's even stranger still is they are still dead last in the league in zone rating, and by dead last we mean a whopping 28.25 points behind first place Denver. (Insert shocked face emoji). What happened to pitching and defense? Apparently the Cyclones don't care, as they are tied for first overall in the league in runs scored (with Philly of all teams (insert shocked emoji face)). Meanwhile they are 10th in runs allowed but have still put up a +24 run differential. Currently Grady Williams is killing them at shortstop (-6.9 ZR), and he's not adding much offensively (.274, 2 HR, 11 RBI), while Danrad Orozco is killing them even more in center (-4.9 ZR). Last season Orozco put up a -24.9 ZR out there, including one game where he got confused and wore his glove on the wrong hand. If the GM finds some defense up the middle this team has a solid shot to win it all.
4. Indy won 84 games in 2063, and 93 games last season. Many thought it was their year. Yet here the Clowns sit at 11-21, and 11 games back in the Ale. That's not good. What's worse is that the Lager will probably send four, or even five teams to the playoffs. Therefore from using our fingers and toes, the Ale will send at best two teams to the postseason. Looking at the stats it's not hard to see where Indy can improve. They are last in the the Domestic in average, OBP, SLG, hits, and runs scored. They are also last in starters ERA and home runs allowed. Their -43 RD is last in the league (sorry Phoenix you're an outlier now), and we don't know how it's going to get better. The elephant in the room is that legendary hitting coach R.J. McGlashing retired after last season, and the Clowns signed Dawson 'Wedge' Davis as his replacement. The 2x Stout Slugger and 6x All-Star is "having a hard time adjusting to today's players" accordingly to one source inside the locker room. How it plays out we're not sure, but something needs to be done, and done fast.
5. What's on tap? We're back to interleague as the Domestic and Import do battle.
.
| 3 games starting with: | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| 3 games starting with: | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| 3 games starting with: | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| 3 games starting with: | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| 3 games starting with: | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Streaking
.
| Wayne Bair (DEN) scored in 7 straight games |
| Nic McClelland (SEA) has converted 11 straight save opportunities |
Who's Hot
.
| Hot Batters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| Hot Pitchers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Stat of the Week
.
| Largest Single Season Increase In Home Runs (Top 25 Players, Maximum 100% Increase In Games Played) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|