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08/10/2065
California went over to the Domestic, swept Hartford and New Orleans, and went from seventh to first in the power rankings. Yikes! How that's possible when you are fourth in your own division and have the eighth best winning percentage in the league, we don't know. Some teams just get all the breaks. What's crazy is they only scored 17 total runs and still outscored their opponents by 10. The Kodiaks have now won 10 straight and are sitting nicely in the third Wild Cart spot. Other top weeks were had by Pawtucket, Wilmington, Montreal, and Syracuse, who all went 5-1. Does Pawtucket still have a little life? Does Syracuse not understand how to tank? On the other side of life Baltimore went 0-6 as their GM decided to take a mid-season trip to Thailand. Maybe he's looking for some hitting prospects since the Bulldogs are last in the Import in runs scored.
Power Rankings
1) California Kodiaks (117.9, ++)
2) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (111.0, -)
3) Wilmington Wildcats (110.9, +)
4) Los Angeles Dinos (108.1, o)
5) Dallas Drillers (104.7, --)
6) Hartford Whalers (104.1, --)
7) Montreal Exports (101.2, ++)
8) Carolina Tobs (96.7, ++)
9) Windy City Blues (95.5, --)
10) Washington Bats (95.3, +)
11) Indianapolis Clowns (91.7, ++)
12) New Orleans Voodoo (91.7, --)
13) Denver Bulls (91.4, --)
14) Seattle Pilots (90.0, --)
15) Pawtucket Patriots (87.8, +)
16) Pittsburgh Millers (87.7, -)
17) Batavia Muckdogs (84.1, +)
18) Philadelphia Freedom (83.4, o)
19) Syracuse Snappers (78.6, +)
20) Toronto Canadians (76.5, o)
21) Baltimore Bulldogs (72.5, --)
22) New York Cyclones (66.6, +)
23) Maine Guides (60.6, +)
24) Phoenix Roadrunners (57.1, -)
Performance of the Week
P Allan 'Alan' Allen - The 32 year old hurler had what he later called "one of the best moments of my life," tossing a no-hitter and leading the Patriots to a 1-0 victory over the Pilots. "This is something special," Allen said. "I knew from the fifth inning that I had a no-hitter working. I tried to get it out of my mind, but you just can't. They have too many scoreboards in the park. They're everywhere you look." The right-hander faced only 28 batters in the no-hit gem, struck out 7 and walked 1. "We simply couldn't get any wood on the ball," Seattle manager Masuho Ogawa said when asked about the epic performance. "Allen was brilliant out there. He certainly had our number." On the season he's now 9-8 with a 2.98 ERA.
Prospect of the Week
2B Kaden Heck - The old man has been in the minors for eight seasons now, but the 24 year old Heck is finally at AAA. He's spent most of his time in the field at short stop, but he projects to play second or third in the majors. This season in 56 games he's hitting .327/.393/.659 with 20 HR and 48 RBI while putting up a 170 OPS+. His only knock is that he has a hard time staying healthy, but scouts think he's a "future regular player" by the end of this season possibly.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Wilmington just continues to dominate the pitching stats this season, as the Wildcats are first overall in ERA, FIP, OBP, and second in AVG, BB% and K%-BB%. Levi Stephens has also been everything they had hoped for. After improving his secondary pitch this off-season, he is now 14-4 with a 2.58 ERA in only his second year in the BLB. Throw in Carter Byars and Ron Thomas, who each have sub 3.00 ERA's, and who's going to beat that rotation come postseason? The Wildcats are 7-1 this month and the above-mentioned pitchers are 8-0 over their last eight decisions. The playoffs are anyone's guess, but can they make it back to the Brew for a third straight year? One of the reasons the pitching staff is so good is because of catcher Chandler Frazee. He is the premier catcher in the league when it comes to blocking, framing, and arm strength. His catcher ERA of 3.24 is the lowest in the league for anyone who has played over 40 games. He's also saved almost six runs over those 72 games thanks to framing, and he's tops in the league with a 36.1 RTO%. There is nothing as critical than defense up the middle, starting with behind the plate.
2. California by month: 11-12, 15-14, 15-13, 13-13, 8-0. At least the 'remodeling' of the GM's office is over...for now. Their main problem is when they hit the ball, it's just not dropping. In the league they are 20th in hits and 22nd in average, but the bigger stat might be that they are 22nd in BABIP (.264). One of the main factors (besides bad luck), is that they play in a stadium that is known for pitching. Only New Orleans, Windy City, and New York have ballparks more disadvantageous to hitters than the Kodiaks. To be fair it's skewed against lefties, but it all comes into play. Just look at Montreal. In the second friendliest hitters park, they lead the league with a .308 BABIP and are first in the entire league in hits. You know what team last season was the only one with a BABIP above .300? The Exports at .322. Maybe they don't hit a lot of home runs because they're too busy getting singles, doubles, and triples.
3. Micah Lumsden continues to be hot, hot, hot for the Rum Runners. In his last seven games he's hit seven home runs, and is now all alone in second place with 35 behind teammate Isaac Rampone who has 37. Lumsden was picked 23rd overall in 2059, while Rampone was picked 4th overall in 2060. Their first round pick from 2058 is starting first basemen Garrett Paul, who's hit 33 home runs and is tied for 3rd in the league. It's no wonder Santo Domingo leads the Domestic with 188 home runs, and only trails Philly for the league lead by five. This goes back to what Hartford has done that we talked about in an earlier DK. When you've added 11 WAR (with 50+ games left to play) by drafting three straight first round mashers, well that is a recipe for success.
4. Seattle is floundering this month with a 1-7 record that puts them just half a game ahead of California in the second Wild Card spot. After trading away Zachariah White and Andy Wulfeck to Denver, then relievers R.J. 'Sooner' Gabriele and Nic 'Monument' McClelland to SDR and Hartford respectively, it might finally be catching up to them. The good news is they still have an 83% chance of making the postseason according to our friends at Stats+, even with the toughest opponents’ strength of schedule down the stretch. The Pilots went for years on "auto-Pilot", and the roster desperately needed a turnover. Facing a handful of players going to free agency, and not much youth, they got some good returns and freed up some money. Can they hold on to make it back to the postseason for the first time since 2061? After all the franchise has been through recently, we'll be pulling for them.
5. What's on tap? We're back to some great divisional series to start the week, and some great league games to close it. How about Hartford at Wilmington playing four to end the week? The Wildcats are hot, but Hartford has a 6-1 advantage this season where the Whalers have outscored them by 14 runs. Considering 10 of them were in an 18-8 beat-down on May 7th though, numbers can be deceiving.
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Streaking
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| California visits Phoenix on a 10-game win streak |
| Baltimore hosts New York on a 6-game losing streak |
| Wade Cummins (BAT) has a 12 game hitting streak |
| Micah Lumsden (SDR) hit a HR in 3 straight games |
| Troy Cooper (HAR) has converted 13 straight save opportunities |
| Brian Clark (NO) has converted 13 straight save opportunities |
| Gerald Tura (BAT) has converted 11 straight save opportunities |
| Rice Cochell (SDR) has won 9 straight decisions |
| Jonah Gower (LAD) has won 8 straight decisions |
| Deondre Ivy (MAI) has lost 12 straight decisions |
| Jason Decker (MAI) has lost 9 straight decisions |
| Alex Landrum (NYC) has lost 9 straight decisions |
| Erick Greenway (PAW) has lost 8 straight decisions |
| Rice Cochell (SDR) hasn't lost in 14 straight starts |
| Zane Rich (CAL) hasn't lost in 11 straight starts |
Who's Hot
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Stat of the Week
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| Most Wins in Debut Season (Top 25 Players, Inaugural Season Ignored) |
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