[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 4-3
Seasonal Record: 8-5 (1st, 0.5 GA)
Stars of the Week
John Lawson : 27 AB, 8 H, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .296 AVG, .943 OPS
Leo Mitchell : 26 AB, 8 H, 0 HR, 6 RBI, .308 AVG, .785 OPS
Pete Papenfus : 1 Win, 9.0 IP, 7 BB, 7 K, 0.00 ERA

Schedule
5-1: Win vs Sailors (3-5)
5-2: Loss vs Sailors (7-4)
5-3: Win vs Sailors (0-1)
5-4: Win at Foresters (10-2)
5-5: Loss at Foresters (2-3): 10 innings
5-6: Loss vs Wolves (8-1)
5-7: Win vs Wolves (3-4)

Recap
It wasn't a great week by any means, but no one in the Continental Association has gotten off to a great start, so we reign supreme, a half game ahead of the Foresters and Stars. We've won one more then Cleveland and loss one less then New York, while a surprising Montreal team sits at 7-6 despite no Pablo Reyes or George Thomas, and most expected them to finish in the cellar. Of course, this early in the season anything can happen, and I'd love for us to make some separation from the pack. Brooklyn is off to a slow 6-7 start, so the more early ground we can get between us and them, the harder we make it for a generally weak September team to come back.

The washed out emergency starter known to those who hold him dear as Peter the Heater showed just how washed up he was, tossing a 4-hit shutout with 7 walks and 7 strikeouts while scoring the only run in a 1-0 win over the Sailors. He led the third off with a single, got to second on a Langton single, got to third on a sac-fly, and then scored on a Ray Ford single. Early in the season it's fun to look at the projects stats because of how little games have played, and he's on pace for a 24-0 season with 142 walks and 178 strikeouts. He's second in the league in strikeouts, just because George Phillips has already made four starts. He's also third in ERA, behind teammate Cy Sullivan who's tied with the Sailors' Chuck Murphy. Sullivan went all nine in his start, allowing 8 hits, 2 runs, and a walk with 3 strikeouts, also on a 24-0 pace. Dick Lyons still hasn't struck out a batter himself, but his third start was a lot like the second, 8 innings with 6 hits, a run, and a walk. We had two two-start pitchers this week, Parker and Fritz, and both split their starts. Both had a good and bad start, with Parker going 17 innings while allowing 15 hits, 9 runs (7 earned), and 11 walks with 6 strikeouts while Fritz went 15.1 with 12 hits, 9 runs, 9 walks, and 5 strikeouts. Parker is off to a rough start to the year, but he's allowed less runs (8, 6, 3) in each start so far. Pug Bryan pitched poor in his only outing, tagged with the loss after 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and a strikeout in our extra inning loss in Cleveland. In fact, most of the pen struggled, with Purvis and Brown both allowing a run in each inning they pitched.

The bats actually struggled this week, with just Lawson and Mitchell having good weeks. Lawson's was the best, 8-for-27 with a double, two homers, three walks, five runs, and eight RBIs. Mitchell wasn't really that great, 8-for-26 with 2 doubles, 4 walks, 3 runs, and 6 RBIs, but he was the only Cougar to hit .300 or better in more then three plate appearances. That qualifier is because Doc Love was 1-for-2 with a run scored, and Tommy Sandstorm picked up his first career hit with a two run homer off Bob Sheehy in his lone at bat. In fact, Ford, Taylor, Montes, Hunter, Langton, and Mead all hit less then .200, a combined 20-for-115 (.174), with Ford's double and homer the only extra base hits. It's really surprising we actually won any games with them hitting like that, but I'll take what I can get. Freddie Jones hit his first Cougar homer, but he was just 5-for-22 with a double, three walks, and four runs.

Looking Ahead
Off to start the week, but will head out to New York for the start of a road trip. The first is two games with the new look Stars, who have added Ray Cochran at third, Moxie Pidgeon in left, Mel Hancock Jr. at second, and Chuck Cole in the rotation. Pidgeon has been red hot for the Stars, slashing .365/.385.683 (174 OPS+) with 6 homers and 17 RBIs in the early going. He's well on the way for his six consecutive 20 homer season, and is a huge boost to a formerly thin Stars lineup. The 33-year-old Cochran is also off to a blistering start, hitting .375/.508/.500 with a double, triple, homer, two steals, 6 RBIs, and 13 walks to just 2 strikeouts. Rookie Joe Angevine is also off to a great start, as the switch hitter gets to hit with Cochran on first in half his at bats. He's taken advantage, hitting .390/.446/.475 (141 OPS+) with a double, 2 triples, and 6 RBIs. I mentioned Phillips earlier, his 16 strikeouts most in the CA, and it goes with a 3-0 record, 3.44 ERA (124 ERA+), and 1.18 WHIP. The luck isn't quite there for Billy Riley, who is taking the sophomore slump a little to literal. He's 0-3 with a 10.43 ERA (41 ERA+), 2.39 WHIP, and 7 walks with 6 strikeouts. Cole's start in New York hasn't been exactly what they were looking for, but he is 2-0 with a 4.72 ERA (90 ERA+), 1.65 WHIP, 17 walks, and 7 strikeouts. We're likely to see Vern Hubbard, who's had the best start of the rest, 1-0 with a 3.14 ERA (136 ERA+), 1.37 WHIP, 7 walks, and 8 strikeouts.

After that we get the first shot at the reigning champs in Brooklyn, who might have pulled a switcharoo with the Dynamos, swapping one Pestilli for the other. Alf is hitting an astronomical .341/.400/.854 (215 OPS+) with 6 doubles, 5 homers, and 13 RBIs. Al Wheeler also has 5 homers, but his .216/.333/.569 (129 OPS+) line isn't quite what Wheeler is used to, but his 3 doubles and 14 RBIs help too. Whitney Runner up Frank Vance is continuing the whole "age is just a number routine" like Dick Lyons, hitting .392/.500/.608 (184 OPS+) with 3 doubles, a triple, 2 homers, 3 steals, and 11 RBIs. Brooklyn also has a new face and leadoff hitter in the lineup, former Gotham Howard Brown Jr., who's hitting .347/.385/.469 (119 OPS+) with a double, triple, homer, and six driven in. Another new face is in the rotation, 23-year-old Mexican Sergio Vergara, who they acquired last deadline in the Bill May trade. He's made two starts and a relief appearance, but has yet to get out of the fifth inning. He has a 1.74 ERA (248 ERA+), 0.68 WHIP, 5 walks, and 6 strikeouts, and currently ranks as the 14th ranked prospect in the game. Shaffner and White have looked fine this year, but the former Cougars Barrell and Murphy are off to tough starts. Barrell has taken last year's bad luck into this, 0-2 with a 6.63 ERA (65 ERA+) and 1.58 WHIP despite 5 strikeouts and not a single walk. Murphy is 1-2, but with a 5.23 ERA (83 ERA+), 1.40 WHIP, and 6 walks to just a single strikeout. These three games will be very tough, but we can really make some distance with a two out of three.

The long road trip continues in Montreal, but only one of the three games will take place this week. Despite being 7-6, there two-three-four sport ERAs of 7.29, 7.20, and 7.30. At the plate, however, they have a pair of .400 hitters including 22-year-old shortstop Frank Davis, who is hitting a nice .404/.429/.447 (125 OPS+). The other is All-Star catcher Adam Mullins, who's up to .444/.479/.667 (192 OPS+) with 2 doubles, a triple, 2 homers, and 14 RBIs. With Pablo Reyes now in Pittsburgh, Dilly Ward has seized the center field job, and has a double, homer, 4 triples, and 8 RBIs to go with a .288/.367/.519 (125 OPS+) line. Another new face is former 2nd Rounder Mark Burns, who launched his first big league homer in a 8-7 win over the Kings. He's hitting just .273/.312/.386 (79 OPS+), but he checks in just inside the top 50 and six in their stacked farm. Tom is a big fan of his, projecting him as an easy .300 hitter with exceptional defense at the hot corner. Montreal may not be scary now, but give them a few years, hopefully after a Cougar pennant, and they can be an absolute force to be reckoned with. They match out 43 top 500 prospects, but 14 of them make up the top 100, including the #4 and #5, an excellent southpaw and an exciting young righty.

Minor League Report
LHP Doc Smith (AA Mobile Commodores): Before the season, there were red arrows notifying me that Doc Smith was not a AA worthy pitcher. But, after a 3-hit, 3-walk, 3-strikeout shutout, those arrows suddenly disappeared! His first start was solid too, 9 hits, 2 runs, 5 walks, and a strikeout in another complete game. The southpaw spent all last season in Lincoln, 7-7 in 24 starts with a 3.63 ERA (108 ERA+), 1.22 WHIP, 47 walks, and 70 strikeouts. Now 24, the hardworking Smith has never gotten much prospect love, but I really like the former 2nd Rounder. A soft tosser sitting in the mid 80s, his sinker is adept at rolling up double plays and his changeup is a really quality pitch. His stuff as a whole is below average, partly do to his velocity, but he has a splitter to go with a cutter and fastball as well. Of course, three types of fastballs doesn't help when you don't hit 90, and I think it's a little too late for a velocity boost to the 90s. His command isn't good enough to make up for it yet, but I have a soft spot for the pitchers I draft. I think it's too much to hope for a future in the rotation, but you can never have too much pitching depth, especially lefties with the tool to start games.

CF Max Rucker (C La Crosse Lions): Today was the first full week of the minor league season, and Max Rucker was our first 5-for-5. His came in an 8-4 win over Dubuque, but all five hits were singles and he scored on three of them. Our 7th Rounder last year, Rucker is starting the season in La Crosse, but seems likely to head up to San Jose around the draft. A natural center fielder, all but one of his 72 appearances came there, but this season I'll be giving him more starts in the corners as well. He's a strong defensive outfielder, working to a 10.3 zone rating and 1.065 efficiency last season. Even with the 5-for-5, however, he's hitting just an average .366/.395/.537 (106 OPS+) with a double, steal, two homers, and nine driven in. Rucker has shown above average contact potential and great speed, but his usual strong discipline has been a little out of wack this season. It's still early, but after 27 walks and 22 strikeouts last season, he's walked just twice with eight strikeouts. He does look like the perfect fourth outfielder type with a little more upside, but he ranks outside of our top 30 at the moment. He's sitting at 37 and 442nd in the league, so I don't expect top quality performance from him, but there is definite talent there and his future lies on a big league roster.