[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 3-1
Seasonal Record: 43-41 (5th, 5.5 GB)
Stars of the Week
John Lawson : 16 AB, 8 H, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .500 AVG, 1.634 OPS
Rich Langton : 19 AB, 7 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .368 AVG, .935 OPS
Ray Ford : 15 AB, 6 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .400 AVG, .900 OPS

Schedule
7-20: Win at Stars (5-2)
7-22: Loss at Stars (2-7)
7-23: Win at Kings (6-5): 10 innings
7-23: Win at Kings (10-2)

Recap
A good week! Not perfect, of course, we did split the series with the Stars, but, we swept the Kings in the double header and earned at least a split in that series. I'd be angry if we drop the next two to them, but at least one win would be acceptable. We didn't make up any ground on the Foresters, but it feels nice to be over .500, even if it is just two games. The CA also won the All Star game 6-3, with Dick Lyons starting the game. He tossed two scoreless innings, walking Gil London to start the game before retiring the next six in order: Chick Donnelly, Hank Barnett, Bob Donoghue, Lew Seals, George Cleaves, and Billy Dalton. Freddie Jones started at short, and finished the game at second, going 1-for-4 with a run scored. John Lawson hit a sac-fly in his only plate appearance and finished the game at third while Leo Mitchell did not appear in the game,

Lyons, however, struggled in his start against the Stars, allowing 13 hits, 7 runs (4 earned), and 3 walks with just a single strikeout in 5 rough innings. This spiked his ERA and WHIP a bit, but it might have been a little due to the semi short rest. Jim Lonardo finally looked like the Allen Winner I traded for, tossing a complete game win with 7 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Harry Parker continued to push forward, a complete game win of his own with 13 hits, 2 runs, and 4 strikeouts. Milt Fritz had a similar complete game win, 11 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), and 2 walks in our 10 inning win. Peter the Heater then picked up the save, but he didn't allow a hit, walk, or strikeout. Cy didn't pitch out of the pen, but with the double header, they'll both get a start this week.

John Lawson had an insane week, deserving of Player of the Week in another week (Mel Carrol was even better), going 8-for-16 with a double, triple, 2 homers, 7 RBIs, 4 runs, and 4 walks. Carlos Montes looked good too, 4-for-11 with two doubles, an RBI, walk, and two runs scored. Rich Langton and Ray Ford looked great too, Langton 6-for-19 with 3 doubles, 4 runs, and 2 RBIs while Ford was 6-for-15 with 2 runs, 2 RBIs, and 3 walks. Freddie Jones had a down week, 3-for-17 with a double, 2 runs, 5 walks, and an RBI. Fellow All-Star Leo Mitchell continued to strikeout too much, 5 times this week, while hitting 6-for-20 with 4 runs and 3 RBIs.

Looking Ahead
Two more with the Kings, who we pushed back below .500 to 40-41 after the double header sweep. We'll start with Jack Goff, brother of Cougar farmhand Danny Goff Jr., who is 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA (144 ERA+), 1.42 WHIP, 16 walks, and 6 strikeouts in his 4 starts. I was hoping to see Stumpy Beaman too, a former Cougar prospect who just made his first start for the Kings. Instead, Sergio Vergara seems likely to take the start, and he hasn't had the best of starts to his career. He is 1-4 with a 5.71 ERA (76 ERA+), 1.73 WHIP, 33 walks, and 21 strikeouts in 52 innings pitched. Just 23, Vergara projects to anchor a rotation and sits inside the top 10 of all FABL prospects, but right now he's not an effective big league starter. Well, he was in his most recent start, a 6-hit shutout against Philly, but I hope he got that out of his system! With Frank Vance now in Detroit, their old starting third basemen, Frank LeMieux, is holding down the hot corner. Just 4 games in Brooklyn, but combined with 73 in Detroit, the 25-year-old is hitting a nice .321/.366/.426 (106 OPS+) with 23 doubles, a triple, 2 homers, and 33 RBIs with a nice 23-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. My attempts to pry away Al Wheeler were unsuccessful, and he pushed his bating line back above average to .261/.349/.451 (103 OPS+) with 11 doubles, a triple, 15 homers, and 51 RBIs. I want to win both of these games very badly, but as long as we don't drop them both, I'll be happy.

Next stop is Baltimore for three with the 31-53 Cannons. These games have to be treated as must win. Baltimore has made some changes to their rotation, moving from their traditional four man set to a five man. Joining the rotation is former 3rd Rounder Butch Smith, who has made starts in three of his 21 appearances. He's been solid, 3-6 with 3 saves, a 3.88 ERA (109 ERA+), 1.60 WHIP, 36 walks, and 35 strikeouts in 58 innings pitched. Rusty Petrick has returned to the rotation as well, but he's really struggled in 75.2 innings pitched across 10 starts and 7 relief outings. He is just 1-7 with a 7.14 ERA (59 ERA+), 1.90 WHIP, 52 walks, and 50 strikeouts. Their All Star Gus Goulding struggled in the game, relieving Dick with an inning and two thirds. He was the only CA pitcher to allow a run, charged with all three along with 4 hits and a walk. He got the win against Toronto, improving to 7-11 with a 3.69 ERA (115 ERA+), 1.32 WHIP, 46 walks, and 58 strikeouts. They made a lineup change as well, adding former 4th Rounder and top prospect Frank Covarrubias taking over at third. Most of his 34 plate appearances have came off the bench, but he's hitting just .438/.441/.594 (169 OPS+) with a homer, two doubles, and seven RBIs. Another new bat to the lineup is on the other corner, with former 3rd Rounder George Simmons. The 23-year-old is hitting .268/.388/.429 (114 OPS+) with 6 doubles, a homer, 10 RBIs, and 11 walks in 67 trips to the plate. The last new face is out in right, with the Tijuana Cannon Ruben Sanchez leading off. He's been up for a bit more then a month, but is hitting just .192/.214/.269 (26 OPS+) with a triple and 4 RBIs. I do like our chances in this one, but we need to take them seriously if we want to pick up the road sweep.

We then finish our road trip and stretch of games with two games against the Saints before reaching the trade deadline. Still in fourth, the Saints are 43-40, despite their ace Jake DeYoung really falling apart. He's 10-7, but his ERA ballooned to 6.00 (73 ERA+) and his WHIP to 1.54 despite 26 walks and 72 strikeouts. I'm not sure why he's struggling so much, but if we have to face him, I hope he keeps that up. 23-year-old Bill Stewart has looked good in his first 10 starts, a perfect 4-0 with a 4.25 ERA (102 ERA+), 1.45 WHIP, 25 walks, and 40 strikeouts. The offense is the key to their success, with All Star Adam Mullins in the midst of another great season. He's hitting .330/.432/.465 (128 OPS+) with 21 doubles, a triple, 5 homers, and 62 RBI's with more then five times as many walks (51) as strikeouts (5). They also have a player I'm a big fan of, Red Bond, who made his first trip to the All Star game and hit .336/.424/.508 (136 OPS+) with 14 doubles, 2 triples, 11 homers, and 57 RBIs in 347 trips to the plate. With Dilly Ward out for potentially the rest of the season, they brought up one of their top prospects in Heinie Billings to man center. Now 23, he's hit .323/.384/.492 (122 OPS+) with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 2 steals, and 11 RBIs in his first 74 trips to the plate. Frank Davis has started to hit a rough patch, with his line dropping to .334/.380/.411 (102 OPS+) with 16 doubles, 2 triples, a homer, 2 steals, and 43 RBIs. We're going to need a lot of help stopping their offense, and while I know we can win a slugfest in Chicago, things are a little different out in the spacious Parc Cartier.

Minor League Report
RHP Art Saunders (AA Mobile Commodores): Despite just four starts in San Jose last season, former 9th Rounder Art Saunders was elite in Lincoln and excellent in Mobile. He's 4-1 at both starts, with ERAs of 2.41 (217 ERA+) and 3.57 (131 ERA+) with WHIPs of 1.29 and 1.02. He's walked just 14 and struck out 43 in 94 innings split between the two spots. An early round talent, we were able to snag him in the later rounds and then offer him a cool $20k to forgo his college commitment. Now ranked 10th in our system and 132nd overall, Saunders has been slowed by injuries, but it hasn't hurt his stamina. He's thrown four consecutive complete games, five in total with Mobile, and his six was only 8 innings because we lost on the road. A polished four pitch pitcher, the righty has a nice low 90s fastball that he mixes with a sinker, change, and outstanding 12-6 curve. His stuff is still a little raw, but his control is superb and he won't have walk issues. His movement his average as well, and he has all the tools needed to fill a big league rotation. Even better, his teammates love him, his pranks help break the monotony of the minor leagues, and he always knows which joke to tell and when to tell it. We have a lot of young and exciting pitchers, but I think Art will be one of the more successful arms we have left in our farm.

SS Stu Johnson (AA Mobile Commodores): Recently promoted, it seemed Stu Johnson had started to stall a bit in the minors, spending most of his time since 1937 in Lincoln. Now 25, the former 7th Rounder started his season there as well, hitting a decent enough .269/.370/.463 (105 OPS+) with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 9 homers, and 40 RBIs in a single at bat more then 200. After the Ducky Jordan trade, I moved Hal Wood up from Mobile to Milwaukee, so Stu Johnson got the call to replace him. He's been red hot since, slashing .345/.426/.517 (147 OPS+) with 7 doubles, a homer, and 12 RBIs in 68 trips to the plate. A natural shortstop, he's probably best suited for second or third. For one reason or another Weinstock thinks he is a defensive marvel, but I think that's in regards to his play at second instead of short. He's a patient hitter, but sometimes he struggles with making contact. His most important asset might be his leadership, but with enough injuries ahead of him, I can see him forcing his way into a big league lineup.