[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 3-4
Seasonal Record: 33-33 (5th, 6 GB)
Stars of the Week
Rich Langton : 22 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .409 AVG, 1.116 OPS
Mike Taylor : 23 AB, 8 H, 1 HR, 8 RBI, .348 AVG, .878 OPS
John Lawson : 28 AB, 8 H, 2 HR, 5 RBI, .286 AVG, .891 OPS

Schedule
6-26: Win vs Kings (1-5)
6-27: Loss vs Cannons (5-4)
6-28: Win vs Cannons (3-7)
6-29: Win vs Cannons (1-5)
6-30: Loss vs Stars (11-8)
7-1: Loss vs Stars (4-3)
7-2: Loss vs Stars (4-0)

Recap
Everything was looking great until the Stars series. We swept the Kings, took two of three from the Cannons, before we let the Stars walk all over us. Our homestand ended in a sweep, and not the good time, while finished of in a 4-0 shutout. Not the welcome I planned for Lonardo, as we dropped to six games out of first and we have absolutely no one to blame but ourselves, because the Stars now lead the league. They're trying to pull off a first to worst, tied at 39-27 with the Foresters. Lucky for us, we'll have an off day to recuperate before heading back on the road. Our system has taken a little hit with the Jordan trade, but a few new draftees joined the system. Skipper and Goff haven't yet signed, but the Lou Eaker pick looks good, as he checks in at 9th in our system and 137th in the league. Joining him are Tommy Davis (185th) and Bill Dambreville (241st) who rank 14th and 15th. Most of our other guys signed, including Art Ramsey, who actually agreed to the $15,000 bonus, and Vince Conforti, who agreed to the $25,000. Neither crack the top 500, but I'm okay with that.

Harry Parker finally gave up a run, and it was just one, tossing a 3-hit and 2-walk complete game with a single strikeout to improve to 6-5 and lower his ERA to 3.58 (117 ERA+). In his last three starts, he has three complete games, 13 hits, 8 walks, and 6 strikeouts with just the lone run today. Dick Lyons continued to ageless run, a pair of 8 inning starts with 11 hits, 3 runs, 5 walks, and 7 strikeouts split between. Our other two start starter, Milt Fritz, did okay, a win and a loss in a pair of complete games. He was charged with 17 hits, 7 runs (6 earned), 6 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Of course, Peter the Heater can't have two good starts in a row, and our new stopper allowed 9 hits, 10 runs (9 earned), and 9 walks with 8 strikeouts in an out less then a complete game. But, to make things a little better, with Lonardo on the roster, I can compare his potential to others, and while he is above everyone else, Papenfus still has higher potential then the 4-time Allen Winner. Cy Sullivan wasn't great, but good enough to keep his start for the week, 6 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), and 7 walks in a complete game loss. Pug Bryan will now start games in Milwaukee after the Lonardo trade, hopefully regaining some of his old form.

Rich Langton continued to turn things around, 9-for-22 with a double, two triples, five runs, a steal, and an RBI. He gave up one start to Orlin Yates, who was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. John Lawson added two more homers, 8-for-28 with a double, 3 walks, 5 RBIs, and 6 runs. Mike Taylor was 8-for-23 with 8 RBIs and a homer. Ray Ford was 8-for-25 in his first week back, adding a triple, RBI, 3 runs, 4 walks, and a very rare steal. Freddie Jones rose his average a bit, 9-for-25 with 2 walks, 2 RBIs, and 4 runs scored.

Looking Ahead
After the needed off day, we'll welcome Toronto in town for three. Last year, the Wolves finished second and seemed likely to place in the top division again, but they are worse off then us, 31-35, and 8 games back without a Jim Lonardo addition yet. Of course, they have a Joe Hancock instead, 9-5 with a 2.39 ERA (183 ERA+), 1.07 WHIP, 36 walks, and 62 strikeouts on pace for a 300 inning season. An old favorite of mine, Bernie Johnson, is having a breakout year, 4-7, but with a 3.50 ERA (125 ERA+), 1.44 WHIP, 30 walks, and 26 strikeouts in 13 effective starts. Bob Walls isn't undefeated, but 6-6 with a 3.49 ERA (125 ERA+), 1.39 WHIP, 32 walks, and 14 strikeouts in 100.2 innings pitched. Even George Garrison seems to have righted the ship, 4-6 with a 4.01 ERA (109 ERA+), 1.43 WHIP, 36 walks, and 41 strikeouts in 103.1 innings pitched. Then there's also reigning Whitney Winner Fred McCormick, who is ripping the cover off the ball to the tune of .367/.476/.646 (182 OPS+) with 22 doubles, 7 triples, 7 steals, 10 homers, and 47 RBIs, while walking (51) far more frequently then he strikes out (18). But other then him, just former Cougar draftee Reginald Westfall has an above average OPS+ in the lineup. He's hitting right behind McCormick and batting .311/.397/.457 (116 OPS+) with 10 doubles, 4 homers, 34 RBIs, 22 walks, and 5 strikeouts in 174 trips to the plate. Nick Wallace isn't doing terrible by any means, but his .310/.350/.427 (96 OPS+) line isn't as great as last year, and his 12 doubles, triple, 5 homers, and 33 RBIs leave a little more to be desired. After getting swept by the Stars at home, I've lost a lot of confidence in the team, so the best way for them to earn my favor back would be a positive series here.

That's it for the road, as we return back home to host the 39-27 and tied for first place Cleveland Foresters. Lou Martino has broken out at 32, 4-1 with a 2.29 ERA (191 ERA+), 1.41 WHIP, 35 walks, and 19 strikeouts in 78.2 innings pitched. It has made up for the struggles of former Cougars Dean Astle and Dave Rankin, both with ERAs above 5. Astle's struggles have been very surprising, as the normally reliable ace is 6-8 with a 5.29 ERA (83 ERA+), 1.62 WHIP, 37 walks, and 35 strikeouts in 114 innings pitched. Rankin is a similar 5-8 with a 5.28 ERA (83 ERA+), 1.47 WHIP, 39 walks, and 35 strikeouts in 107.1 innings of his own. Considering their top two are having awful seasons and they still are 12 games over .500, the Foresters are definitely a team to take seriously. Mel Carrol has been a big help for that, slashing .382/.420/.524 (138 OPS+) with 19 doubles, a triple, 6 homers, and 45 RBIs. Bill Moore has been arguably better, just in far less time, hitting .391/.456/.600 (166 OPS+) with 13 doubles, at triple, 3 homers, and 29 RBIs, although he has just 136 PAs compared to Carrol's 293. The rest of the lineup hasn't been all that great, with the only other above average hitter being Roy Bradley. The former Eagle is hitting just .311/.341/.465 (105 OPS+), but with 19 doubles, 5 triples, 5 homers, 3 steals, and 32 RBIs in an even 300 trips to the plate. This will be a very tough series, but if we can bounce back with a good win, we can really turn things around quick. We'll get Lonardo in both series, and I'm ready to see how he likes his new home.

Minor League Report
LF Billy Jordan Jr. (B San Jose Cougars): After toiling around in La Crosse for a bit, Billy Jordan Jr. finally got a promotion to San Jose, and he's really made it count. In his first month up, he took home Player of the Month, batting .432 with 4 homers, 25 RBIs, and 16 runs scored. Pair that with a week or so in May, he's hitting .439/.477/.653 (191 OPS+) with 9 doubles and 27 RBIs to go with his June homers. A huge breakout for the 22-year-old, Jordan Jr. actually went up a big in the prospect rankings despite all the new additions, now 33rd and 393rd in our system. Weinstock expects him to be an elite hitter, but I don't think we'll be able to find a position that Billy can field all that well. He has a loose and quick stroke that works inside the ball, but I'm not too sure that's enough for him to secure a big league spot. This year his power has started to show a little, 7 homers this season, more then his six last season while he failed to hit one in 1937 after just two in 1936. The hometown kid profiles just as an off the bench pinch hitter, but I have a guy like that in the big leagues in Tommy Sandstrom, and a .258/.343/.548 (132 OPS+) batting line is pretty nice.

LHP Ralph Kendall (B San Jose Cougars): We swept the monthly awards in the C-O-W League, as starter turned reliever Ralph Kendall managed to earn the award. He was 5-2 with a 2.01 ERA, 5 saves, and 29 strikeouts in 31.1 innings pitched out of the pen. For the season, the 21-year-old southpaw has been elite in 56.1 innings pitched, 8-2 with 7 saves, a 1.60 ERA (313 ERA+), 1.17 WHIP, 21 walks, and 49 strikeouts. Our 5th Rounder in 1935, Kendall was a full time starter in '36, half time in '37, but he's only pitched out of the pen the past two seasons. He's looked really good, and while relief prospects aren't always the most important, seeing how our pen has had it's struggles, it doesn't hurt to have a young guy good at getting the last few outs in a game. He could move back to the rotation if needed, but I do like him much more as a pen arm. His sinker rolls up a ton of grounders, and sits comfortably in the 91-93 range, a little harder then he was throwing last year. It's a reliable pitch, but the splitter is actually the better offering. His stuff is pretty good, but he does run into issues with command. As a starter, he was prone to high pitch counts, but that has not been an issue for him out of the pen. He's definitely ready for a promotion, but for now I'm going to keep him with the Cougars.

CF Edmund Mann (B San Jose Cougars): Last week, 18-year-old Edmund Mann was waiting for his name to be called in the draft. This week, he was named Player of the Week in the C-O-W league! He was sensational, 13-for-30 with 3 doubles, 5 runs, and 6 RBIs. That leads to a .433/.452/.533 (155 OPS+) line, and sure it's just 54 innings, but a 1.063 efficiency is a lot nice then a .963 one. The switch hitter appears to be very well developed for his young age, and while I don't expect him to keep up this strong trend, but if he keeps hitting like this, I could seen him making the jump to Lincoln by the end of the year. He has the green arrow currently, but I'm not sure if I have room up there for him. His floor is as a fourth outfielder, but if he can fix his focus problems, he could develop into a very exciting regular.

RF Max Rucker (C La Crosse Lions): Another Player of the Week for Max Rucker, and it's time for him to start winning those up in San Jose instead. This week he hit .481 with a homer, 4 runs, and 10 RBIs, boosting his batting line up to .355/.405/.573 (130 OPS+) for the season. Not only that, he added 11 doubles, 2 triples, and 13 homers with 10 steals and 62 RBIs. Our 7th Rounder last season, Rucker got 138 games with the Lions, batting .343/.397/.511 (124 OPS+) with 25 doubles, 4 triples, 19 homers, 12 steals, and 99 RBIs. Rucker ranks right inside the top 500, 44th in the system and 488th in the league. He's an adequate defender with decent hands in the outfield, potentially ending up at any of the three outfield positions. He has a good wing as well, and while maybe not a .300 hitter, he may be able to hit it a few times in a potentially decent sized FABL career. I'm hoping he won't have a big shock with the tougher competition, but he's overachieved thus far and I hope it doesn't stop any time soon.