[ayaghmour2]

April 18th, 2019: Big injury, as Reynaldo Lopez will be out for the year with shoulder inflammation. It'll take about 7 months of recovery for the 25-year-old, and hopefully he can bounce back. He's got a lot of talent, but this is a big injury. I wanted to call up Adam Conley, but Jeremy Garbyszwski (this is a hard one to spell), was the only 40-man member who could start tommorow, Lopez's turn in the rotation. The former 2nd rounder back in 2011 by the Blue Jays, Gab (easy nickname), isn't much more then a spot starter, but last year in AAA he was 5-2 in 13 starts with New Orleands and Tacoma. We acquired him in the 4 player package for Lane Adams.

A free agent hold out Alex Colome finally signed a 1-year, $2,240,000 contract with the Yankees, much less then he would've expected to recieve.

It's game time! The Giants are in town for four and the Marlins are eager to win. We'd sed Colin McHugh (2-0, 1.29 ERA, 0.93 WHIP) to the found. The Giants sent swingman Erasmo Ramirez (0-0, 1.80 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) to open the series.

It wasn't a good way to start the series, as we dropped the opener 5-3. McHugh lasted just 5, allwing 6 hits and 3 runs. He walked 1 and struck out 4. David Phelps was tagged with the loss, allowing 1 run off 2 hits in 2 innings, while adding a strikeout.

Lewis Brinson did his part, 3-for-4 and a homer away from the cycle. He scored once and drove in a run. Ian Kinsler doubled him in during the 6th inning. The struggling Anthony Alford stole a base, scored a run, and picked up a hit, despite striking out twice. Can't dwell on the loss, we have to move on to the next one.

April 19th, 2019: The Yankees also added Trevor Rosenthal on a 1-year, $6,000,000 contract. The hard throwing righty didn't pitch last year, rehabbing an injury. It's another big arm to the back of a strong bullpen. They need all the help they can get at 3-10.

Gab was set to make his MLB debut against Randall Delgado (0-1, 10.50 ERA, 2.33 WHIP). We really, really need to win today. I gave Alford the day off.

Eeek, this was a bad one...

We were shut out 8-0, and only managed 4 hits. Gab didn't even pitch bad, allowing just 3 in 7. Only 5 hits and 2 walks with 4 strikeouts isn't a bad debut. Jake Diekman and Brian Ellington didn't fair as well in their single innings. Diekman allowed 2 and Ellington 3, but it didn't matter since we couldn't score.

Luis Brinson had half our hits, including a double. Miguel Rojas, who I started over Alford, tripled. The final hit was Teoscar Hernandez's single. We're looking like the Marlins of old again.

April 20th, 2019: Jordan Montgomery (2-1, 2.95 ERA, 1.25 WHIP) dueled Madison Bumgarner (1-1, 2.29 ERA, 0.76 WHIP) in a qulaity southpaw match up. I'm hoping the youngster can show MadBum who's boss.

Neither starter pitched well, and the game went 11 innings. Montgomery allowed 4 (3 earned) in 5 innings. He gave up 6 hits, walked 3, but struck out 4. Kevin Chapman and Jerry Blevins allowed a run a piece in the 8th, when we were up 6-4, which tied the game at 6. Closer Brad Brach pitched 2 scorless and Sam Dyson added another of his own. In the bottom of the 11th, the "struggling" Anthony Alford tripled home a run off Derek Law to walk-off winners! Best part of the walk off? It was caused by a Brandon Crawford error.

We had two errors of our own, one for Dyson, the other to 3B Brian Anderson. We managed 13 hits, and Alford lead the way with a brilliant 3-for-6 performance that included a pair of runs scored as well as the winning RBI. Ian Kinsler and Charlie Tilson doubled, while Kinsler drove in 2 to Tilson's 1. Kinsler also signled. Anderson sort of made up for his error that cost Montgomery a run, by going 2-for-5, scoring and driving in a run. Adieny Hechevarria was the only starting position player without a hit.

I may have gotten a little lucky as a quality starter in Zack Wheeler was waived. Only problem was his contract... I had a bit of free space, so I could absrob the $3,320,000 salary he'd command this year, although part was already paid by the Mets. The surprisingly not-fragile Wheeler is 0-1 in 3 starts, but he has a 2.70 ERA and 1.00 WHIP, as well as 24 strike outs in 20 innings.

April 21st, 2019: We looked to manage a split, with Adalberto Mejia (0-1, 6.23 ERA, 1.62 WHIP) took on Jeff Samardzija (1-2, 7.63 ERA, 1.63 WHIP). Not exactly the starting pitching match up as yesterday, but even that wasn't what it was made out to be.

Let's just say Mejia had some unsettled business with his former team. Origionally a Giants farm hand with ace potential, they moved him to the Twins for Eduardo Nunez, and now he made his way to the Marlins. 7.1 innings, 7 hits, 8 strike outs, 0 walks, and 0 runs. Steckenrider finished the 8th with a pair of K's, then Phelps ended the game with a scorless 9th. The former wideout allowed 4 runs in his start, yesterday's loser Derek Law allowed 3 more, and Colton Murray allowed the last run in the 8-0 shutout to finish the series split.

12 hits were spread through every player who had a plate appearence, except the usually productive Teoscar Hernandez. Mejia himself even drove in a run. Lewis Brinson and Ian Kinsler hit homers, while Brian Anderson and Joe Mauer doubled. Tyler Saladino lead the charge with 3 hits, but Charlie Tilson, with 2, was the only other Marlin with more then 1. We did a good job of spreading out the offense, and we're still in 1st place at 10-6, although Philly is just half a game behind.

Braves phenom Ozzie Albies has a 20 game hit streak. The switch hitter is hitting .391 in 15 games this year. Man, I'm jealous of the Braves young talent. Don't get me wrong, Brinson is a great young talent, but I'd kill to have Albeis or Ronald Acuna. And that's who we'd face...

We got on a plane to Atlanta after the game, and were ready for 3 in SunTrust Park to end this long run of games. We'd probably face Luiz Gohara (1-1, 2.37 ERA), Mike Soroka (2-1, 1.37 ERA), and Sean Newcomb (1-1, 1.35 ERA). It's early, but man that looks unhittable.

April 22nd, 2019: Remember former Marlin Jose Urena? Well now he calls Reno home, and is out with shoulder inflmmation for 4-5 months. Still just 27, he's got raw ability, but was outrighted to start the year and no one wanted to waste a roster spot on him.

Power Rankings! We dropped 1 spot to 7th, but man it's weird to be this high. The Dodgers are leading the way at 151.6, while we have just 114.5. The White Sox are in last with just 25. Again, don't know what exactly this means, but I know we didn't even fall to 25 last year. And there were points where we were just downright awful.

Brad Peacock (2-1, 2.55 ERA, 1.08 WHIP) toed the rubber against southpaw Luiz Gohara (1-1, 2.37 ERA, 0.84). The Bravers were known for good young arms, and the Marlins, well, more like medicore journeymen arms. Nothing against Peacock of course, he's a solid arm.

And solid he was, allowing just 1 run in 5 innings, but he took the loss. We didn't manage a single run, and the Braves 3-hit us in a 6-0 shut out. The pen was bad, with Sam Dyson allowing 3 runs, and both Diekman and Ellington allowing runs of their own. I don't even want to talk about the offense, especially considering one of the hits was Peacock himself...

April 23rd, 2019: Please welcome, the newest member of the Miami Marlins, Zack Wheeler! The claim went through, and he'll send Gab back to AAA. Wheeler should start tommorow.

Colin McHugh (2-0, 2.37 ERA, 1.05 WHIP) looked to pick up his 3rd win, while Mike Soroka (2-1, 1.37 ERA, 0.81 WHIP) looked to do the same.

McHugh was as amazing as I've come to expect, allowing just a single run off 6 hits in 7 innings. He doesn't strike out too many, or walk too many, just 2 a piece, but he's a solid middle of the rotation starter none the less.

We didn't do too much for offense, but 2 runs was enough, as we evened the series with a 2-1 victory. Jerry Blevins pitched a perfect 8th to earn his 4th hold, and Brad Brach now has 5 saves after a scorless 9th.

We managed 12 hits, but it didn't do too much for runs. Jett Bandy was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two doubles. Joe Mauer had a double of his own in a 2-for-5 night. Lewis Brinson was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Charlie Tilson had an interesting game, 2-for-5, but he struck out 3 times. He was also caught stealing. Tyler Saladino, who was hitless, also made an error, so today wasn't his day. Teo Hernandez stole a base.

One more thing, we stopped Albies' hit streak at 21!

Ryan Braun wasn't stopped, going 5-for-6 against the Giants in a 16-1 whopping. Why couldn't we do that to the Giants... When asked about his performance, Brauns non-chalantly replied "Well, that was fun." At least he was honest...

April 24th, 2019: I wanted to stay in first, so we needed this win. Zack Wheeler (0-1, 2.70 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) is making his Marlins debut against the young Sean Newcomb (1-1, 1.35 ERA, 0.60 WHIP). We beat him earlier in the year.

Let's just say it didn't end well. Three Marlins pichers allowed 4 runs in a 13-1 demolition. Honestly, I don't even remember getting beat this bad last year.

I think that's enough for today...

God, I guess not, a stupid 5 hit game. Jose Pirela of the Padres went 5-for-6 at Coors Field. The Rox still won, 6-5, ironically.

April 25th, 2019: Ahh, a nice, sweet off day. After that beating, we'd need it. We're back on the road, headed to Arizona for 3 then San Diego for 3 more, ending this road trip. We'd have a day off before returning home.

The A's lost Ryan Dull for the season with a torn flexor tendon. The righty has been a key cog in the A's bullpen the past two years and 2016.

We're now a game out of 1st at 11-8, and tied for the 2nd wild card spot with the Cardinals and Brewers.

Looking ahead, we'd see Nathan Eovaldi (2-0, 3.93 ERA), Carlos Villanueva (1-1, 6.32 ERA), and Zack Grienkie (2-1, 3.10 ERA). It may not look like it, but the D'Backs are good, 13-5 this year.

Brian Anderson was struggling at the plate, so I sent him down to AAA and recalled Ryon Healy. Tyler Saladino, who was hitting .370/.433/.407 in 27 at bats, would step in at 3B, while Healy would back him and Joe Mauer up at first and third.