[ayaghmour2]

May 3rd, 2019: The Dodgers added holdout veteran lefty Zach Britton on a 1-year, $16,400,000 contract. He was the last big free agent left on the market.

Brian Ellington cleared waivers, and was outrighted to AAA New Orleans.

We were back home and were hosting the Colorado Rockies. Adalberto Mejia (1-2, 3.57 ERA, 1.36 WHIP) took on the struggling Jonathan Gray (1-3, 7.54 ERA, 1.72 WHIP). He didn't struggle today, allowing just 1 run in 6 innings in a no decision. Mejia had a nearly identical statline, but he struck out 6 as opposed to Gray's 3.

Brad Brach, however, struggled. Up 3-1 in the 9th, Brach, who hadn't given up a run all year, allowed 5 (2 earned) as the Rockies won the opener 6-3. The error by Tyler Saladino cost us the game, so it's not completely Brach's fault.

We had a lot of hits, 10 to be exact, but it only lead to 3 runs. Teoscar Hernandez had 3 hits in 4 trips and scored. Saladino doubled and Ryon Healy hit a solo homer. Saladino walked and singled as well, and even drove a run in, but it didn't make up for the 3 he let score...

May 4th, 2019: Brad Peacock (2-3, 2.36 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) was on the mound as we tried to even the series against Tyler Anderson (1-3, 6.43 ERA, 1.61 WHIP).

Peacock went 5, but allowed 3 runs off 6 hits. He walked 1 and struck out 4. Sam Dyson and Aaron Blari tossed 2 scorless innings a piece, and we topped Colorado 8-3.

Adeiny Hechavarria was perfect, 4-for-5 with and RBI. All four hits were singles. Charlie Tilson was the only position player without a hit today, as even pinch hitter Teoscar Hernandez tripled home a run in the 7th. Lewis Brinson and Jett Bandy had a pair of hits. Brinson tripled and singled, Bandy doubled and singled. Bandy drove in three, Brinson just 1.

This was a nice bounce back game, and we could win the series tommorow. In other news, the draft pool is going to be announced tommorow! We'd be picking 3rd, so perhaps we could find a stud.

May 5th, 2019: The draft pool was revealed, and here are the Top 10 prospects according to OSA. The potential ratings will be as followed, (My Scout/OSA):

SP Fo-Hian Renouf (2.5/4)
SS Rece Hinds (3/5)
SP Kenyon Yovan (2.5/4.5) He was drafted in the 32nd round, 957th overall by the Mariners back in 2016.
C Shea Langeliers (2/5) He was drafted in 2016 as well, by the Blue Jays, in the 34th round, 1,032nd overall.
SS Bobby Witt Jr. (3/5)
RF Jamie Zerger (2/4)
CF Benni Vogel (4/4)
CF Billy Williamson (1.5/4)
SP Zack Thompson (2.5/4) Another 2016 draftee, 11th round, 330th overall by the Rays.
SP Nick Lodolo (3.5/5) The Pirates took him in the 1st round back in 2016, 41st overall.

OSA loves this pool, five, 5 star potential players who will all sign. Four more 4.5*, and then a lot more 4*. My scout doesn't share the same setiment, so it seems like there may be only 1 option for my #3 overall pick. Don't forget, we have an extra 1st rounder from failing to sign Ethan Hankins, so I'm scared for that pick, since no one here looks like Hankins.

Here's the guy I like: SS C.J. Abrams. He's willing to sign for $2.2 million, and man, he looks good. A 5* potential, He's a really good fielder with blazing speed and crazy power. OSA doesn't see the power Stan Meek does, but they have him as a 3.5* still. Meek predicts the Blessed Trinity student from Alpharetta Georgia will be an elite shortstop. I have maybe 1 shortstop with a shot at the majors in the farm, so it's a huge position of need.


The other option is LF Segio 'Flash' Alaya, origionall from Puerto Rico, but he moved to the U.S. at a young age. He's impossible to sign, but his bat looks amazing. Another 5*, he's not a great fielder, but he has a 90 rated arm. And his hitting potentials are 89/79/82/83/60. I'd be willing to use a lower pick on him if needed. OSA loves him as well, a 4.5.

Possible steal of the draft is closer Chad Scoles. My scout has him as a 1.5/5, while OSA a 1/5. His stuff is amazing and he's basically ready to pitch in the majors. And my owner wants me to bring draftees up to the big leagues, which is hard since I technically only have 1 year of draftees. Depending on what's available, I might grab him in the 2nd round, but would prefer the 3rd if he's available.

On to the rubber match! Colin McHugh (4-0, 2.18 ERA, 1.09 WHIP), April's pitcher of the month took on Tanner Rainey (0-1, 7.04 ERA, 1.70 WHIP). Rainey really isn't a starter, but he's starting for the Rockies.

We did a bad job defending home turf, dropping the finale 4-3. McHugh got a no decision, going 6, allowing 7 hits and a walk, along with 3 runs. He struck out 3 as well. Jake Diekman picked up the loss, allowing a run in two innings of work. Just 1 hit, but he walked and struck out 3.

Both teams had 9 hits, but we had one less run. Lewis Brinson accounted for a third of them, and 2/3rds of our RBI's. He doubled three times. Tyler Saladino had a pinch hit triple and Charlie Tilson drove in a run with two hits in 4 trips, as well as a walk.

Jose Reyes, now with the Angles, went 5-for-5 in a 16-8 loss to the Rangers. He's hitting a surprsing .324 wwith 4 homers and 11 RBI's at 35. Way, way better then former Angels 2B Ian Kinsler is hitting. Also in that game, Justin Upton hit his 300th home run. It was his 7th of the year, good for 2nd on the team.

We got to stay home, and would face Milwaukee for four. We were now an even 14-14, but I'd prefer 18-14 after this series.

May 6th, 2019: AAA 2B Brandon Lowe won player of the week, hitting .414 with a homer, 7 RBI's, and 5 runs scored. He's hitting .363/.417/.527 on the season, and is my 6th ranked prospect (2nd hitter) in the organization. A CF Brayan Hernandez also won player of the week, hitting .526 with 6 RBI's and 4 runs scored. The 21-year-old is really raking in Greensboro, after struggling in A+ Jupiter.

The Mariners are without Julio Teheran for the rest of the year. He has a stretched elbow ligament. His season was going awful, a 7.28 ERA to his name.

And finally, power rankings... We're down to 17th with 85. It's better then last year, but our lowest of the season.

Jimmy Nelson (1-2, 2.73 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) and the Brewers took on Zack Wheeler (0-2, 3.41 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) and the Marlins. Jett Bandy could go for some revenge, after being waived at the beginning of the season. He's been raking, hitting .340 with a 1.040 OPS, 3 homers, and 8 RBI's. Lewis Brinson is also facing his former team, coming over in the Christian Yelich trade.

Baandy went 0-for-3, and we lost 7-4. A Ryon Healy cost 2 unearned runs while Aaron Blair was pitching, and we fell below .500 for the first tiem all year. Wheeler struck out 7 in 4.2, allowing 5 hits, 3 runs, and a walk.

Anthony Alford hit well, going 3-for-5 with a run scored, 2 driven in, and a double. The vet Ian Kinsler was 1-for-3 with 2 walks and a steal. Ryon Healy and Brinson had 2 hits a piece. Both scored, while Brinson drove in a run as well. I do miss winning a bit.

May 7th, 2019: Former Marlin Brandon Guyer is headed to the DL with a concussion. It'll cost him 4-5 months.

Game two saw Jordan Montgomery (3-1, 2.35 ERA, 1.07 WHIP) face Jhoulys Chacin (0-2, 6.35 ERA, 2.03 WHIP).

Man, I love Montgomery. 7 shut out innings, just 5 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 5. He improved to 4-1 on the season, paving the way to a 5-0 shut out to get back in the win collumn. David Phelps finished the final 2 innings, striking out 2, but allowing 2 hits and a walk.

Charlie Tilson and Tyler Saladino were running a lot on the base paths. Tilson was 1-for-2 and Saladino 2-for-3 in steal attempts. Raudy Read hit a grand slam with 2 outs in the 7th inning. We only had 3 hits, and Tilson had 4 of them. Lewis Brinson tripled against his former team.

May 8th, 2019: Game three saw Adalberto Mejia (1-2, 3.04 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) took on Corbin Burnes (0-1, 2.93 ERA, 0.98 WHIP). I don't know why Don Mattingly keeps hitting the struggling Kinsler cleanup, but I guess he's rewarding him for his upcoming retirement. Kinsler decided to hit 2-for-5 today, but he's still hitting below .200. Both hits were doubles.

Mejia had a nice game, allowing just 3 in 6 innings. He walked 3, allowed 5 hits, and struck out 4. Diekman and Drew Steckenrider eraned holds with hitless innings. Diekman struck out the side, and Steckenrider struck out 2. 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th gave us a 9-3 lead, so Brach did not need to come into the game to finish it off. Aaron Blair did instead, pitching a perfect 9th.

It was our second straight game with a grand slam, as Lewis Brinson cleared the bases off Joakim Soria with none out in the 8th. Him and Adeiny Hechabarria were 3-for-5 in the match, with Brinson scoring twice and driving in 5, Hech scoring just once and driving in 2. Anthony Alford had 2 hits and 2 runs scored, while Healy had 2 hits and drove in 1. Mejia got into the fun, recording a single for himself.

I got the achievemnt "Knock Them In" for Brinson's 5 RBI game.

Speaking of Kinsler, one of those doubles was number 2000. There was a nice little pause after the hit where all 12,696 fans in attendence gave him a standing applause.

May 9th, 2019: We'd escape with at least a split, but I wanted to win this series. We had a good match up, with Brad Peacock (3-3, 2.84 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) on the mound against Zach Davies (1-3, 6.07 ERA, 1.42 WHIP).

Peacock was as brilliant as usual, allowing just 2 hits, 1 walk, and a run in 7, while striking out 8 Brewers. Blair finished the final 2 innings, allowing just a hit and striking out 4, as we finished the series with a 8-1 win.

Davies on the other had was unlucky, as he gave up 6 runs, but just 2 were earned.

Miguel Rojas, who was on the verge of being optioned to AAA, secured his spot with a 3-for-4 game with 2 runs scored. We doubled a lot, with Rojas, Healy, Hernandez (2), and Saladino all recording two baggers. Peacock himself was one of 6 Marlins hitters to drive in a single run.

We're now 17-15 on the season, and are staying home for three against the last place 11-20 Nationals. They've really gotten a string of bad luck, as Stephen Strasburg looks like a shell of his former self, and was even demoted to the pen. Max Scherzer has declined as well, and with no Harper in the lineup there isn't too much to be scared of. They almost look like they are in worse shape then us.

For the series, we'd be looking at Tanner Roark (1-2, 4.34 ERA), Jeff Manship (0-1, 5.93 ERA), and ex-Marlin Wei-Yin Chen (1-4, 8.54 ERA). I think we can pull of the sweep. We're tied for the 2nd wild card spot as of now, and just 4 out of 1st, so this is a crucial series before we head to LA and play 3 against the 23-9 Dodgers. Not looking foward to that one...