[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 1-5
Seasonal Record: 1-5 (8th, 12.5 GB)
Stars of the Week
Leo Mitchell : 26 AB, 11 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .423 AVG, .983 OPS
Rich Langton : 25 AB, 8 H, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .320 AVG, .906 OPS
Mike Taylor : 14 AB, 7 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .500 AVG, 1.088 OPS

Weekly Schedule
4-14: Loss at Wolves (1-6)
4-15: Win at Wolves (6-2)
4-16: Loss at Wolves (6-9)
4-17: Loss vs Foresters (8-1)
4-18: Loss vs Foresters (6-3)
4-19: Loss vs Foresters (7-4)

Summary
Yikes, we kind of suck... See, Spring Training doesn't mean anything! We managed just one win in a poor start to a likely poor season. Still, I had very low expectations to start with, and it's only just one week. The offense did really struggle, so that is in issue, but it's really early in the season. Leo Mitchell and Rich Langton both had good weeks. They combined to go 19-for-51, with three doubles and triples, but neither hit a homer. There won't be as much power for us this year with the park factors being adjusted, so I'm expecting a lot less homers from both this season. Mitchell should reach his 1935 total, but Langton may not. He only played four of the games but, Ray Ford looked great at the plate. He's awful in the field, so that's really going to be tough to watch. Still, he was 5-for-14 with a double and 5 RBI's. Interesting enough, the only guy to homer this week for us was Doc Love, but we also were stuck in Toronto for three of the games. Love had a rough week, just 4-for-25. He didn't strike out, so perhaps it was just a lot of bad luck, but Love did not have much luck.

I want to talk Milt Frtiz too. He got the only win, and really had the only start worth mentioning. Fritz won 104 games in his first seven seasons, so my goal for him is to win 104 (at least) more with the Cougars. He went 8 and a third in Toronto with 11 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 7 strikeouts. He lost his second start to end the week, allowing 13 hits, 7 runs (6 earned), and 5 walks. He also struck out three in the same amount of innings as the first start. Shoutout to the bullpen as well, nine and a third scoreless so far.

Looking Ahead
It's a busy week, as we continue a long stretch of games. We have an away/home four game series against the Sailors to start the week. They've started the season 4-2 with two new offensive starters. The Sailors have taken David Merchant out of center field in favor of rookie Hank Dunn. They've seen an excellent start from Dick Walker who's 11-for-20 with 4 doubles, 4 RBI's, 5 walks, and 2 steals in a really impressive week. Former Cougar John Kincaid had a nice start too, 7-for-18 with 3 doubles, 3 walks, and a pair of RBI's. It's shaping up for us to see William Jones, Herb Flynn, Oscar Morse, and Merritt Thomas. It will be a tough series and I do think we'll struggle on the road. At home we can out hit them, and we'll get the back two starters. I will use a fifth starter this week, Allen Purvis, and he's likely going to pitch the first game in Chicago to give the entire rotation an extra day off. I was a little unsure of starting Wilcox on four days, but I would much rather him pitch in Philly then Chicago.

After the Sailors, we get to head to Cleveland for three more with the Foresters. They're 5-1 and tied with the Kings, and already swept us in Chicago. They have a pair of .500 hitters, star T.R. Goins and second year right fielder Fred Quinn. Quinn had a hot start last season too, but ended up hitting .257/.361/.372 (91 OPS+) with 10 homers, 56 RBI's, and 14 steals. Still, his impressive 13-for-25 with a double, triple, and five steals in the leadoff spot is amazing. Their pitching is great too, the offense is filled with great hitters, and there is a reason they won the CA last season. I wish they would start Ben Turner over Lyman Weigel, but for now we'll only have to deal with one former Cougar pitcher in their rotation. Of course, Weigel tossed a gem in his start, 6 hits, 1 run, 1 walks, and 3 strikeouts in a complete game victory against us. Only Eddie Quinn missed us, and he'll likely beat us in this series.