5/30 - 6/1 @ NYT (15-22):
We enter this series as arguably the second coldest team in baseball, and will be facing arguably the coldest team in baseball, as the Titans have won just 1 of their last 8, and sit 6 back of Florida and Atlanta in the East. The Titans are just 13th in the NBL in runs scored this year, averaging 3.76 runs per game. Guess who’s last…
Also, before we get into game 1, I noticed that they have what’s got to be the oldest bullpen I’ve ever seen, with an average age of 34.4 years. Their youngest bullpen arm is Sam Sanchez, who is 32 years and 342 days old.
Oh, one more thing: All Star voting begins today! All Star teams will be announced on July 7th. I went ahead and voted for a few of our more deserving players.
5/30: A 12 inning thriller in the series opener against the Titans. With Carlos Ortiz on the mound, New York jumped out to an early 3-0 lead through the first 2 innings, but those would be the only runs they’d scratch across against him in his 5 innings of work. On the other side it was Kevin Carter starting, last year’s NBL strikeouts leader also leads the league this year with 61 Ks and a K/9 of 11.9, and an ERA of 3.52. He continued to roll against us, going 6 innings allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk, while striking out 7. Runs were driven in on a 2nd inning double by Cory Hann, an RBI single by Caldwell in the third, and a 2 run shot by Caldwell in the 8th (he went 3-6). Unfortunately, we still fell in the 12th, 5-4. (15-23)
After the conclusion of today’s game the San Antonio Sentinels traded 1B Vic Tift (retaining 100% of his deal) to Phoenix, getting 24 year old AAA 1B/2B Cory Novak in return. Tift had been Designated for Assignment on the 28th. Novak was recently promoted to AAA by the Rattlers, and was 6-17 with 1 double, 4 RBIs, and 2 walks. In 22 AA games he hit .291/.365/.430 with 3 HRs and 14 RBIs, along with 19 K’s and 7 SBs to 2 CS. Novak will continue in AAA for us, platooning with George Johnson.
Novak grades out with 2.5 star potential according to Rick. Very average at the plate, he looks to use his patience at the plate and his speed to his advantage. Also grades out as very average in the field with a poor arm.
Also, injury update from around the league: Makos’ 28 year old starter Alberto Sanchez, who was leading all of baseball with an 0.84 ERA in 7 starts (53.2 IP) was diagnosed with a torn flexor tendon in his elbow and is expected to miss the rest of the season. A devastating blow for a guy who was finally coming into his own over this season and the previous one after a rocky start to his career.
5/31: Coming into this one needing a victory to avoid falling to 9 games under .500, we sent out Dave Stalker to make his second start of the year. His last start on the road in Nashville resulted in a 5-1 loss, as he surrendered 4 runs in 5 innings. He made sure that wouldn’t happen again, and started us off with 7 shutout innings, before a leadoff walk in the top of the 8th ended his day. Our offense came got off to a slow start as well, putting up just 2 runs through the first 6.1 innings, thanks to. However, with 1 down in the 7th and 2 on, Tony Kurtz ripped a line drive 373 feet to right, extending our lead to 5-0. The scoring wouldn’t end there, as an RBI single by Bowen and a 2-RBI double by Edgar Soto would make it a 6 run inning, putting us seemingly out of reach up 8-0. Ernesto Davalos wasn’t going to let it be easy, however, as after Stalker was pulled after the walk, an error by 3B Petzke, walk, and hit by pitch, and single, drove in 2 and kept the bases loaded for Titans’ SS Ryan Pichinte. Pichente took the 1-1 pitch deep to right and 370 feet, giving Davalos 5 ER on the day, ending his afternoon after just a third of an inning. George Mees would record the final two outs and Lopez would close it out with a 1-2-3 9th, and we went on to win 8-6. (16-23) Stalker’s stats for the day: 7 IP, 3 H 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. Beautiful way to bounce back in his second outing.
More updates: First off, Rick sent me our Player Development Update for the month of May. A few notable changes will be listed below:
- Oscar Grande was all positives, as his current movement increased from 45 to 50, current control up fro 50 to 55, and potential control up from 55 to 60. His overall rating also went up to 3 stars.
- Chris Belz’ current contact increased from 40 to 45 and his potential power went up to 50 from 45. His current speed also dropped fro 55 to 50.
- AAA starter Jonathan Krebs’ potential stuff dropped from 45 to 40, and his current stamina dropped from 50 to 45, however his current and potential movement both went up form 60 to 65.
- Recently acquired Cory Novak had both his current contact and potential power increase from 35 to 40.
- AAA 2B Steve Green had his potential eye and current speed from drop 55 to 50.
- AAA OF Cesar Lopez has his potential contact increase from 45 to 50, current power increase from 35 to 40, and potential power increase from 40 to 45.
- A surprise development as AA starter Nelson Chinchilla, who is currently out with a partially torn labrum, had his current stuff increase from 45 to 50, his current stamina increase from 55 to 60, and his current and potential movement increase from 35 to 40. His overall rating went up from 0.5 to 1.5 stars, and his potential rating went up from 1.5 to 2 stars. He is suddenly becoming very interesting once he returns from injury in 3 months.
- AA closer Eric Burzinski continued to improve, as his potential stuff went from 75 to 80, his current movement increased from 50 to 55, potential movement went up from 55 to 60, and his current control increased form 40 to 45.
- 31st overall prospect Roberto Galvan saw his current and potential power drop from 70 to 65, and his current eye increase from 45 to 50. His overall rating went up to 2.5 stars and potential dropped from 3.5 to 3 stars.
- 20th overall prospect John Walzer saw both his potential contact and power drop from 65 to 60.