[luckymann]

A quick peek at what's gone right or wrong for each club so far this season.

FC American



Brooklyn Royal Giants

Vince Coleman has added the requisite spark at the top of what is a fairly slappy, small-ball lineup.
After a solid first year at AAA, Wyman Smith has shown he belongs at the top flight in his rookie EL season: 307/363/461 slash with 8 HR / 35 RBI.
Another excellent season in progress for Robbie Alomar: 154 OPS+ / 3.2 bWAR.
Rotation has been superb - lowest Starter ERA in the FC with 3.08 - led by Jesse Houston's 13-3 / 2.17.
BP not quite so iron-clad - 3.51 ERA is 6th.
Where has Ken Singleton's power gone? 2HR in 328 PA.

New York Black Yankees

Heart of the order mashing plenty - FC-leading 77 HR.
Adrian Gonzalez a fantastic addition: 289/16/57.
Sabathia back in form and Smith proving up to the task of replacing Scantlebury.
Bottom end of the rotation and BP need to be better.

Newark Dodgers

Cliff Johnson in career best form: 12 HR / 55 RBI / 2.6 bWAR.
Solid contributions from Elvis Andrus, Quilvio Veras and Herman Dunlap.
None of the starters has an ERA+ better than 100.

Pittsburgh Crawfords

Jose Rijo giving his all: 141 ERA+ / 3.1 pWAR.
Vida Blue showing glimpses of his talent.
Not one hitting or pitching metric rated higher than 5th.
No batter with double-digit HR.

Atlantic City Bacharach Giants

Todd Cruz leading club in BA (257) and HR (9).
Todd Cruz leading club in BA (257) and HR (9).
Last in every meaningful hitting stat cat.
14-28 at home.


FC National



Memphis Red Sox

Art Pennington surprisingly leading the club with 2.4 bWAR and 9 HR (tied with Dihigo and Bonds).
Starters 1 thru 3 a combined 28-17.
CL Rafael Soriano 1.05 ERA over 34 IP.
28-11 at home.
Tony Armas a neg bWAR despite leading the club with 44 RBI.

Kansas City Monarchs

Fernando Tatis jr in MVP form with 4.1 bWAR at halfway.
He, Julio Ramirez (2.8 bWAR) and Lourdes Gurriel jr (2.2) give them the league's best IF.
Staff proving incredibly consistent across the board: both Starter and Bullpen ERA 3.66
Aside from the big three mentioned above, the bats have gone missing - Ozzie Virgil jr and Victor Diaz in particular.

Birmingham Black Barons

Pitching has been great, with Jim Jeffries (7-11, 2.49) the unluckiest pitcher in the league to this point.
After strong start, have gone 23-30 since May 1.
Hitting just 239 as a team, with 2nd-lowest runs scored in the FC (284).

Cuban Stars West

Bell-Ortiz-Soto a combined 36 HR / 125 RBI.
Rotation has struggled, with big off-season signing Don Newcombe (7-10, 4.85) a bust so far.
13-23 at home.

St. Louis Giants

Offence has been fantastic, 1st in most metrics.
Danny Tartabull (322/404/491; 11 HR and 44 RBI; 3.0 bWAR) a spoiler chance for MVP.
Pitching has been horrendous - worst in the FC for both Starter (4.74) and Bullpen (4.45) ERA.
9-16 in one-run games.


WC American



New York Lincoln Giants

A fantastic team effort so far, with rookie Minnie Miñoso the only neg WAR contributor in THE ENTIRE SQUAD.
Talisman Bernie Williams having another great year - 146 OPS+ / 3.1 bWAR - and must be in the mix for WC MVP honours if he can maintain that pace.
+18.1 ZR, 2nd in the WC.

Hilldale Athletics

Good have been very good: Charles Earle 15 HR / 131 wRC+; Chino Smith 325 BA / 135 OPS+ / 2.9 bWAR; Eric Chavez 3.3 bWAR; John Henry Lloyd 2.2 bWAR; Yordan Alvarez 136 OPS+ / 135 wRC+; Dave Brown 122 ERA+ / 3.0 pWAR.
+7 Pythag / 17-9 in one-run games.
Bad - IE virtually all those not mentioned above - have been horrid.

Baltimore Elite Giants

Eric Davis back at it again and will be in the MVP mix: 302 / 15 HR / 42 RBI / 21 SB / 3.2 bWAR.
Hurley McNair (137 OPS+), Ji-man Choi (2.0 bWAR) and Willie Greene (2.7 bWAR) also contributing on offence.
Rookie Andrew Foster (8-4 / 2.17) looks the real deal.
Big signing Pat Scantlebury (5-8 / 4.49) has struggled.
Too many passengers: Luis Arraez, Gaby Sanchez, Sam Bankhead, Enoli Paredes - I'm looking at y'all.

Philadelphia Liberty Stars

Judge doing all he can: 291 / 12 / 38; 3.5 bWAR.
Rookie Ryan Howard showing some pop with 11 HR / 40 RBI.
Pitching serviceable - Starter ERA 3.49 (4th) / Bullpen ERA 3.38 (7th).
89 errors is worst in WC.

Homestead Grays

Al Bumbry (148 OPS+ / 3.1 bWAR) about the only shining light; perhaps Jhonny Peralta (2.1 bWAR) as well.
Rotation is a horror show: 4.36 is worst ERA in the WC.
Oil Can Boyd: 0-13 / 63 ERA+.
-15.6 ZR is is worst in WC.

WC National



Chicago American Giants

Oddibe McDowell a key add, powering the bats with 312/394/507; 12 HR / 34 RBI; 2.6 bWAR.
Ed Charles (2.1 bWAR), Albert Almora (2.1), Jackie Bradley (1.8) all solid contributors.
Rotation the WC's best with nearly 12 pWAR and lowest ERA of 3.04.
BP has been a bit leaky: 3.64 ERA, 8th.

Cleveland Buckeyes

So many offensive weapons giving them plenty: Willie Upshaw (331 / 11 HR / 44 RBI; 3.0 bWAR); Ketel Marte (2.7 bWAR); Bob Watson (2.2).
ShoTime, if anything, not having his usual impact with the bat while once again dominating with the ball.
Rest of the staff performing well enough, with the BP anchored by Carlos Castillo (14 SV, 177 ERA+ in 35 IP).

Indianapolis ABCs

Another stellar campaign in progress for Ozzie Albies, who'll be up-ballot in the MVP for sure: 302 BA / 153 OPS+ / 10 HR / 42 RBI / 3.2 bWAR.
Jim Rice giving great support: 320 BA / 129 OPS+ / 2.6 bWAR.
Barely a weak arm in the entire staff and all are, for the most part, performing as they should.
Need more HR (7th) and less errors (9th).

Cuban Stars East

Lloyd Moseby another who'll be at the pointy end of MVP calculations: 329/406/537; 13 HR / 56 RBI; 175 OPS+ / 2.9 bWAR.
1st overall pick John Mayberry shaping up nicely.
Chet Brewer and Closer Ewing Waddy aside, the staff needs police tape around it.

Detroit Motown Stars

After a slow start to his career, third-year player Mookie Betts is having a breakout season: 293 BA / 133 OPS+ / 3.1 bWAR.
Tim Anderson (2.1 bWAR) and Louis Santop (1.8) both solid contributors.
Top 2 starters - Gene Collins and Masahiro Tanaka doing OK, but after that it's a minefield: Porter Moss 3-14 / 5.06.
Power vacuum is killing them - fewest runs scored despite 4th-best BA, with just 33 HR (9th) and no player with more than 5.
18-26 at home; 10-16 in one-run games.