[ayaghmour2]

July 11th, 2022: The Braves will be without LHP Max Fried for the remainder of the year after he damaged his elbow ligament. He was 1-2 with 2 saves and a 3.92 ERA in 39 innings that saw 53 strikeouts.

We dropped to 10th in the Power Rankings after a rough 4 game skid.

Let's repalce it with 4 more wins, as A.J. Puckett (7-4, 3.43 ERA, 1.19 WHIP) took on Gage Hinsz (5-2, 2.09 ERA, 1.41 WHIP) as we hosted Pittsburgh in the final series of the first half. We have three cold players, LF Lewis Brinson, 2B Scott Kingery, and SS Andrelton Simmons. Let's just say today was beautiful,a nd we scored 4 in the 1st to win 7-0.

Puckett was brilliant, 7 innings wiht 5 hits, a walk, and 3 strikeouts. Edward Cabrera struck out 2 in the 8th and Tanner Rainey 1 in the 9th.

We tallied 15 hits, and for the first time in who knows win, all 8 starters had hits, with most having more then 1. Ryan Mountcastle, one of our few productive hitters, was 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and a homer, while scoring twice and driving in 2. Andrelton Simmons heated up with a 3-for-4 day with a double and 2 runs scored. Victor Caratini was 2-for-4 with a triple and run scored. Lewis Brinson and Dustin Fowler were both 2-for-4 with an RBI, although the latter doubled. Both Kingery and Keston Hiura committed errors, but we worked around them in the win.

Three more to go!

Alex Verdugo improved his hit streak to 20 games in a 5-1 Dodgers victory over the D'Backs.

July 12th, 2022: Christopher Reynolds (2-6, 3.64 ERA, 1.31 WHIP) took on Jordan Montgomery (7-6, 3.43 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) as we looked to pick up the 2nd of 4. We took a 1-0 lead to the 9th, but Shiotani blew the save as the Pirates tied it up at 1. In the 10th, Victor Caratini launched a pinch-hit 2-run homer off Nick Burdi as we walked off winners.

Montgomery was brilliant, and it really sucks he didn't go out for the 9th. He finished 8 innings with 3 hits, a walk, and 6 strikeouts. Victor Arano earned the win, tossing a perfect 10th with a pair of strikeouts.

We only managed 5 hits, the homer and 4 singles. Andrelton Simmons singled and scored on the longball. Carlos Soler singled and walked, and was driven in on a Keston Hiura single.

July 13th, 2022: The Reds and Padres worked out a minor trade, with C Tyler Stephenson heading to San Diego in return for RHP Bobby Stiles. Pretty even deal here.

Jameson Taillon (7-6, 2.01 ERA, 1.17 WHIP) faced his former team and teammate Mitch Keller (5-7, 4.67 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) as we looked to win the series a game early. Taillon has been hot as of late, but will have to watch out for Yasiel Puig, who's 6-for-16 against him iwth a home run. Taillon was brilliant, as we edged Pittsburgh 1-0.

Taillon tossed 8 innings with 8 strikeouts. He walked just 2 and allowed only 3 hits. Shiotani bounced back, and bulldozed his way through the 9th with 2 strikeouts and a ground out to earn the save.

We only managed 3 hits, with two of them courtesy of Andrelton Simmons. He was 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the 8th that scored Dustin Fowler. Fowler was hit by a pitch and stole second before scoring. Keston Hiura had the last hit, a double of his own all the way back in the 1st.

July 14th, 2022: The All-Star rosters were announced, and for the first time in my tenure, we had more then 1. While the whole staff definitely earned it, five of my pitchers were named to the game. Walker Buehler, Tyler Mahle, Jameson Taillon, Joe Jimenez, and Yasukazu Shiotani will represent us in the game. It's Taillon's 3rd (2nd with Miami) and the rest of their's first.

But we had more baseball to deal with, and we needed to finish off the 4 game sweep, especially considering we didn't gain any ground in the division. The new All-Star Tyler Mahle (5-5, 3.29 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) took on Nathan Eovaldi (4-10, 3.20 ERA, 1.42 WHIP) to finish the 2nd half. Simmons was tired, but it wasn't worth replacing him with the All-Star break next. We scored three in the first, but let the Pirates get 5 striaght. We got three more in the bottom of the 7th, and won 6-5 to end the series sweep.

Mahle was shaky, 4 runs off 7 hits in 4.2 innings with a walk and 5 strikeouts. He's walked just 16 hitters so far this season with 123 strikeouts in 114 innings. Jimenez alloewd the final run, getting just 1 out and a hit. Tanner Rainey earned the win despite allowing 2 hits in an inning of work. Victor Arano got the final 2 outs of the 8th for the hold, and Shiotani tossed a perfect 9th with 2 strikeouts for the save.

Carlos Soler was 2-for-5 with a double and a triple. Brian Anderson was 1-for-2 with a double, 2 RBI's, and 2 walks. Marwin Gonzalez was 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and a pair of RBI's. Ryan Mountcastle had a pair of singles as well, but scored twice.

Francisco Lindor was a perfect 5-for-5 as the Indians beat the Royals 8-2. He's hitting an impressive .360/.413/.589, and like always in an OOTP sim, Lindor is an absolute monster. He's making $40.5 million per season as well, and definitely earned it with his .313/.380/.527 batting line with 205 HR's, 722 RBI's, and an impressive 52.0 WAR in 1,137 games.

We end the second half 57-38, 3.5 games out of first and 1.5 games behind Atlanta for the top Wild Card spot. We do, however, have a 6.5 game lead over San Diego and Colorado.

It's worth noting that Taillon is leading the majors with an outstanding 1.88 ERA and Shoitani is tied for 2nd in saves with 24. We've allowed just 279 runs, which equates to just 2.94 runs per game and we lead every pitching category except strikeotus (t-2nd) and BABIP (3rd).

Time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the All-Star break!

July 15th, 2022: I took today off to relax and just browse thorugh rebuilding teams. I wouldn't make any offers, yet, but that is eventually happening. My target might be Brett Phillips, but salary could possibly get in the way...

July 16th, 2022: I've been in an insane bidding war for 3B Artuto Lira and signed him to a $2,000,000 bonus as my first splash on the International Front. He's got 91 power potential, which definitely makes him an intriguing prospect.

Luis Marrero (5-1, 1.97 ERA, 0.84 WHIP) of the Mets represented the NL and Jacob Faria (9-6, 3.63 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) of the Rays represented the AL in the Mid-Summer Classic. Both lineips are stacked, but the most intriguing players is the Orioles CF Benni Vogl. Just 21, the former 5th overall pick in 2019 as blossomed into a superstar. And I passed on him for Tyler Fricken Callihan...

Chris DeVito currently has 122 RBI's, and the All-Star slugger is now on pace for 208.

The NL won 7-6, and none other then Walker Buehler earned the win. He pitched the 2nd inning and allowed a hit, a run, and recorded a strikeout. Tyler Mahle pitched the 8th and allowed a hit, but struck out the side to earn a hold. Shiotani, Taillon, and Jimenez did not pitch. I'm a little upset Mahle pitched, continuing he threw 78 pitches 2 days ago, but I guess it's like a bullpen session.

July 17th, 2022: Let's just say a Brett Phillips deal is impossible, as he makes too much money and they want way, way too much. I also tried for Austin Hayes, but it wasn't worth it either, although I had a deal in place.

I found out RF prospect Art Bryant was loved around the game, so I shopped around the youngster. I could get All-Star LF Jake Bauers straight up for him, but I thought perhaps I could get someone even better then him.

I found a much better deal, and I shipped Bryant to Colorado for 2B Brendan Rogers. Yes, the former 3rd overall pick who's rated a 4.5* at just 25-years-old and a legitimate superstar. Now I know you might be thinking, um, he's not an outfielder? Well, you would be right, but when you can acquire a star for just one 3.5* prospect, you pounce. Especially factoring in the fact that Scott Kingery can play in the outfield. My fans were estatic and shocked that we brought in such a good player.

For his career, the Florida native is a .273/.340/.450 hitter with 78 HR's and 179 RBI's. Rogers will slide into the 2 hole and play second, pushing Kingery to left and Brinson to right. D.J. Wilson was optioned to AAA to make room.

And don't expect this to be the last move, as I might have a few more tricks up my sleeve, although I think I'm done for the break.

June 18th, 2022: The power rankings list us at 6th as we'll start the 2nd half of the season tomorrow. We're off to Minnesota to start a 7 game road trip. The 54-40 Twins are also in 3rd, but 4 games out as opposed to 3.5. They'd send Jose Berrios (4-4, 4.67 ERA), Dallas Woolfolk (4-4, 4.69 ERA), and Ross Stripling (7-6, 3.61 ERA) to the mound, although with the break, everything is subject to change.

We'd look to build off the strong first half and hopefully have it propell us into 1st. We're on pace for 97 wins, which would be extremely impressive. Technically, if we play like we did in June and the beginning of July, we could win 46 games which would give us 103 for the season. As unlikely as that seems, I wouldn't be too surprised if that happened. I just hope we can win the division, as I think we can best anyone in a series, especially with how important pitching is in the playoffs. Remember, this might be the best staff ever, although I'm most certainly biased. This team is stacked with talent all through the organization, and I can smell a Miami dynasty brewing. That is, however, if our owner decides to open his pocketbook, since young stars get expensive real quickly...