[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 5-2
Seasonal Record: 15-17 (5th, 5.5 GB)
Stars of the Week
Billy Hunter : 27 AB, 9 H, 4 HR, 10 RBI, .333 AVG, 1.231 OPS
John Lawson : 30 AB, 10 H, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .333 AVG, .955 OPS
Ollie Page : 24 AB, 6 H, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .250 AVG, .780 OPS

Schedule
5-17: Loss at Foresters (1-8)
5-18: Win vs Kings (2-3)
5-19: Loss vs Kings (11-6)
5-20: Win vs Kings (5-7)
5-21: Win vs Saints (2-8)
5-23: Win vs Saints (2-3): 12 innings
5-24: Win vs Cannons (4-5): 11 innings

Recap
Pinch me I must be dreaming! And to the tune of 5 wins, 4 homers, and 10 RBI's! And my prediction came true! Billy Hunter recorded his first big league homer against Tom Barrell as him, Ollie Page, and Doc Love hit solo homers as we edged the Kings 3-2. What I did not predict was the rest of Hunter's week! This must have been the greatest debut week ever and it was utter blasphemy that he did not come home with a Player of the Week award. The future of Chicago baseball (who's now all tired out and in need of an off day) was 9-for-20 with 2 doubles, 4 homers, 10 RBI's, and a pair of walks while slugging an outstanding .852. Not only that, if you ignore the small sample size, his 1.131 efficiency at shortstop is George Dawson/Harry Barrell level! He was a perfect 24-for-24 in the field too and even with this quick glimpse, it's quite apparent; this kid is a stud!

Oh yeah, we're also winning now! A 5-2 week following a 5-1 week and just like that we've won 10 out of 13 to jump all the way up to 5th. No other CA team can match that, and just like that the Cougars don't really suck anymore. I guess? I'm okay with that! Especially with John Lawson back on track! He's tied with Hunter for the team home run lead after going 10-for-30 with 4 RBI's and a pair of doubles, homers, and runs scored. In his first week at second, Ollie Page hit just 6-for-24, but with a triple, homer, 3 walks, 6 runs, and 6 RBI's. And like Hunter, he was perfect in the field, 33-for-33! Compared to how our middle infield did before this week, it's like going from Corey Seager and Max Muncy to Francisco Lindor and Cesar Hernandez. Even Leo Mitchell got into the fun this week, 4-for-12 with a pair of doubles in his part time play. It's been rough for him so far, but maybe this is the start of a turnaround for the 24-year-old.

With Pug going to the minors, I allowed my starters to be used as relievers, and for Milt Fritz, that meant no starts. Didn't go quite as well, 6 innings in two outings with 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Oscar Morse took his start, 16 total innings with 17 hits, 6 runs, 11 walks, and just 2 strikeouts. Clarence Crane made his first big league start, going all nine with 5 hits, a pair of unearned runs, 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Crane has been a pleasant surprise, 19 innings with a 1.89 ERA (231 ERA+) and 1.58 WHIP. He walks way too many hitters, but it hasn't killed him yet. Dave Rankin had two starts, a loss and a no decision, going 18.2 innings with 23 hits, 10 runs (9 earned), 8 walks, and 12 strikeouts. He's most definitely allergic to winning, as his no decision was a game where he tossed 11 innings with just 9 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 9 strikeouts.

Looking Ahead
Well, I certainly did not expect to be two games below .500, and I'm already expecting a rough week. We are home, so maybe Hunter will hit a few more wall scrapers. We start with Baltimore and will face John Edwards in the finale. He's 4-4 with a 5.73 ERA (77 ERA+), 1.83 WHIP, 42 walks, and 25 strikeouts in his 8 starts. We just passed them in the standings, as they're 15-19 and a game behind us. After Baltimore it's New York for three with the Stars. They're now in last at 14-20. Harry Carter has established himself as an ace, 2-3 with a 2.70 ERA (165 ERA+), 1.43 WHIP, 22 walks, and 21 strikeouts across 40 innings pitched. Then their two through five all have ERA's between 4.28 and 4.54, all respectable numbers. Veteran Dave Trowbridge has started to turn things around, increasing his triple slash to .287/.333/.481 (107 OPS+) with 9 doubles, 4 homers, and 19 RBI's. He hasn't had much support in the lineup, so I'm really hoping our staff has a lot of fun in this series.

We then finish the week with a three game set with the still first place Foresters. We took two out of three from them the last time we faced, and at 21-12 they hold a game lead over the Kings. Sergio Gonzales bested us last time out, now 4-1 with a 3.23 ERA (141 ERA+), 1.32 WHIP, 13 walks, and 22 strikeouts across 53 innings pitched. Him, Astle, and Martino have held down the staff, but Lee Drouillard and Lyman Weigel have really struggled. Drouillard is 3-4 with a 5.14 ERA (88 ERA+), 1.29 WHIP, 9 walks, and 11 strikeouts in 56 frames while Weigel is 2-4 with a 5.85 ERA (77 ERA+), 1.52 WHIP, 14 walks, and 22 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched. Even with those two struggling, the offense can more then make up for it. George Dawson is looking like the second best shortstop in the league (behind Hunter, of course), slashing .336/.388/.453 (111 OPS+) with 2 homers, 2 steals, and 27 RBI's. Add in a +8 zone rating with a 1.124 efficiency and there is very little he can't do. His double play partner, Brooks Meeks, is also off to a great start. Meeks is hitting .327/.389/.490 with 9 doubles, 2 triples, a homer, 3 steals, and 15 RBI's. He's nowhere near the defender that Dawson is, but the plays he can't make on the backhand Dawson will be there to make up for it. I also should mention Fowler, who stole Hunter's POTW award, who's brought his line up to .336/.390/.456 (112 OPS+). Not much power this year, just 2 longballs after 33 last year, but I expect that to change in the very near future.

Minor League Report
LHP Cal Knight (AAA Milwaukee Blues): He may be a 6 inning pitcher, but that hasn't stopped Cal Knight from making those 6 innings count. Up in the highest level, he's 4-1 with a 2.02 ERA (161 ERA+), 1.04 WHIP, 5 walks, and 12 strikeouts in 35.2 innings pitched. Like Parker, he's not Rule-5 eligible, which may make him spend the entire year in AAA. A polished three pitch pitcher with an 86-88 mile per hour cutter that he pairs well with his slider and changeup. His changeup is the best of the three, but he's not a stuff pitcher. His strength should be his control, and after a poor 3.9 BB/9 last season, he's dropped it way down to 1.3 this year. He doesn't have quite the upside of some of our younger pitchers, but Knight is far much more developed then the rest. I expect him to spend all of this season in Milwaukee, but he could be up in Chicago next season.

2B Jorge Camargo (AA Mobile Commodores): Our Independent League selection this season, Jorge Camargo hasn't had much of a problem with the tougher competition. This week he took home Player of the Week after going 13-for-26 with 5 runs scored and driven in. In his first 29 games in our system, he's hitting a strong .292/.393/.469 (156 OPS+) with 10 doubles, 5 triples, 7 steals, and 11 RBI's. The most impressive thing is the 20 walks already. I was not expecting this impressive plate discipline, as most of his strengths come from his speed and athleticism. A natural shortstop, the 24-year-old switch hitter has been getting reps at second as I work on building his versatility. Before this season, he almost strictly played games at shortstop, and he has looked pretty good. There are a lot of quality infielders ahead of him, but Camargo is the perfect off the bench player. I'm hoping to groom him to become a better Clyde Hinzman, but he's definitely got the talent to turn into a passable starter.

Amateur Report
The pool was announced today! I'm hoping to do a big amateur report over the weekend as well as adding the 1937 class to my draft database. This year the draft will be a little different, the first two rounds we select "blocks" instead of players based on the first two rounds of the mock draft. I will say the best player in the draft is Chicago's very own Roosevelt Bower who's projected to be an elite second basemen. A lot of good players are available, but it will be interesting to see where the players end up. As of now, just one pitcher ranks in the top two rounds of the Mock Draft, so the 3rd Round is definitely going to be crazy. There is a chance that like last season, the arguably second best player in the draft class was a 3rd Round projection, but it doesn't quite look like there's a chance of that this year. It will definitely be a new experience, but after an initial strong dislike for the new format, I am looking for to seeing how things shape out. I'll have a lot of cutting to do in the minors, so a lot of our fringe guys will have to kick it into high gear to stay in the organization.