Division 1
The D1 East race is shaping up to be a good one between Brooklyn and New York, with Chicago far from out of it as we approach the end of May. The Giants end the week up by one over Brooklyn, going 5-2. Some signs of offensive awakening from the club, as Jose Cruz, Alex Parga, Dan Morris, and Matt Wood all hit well over the seven games, but the real value came from the starters: Jon Sayre, Willie Rodriguez, and Jose Estrada pitched a total of 35 innings over 4 games, allowing just 7 runs overall while striking out 34. Brooklyn, meanwhile, had a difficult week at 2-5, suffering a sweep at the hands of the Industriales before losing 2 of 3 to LA. That’s despite great starts by Jason Blanche and Steve Honsey, and another good stretch by Carson Prince. Chicago’s 4-2 week, meanwhile, was the product of rookie Robby Towne, one of a few strong Rookie of the Year contenders, and SP Armando Orozco, who made two great starts despite taking a tough luck loss in one. Chicago is inching up the standings, but remains below .500 on the season. Toronto and Tampa Bay are 20-26, five games out, and Philly continues to take up the rear, though a good run could put any of these teams right in it.
Los Angeles pulled another run up on the Conference this week, going 5-2 while finishing up a sweep of the Bears. Brian Weisman continued to wreck the ball: the best rookie in D1 is now hitting .338/.372/.623 with ten homers, at 23, while playing eye-opening defense in center. Ryan Haymes continues to lead D1 in average though his has slipped to .371, and Doug Kluz is continuing his late-career renaissance with an outstanding early season. Monterrey is now two back at 28-18, and swept Brooklyn this week, winning the finale on two solo shots in the top of the 11th. El Paso, meanwhile, surged this week with a 6-1 run behind Player of the Week Brian Castrovinci, who hit six homers over seven games while driving in about a third of the runs his team scored in that stretch. Seattle, meanwhile, has broken that 11 game losing streak, and is now tied with Tijuana and Denver at 20-26.
Player of the Week: Brian Castrovinci, 1B, ELP: .385/.467/.1.115, 6 HR, 6 R, 13 RBI
Top Hitters:
Zach Breland, C, TOR: .375/.450/.1.125, 4 HR, 5 R, 9 RBI
Nate Madden, 1B, TMP: .444/.444/.926, 3 HR, 4 2B, 5 R, 7 RBI
Brian Weisman, CF, LAA: .440/.481/.880, 3 HR, 5 R, 6 RBI
Top Pitchers:
Steve Honsey, SP, BRO: 15.2 IP, 0.57 ERA, 1.40 FIP, 19 K
Armando Orozco, SO, CHI: 15 IP, 1.20 ERA, 1.58 FIP, 17 K
Nick Book, SP, LAA: 16.1 IP, 0.55 ERA, 1.78 FIP, 18 K
League News- Brian Gilman has gotten off to a tough start this year, it’s gotten tougher as the Angels LF will spend the next few weeks on the IL after bruising a kneecap, the Angels announced on Wednesday. Gilman suffered the injury in Sunday’s game against Denver. Young star Jon Segura will shift to left and Jake Baldwin will fill the hole in right.
- Following a two-run homer in the first off Chris Alfred, Jr., the Athletics hurler threw a couple fastballs inside to Bobby Melendez, eliciting stares. So when a curve broke bad on a full-count pitch, Melendez ran to the mound instead of to first, and benches cleared, leading to suspensions for both players. Melendez will sit three games, and Alfred 6.
Division 2
The Baltimore Terrapins took two of three from the Bees on their way to a 5-2 week and a first place berth in the D2 East. It was an encouraging week for Baltimore’s offense, as Jimmy Stroud won Player of the Week filling in for Wayne Richard, while Omar Juarez had his first great week of the season, hitting .391/.444/.565. Offseason acquisitions Dave Judge and Dustin Jennings were also excellent, as was LF Pat Miller. Eric Cool, meanwhile, has made the transition to the rotation look effortless, with better success in 38 innings in the rotation than he had in 28 from the pen. But Detroit should concern the Pins, as they continue their march up the Conference. Detroit actually has the best expected record in the Conference, and is now 25-21, only a game back of Baltimore. Victor Ortiz and Matt Petrick both smoked the ball this week, helping Detroit go 5-2 with a sweep of the D2 West-leading Buffaloes. Boston hit the ball well too, but went just 2-5 despite scoring exactly as many runs as they allowed. Rogelio Ventura continues to have a breakout season. Montreal remains just three games back at 23-23, and welcomed Bubba Fread back with a great scoreless start this week. The Zephyrs and Champions are six and seven games back respectively, though the Champions have played better than their record suggests.
Houston had a tough week, and slipped a bit, though they remain in charge of the West three games up on Vancouver, with the NABF’s best record at 31-15. The Buffaloes were hardly bad, going 4-3 despite a sweep at the hands of Detroit, and Bill Tucker continued to mash. Aaron Ferguson is still struggling, and may see his playing time reduced with Houston in the middle of a pennant race. And Vancouver is really making it a pennant race, as they didn’t lose this week while extending a streak to eight games. They’ve outscored opponents 42-12 over the run, holding opponents to just a run and a half per game while Sonny Scoggins, Leo Rodriguez, and RF Greg Cousino provided the offense. The rest of the Conference is increasingly irrelevant here, as third place Sacramento is already 10 games out with a 21-25 record, and Kansas City, San Diego, and Ft. Worth at the bottom.
Player of the Week: Jimmy Stroud, CF, BAL: .577/.645/.846, 5 2B, 6 R, 6 RBI
Top Hitters:
Aaron Felton, RF, DETL .353/.400/1.100, 4 HR, 4 R, 10 RBI
Lorenzo Tapia, 1B, FTW: .458/.500/.917, 2 HR, 3 R, 9 RBI
Bill Tucker, RF, HOU: .381/.480/.810, 2 HR, 5 R, 9 RBI
Top Pitchers:
Steve Shelton, SP, KCR: 18 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.57 FIP, 14 K
Jorge Ortiz, SP, BOS: 16.1 IP, 1.10 ERA, 2.09 FIP, 21 K
Rhett Frew, SP, KCR: 8 IP, 1.12 ERA, 1.38 FIP, 15 K
League News- A huge bench clearing brawl following Sunday’s ugly head-hunting pitch by Boston starter Pat Watkins has ended in an eight game suspension for Watkins and a four gamer for the Cats’ Jalen Bynum, who charged the mound after taking a ball high off his shoulder.
- The Monarchs’ Rhett Frew struck out a D2 season-best 15 Ottawa Champions in a 3-1 win on the road Wednesday. Frew has struggled over the first couple months, but this game is a sign the Aussie star may be righting the ship.
- Leo Rodriguez’s 20 game hit streak came to an end Sunday against Ottawa. Over the streak, Rodriguez hit four of his six season homers and raised his average to .315.
Division 3
Nashville continued building their lead this week, winning seven in a row to push their record to 30-16, tied for second best in the NABF. The week wasn’t as dominant as the record looks, as the Sounds won four of those games by a single run and two more by two, but they count just the same in the standings. Scott Glendenning, despite another bad start from the rotation, crushed the ball from the plate; meanwhile Mario Guzman had his best start in years, as the Sounds beat Salt Lake 1-0 behind his 8 inning, two-hit game. Columbus kept winning too, going 5-2 despite losing ground, and has to be considered a real contender at this point despite their last place finish last year. Ricky Ponce is mashing again, on pace for 50 homers, and Phil Osborne is adding a bounceback year to a borderline Hall of Fame career. After Columbus, Cleveland and Miami are both even at 23-23, with Atlanta slipping a bit this week. Memphis is now 13 games back without any sign of a recovery any time soon.
The D3 West is once again shaping up to be a wild division, as St. Paul stays at the top of a pile that includes four teams within three games of first. St. Paul has dramatically improved its pitching this year despite no major changes, as the entire staff has allowed just under 3.4 runs per game. John McNayr is an early Pitcher of the Year contender, and Jerry Dudek may not be far behind. Austin, too, has had some strong contribution from a better-than-expected rotation led by Masahiro Nakanishi, while Chris Parker has returned from last year’s season-ending injury to hold his own. But the Pioneers did receive some devastating news this week with the loss of Jonathan Becker, who will miss potentially the entire rest of the season with shoulder inflammation; Becker was having the year of his life with a .383 average and 12 homers, a huge factor in Austin’s offense. Calgary’s turnaround season has kept them in striking distance too, just two games back of St. Paul with the Division’s best offense, both overall and in most major categories. Salt Lake is three games back, with San Francisco trailing by six and Portland by seven.
Player of the Week: Ian Farmer, 1B, SFS: .345/.367/1.000, 6 HR, 7 R, 12 RBI
Top Hitters:
Judah Avila, 3B, CLE: .440/.500/.800, 3 HR, 3 R, 6 RBI
Adrian Leonetti, 3B, AUS: .364/.391/.909, 3 HR, 5 R, 5 RBI
Sam Stanton, DH, ATL: .357/.419/.714, 3 HR, 4 R, 6 RBI
Top Pitchers:
Jacob Bergman, SP, SLC: 15 IP, 1.20 ERA, 1.54 FIP, 17 K, 1 W
Ryan Lako, SP, MIA: 9 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.56 FIP, 11 K, 1 W
Mario Guzman, NSH, 8 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.76 FIP, 9 K, 2 HA, 1 W
Division 4
A 5-2 week kept Pittsburgh on top of the D4 East, as the Crawfords closed out a series with the Hornets with a win then took two of three from both the Firebirds and the Tigers. Pittsburgh pitching has been unreal, with Matt Hahn stepping up this week alongside Karunamaya Nema and Joel Ortiz; Pittsburgh is down to a remarkable three runs per game average, a pace that would set the D4 runs allowed record and approach the all-time NABF record, shared by the 2014 Seattle Pilots and 2009 Detroit Stars (460). Consequently, their +79 run differential is the best in the Federation at the end of Week 7. But if the Crawfords have the best rotation and pitching staff in the Division, the second place Clowns are close behind, with a 3.60 team FIP, third in runs allowed. Greg Smith was among the Division’s best last season, and appears to be equaling that effort in 2039, while Jason Stanfill is having a career-year type of start. If the club can get Aaron Cottrell firing again and keep Nate Mefford in shape, they could challenge Pittsburgh in run prevention, if not in run production. The Hornets and Tigers are both 23-23, but the Tigers are playing below their ability at +37 runs, the second best total in the Division. Havana and Washington are sinking fast, and it’s unclear which will wind up in last though it’s clear one of them will. That’s despite amazing weeks by Senator corner bats Trent Robinson and Ryan Zecca, the latter of whom won Player of the Week this week. As for Havana, there are rumblings that the club, which has experienced just one winning season in the last 20 years, could jump ship to the regional Caribbean League in favor of the Canadian Baseball League powerhouse Buffalo Bison at season’s end…
In the West, the fall has finally come for Las Vegas, as they drop to second following a 3-4 week. Instead, the top spot now belongs to San Antonio, who were 6-1 in Week 7 behind strong hitting from Sukehiro Sakamoto and Morgan Teeple. San Antonio is hardly a powerhouse, but is now the only D4W team with a positive run differential at +29. Ironically, the club they supplanted has the worst at -13. Vegas was always playing with house money, and may now be about to fold completely. After Vegas, the Conference gets weird quick. Both 30-16 San Antonio and 27-29 Vegas are playing way above their expected records, and the bottom three clubs in the Conference - St. Louis, Phoenix, and Milwaukee - are all playing below theirs, but Albuquerque is right on target at 23-23 as DJ Moskowitz holds on to his .366 BA. Albuquerque has the Division’s best offense, but nearly its most runs allowed, as the bullpen has utterly fallen apart. This Conference is tough to predict given the weaknesses across the board; even the last place team has only been outscored by 12 runs on the season and could make a run.
Player of the Week: Ryan Zecca, 3B, WAS: .444/.464/1.111, 6 HR, 6 R, 8 RBI
Top Hitters:
Trent Robinson, 1B, WAS: .444/.524/1.000, 3 HR, 4 R, 5 RBI
Paul Sallet, 1B, ALB: .385/.407/.923, 4 HR, 5 R, 8 RBI
Jason McCollum, 1B, CHR: .448/.448/.759, 2 HR, 5 R, 6 RBI
Top Pitchers:
Matt Hahn, SP, PIT: 9 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.90 FIP, 11 K
Jason Stanfill, SP, IND: 15.2 IP, 1.15 ERA, 2.51 FIP, 14 K
Ryan Patton, SP, CIN: 15.2 IP, 1.15 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 11 K
League News- Washington’s Trent Robinson’s three homer game doubled his season total, but couldn’t help his Senators defeat St. Louis today. Robinson’s homers drove in five of Washington’s seven runs.