BNN Weekly Report
This Week in the CBO
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
18 June 2300
News from Around the League
15 June - Season Ends for Fleming: Clearly dejected, Jayden Fleming left the Warwick clubhouse nearly in tears this afternoon. He acknowledged that his season is over after sustaining a ruptured disc in a ballgame recently. It brings an early end to the Warwick starting pitcher's season.
Witch Hats End Swift's Streak: Mike Swift came rolling into today's game against the Salem Witch Hats with a 23-game hitting string, but he left it on the field at Vim! Park of Salem.
The 22-year-old Nordhagen Beach Party Boys catcher went 0-for-4 against the Witch Hats as the Party Boys fell, 3-0.
"I swung at a couple pitches I probably shouldn't have and I didn't swing at a couple I probably should have," he said, grimacing. "But that's what makes a hit streak so impressive in the first place -- it only takes a couple mistakes to end it all."
Swift on the season is hitting .348 with 2 home runs. His stats include 16 RBIs and 27 runs scored.
17 June - North Charles Association All-Star Fan Voting Update: Below are the current standings for the North Charles Association All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jun. 17th, 2300) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 3rd, 2300. The top vote getter at this point is Biter Trout with 3,289,257 votes.
CATCHER
1. Biter Trout, County Crossing Bloodbugs: 3,289,257
2. Hope Scrapper, Starlight Lady Killers: 2,446,850
3. Mike Swift, Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: 2,444,434
FIRST BASE
1. Jim Tiller, Fort Hagen Silver Shroud: 2,821,977
2. Zeldolph Violet, Starlight Lady Killers: 2,599,829
3. Dustin Mart, Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: 2,577,602
SECOND BASE
1. C.T. Woodard, The Slog Ghouls: 2,818,469
2. Mark Miller, Fort Hagen Silver Shroud: 2,656,844
3. Jim Synthseeker, Finch Farm Four Leafs: 2,367,239
THIRD BASE
1. Justin Daros, Lexington Synths: 2,339,252
2. Micah Morals, Fort Hagen Silver Shroud: 2,169,030
3. Peter Tatoeater, Finch Farm Four Leafs: 2,105,104
SHORTSTOP
1. Well Done Dungan, Fort Hagen Silver Shroud: 2,846,821
2. Austin Engill, Abernathy Adamantium: 2,602,886
3. Sean Koester, Concord Radstags: 2,450,778
LEFT FIELD
1. Dan Erb, Concord Radstags: 3,125,400
2. Andrew Nuka, Fort Hagen Silver Shroud: 2,743,358
3. Michael Fogcrawler, Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: 2,556,793
CENTER FIELD
1. Sean Samuels, Easy Town Assaultrons: 3,142,684
2. Ben Pawlak, Fort Hagen Silver Shroud: 2,870,992
3. Ryan Combs, Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: 2,710,252
RIGHT FIELD
1. Jonathan Angelou, Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: 2,701,682
2. Brightsun Ramos, Sunshine Tidings Chemists: 2,508,314
3. Crooked Tostado, Lexington Synths: 2,373,436
STARTING PITCHER
1. Derek Green, Fort Hagen Silver Shroud: 1,617,219
2. Tommy Beach, Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: 1,490,807
3. Brad Westing, Abernathy Adamantium: 1,398,350
4. Tony Bertha, Salem Witch Hats: 1,383,288
5. Chet Arthur, Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: 1,383,078
RELIEVER
1. Aaron Geneva, Easy Town Assaultrons: 1,440,483
2. Handsome Frank, Sunshine Tidings Chemists: 1,378,640
3. Larry Undertaker, Starlight Lady Killers: 1,303,418
4. Aaron Still, Concord Radstags: 1,140,437
5. Dan Beantown, Salem Witch Hats: 1,084,260
In his career Trout is hitting .342 with a total of 5 home runs.
South Charles Association All-Star Fan Voting Update: Below are the current standings for the South Charles Association All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jun. 17th, 2300) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 3rd, 2300. The top vote getter at this point is Joe Rathmann with 3,730,282 votes.
CATCHER
1. Tony Tamez, Egret Ninjas: 2,738,198
2. Justin Browneye, Goodneighbor Hancocks: 2,529,247
3. Ayag Mour, Jamaica Plain Red Rockets: 2,371,697
FIRST BASE
1. Barker Cocoa, University Point Deathclaws: 3,656,740
2. Oren Gep, Diamond City Swatters: 3,597,022
3. Bryan Assman, Goodneighbor Hancocks: 3,460,378
SECOND BASE
1. Jonathan Abern, Oberland T-51s: 2,983,758
2. Jumper Hayes, Goodneighbor Hancocks: 2,809,125
3. Jason Harris, University Point Deathclaws: 2,439,730
THIRD BASE
1. Allen Bishop, Diamond City Swatters: 2,672,806
2. Jason Juras, Goodneighbor Hancocks: 2,656,944
3. Ben Pettinato, Quincy Gunners: 2,505,097
SHORTSTOP
1. Wally Warwick, Diamond City Swatters: 2,902,058
2. Burtie Cuttooth, Goodneighbor Hancocks: 2,880,834
3. Knud Bather, Vault 81 Dwellers: 2,626,657
LEFT FIELD
1. Joe Whiskey Hagen, Warwick Mirelurks: 2,446,852
2. Paladin Danse, Egret Ninjas: 2,371,321
3. Prof Castillo, Oberland T-51s: 2,298,736
CENTER FIELD
1. Ricky Ticky Laughy, Oberland T-51s: 3,133,443
2. Aesed Hayjen, Vault 81 Dwellers: 3,058,308
3. Jukebox Luttrell, University Point Deathclaws: 2,963,881
RIGHT FIELD
1. Joe Rathmann, FHE Yao Guai: 3,730,282
2. Tomas Jones, University Point Deathclaws: 3,608,530
3. Good Don Duck, Goodneighbor Hancocks: 2,979,401
STARTING PITCHER
1. Phlip Wallace, Egret Ninjas: 1,583,730
2. X10-44 Mannson, Diamond City Swatters: 1,553,848
3. Sheng Kawolski, Oberland T-51s: 1,530,627
4. Chris Teddybear, Jamaica Plain Red Rockets: 1,463,982
5. Quincy Eloquent, Goodneighbor Hancocks: 1,363,872
RELIEVER
1. Andy Helium, Egret Ninjas: 1,219,765
2. Josh Samm, Diamond City Swatters: 1,197,481
3. Tiny Greene, Goodneighbor Hancocks: 1,116,976
4. Marc Pondsip, University Point Deathclaws: 1,066,040
5. Wick Prater, Quincy Gunners: 1,060,397
Rathmann is hitting .325 lifetime with 214 hits, 40 doubles, 8 triples, 34 home runs and 113 RBIs to date. He has scored 117 runs and stolen 32 bases.
18 June - Jamaica Plain Red Rockets Ship Adamczyk to Atom: The Jamaica Plain Red Rockets have finalized a deal with the Atom Cats for the services of 32-year-old 2B Alec Bullets. In exchange, the Cats will receive 21-year-old minor league RHP Chad Adamczyk, 21-year-old minor league RHP Matt Rodrigue and a 5th round draft pick.
Since he came into the league, Adamczyk has no saves with a 5-6 record and a 5.15 ERA.
Currently Bullets has 3 home runs and a .272 batting average.
Trouble in Goodneighbor, Utsinger Suffers Setback: Zachary Utsinger was taking it slow and easy nursing a torn meniscus back to good health, when he suffered a setback. According to a Goodneighbor team official, "Zachary was making excellent progress and it appeared he would return to the squad ahead of schedule. But then he reinjured it in a light workout." Club doctors now say the 21-year-old Hancocks left fielder will be out at least another 2 months.
BNN Top 100 Prospects List Updated: With the mid-season mark upon us, now is a great time to update the pre-season BNN Top 100 Prospect list with what we have learned to this point. This year 23-year-old CF Maxx Murtagh of the Nordhagen Beach Party Boys is the #1 prospect overall.
Here is the top 10:
1) CF Maxx Murtagh, 23, Nordhagen Beach Party Boys
2) RHP Eugene Gym, 21, Roxbury Rad Sox
3) RHP David Coocoo, 22, Abernathy Adamantium
4) RHP Nuke Laloosh, 19, Roxbury Rad Sox
5) LHP College Luckyman, 19, Roxbury Rad Sox
6) 1B Duncan MacCready, 20, Roxbury Rad Sox
7) RF Base McAndrews, 25, Finch Farm Four Leafs
8) 3B Donn Mattingley, 19, Nordhagen Beach Party Boys
9) RF Gunner Eyesocket, 21, Jamaica Plain Red Rockets
10) LHP Whokill Poole, 20, Roxbury Rad Sox
Scores
Tue 12 June
FtH 7 at Slog 10 / Sal 2 at Con 3, 10 inn / FF 12 at ST 10 / NB 6 at Star 2 / Lex 8 at CC 2 / Abe 2 at ET 7
Good 19 at Obe 5 / War 5 at Rox 3 / JP 5 at Egr 4 / V81 11 at UP 3 / DC 7 at Atom 4 / FHE 5 at Qui 1
Performance of the Day: 3B Jason Juras, Goodneighbor, 4 for 5, 3B, BB, 4 R, RBI
Wed 13 June
FtH 4 at Slog 10 / Sal 2 at Con 4 / FF 3 at ST 4 / NB 2 at Star 1 / Lex 1 at CC 10 / Abe 5 at ET 6
Good 15 at Obe 12, 11 inn / War 6 at Rox 5 / JP 8 at Egr 3 / V81 5 at UP 4 / DC 7 at Atom 6 / FHE 0 at Qui 13
Performance of the Day: CF John Rose, Goodneighbor, 4 for 5, HR, BB, 3 R, 3 RBI
Fri 15 June
Slog 10 at FF 6 / Con 5 at ST 4, 11 inn / FtH 8 at Abe 5 / ET 3 at CC 1 / NB 0 at Sal 3 / Lex 6 at Star 2
Qui 4 at War 3, 11 inn / Atom 5 at UP 6 / JP 12 at Good 8 / V81 12 at Egr 6 / Obe 11 at Rox 0 / FHE 9 at DC 1
Performance of the Day: CF Millioncap Go, The Slog, 2 for 4, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 R, 4 RBI
Sat 16 June
NB 8 at Sal 1 / FtH 9 at Abe 6 / Slog 6 at FF 3 / Con 9 at ST 7 / ET 4 at CC 3 / Lex 0 at Star 8
Atom 2 at UP 1 / JP 7 at Good 3 / V81 11 at Egr 4 / Qui 3 at War 4 / FHE 5 at DC 6, 10 inn / Obe 1 at Rox 5
Performance of the Day: SP Chris Schneier, Starlight, 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, W
Sun 17 June
Slog 9 at FF 3 / Con 9 at St 8 / FtH 4 at Abe 2, 11 inn / ET 4 at CC 3 / NB 6 at Sal 1 / Lex 8 at Star 3
Atom 3 at UP 6 / JP 6 at Good 7, 10 inn / V81 6 at Egr 4, 13 inn / FHE 4 at DC 5 / Qui 7 at War 4 / Obe 3 at Rox 4
Performance of the Day: RF Deer Quickwalker, Vault 81, 3 for 4, 2 HR, 2 BB, 2 R, 3 RBI
Players of the Week
North Charles Association's Best Batter Announced: Millioncap Go has the tools to stick in this league for many years. The 21-year-old center fielder of the The Slog Ghouls had a hot bat in the North Charles Association over the past seven days and won the Player of the Week honors.
Go batted .500 with 11 hits in 22 at-bats, 2 home runs and 9 RBIs.
This year Go is batting .295 with 4 home runs. He has scored 34 runs and driven in 35.
Cornseed Wins SCA Honor: One of the league's most exciting young players, Carney Cornseed of the Jamaica Plain Red Rockets earned himself South Charles Association Player of the Week honors with a standout performance in last week's games.
For the week the 20-year-old left fielder had a lofty .524 average (11-for-21), collecting 3 home runs, 9 RBIs and 7 runs scored.
Cornseed is hitting .298 in 2300 with 33 RBIs and 13 home runs.
Transactions
Monday, June 18th, 2300
Goodneighbor Hancocks: Activated SP Josh Dude from the injured list.
The Slog Ghouls: Activated 2B Chris Recore from the injured list.
Warwick Mirelurks: Placed SP Dobbie Radoncis on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 06/17/2300.
Oberland T-51s: Placed 2B Jonathan Abern on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 06/17/2300.
The Jamaica Plain Red Rockets traded 21-year-old minor league reliever Chad Adamczyk, 21-year-old minor league starting pitcher Matt Rodrigue and a 5th Round Pick to the Atom Cats, getting 32-year-old second baseman Alec Bullets in return.
Sunday, June 17th, 2300
Finch Farm Four Leafs: Activated 2B Jim Synthseeker from the injured list.
Easy Town Assaultrons: Activated SS Matt Stoops from the injured list.
Starlight Lady Killers: Placed 1B Zeldolph Violet on the 7-day injured list.
Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: Activated SP Julian Shed from the injured list.
Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: Sent SP Julian Shed to Triple A Greentop Nursery for injury rehab.
Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: Placed SS Pointie Shroud on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 06/16/2300.
Friday, June 15th, 2300
Warwick Mirelurks: Placed SP Jayden Fleming on the 60-day injured list.
The Grape Painted Ghouls traded 21-year-old minor league reliever Sean Slocum to the The Slog Ghouls, getting 28-year-old minor league first baseman Nick Homebody in return.
Thursday, June 14th, 2300
University Point Deathclaws: Activated CF Jukebox Luttrell from the injured list.
Starlight Lady Killers: Placed SP Jonathan Newman on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 06/13/2300.
Salem Witch Hats: Placed SP Roberto Gonzales on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 06/13/2300.
Warwick Mirelurks: Placed CL Tom Rose on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 06/12/2300.
Tuesday, June 12th, 2300
Warwick Mirelurks: SP Jayden Fleming returns from his rehab assignment.
FHE Yao Guai: CF Po Greenzone returns from his rehab assignment.
Sunshine Tidings Chemists: Released C Money Arevalo.
Standings
[Size=”5”]Playoff Picture[/SIZE]
At the midway point of the season, let’s look at what the playoff picture looks like for each association.
North Charles Association
#1 – Nordhagen Beach
VS
#4 Concord vs #5 The Slog
#2 Fort Hagen vs #3 Easy Town
In the race: Abernathy, Salem, Lexington
South Charles Association
#1 Goodneighbor (Due to tie breaker of Run Differential +77)
VS
#4 Diamond City vs #5 Quincy (Due to tie breaker of worse head-to-head record vs JP)
#2 Vault 81 (Due to tie breaker of Run Differential +66) vs #3 Jamaica Plain (Due to tie breaker of better head-to-head record vs Qui)
In the race: FHE, University Point, Oberland, Egret
Team Power Rankings
Weekly Team Power Rankings: Here are the current team power rankings for Commonwealth Baseball Organization:
Teams (Total Points, Tendency):
1) Vault 81 Dwellers (125.5, ++)
2) Easy Town Assaultrons (124.3, +)
3) Nordhagen Beach Party Boys (122.5, -)
4) Goodneighbor Hancocks (119.5, --)
5) Concord Radstags (114.5, +)
6) Fort Hagen Silver Shroud (109.0, -)
7) The Slog Ghouls (107.2, ++)
8) Jamaica Plain Red Rockets (101.2, ++)
9) Diamond City Swatters (100.9, ++)
10) Quincy Gunners (99.2, -)
11) Lexington Synths (89.4, ++)
12) FHE Yao Guai (87.6, -)
13) Salem Witch Hats (87.6, --)
14) University Point Deathclaws (85.4, ++)
15) Abernathy Adamantium (83.9, --)
16) Oberland T-51s (82.4, --)
17) Egret Ninjas (78.1, --)
18) Starlight Lady Killers (77.5, -)
19) Warwick Mirelurks (71.7, +)
20) County Crossing Bloodbugs (68.3, -)
21) Roxbury Rad Sox (65.5, +)
22) Atom Cats (63.0, -)
23) Finch Farm Four Leafs (54.2, o)
24) Sunshine Tidings Chemists (46.6, o)
Analysis
We have hit the midway point of the season, and there are definitely some haves and have nots in the season. We do not know yet who will be there when all 108 games are played, but there are some teams that seem to be locked in for the probable playoff position while a few teams are jostling for who will pick in the Top 5 in the 2300 Rookie Draft.
With a perfect 5-0 week, the Vault 81 Dwellers have vaulted into the #1 position and a three-way tie with Goodneighbor and Nordhagen Beach for the CBO’s best record. The Dwellers won in impressive fashion over two decent but struggling teams, both on the road. Vault 81 swept University Point (#14) and then had a perfect weekend at Egret (#17).
Despite being in 2nd place in the Brotherhood League, Easy Town is the #2 team thanks to a 5-0 week and a current seven-game winning streak. The Assaultrons won two versus Abernathy (#15) and then went to County Crossing to sweep the Bloodbugs (#20).
The Party Boys are #3 with a 4-1 week which also keeps them one game up on the Trons. Nordhagen Beach won two at Starlight (#18) and then won two of three at Salem (#13). The rest of the CBO had better watch out with reports that both Julian Shed and Matt Ranger could return to the team by next weekend’s series versus the Witch Hats.
With a 3-2 week, the Hancocks dropped three spots to #4. Goodneighbor started the week out right, beating Oberland (#16) 19-5 and 15-12. However, they dropped the first two games at home of their weekend series against Jamaica Plain (#8) before winning in 10 innings yesterday.
The biggest surprise at this point of the season and the top Institute League team in the Top 5 is the Concord Radstags, our featured team this week. With a seven-game winning streak and a 5-0 week, the Stags are now in 2nd place behind Fort Hagen (#6) by only two games. Concord beat the Witch Hats in two games and then won all three at Sunshine Tidings (#24), the CBO’s worst team.
For individual accolades at the midseason point, FHE’s Joe Rathmann still looks to be the leader in the CBO MVP race. Rathmann’s only true competition for the Nuka-Hitter Award in the SCA is Diamond City’s Oren Gep, who trails in WAR 4.8 to 4.4. Gep has a five home run advantage for the CBO lead over Atom’s Will Ashfire.
In the NCA, the race is a bit tighter, but Fort Hagen’s Ben Pawlak (3.9 WAR) seems to have the current lead. His two strongest competitors are Easy Town’s Sean Samuels (3.5) and County Crossing’s Biter Trout (3.4).
For pitching, the NCA’s first-half leader is probably Nordhagen Beach’s Tommy Beach. Unfortunately, he will not play most of the second half of the season due to injury, so he is out of the Vim! Pitcher Award running. In his place, Derek Green of the Silver Shroud is probably next in line. Green is second in ERA and tied for the NCA lead in wins.
The SCA is harder to determine just because there are a lot of players pitching great. Our lean here is a good pitcher on a terrible team, Roxbury’s Beachboy Nut. Nut is 8-4 and leads the CBO with a 2.36 ERA. A few other contenders are Diamond City’s X10-44 Mannson, University Point’s Quentin Malone, Vault 81’s Edwin Mass, and Jamaica Plain’s Chris Deathclaw.
Team Focus: Concord Radstags
In 2298, the Concord Radstags were close but not close enough to making the playoffs, finishing just four games back in the regular season of both Abernathy and Fort Hagen in the IL. Outside of that season, they never finished above 5th. This year, though, they have shown a hot streak that could boost them to a chance to make the playoffs for the first time in 2300. Concord has won six straight, 7 of 8, and 9 of 11 to start June at 10-3. Should they continue to win, they could challenge Fort Hagen for the league title.
Statistics can lie because the Stags are finding ways to win without being a dominant statistical team. Part of that lies in being among the best teams in one-run games (9-5) with only Easy Town (14-5) and Egret (9-4) better and tied for the best record in extra-inning games (5-1). With the 5th-best runs produced (252) in the NCA, the Radstags do not look to be a great offensive team, but they are top heavy. Dan Erb (.357/11/50) could work his way into the Nuka-Hitter Award if he finds away to improve his home run numbers. Gene Leftswipe (.344/6/39) and Sean Koester (.309/4//14) also offer support. 2B Josh McIntyre (.264/7/32) is a bit underrated at his position but he is consistently good. Otherwise, Concord needs better production from leadoff hitter Pockets Aintfull (.262/1/16) as well as the bottom three hitters in the lineup.
You would think the Stags’ success would come from pitching, but they are even worse in pitching categories. Concord is 8th in runs allowed (265) with the 9th-best Starters ERA (4.72) but 2nd-best Bullpen ERA (2.94). Ace Chris Radsco (7-3, 3.94) has been a boon to their success but injured Phil Cecil (4-5, 4.85), Joe Penaltybox (5-5, 4.28), and Mario Bustos (4-5, 5.75) are inconsistent. The bullpen has thus been called upon to make the difference, which it has. Closer Aaron Still, acquired in an offseason trade with Oberland, is in the running for the Fallon’s Reliever Award with 15 saves and a 1.86 ERA. Chopsticks McWilliams (2-1, 1.29) and Old Buck Buchanan (2-0, 1.71) have really helped in the bullpen, too.
We hate to predict anything based on what this Team Focus feature has done to teams. Remember the other IL team we featured last week, Abernathy? Yeah, they’re on a seven-game losing streak right now. Can Concord continue to win like they currently have been? Well, if they start hitting better and/or pitching better, then yes. Otherwise, we expect the numbers to normalize and Concord to finish somewhere around .500. If they have reached their peak, though, we hope they enjoy their highest-ever ranking in the Power Rankings and keep working to build and develop talent for their future.