[ayaghmour2]

After a 5-1 and 1-5 week, we decided to go 6-1! Now we're 12-7 and just the Kings have played better meaningless baseball then us! You know it's meaningless when the reigning CA champs are 5-14. Rich Langton has been elite this Spring, slashing .400/.462/.886 with 2 homers and 11 RBI's while getting a lot of time in right field. Doc Love has come to life a bit, batting .368/.390/.658. Mike Taylor is getting in on the fun, .394/.487/.455. Still, lots of guys with poor numbers including John Lawson, Carlos Montes, and Bill Ashbaugh as well as a few of the NRI's like Orlin Yates.

On the pitching side, Tommy Wilcox kind of did good. 8 innings, 7 hits, 1 earned run, 2 unearned runs, 4 walks, and 2 strikeouts. These walks are killing me as his career BB/9 is just 2.0. Last year it was 3.9, in Spring it is up to 7.3. Yikes... But, not to fear, Dave Rankin tossed a 2-hit, 2 walk, 1 strikeout "shutout" while Dick Lyons had a 2-hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout "shutout" of his own. After a good first week, both Allen Purvis and George Johnson have struggled, so I'm giving their starts to Mac Watters and Chuck Matthews. Watters now has a legit shot to steal the 5th spot in the rotation, as the Chicago kid tossed 4 innings with 6 hits, a run, walk, and 2 strikeouts. Matthews has only tossed one frame, but I'm almost pulling for the hard working 25 year old. I shipped Hank Spencer off to the Dynamos for Illinois arm Joe Brown which helps with the roster jam a bit. For potentially five spots, we've got Ace McSherry, Art Black, Johnson, Purvis, Matthews, and Watters. Wayne Robinson and Bill Kline are also going to fight for a spot, and I really don't want Robinson in AAA. I can see Kline starting there, but this means two cuts.

Just a few more games will be played tomorrow and then we start Opening Day on Monday. Should be a fun weekend putting things together as I have a lot of work ahead down in the minors as well as the final roster construction.