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07/13/2065
Montreal and Baltimore were the cream of the crop as they both went 5-1 last week. The Exports are 48-43, yet find themselves in fifth place in the Lager. They do have a four game lead on the Millers though for the final spot in the DL Wild Card race. The Bulldogs meanwhile are suddenly only nine games back in the Stout, and 6.5 back in the Wild Card race. It's been a down season for them, but somehow they are staying afloat. Meanwhile Pawtucket, Pittsburgh, Windy City, Philly, and Batavia all went 4-2, with every single one of those teams still in it. On the other side Syracuse went 1-5 to now tie the Roadrunners for the worst record in the league. The Snappers went 8-19 in June, and are now 3-8 in July. The dog days of summer indeed.
Power Rankings
1) Hartford Whalers (123.4, o)
2) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (111.6, o)
3) Dallas Drillers (106.7, +)
4) Windy City Blues (106.7, ++)
5) Los Angeles Dinos (106.7, -)
6) Batavia Muckdogs (104.0, o)
7) Seattle Pilots (101.1, o)
8) Montreal Exports (100.9, ++)
9) Wilmington Wildcats (100.2, --)
10) Philadelphia Freedom (97.9, +)
11) New Orleans Voodoo (96.9, -)
12) Pittsburgh Millers (92.1, ++)
13) California Kodiaks (88.9, --)
14) Denver Bulls (86.1, o)
15) Indianapolis Clowns (86.1, ++)
16) Carolina Tobs (86.0, --)
17) Baltimore Bulldogs (85.2, +)
18) Toronto Canadians (82.2, -)
19) Washington Bats (81.2, --)
20) Pawtucket Patriots (76.2, o)
21) Maine Guides (65.3, +)
22) New York Cyclones (64.3, +)
23) Syracuse Snappers (58.4, -)
24) Phoenix Roadrunners (57.4, -)
Performance of the Week
LF Marcus Trask - The second straight week with a new top performance, this time as Trask lit up Maine on July 6th. With the highest game score we've seen in quite some time (131), Trask hit three home runs, plated eight, and scored four times as Windy City won 12-0. The second round pick from 2057 can't field, can't run, and isn't very social, but he can put the ball in play and will rarely strike out. This season he's hitting .304 with 18 HR, 54 RBI and a 133 OPS+.
Prospect of the Week
P Jeremy Tierno - Drafted 159th overall by the Bats in 2062 this is the type of player Washington expects to become a multiple time All-Star while the rest of the league (especially on the west coast) weeps. Well so far in the Rookie League this season he's 10-0 with a 1.65 ERA, 0.70 WHIP, and 266 ERA+. He doesn't have the stamina to really start, has only an average fastball, and can't really strike anyone out, but his control has the chance to be top of the line. He's only 20 so only time will tell where he ends up.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. It's All-Star week as the Import and Domestic square off. Looking at the votes, it appears we may have some first time All-Stars as 2B Corey Hughes (WIL), SP Brad Zook (MON), RP Brady D'Ambra (WIL), 2B Alexander Charter (PHI), 3B Dave Christal (CAR), LF Alec Echard (WAS), DH Zachariah White (DEN), and SP Solomon Dockery (LAD) lead all in votes for their respective positions. Also keep an eye out for the Home Run Derby on Monday night where SDR slugger Isaac Rampone looks to take home the trophy. He leads the entire league with 35 right now and is on pace to hit 62 on the season. The 25-year-old is having his best season to date as he's hitting .311/.366/.695/1.061 with 81 RBI and a 176 OPS+.
2. Parker Lee recorded his 2000th hit this past week, which seemed low to us for the 15-year veteran and 10x All-Star. We suppose the lifetime .260 hitter isn't known for his contact, but where the ball goes after he makes contact, which is out of the park. The 6x Designated Driver at first base, and 3x champion with the Bats has 578 career home runs, which is seventh all-time. At almost 35 years old he's slowing down but still on pace for 33 this season, which would put in a tie for fifth with Johnny 'Big Stick' Swope. The 63-year-old Swope was a 5x Stout Slugger who was inducted into the BLB Hall of Fame in 2048. Back to Lee though. If he plays another season or two he could easily end up second all-time, only trailing Robert 'Stretch' Jessee and his 696 career home runs. If he plays another five seasons he might go by "Stretch" as well.
3. New York, Maine, Syracuse, and Phoenix look to be the odd teams out for the postseason before we reach the All-Star break this season. From our friends at Stats+ three of the four sit at 0.00%, while the Cyclones sit at 0.01%. Considering New York is 6-32 since June 1st, that just shows how crazy that implosion was to actually not be at zero. On the other end of the spectrum only Hartford sits at 100%. Windy City is at 99.8%, Dallas is at 99.7%, and Santo Domingo is at 98.8%, so we'll give them the benefit of the doubt. The battle for the number one pick is still led by the Roadrunners at 43.3%, but Syracuse is moving up quick as they now come in at 36.3%. The outside shot is Maine at 13.4%.
4. It's been quite the revival for Troy 'Rat' Cooper in Hartford this season. The 31-year-old was a first-round pick in 2051 by the then Wilmington Clowns. He broke into the league in 2056, where he went 14-5 with a 3.71 ERA and helped the Clowns win the BLB championship. He started for six more seasons in Indy, where he was 75-58 with a 3.86 ERA but never an All-Star. In 2062 he was traded to Pawtucket during the season, became a free agent after, and Hartford signed him to a $110m deal that off-season. Things quickly went downhill, and last season he was 10-10 with a 6.03 ERA while making $27m. No one knew what to expect this season when it was announced 'Rat' was moving to the closer role. Well so far in 41 games he's 2-4 with 31 saves and a 2.77 ERA. He also has an outside shot to break the single season saves record of 57 held Marco Rosaro. For those that don't remember, the 9x All-Star and 5x Last Call winner only played in the league nine seasons, so that's a pretty good All-Star to season ratio. Back to Cooper though (common theme). We will say that $27m is a bit much to pay a closer, but the Whalers have a 15-game lead in the Ale and the number one ranked bullpen by ERA in the Domestic, so if you can afford it then why not.
5. What's on tap? Well, it's a short week as everyone only plays three then gets a nice break. Still there are some great series though as seen below. Can Batavia put more space between them and Carolina in the Bock? Can Windy City do the same to the Dinos? Will California finally start playing winning baseball since we picked them to win it all?
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Streaking
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| Montreal hosts Santo Domingo on a 4-game win streak |
| Washington hosts New York on a 4-game losing streak |
| Justin Reaves (HAR) has a 18 game hitting streak |
| Levi Backman (BAL) has converted 16 straight save opportunities |
| James Forbes (LAD) has converted 11 straight save opportunities |
| Derian Romary (HAR) has won 8 straight decisions |
| Deondre Ivy (MAI) has lost 9 straight decisions |
| Erick Greenway (PHO) has lost 8 straight decisions |
| Derian Romary (HAR) hasn't lost in 14 straight starts |
| Rice Cochell (SDR) hasn't lost in 10 straight starts |
Who's Hot
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Stat of the Week
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| Lowest Ratio of Walks to Hit Batsmen (Top 25 Players, Minimum 10 Career HP) |
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