We lose veteran reliever Walter Anderson early in the month with bone spurs that have likely ended his season, although there is some chance he’ll make it back right toward the end. We weren’t planning on renewing his contract and will use this “opportunity” to prematurely blood some new talent, namely Oral Hildebrand. A hamstring strain to Derringer that will sideline him for about a month further stretches our pitching resources and leaves me with another decision to make. In the end, I give Hildebrand a shot in the spin and promote Milt Gaston. I also just tinker with our lineups a bit, swapping out O’Doul for Little Poison and putting Arky into the leadoff spot.
All the while we are hitting our straps nicely. A 17-7 month gets us just where we need to be.
The lineup looks much more settled after that spot of tinkering. Vaughan wins the monthly RoY award, slashing 392/490/557 which gives us the requisite spark for Foxx and company, all of whom have fine months. Waiver claim Kiddo Davis has been a nice pickup for us as well, especially given O'Doul's continued underperformance.
A really admirable performance from the pitchers given the injury-related flux. Foster continues his turnaround and Trent is his usual reliable self, while both Benge and Hildebrand do better than expected. McCall's return has been delayed and in all likelihood Duke will be back before him. Either way, I still see Benge as our closer and he'll return there, while I think OH will stay up now at the expense of one of the veterans who are on the way out anyway.
The Yanks and Tigers have pinched a small break from the pack in the AL, while the Phils hold sway by a narrow margin from ourselves and the Braves in the senior circuit.
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