OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post

ayaghmour2 · 10-13-2020, 11:12 PM

June 19th, 1933
Montreal Saints (39-26): 3
Chicago Cougars (42-22): 7

W: Jim Crawford (7-4)
L: Johnny Douglas (3-4)

We managed to salvage the finale with a win to start the week, but losing three out of four at home to a team right behind you is not the best strategy. Jim Crawford rebounded from a tough last start (3.1 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, K against Baltimore 6-14) and tossed a complete game in the win. He allowed 9 hits, 3 runs, and a single walk with 4 strikeouts in a strong outing against a strong offense. He even went 1-for-3 with a walk, run, and RBI. Russ Combs was 3-for-5 with a triple and run scored. John Kincaid was 2-for-3 with a sac-bunt, double, walk, run, and RBI. Mike Taylor was 1-for-2 with 3 walks, a run, and an RBI. Tom Taylor was 1-for-4 with a walk, run, and RBI.

June 20th, 1933
Brooklyn Kings (30-36): 4
Chicago Cougars (42-23): 3
10 Innings

W: Hal Galvan (1-1)
L: Bill Kline (2-1)

We welcomed the Kings and a few former Cougars to town for a four game set before a much needed off day. Our rough stretch continued, as we let the Kings scored three in the ninth. I really wish my manager took out Leudtke after the leadoff double (this league doesn't really use relievers), as Chick Meehan is more or less automatic for three outs and Leudtke's pitch count was high. Regardless, they score three runs to take a 3-2 lead with all runs charged to Leudtke. He didn't get an out, and Chick Meehan got all three he faced. We tied it with a sac-fly in the ninth, but the Kings matched with a sac-fly in the 10th. We couldn't score, and lost the opener.

Leudtke was good till the ninth, going 8+ with 9 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Bill Kline allowed 2 hits and a run in the 10th. Arnold Bower was 3-for-4 with a double. Bill Ashbaugh was 2-for-5 with a triple and run scored. Russ Combs was 1-for-4 with a steal, walk, and run scored.

June 21st, 1933
Brooklyn Kings (30-37): 0
Chicago Cougars (43-23): 6

W: Max Wilder (6-7)
L: Roy Pierce (3-3)

This is what we need to break the slump! Max Wilder continues to defy age, and tosses a brilliant 3 hit shutout with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Tom Taylor was 2-for-4 with a double, walk, run, steal, and 2 RBI's. Bill Ashbaugh was 2-for-3 with a double, run, and 2 RBI's. John Kincaid was 2-for-3 with 2 walks and a run scored. Bobby Sprague was 1-for-3 with a walk and steal.

June 22nd, 1933
Brooklyn Kings (30-38): 0
Chicago Cougars (44-23): 6

W: Tommy Wilcox (10-5)
L: Johnny Jacob (8-7)

Run it back! The former King Tommy Wilcox struck out 4 and allowed just 4 hits in a complete game shutout. John Kincaid was 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI's. Claude Ramsey was 2-for-2 with a triple, walk, run, sac-fly, and 2 RBI's. Bill Ashbaugh was 2-for-4 with a run and steal. Cy Bryant was 1-for-4 with a double, steal, run, and 2 RBI's.

June 23rd, 1933
Brooklyn Kings (30-39): 3
Chicago Cougars (45-23): 5

W: Dick Lyons (9-3)
L: Tom Barrell (4-10)
SV: Chick Meehan (7)

Not a shutout today, but we finish the series with three straight wins before a much needed day of rest. We did get bad news, as Russ Combs left this one with yet another injury. He was having an excellent game too, 3-for-5 with a double, run, and 2 RBI's. Bill Ashbaugh was 1-for-3 with a sac-fly and solo homerun. Phil Vaughan had a crucial pinch hit solo homer in the 7th. He pinch hit for Dick Lyons, who went 7 with 4 hits, 3 runs, 5 walks, and 2 strikeouts in an alright start that was good enough to win. Chick Meehan rocked a 2 inning save, with a hit, walk, and strikeout in those two frames.

June 25th, 1933
Chicago Cougars (45-24): 2
Philadelphia Sailors (34-35): 4

W: William Jones (6-7)
L: Dick Leudtke (9-4)

After a day of rest, we were in Philly for a three game series before we'd head right back home. The offense was still in Chicago, and the Sailors inched closer to .500 with a 4-2 win. Luedtke lost the duel to William Jones, who finished right behind him in the ERA race. Leudtke was let down by a Bobby Sprague error in the 7th, as only one of his four runs was earned. He pitched 8 with 7 hits, 2 walks, and a strikeout. We didn't hit much, but Mike Taylor was 2-for-4 with a double, run, and RBI. Tom Taylor was 1-for-4 with an RBI. John Kincaid was 1-for-3 with a hit by pitch.

Stars of the Week
John Kincaid : 22 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .409 AVG, .955 OPS
Bill Ashbaugh : 23 AB, 8 H, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .348 AVG, .929 OPS
Max Wilder : 1 Win, 9.0 IP, 2 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA

Transactions
Placed 2B Russ Combs on the 15-Day Disabled List. Recalled 2B John Banks from AAA Milwaukee.

Injury Report
2B Russ Combs (FABL Chicago Cougars): wrist tendinitis (2 weeks)
SS Charlie Gamble (AA Mobile Commodores): returned from the DL
RP John Peterson (AA Mobile Commodores): returned from the DL
RF Ty Schafer (B San Jose Cougars): returned from the DL
SP Joe Tillman (B San Jose Cougars): sprained elbow (6 days)
SP Otis Campbell (C La Crosse Lions): back tightness (6 days)

Weekly Summary
Back on track! After our first sub .500 week, we go back over with a 4-2 week that will restore our 5 and a half game lead. We play seven games in eight days, so we're really going to rely on Tommy Wilcox. He'll start Monday and Friday, three days rest instead of four (listed 100% still). After finishing this series, we're back home for two with the Wolves (25-44). We'll then travel to Toronto for a double header to end June. We then go back home for four with the Sailors before the All Star break. The game will be July 6th and in Chicago for the World's Fair. It won't be at our stadium, but John Dibblee will be honorary captain for the CA team. Tomorrow, I will be submitting my ballot that likely will have a lot of Cougars on it. I haven't decided yet, but I got to believe I'm picking my starters. Sure, there probably are other better CA arms (Carpenter, Martino, Day, I could keep going), but you can't go wrong with Wilcox, Leudtke, and Wilder who have all been so good.

And let's talk a little bit about Max Wilder. The soon to be 36-year-old brought his ERA back below 3 and he did it in a dominant showing. It was a revenge win for Wilder who did it to Brooklyn. The same Brooklyn that torched him to 10 hits and 10 runs before chasing him off the mound in the third. When critics thought Wilder might be running out of energy, the fans stood behind Wilder in this homestand. Since then, he's allowed three or less earned run in every start and has struck out 4 or more, including 8 against Baltimore. That was the only road start in the last six and even though our attendance is down a bit (19,142 to 21,948) people are really showing out. I wish I could find numbers on attendance per game, but only the Fed leading Keystones (477,655) have more then 400,000 in total attendance. Wilder is a huge fan drawer and I have to believe he pitches better at home with all the fans out there for him. He has moved around a lot in his career, but this is his fourth year in Chicago and he has gotten better each season. It's strange to say this for someone his age, but these last four seasons have probably been four of the five best years of his 12 year career, his first full season in 1924 with Baltimore being the other.

This year he is on track for his best season, albeit, it's just 13 starts. He's 6-7, but with an impressive 2.96 ERA (134 ERA+), 1.25 WHIP, and 46 strikeouts in 100.1 innings pitch. Commonly a high strikeout arm, it's another season with a 4.0 or higher K/9, something has done each year in a Cougar uniform. Wilder doesn't rank top 5 in strikeouts, but every hitter ahead of him as made more starts then him excluding Brooklyn's Lyman Weigel (10 starts and the K/9 leader in the CA) then him. He currently ranks 6th in K9 with former Cougars Mike Murphy (5.1) and Tom Barrell (4.9) rank third and fourth.

Also, my comment on the Sprague error is definitely not a shot at his defense. It just he happened to be the guy who made the error. Despite never playing left field before this Spring, Sprague has looked really good in his first season in Chicago. His offense has dropped a bit, hitting just .224/.280/.247 so far in June, but he's still hitting over .300 and his WRC+ just dropped below 100. In left, however, he's been excellent. He's got a +5.7 zone rating, 1.069 efficiency, and .961 field percentage in 608.2 innings out in left. When you compare him to all FABL left fielders, he ranks first in zone rating, efficiency, innings played, and putouts, and second in double plays. He's not the only Cougar to lead categories in the outfield, as both Taylor and Bryant see their names atop a few fielding categories. Interesting enough, John Kincaid, Russ Combs, and Mike Taylor are the most efficient third basemen, second basemen, and catcher.

And let's not forget about Russ Combs. He starts to light the world on fire after coming off the DL and about a month and ten days after coming off the DL he returned, this time with wrist tendinitis. I already mentioned how's he's leading the FABL in defensive efficiency at second base (1.067) and in his 38 games at second he has an impressive 2.3 zone rating. Just focusing on CA 2B, despite ranking outside the top 7 in innings, he ranks third in zone rating. He's taken the position change well and he was back to mashing baseballs. Combs is hitting .358/.399/.512 (144 OPS+) with 2 homers, 4 steals, and 22 RBI's in just 175 trips to the plate. As good as Combs has been, he hasn't played more then 100 games since 1930 and he's not going to reach that this year either. I can't imagine moving on from him, but I think Billy Hunter may end up being the answer at second base. He's a natural shortstop, but I've been playing him at a couple positions to work out versatility and spread out at bats. He was our 1st Round pick this year and is one of our top prospects.

To replace Combs, I could've gone with Russ Franklin, but he's learning left field right now and I want him to focus just on that. Slim Bloom is good enough to cover, as he's hitting .346/.418/.432 (129 OPS+) in just under 100 trips to the plate. He hasn't defended too well, but with Harry Simmons hitting just .238/.306/.286 (60 OPS+) he's really not an option. With that being said, I wanted to bring up a solid defender at second. In Milwaukee, John Banks has been excellent in the field and is also hitting .335/.460/.449 (104 OPS+) with a homer, steal, and 27 RBI's. The 25-year-old righty also has a +6.4 zone rating and 1.046 efficiency and he'll make his second trip up to the big league team.

Minor League Report

SS Billy Hunter (C La Crosse Lions): I have to talk about Hunter because I talked about him in my weekly summary. And since it's a La Crosse guy, I have to talk about the team.

Unfortunately for all my young high school prospects, this team is really young. I don't have anyone in my lineup 20 or older and three of my six starters pitched in high school last year. We are 23-53, 34 games out in 8th of 8th place. Burlington, who's 25-51 has a few older players playing, but like us, mostly teenagers. The top 4 (all over .500) are composed of mostly college players and the gap between 4th and 5th is 8 games (13 to 21). This isn't a knock on other minor league management styles, I prefer giving my best guys playing time over winning. Some people want to win in the minors and I respect that. When I had far less lower minors talent back in 1929, I had a lot of older guys in La Crosse and we smacked everybody, finishing 88-35. This time, it's just Ottumwa, who's smacking everyone and likely to finish with 90 wins. I just loved my 1932 draft class so much I've spread guys in A, B, and C and tried to give them as many at bats/innings as possible.

What this means for Billy Hunter, who I should also mention is learning a completely new position, is probably getting challenged like he did last year in a high school system full of elite seniors. He's hitting .285/.319/.415 (93 OPS+) with 5 homers, 24 RBI's, and 2 steals, but this is a lot better then it looks. Our next best hitter here is hitting .223 and he's tied for the lead in homers and RBI's. Hunter is a really talented kid, and ranks as the 31st best prospect in baseball despite being just 18. I know he can be a shortstop, but right now I think his best track to the majors is as a second basemen. Combs and Bower, our current middle infielders, are both 29, but Combs has a really lengthy injury history. That's not to say Bower has been healthy, he's had his share too, just not nearly as many.

Right now in the farm, I think the middle infield is kind of like this. Hunter is at the top. He can play second or short, depending if he has another top prospect at the level with him. The next level has a ton of other good options including Gene Evans, Ducky Jordan, Freddie Bennett, Red Moore, Elmer Hutchins, and Homer Ray. I think all these guys have big league potential, but it's likely only one or two of these guys plays much for us. And right now, most of these guys are in La Crosse. That's why I'll be moving Hunter up to Class B San Jose. The group down in La Crosse will rotate across the infield spots, but now there are more at bats up for grabs. In San Jose, Hunter will go to short with Homer Ray at second. This will move 20-year-old Illinois switch hitter Duke Fowler to third base, a position the former 6th Rounder has not yet learned.

2B Homer Ray (B San Jose Cougars): I might as well also cover his new double play partner who has now hit in 22 straight games. The 1931 3rd Rounder is hitting .353/.383/.471 (124 OPS+) with 2 homers and 33 RBIs in a 238 plate appearance sample. He's had a rough go defensively, but I'm hoping with Hunter coming up it helps him out a bit. Ray is a big contact hitter who won't draw too many walks, he'll still get on base a fair amount. He's not much of a power hitter, but he does have extra base pop and could hit between 5 and 10 homers in a season. He just turned 20, so he's still really young with a lot of room to grow. He ranks right outside the top 200 prospects in baseball.

10-13-2020, 11:12 PM	#238
ayaghmour2 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 3,038	Week 11: June 19th-June 25th June 19th, 1933 Montreal Saints (39-26): 3 Chicago Cougars (42-22): 7 W: Jim Crawford (7-4) L: Johnny Douglas (3-4) We managed to salvage the finale with a win to start the week, but losing three out of four at home to a team right behind you is not the best strategy. Jim Crawford rebounded from a tough last start (3.1 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, K against Baltimore 6-14) and tossed a complete game in the win. He allowed 9 hits, 3 runs, and a single walk with 4 strikeouts in a strong outing against a strong offense. He even went 1-for-3 with a walk, run, and RBI. Russ Combs was 3-for-5 with a triple and run scored. John Kincaid was 2-for-3 with a sac-bunt, double, walk, run, and RBI. Mike Taylor was 1-for-2 with 3 walks, a run, and an RBI. Tom Taylor was 1-for-4 with a walk, run, and RBI. June 20th, 1933 Brooklyn Kings (30-36): 4 Chicago Cougars (42-23): 3 10 Innings W: Hal Galvan (1-1) L: Bill Kline (2-1) We welcomed the Kings and a few former Cougars to town for a four game set before a much needed off day. Our rough stretch continued, as we let the Kings scored three in the ninth. I really wish my manager took out Leudtke after the leadoff double (this league doesn't really use relievers), as Chick Meehan is more or less automatic for three outs and Leudtke's pitch count was high. Regardless, they score three runs to take a 3-2 lead with all runs charged to Leudtke. He didn't get an out, and Chick Meehan got all three he faced. We tied it with a sac-fly in the ninth, but the Kings matched with a sac-fly in the 10th. We couldn't score, and lost the opener. Leudtke was good till the ninth, going 8+ with 9 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Bill Kline allowed 2 hits and a run in the 10th. Arnold Bower was 3-for-4 with a double. Bill Ashbaugh was 2-for-5 with a triple and run scored. Russ Combs was 1-for-4 with a steal, walk, and run scored. June 21st, 1933 Brooklyn Kings (30-37): 0 Chicago Cougars (43-23): 6 W: Max Wilder (6-7) L: Roy Pierce (3-3) This is what we need to break the slump! Max Wilder continues to defy age, and tosses a brilliant 3 hit shutout with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Tom Taylor was 2-for-4 with a double, walk, run, steal, and 2 RBI's. Bill Ashbaugh was 2-for-3 with a double, run, and 2 RBI's. John Kincaid was 2-for-3 with 2 walks and a run scored. Bobby Sprague was 1-for-3 with a walk and steal. June 22nd, 1933 Brooklyn Kings (30-38): 0 Chicago Cougars (44-23): 6 W: Tommy Wilcox (10-5) L: Johnny Jacob (8-7) Run it back! The former King Tommy Wilcox struck out 4 and allowed just 4 hits in a complete game shutout. John Kincaid was 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI's. Claude Ramsey was 2-for-2 with a triple, walk, run, sac-fly, and 2 RBI's. Bill Ashbaugh was 2-for-4 with a run and steal. Cy Bryant was 1-for-4 with a double, steal, run, and 2 RBI's. June 23rd, 1933 Brooklyn Kings (30-39): 3 Chicago Cougars (45-23): 5 W: Dick Lyons (9-3) L: Tom Barrell (4-10) SV: Chick Meehan (7) Not a shutout today, but we finish the series with three straight wins before a much needed day of rest. We did get bad news, as Russ Combs left this one with yet another injury. He was having an excellent game too, 3-for-5 with a double, run, and 2 RBI's. Bill Ashbaugh was 1-for-3 with a sac-fly and solo homerun. Phil Vaughan had a crucial pinch hit solo homer in the 7th. He pinch hit for Dick Lyons, who went 7 with 4 hits, 3 runs, 5 walks, and 2 strikeouts in an alright start that was good enough to win. Chick Meehan rocked a 2 inning save, with a hit, walk, and strikeout in those two frames. June 25th, 1933 Chicago Cougars (45-24): 2 Philadelphia Sailors (34-35): 4 W: William Jones (6-7) L: Dick Leudtke (9-4) After a day of rest, we were in Philly for a three game series before we'd head right back home. The offense was still in Chicago, and the Sailors inched closer to .500 with a 4-2 win. Luedtke lost the duel to William Jones, who finished right behind him in the ERA race. Leudtke was let down by a Bobby Sprague error in the 7th, as only one of his four runs was earned. He pitched 8 with 7 hits, 2 walks, and a strikeout. We didn't hit much, but Mike Taylor was 2-for-4 with a double, run, and RBI. Tom Taylor was 1-for-4 with an RBI. John Kincaid was 1-for-3 with a hit by pitch. Stars of the Week John Kincaid : 22 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .409 AVG, .955 OPS Bill Ashbaugh : 23 AB, 8 H, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .348 AVG, .929 OPS Max Wilder : 1 Win, 9.0 IP, 2 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA Transactions Placed 2B Russ Combs on the 15-Day Disabled List. Recalled 2B John Banks from AAA Milwaukee. Injury Report 2B Russ Combs (FABL Chicago Cougars): wrist tendinitis (2 weeks) SS Charlie Gamble (AA Mobile Commodores): returned from the DL RP John Peterson (AA Mobile Commodores): returned from the DL RF Ty Schafer (B San Jose Cougars): returned from the DL SP Joe Tillman (B San Jose Cougars): sprained elbow (6 days) SP Otis Campbell (C La Crosse Lions): back tightness (6 days) Weekly Summary Back on track! After our first sub .500 week, we go back over with a 4-2 week that will restore our 5 and a half game lead. We play seven games in eight days, so we're really going to rely on Tommy Wilcox. He'll start Monday and Friday, three days rest instead of four (listed 100% still). After finishing this series, we're back home for two with the Wolves (25-44). We'll then travel to Toronto for a double header to end June. We then go back home for four with the Sailors before the All Star break. The game will be July 6th and in Chicago for the World's Fair. It won't be at our stadium, but John Dibblee will be honorary captain for the CA team. Tomorrow, I will be submitting my ballot that likely will have a lot of Cougars on it. I haven't decided yet, but I got to believe I'm picking my starters. Sure, there probably are other better CA arms (Carpenter, Martino, Day, I could keep going), but you can't go wrong with Wilcox, Leudtke, and Wilder who have all been so good. And let's talk a little bit about Max Wilder. The soon to be 36-year-old brought his ERA back below 3 and he did it in a dominant showing. It was a revenge win for Wilder who did it to Brooklyn. The same Brooklyn that torched him to 10 hits and 10 runs before chasing him off the mound in the third. When critics thought Wilder might be running out of energy, the fans stood behind Wilder in this homestand. Since then, he's allowed three or less earned run in every start and has struck out 4 or more, including 8 against Baltimore. That was the only road start in the last six and even though our attendance is down a bit (19,142 to 21,948) people are really showing out. I wish I could find numbers on attendance per game, but only the Fed leading Keystones (477,655) have more then 400,000 in total attendance. Wilder is a huge fan drawer and I have to believe he pitches better at home with all the fans out there for him. He has moved around a lot in his career, but this is his fourth year in Chicago and he has gotten better each season. It's strange to say this for someone his age, but these last four seasons have probably been four of the five best years of his 12 year career, his first full season in 1924 with Baltimore being the other. This year he is on track for his best season, albeit, it's just 13 starts. He's 6-7, but with an impressive 2.96 ERA (134 ERA+), 1.25 WHIP, and 46 strikeouts in 100.1 innings pitch. Commonly a high strikeout arm, it's another season with a 4.0 or higher K/9, something has done each year in a Cougar uniform. Wilder doesn't rank top 5 in strikeouts, but every hitter ahead of him as made more starts then him excluding Brooklyn's Lyman Weigel (10 starts and the K/9 leader in the CA) then him. He currently ranks 6th in K9 with former Cougars Mike Murphy (5.1) and Tom Barrell (4.9) rank third and fourth. Also, my comment on the Sprague error is definitely not a shot at his defense. It just he happened to be the guy who made the error. Despite never playing left field before this Spring, Sprague has looked really good in his first season in Chicago. His offense has dropped a bit, hitting just .224/.280/.247 so far in June, but he's still hitting over .300 and his WRC+ just dropped below 100. In left, however, he's been excellent. He's got a +5.7 zone rating, 1.069 efficiency, and .961 field percentage in 608.2 innings out in left. When you compare him to all FABL left fielders, he ranks first in zone rating, efficiency, innings played, and putouts, and second in double plays. He's not the only Cougar to lead categories in the outfield, as both Taylor and Bryant see their names atop a few fielding categories. Interesting enough, John Kincaid, Russ Combs, and Mike Taylor are the most efficient third basemen, second basemen, and catcher. And let's not forget about Russ Combs. He starts to light the world on fire after coming off the DL and about a month and ten days after coming off the DL he returned, this time with wrist tendinitis. I already mentioned how's he's leading the FABL in defensive efficiency at second base (1.067) and in his 38 games at second he has an impressive 2.3 zone rating. Just focusing on CA 2B, despite ranking outside the top 7 in innings, he ranks third in zone rating. He's taken the position change well and he was back to mashing baseballs. Combs is hitting .358/.399/.512 (144 OPS+) with 2 homers, 4 steals, and 22 RBI's in just 175 trips to the plate. As good as Combs has been, he hasn't played more then 100 games since 1930 and he's not going to reach that this year either. I can't imagine moving on from him, but I think Billy Hunter may end up being the answer at second base. He's a natural shortstop, but I've been playing him at a couple positions to work out versatility and spread out at bats. He was our 1st Round pick this year and is one of our top prospects. To replace Combs, I could've gone with Russ Franklin, but he's learning left field right now and I want him to focus just on that. Slim Bloom is good enough to cover, as he's hitting .346/.418/.432 (129 OPS+) in just under 100 trips to the plate. He hasn't defended too well, but with Harry Simmons hitting just .238/.306/.286 (60 OPS+) he's really not an option. With that being said, I wanted to bring up a solid defender at second. In Milwaukee, John Banks has been excellent in the field and is also hitting .335/.460/.449 (104 OPS+) with a homer, steal, and 27 RBI's. The 25-year-old righty also has a +6.4 zone rating and 1.046 efficiency and he'll make his second trip up to the big league team. Minor League Report SS Billy Hunter (C La Crosse Lions): I have to talk about Hunter because I talked about him in my weekly summary. And since it's a La Crosse guy, I have to talk about the team. Unfortunately for all my young high school prospects, this team is really young. I don't have anyone in my lineup 20 or older and three of my six starters pitched in high school last year. We are 23-53, 34 games out in 8th of 8th place. Burlington, who's 25-51 has a few older players playing, but like us, mostly teenagers. The top 4 (all over .500) are composed of mostly college players and the gap between 4th and 5th is 8 games (13 to 21). This isn't a knock on other minor league management styles, I prefer giving my best guys playing time over winning. Some people want to win in the minors and I respect that. When I had far less lower minors talent back in 1929, I had a lot of older guys in La Crosse and we smacked everybody, finishing 88-35. This time, it's just Ottumwa, who's smacking everyone and likely to finish with 90 wins. I just loved my 1932 draft class so much I've spread guys in A, B, and C and tried to give them as many at bats/innings as possible. What this means for Billy Hunter, who I should also mention is learning a completely new position, is probably getting challenged like he did last year in a high school system full of elite seniors. He's hitting .285/.319/.415 (93 OPS+) with 5 homers, 24 RBI's, and 2 steals, but this is a lot better then it looks. Our next best hitter here is hitting .223 and he's tied for the lead in homers and RBI's. Hunter is a really talented kid, and ranks as the 31st best prospect in baseball despite being just 18. I know he can be a shortstop, but right now I think his best track to the majors is as a second basemen. Combs and Bower, our current middle infielders, are both 29, but Combs has a really lengthy injury history. That's not to say Bower has been healthy, he's had his share too, just not nearly as many. Right now in the farm, I think the middle infield is kind of like this. Hunter is at the top. He can play second or short, depending if he has another top prospect at the level with him. The next level has a ton of other good options including Gene Evans, Ducky Jordan, Freddie Bennett, Red Moore, Elmer Hutchins, and Homer Ray. I think all these guys have big league potential, but it's likely only one or two of these guys plays much for us. And right now, most of these guys are in La Crosse. That's why I'll be moving Hunter up to Class B San Jose. The group down in La Crosse will rotate across the infield spots, but now there are more at bats up for grabs. In San Jose, Hunter will go to short with Homer Ray at second. This will move 20-year-old Illinois switch hitter Duke Fowler to third base, a position the former 6th Rounder has not yet learned. 2B Homer Ray (B San Jose Cougars): I might as well also cover his new double play partner who has now hit in 22 straight games. The 1931 3rd Rounder is hitting .353/.383/.471 (124 OPS+) with 2 homers and 33 RBIs in a 238 plate appearance sample. He's had a rough go defensively, but I'm hoping with Hunter coming up it helps him out a bit. Ray is a big contact hitter who won't draw too many walks, he'll still get on base a fair amount. He's not much of a power hitter, but he does have extra base pop and could hit between 5 and 10 homers in a season. He just turned 20, so he's still really young with a lot of room to grow. He ranks right outside the top 200 prospects in baseball.