[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 5-2
Seasonal Record: 42-43 (5th, 16 GB)
Stars of the Week
Mike Taylor : 18 AB, 9 H, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .500 AVG, 1.550 OPS
Leo Mitchell : 22 AB, 11 H, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .500 AVG, 1.136 OPS
Pete Papenfus : 2 Wins, 11.0 IP, 3 BB, 10 K, 2.45 ERA

Schedule
7-11: Win vs Sailors (3-14)
7-12: Win vs Sailors (6-7)
7-13: Loss vs Stars (11-2)
7-14: Win vs Stars (2-6)
7-15: Win vs Stars (0-1)
7-16: Loss vs Cannons (6-5)
7-17: Win vs Cannons (0-1)

Recap
The offense came alive for part of the week, and with help from a pair of 1-0 shutouts, we bounced back with a nice 5-2 week to welcome Peter the Heater to the roster. The kid looked great, picking up a win in both start and relief, allowing 6 hits, 3 runs, and 3 walks with 10 strikeouts in his first 11 innings pitched. No shutout for Pete, but his first big league start saw 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts in a complete game. Harry Parker made the best start of his young career, a 4-hit, 4-walk shutout of the Stars. He struck out 6, raising his total to 15 on the season, and Parker is now 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA (120 ERA+) and 1.38 WHIP in his first three big league starts. Dick Lyons was unlucky in one of his two starts, but also tossed 8 scoreless against the Cannons. In total, he tallied 14 innings with 13 hits, 5 runs (1 earned), 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts to drop his ERA back below 3. Cy Sullivan also got two starts, a complete game win and loss with 20 hits, 9 runs (8 earned), 6 walks, and 5 strikeouts. Milt Fritz had another terrible outing, 11 hits, 8 runs (6 earned), and 5 walks with 2 strikeouts in 8.1 innings pitched. He's now allowed five or more runs in each of his last five starts, and his ERA has jumped from 3.16 to 4.09. He's also dropped to 7-8, losing his last six decisions.

Mike Taylor continued to mash, this week a Player of the Week worthy 9-for-18 with a double, triple, two homers, four runs, and six RBIs to raise his season line to .286/.358/.453 (117 OPS+). Taylor hasn't cracked 100 since 1934 (110), but every season prior was an above average offensive season. Leo Mitchell and Rich Langton both started to turn things around, with Mitchell finishing 11-for-22 with 3 doubles, 3 RBIs, 5 runs, and a steal. Langton was 8-for-21 with 4 doubles, a homer, a steal, a pair of walks, and 4 RBIs. Doc Love made the most of his three starts, 4-for-13 with two doubles, a homer, and five driven in. John Lawson had a nice week as well, 9-for-25 with a double and four walks and RBIs. Ray Ford hit a massive roadblock, just 3 hits and 3 walks in 23 trips. Carlos Montes had a rough return to the lineup, just 4-for-24, although he homered and walked, scored in, and drove in three.

Looking Ahead
One more against the Cannons, and we'll likely see Art Edwards or Rusty Petrick's return for the DL. Before injury, Petrick was 5-8 with a 4.21 ERA (97 ERA+, 1.67 WHIP, 90 walks, and 63 strikeouts. Petrick is a huge strikeout arm, but the walks have definitely been an issue for the 22-year-old and the only thing stopping him from developing into a top of the rotation arm. Baltimore also brought up former 3rd Round selection George Simmons to replace Bunny Stapleton, and in his first five games, he's hitting .235/.333/.529 (128 OPS+) with a triple, homer, and 4 RBIs. Former Cougar draftee Joe Rainbow leads the team with 8 homers, but his .231/.292/.368 (76 OPS+) batting line is leaving a lot to be desired. This is already his career high for homers, and once he reaches double digits it would meet the combined total of his first three seasons.

Next the Kings come in town, and at 58-27, they're ten ahead of the Wolves and 16 ahead of us. The bottom four in their rotation all own ERAs south of 3, with just ace Tom Barrell not joining them. Barrell has an adjusted league average 4.15 ERA, but with a 1.24 WHIP, 27 walks, and 78 strikeouts. The three time Allen Winner has a 3.08 FIP and 73 FIP- (lower is better), so it appears that the staff ace just cannot get a break. We might miss him, but seeing southpaws Shaffner, White, and Murphy isn't much easier. The reigning Allen winner is off to another Allen winning season, 12-5 with a 2.47 ERA (169 ERA+), 1.12 WHIP, and 43 walks and strikeouts. Popular Cougar trade target Art White has seemingly put it all together this year, 7-1 with a 2.37 ERA (176 ERA+), 1.30 WHIP, 23 walks, and 14 strikeouts while former Cougar Mike Murphy is 10-2 with a 2.56 ERA (163 ERA+), 1.09 WHIP, 27 walks, and 32 strikeouts. It will be really hard to score on them, and now with Alf Pestilli's emergence in the lineup, it's going to be harder to keep them off the board. Sal's older brother is hitting .301/.376/.538 (136 OPS+) with 10 doubles, 2 triples, 9 homers, and 39 RBIs in three shy of 200 PAs. He's sandwiched between the 12 homer bat of Al Wheeler and the 15 homer bat of Frank Vance, making the 3-4-5 of Brooklyn a tough feat for even the best of pitchers.

Our homestand and stretch of games then finishes on the weekend with a three game set with the Saints. At 37-47, they are 3.5 games behind us. Former Cougar prospect Karl Wallace has arguably been the best on the staff, 8-5 with a 3.72 ERA (112 ERA+), 1.54 WHIP, 64 walks, and 44 strikeouts in 133 innings pitched. Jake DeYoung has allowed 8 and 7 runs in his last two outings, now 7-8 with a 3.80 ERA (110 ERA+), 1.23 WHIP, 24 walks, and 54 strikeouts in 135 innings pitched. Rookie and leadoff hitter Bert Lass has been their most effective hitter, slashing an impressive .347/.422/.4789 (134 OPS+) with 25 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homers, and 31 RBIs while walking almost four times (39) as much as he strikes out (4). He gets the benefit of slugger Red Bond behind him, who has hit .316/.359/.478 (116 OPS+) with 18 doubles, 11 homers, and 46 RBIs. Montreal has also brought up former 9th Overall Pick Biff Henson up from AA Nashville to play second. It's just 14 games so far, but he's hitting .333/.360/.354 (86 OPS+) with a double and ten driven in. He's a natural shortstop and will turn 25 in August. Backstop Adam Mullins has started to turn things around, and he's hitting a nice .308/.405/.433 (118 OPS+) with 21 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers, and 37 RBIs as he was named to the All Star game for the second straight season.

Minor League Report
RHP Johnny Godfrey (B San Jose Cougars): He wasn't pitching any good in La Crosse, but with the entrance of a ton of new young arms, he was one of the few members of the Lions who didn't have a red arrow in San Jose. So despite going 3-3 with a 6.38 ERA (72 ERA+), 1.69 WHIP, and 15 walks and strikeouts, he was on his way up to San Jose. Somehow, it couldn't have worked any better, and the 21-year-old on the brink of losing a starting job tossed a 6-hit, 1-walk, 3-strikeout shutout as the baby Cougars crushed Everett 15-0. Our 8th Rounder in 1935, Godfrey isn't the hardest worker out there, but he throws a nice mid 90s fastball and mixes in a forkball, slider, and change as well. One of his major weakness is his tendency to nibble, which causes spikes in his walk rates. Sometimes he just fails to hit the plate in general, but his forkball is a decent offering and could be an effective big league pitch. The big issue right now is the other three of his pitches are very underdeveloped, and he hasn't shown much progress polishing his stuff. This start might be a blip on the road to release, but it definitely bought the young righty a few more starts.

RF Ray Powell (B San Jose Cougar): Another new addition to San Jose, Ray Powell wasted no time and went 5-for-6 with 2 runs, 4 doubles, and 4 RBIs in Godfrey's shutout victory. The 19-year-old lottery selection is in a four man outfield with Sammy Dillon, Jim Madsen, and Chick Browning, so while he's not really playing every day, he gets a ton of playing time and won't get too tired. He's made the most of it so far, going 10-for-19 with 5 doubles and 7 RBIs in his first week back in San Jose. It was a much different story last year, as Powell hit just .220/.245/.220 (37 OPS+) in 50 at bats. A natural right fielder, Powell spent a lot of time in La Crosse out in center and he has some experience in left as well. He's not a great defender, but he has good speed and could flirt with a .300 average. His pitch recognition is solid at the moment, and down in C ball he walked 26 times with just 11 strikeouts. I never wanted Powell and I never though he would be much of anything, but at least the 6'3'' lefty is playing well, and perhaps the Searcy, Arkansas native can develop into at least a passable bench player.