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ayaghmour2 · 11-03-2022, 12:40 PM

Weekly Record: 2-4
Seasonal Record: 56-37 (2nd, +0.5 GB)
Stars of the Week
Hank Barnett : 20 AB, 9 H, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .450 AVG, 1.188 OPS
Harry Mead : 18 AB, 7 H, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .389 AVG, 1.202 OPS
Skipper Schneider : 24 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 4 RBI, .375 AVG, .858 OPS

Schedule
7-19: Win vs Foresters (6-7)
7-20: Loss vs Foresters (7-6)
7-21: Loss vs Foresters (4-3)
7-22: Loss vs Sailors (4-2)
7-23: Loss vs Sailors (4-3)
7-23: Win vs Sailors (0-6)

Recap
Oh how the mighty have fallen... The off days did us no good, as we dropped four of our six contests this week; three by a single run and the fourth by two. Pretty much everything has gone wrong in July, as we've dropped 14 of 20 and for the first time all season, we do not have the highest winning percentage in the CA. The Wolves are a fraction of a percentage higher, but with 3 more wins and 2 more losses, we should technically be half a game ahead (which is why the +0.5 GB looks like a typo). It's probably better we aren't, as we are not playing like a first place team, and things are only going to get tougher. Billy Riley joining the roster really helps, but the only similarity between July and the rest of the season is that we cannot beat the Cleveland Foresters, who have also lost 14 games in July.

Ironically, the lone bright spot of the week came from Ken Matson, who will be on his way down to AAA. The 26-year-old won game two of our double header, tossing a 2-hit shutout with no walks and 4 strikeouts to improve to 5-6 on the season. Matson will likely return to Chicago in September, but his FABL season could end with a 4.35 ERA (78 ERA+), 1.54 WHIP, 35 walks, and 38 strikeouts. The weird/interesting part of the week was near identical starts from Parker, White, and Murphy, who each picked up losses in a 4-run complete game. Parker's came with 8 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts; White's with 13 hits and 4 runs; Murphy's with 7 hits, 4 runs, a walk, and strikeout. Murphy's downslide has been tough, another reason Riley will really help, as after back-to-back sub 2.25 ERA months, he's 0-3 in July with a 7.61 ERA (44 ERA+) and 1.52 WHIP. White's July has been pretty bad too, 2-3 with a 5.06 ERA (67 ERA+) and 1.39 WHIP. It might be too much to ask for both of them to return to their elite form from earlier in the year, but if we can get White back on track, Murphy can have a fair amount of his starts skipped.

Errors hurt our other two starters, taking away what should have been wins. Rusty Petrick was very unlucky, with his first 5 runs coming unearned in the 7th. He finished with 7.2 innings, 2 earned runs, 5 walks, and 7 strikeouts in our 7-6 loss to the Foresters. Dick Lyons only had two unearned runs, but that's because the Foresters got three unearned ones off Merritt Thomas after Lyons left in the 6th. He went 5.1 with 3 hits, 2 walks, a strikeout, and just one earned run. Thomas allowed 5 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work, and actually got the win as we rallied in the bottom of the 6th to reclaim the lead. Ben Curtin threw just one pitch, getting a groundout to end the 8th in Petrick's start. Cal Knight walked three, but recorded a strikeout in a scoreless ninth. The pitching has been brutalized all month, as we're losing a lot of our leads in the pitching categories. I'm really starting to sweat, but you have to imagine we'll eventually start to heat up, while the Wolves, Cannons, and Sailors will start to cool down. The trio has won 14, 15, and 16 games this month, and unfortunately we have to deal with all of them during their hot streak. This week is only the Wolves and Cannons, so we control our destiny. I'm definitely worried about the competition, as another 2 win week will send us far away from the Wolves.

I expected more from the offense, but an uncharacteristically bad week from Leo Mitchell was one of the only real negative surprises. He went just 6-for-26 with 2 walks, 2 doubles, and 4 runs scored. Hammerin' Hank was superb, 9-for-20 with a double, homer, 5 runs, 5 walks, and 6 RBIs. Harry Mead did his best to match, 7-for-18 with 2 doubles, 2 homers, 4 runs, and 7 RBIs. The right field duo of Langton and Moss combined to go 8-for-22 with 2 doubles, a homer, 4 walks, and 3 RBIs. Skipper Schneider was 9-for-24 with a triple, 3 runs, and 4 RBIs. Dick Walker was just 3-for-16, but with 8 walks, 3 runs, and a solo homer. Jimmie James was just 2-for-11, but that two was a triple and homer with a walk and 4 RBIs. Can't fault the bats, as they kept us in each game, but we're regressing to the Cougar team that can't win those crucial one run games.

Looking Ahead
Can our nightmare end? We have one more against the red hot Sailors, who have won 16 of their 22 games in July, and are just 3.5 games out of first place. Lucky for us, we'll get either Rube Fields (6-8, 4.69, 40), who is dealing with back spasms, or Dick Tillman (9-8, 4.20, 38), neither of which should be able to keep our offense in check. I still don't understand how the Sailors have scored the second most runs in the CA, but catcher Bill Watson (.265, 2, 31) and outfielder Alex Juris (.255, 5, 39) are really starting to heat up. They have recently brought up last year's 2nd Rounder Les Cunha (.286, 1), a shortstop I was targeting in the draft who ranks inside the league's top 100. I imagine with their distance away from first, they'll hang on to Doc Newell (7-9, 2.69, 62), and we will certainly have our work cut out for us in this one, even with the favorable pitching matchup, as I can't take anything for granted.

Next up is four with the Cannons, who are now 47-41 and just 6 back of first. The Cannons have recently picked up slugger Al Wheeler (.218, 11, 46) who at 36 was struggling for the Chiefs. Wheeler will hit behind a strong 1-2-3 of Bob Griffith (.287, 4, 38, 4), Sam Brown (.331, 3, 20), and Chuck Adams (.299, 8, 53), which should give us and other CA teams a lot of trouble. Another new face in the lineup is former Cougar Nick Wallace (.274, 10) and waiver claim catcher Tommy Morris (.150, 16), but neither are having much success for Cincy. If we can keep the top four under control, we should be able to outscore the Cannons, but they still have solid pitching. Vic Carroll (6-3, 3.29, 55) tore his labrum and will miss the rest of the year, so with him and Deuce out, the rotation has thinned. They still have an excellent top two, as Chris Clarke (7-5, 1, 2.12, 46) has broken out and Butch Smith (10-7, 2.24, 69) continues to put up ace level production. 22-year-old Frank Sears allowed just a single run in his big league debut, but him, Dan Adams (3-6, 3.04, 29), Tom Barrell (3-5, 3.53, 19), and Jake Smith (3-1, 3.09, 13) will likely have trouble with our deep lineup. I'm not sure exactly how their rotation will shake out, but it looks like we're stuck with Smith and may miss Clarke. This will be a tough series, and with the Wolves right after, we need to win these games.

We finish off the week with the first three of a four game series, the opener on Saturday and a double header on Sunday. Toronto comes in red hot, winning their first nine games after the All Star break before dropping the second game of a double header in Brooklyn. They are playing far better on the road (29-13) then at home (24-22), so I'm ready to get swept down to third. Toronto has been very lucky, vastly outperforming their 49-39 expected record at 53-35, so perhaps things will start to flip a bit. Despite his record, Chick Wirtz has been a revelation for the Wolves staff, going 6-7 with a 2.09 ERA (168 ERA+) and 1.19 WHIP with 19 walks and strikeouts in 99 innings pitched. He's done a good job helping Bernie Johnson (11-6, 2.33, 30) while the rest of the rotation has underperformed. The lineup hasn't been all that great either, with Walt Pack (.266, 8, 44) and Juan Pomales (.254, 1, 42, 5) taking huge steps back, but they've still found ways to win. Former Cougar Hal Wood (.312, 3, 34) is putting together another strong offensive season while Charlie Artuso (.278, 3, 27, 5) and Chink Stickels (.277, 4, 28, 10) are both back on track after a rough 1943. Still, on paper we are the better team, but with the way we're playing, I'm not even sure we could beat a team that was actually made out of paper. We've caught the Wolves at the worse possible time, but hopefully both of our luck will start to change.

11-03-2022, 12:40 PM	#934
ayaghmour2 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 3,010	Week 14: July 17th-July 23rd Weekly Record: 2-4 Seasonal Record: 56-37 (2nd, +0.5 GB) Stars of the Week Hank Barnett : 20 AB, 9 H, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .450 AVG, 1.188 OPS Harry Mead : 18 AB, 7 H, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .389 AVG, 1.202 OPS Skipper Schneider : 24 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 4 RBI, .375 AVG, .858 OPS Schedule 7-19: Win vs Foresters (6-7) 7-20: Loss vs Foresters (7-6) 7-21: Loss vs Foresters (4-3) 7-22: Loss vs Sailors (4-2) 7-23: Loss vs Sailors (4-3) 7-23: Win vs Sailors (0-6) Recap Oh how the mighty have fallen... The off days did us no good, as we dropped four of our six contests this week; three by a single run and the fourth by two. Pretty much everything has gone wrong in July, as we've dropped 14 of 20 and for the first time all season, we do not have the highest winning percentage in the CA. The Wolves are a fraction of a percentage higher, but with 3 more wins and 2 more losses, we should technically be half a game ahead (which is why the +0.5 GB looks like a typo). It's probably better we aren't, as we are not playing like a first place team, and things are only going to get tougher. Billy Riley joining the roster really helps, but the only similarity between July and the rest of the season is that we cannot beat the Cleveland Foresters, who have also lost 14 games in July. Ironically, the lone bright spot of the week came from Ken Matson, who will be on his way down to AAA. The 26-year-old won game two of our double header, tossing a 2-hit shutout with no walks and 4 strikeouts to improve to 5-6 on the season. Matson will likely return to Chicago in September, but his FABL season could end with a 4.35 ERA (78 ERA+), 1.54 WHIP, 35 walks, and 38 strikeouts. The weird/interesting part of the week was near identical starts from Parker, White, and Murphy, who each picked up losses in a 4-run complete game. Parker's came with 8 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts; White's with 13 hits and 4 runs; Murphy's with 7 hits, 4 runs, a walk, and strikeout. Murphy's downslide has been tough, another reason Riley will really help, as after back-to-back sub 2.25 ERA months, he's 0-3 in July with a 7.61 ERA (44 ERA+) and 1.52 WHIP. White's July has been pretty bad too, 2-3 with a 5.06 ERA (67 ERA+) and 1.39 WHIP. It might be too much to ask for both of them to return to their elite form from earlier in the year, but if we can get White back on track, Murphy can have a fair amount of his starts skipped. Errors hurt our other two starters, taking away what should have been wins. Rusty Petrick was very unlucky, with his first 5 runs coming unearned in the 7th. He finished with 7.2 innings, 2 earned runs, 5 walks, and 7 strikeouts in our 7-6 loss to the Foresters. Dick Lyons only had two unearned runs, but that's because the Foresters got three unearned ones off Merritt Thomas after Lyons left in the 6th. He went 5.1 with 3 hits, 2 walks, a strikeout, and just one earned run. Thomas allowed 5 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work, and actually got the win as we rallied in the bottom of the 6th to reclaim the lead. Ben Curtin threw just one pitch, getting a groundout to end the 8th in Petrick's start. Cal Knight walked three, but recorded a strikeout in a scoreless ninth. The pitching has been brutalized all month, as we're losing a lot of our leads in the pitching categories. I'm really starting to sweat, but you have to imagine we'll eventually start to heat up, while the Wolves, Cannons, and Sailors will start to cool down. The trio has won 14, 15, and 16 games this month, and unfortunately we have to deal with all of them during their hot streak. This week is only the Wolves and Cannons, so we control our destiny. I'm definitely worried about the competition, as another 2 win week will send us far away from the Wolves. I expected more from the offense, but an uncharacteristically bad week from Leo Mitchell was one of the only real negative surprises. He went just 6-for-26 with 2 walks, 2 doubles, and 4 runs scored. Hammerin' Hank was superb, 9-for-20 with a double, homer, 5 runs, 5 walks, and 6 RBIs. Harry Mead did his best to match, 7-for-18 with 2 doubles, 2 homers, 4 runs, and 7 RBIs. The right field duo of Langton and Moss combined to go 8-for-22 with 2 doubles, a homer, 4 walks, and 3 RBIs. Skipper Schneider was 9-for-24 with a triple, 3 runs, and 4 RBIs. Dick Walker was just 3-for-16, but with 8 walks, 3 runs, and a solo homer. Jimmie James was just 2-for-11, but that two was a triple and homer with a walk and 4 RBIs. Can't fault the bats, as they kept us in each game, but we're regressing to the Cougar team that can't win those crucial one run games. Looking Ahead Can our nightmare end? We have one more against the red hot Sailors, who have won 16 of their 22 games in July, and are just 3.5 games out of first place. Lucky for us, we'll get either Rube Fields (6-8, 4.69, 40), who is dealing with back spasms, or Dick Tillman (9-8, 4.20, 38), neither of which should be able to keep our offense in check. I still don't understand how the Sailors have scored the second most runs in the CA, but catcher Bill Watson (.265, 2, 31) and outfielder Alex Juris (.255, 5, 39) are really starting to heat up. They have recently brought up last year's 2nd Rounder Les Cunha (.286, 1), a shortstop I was targeting in the draft who ranks inside the league's top 100. I imagine with their distance away from first, they'll hang on to Doc Newell (7-9, 2.69, 62), and we will certainly have our work cut out for us in this one, even with the favorable pitching matchup, as I can't take anything for granted. Next up is four with the Cannons, who are now 47-41 and just 6 back of first. The Cannons have recently picked up slugger Al Wheeler (.218, 11, 46) who at 36 was struggling for the Chiefs. Wheeler will hit behind a strong 1-2-3 of Bob Griffith (.287, 4, 38, 4), Sam Brown (.331, 3, 20), and Chuck Adams (.299, 8, 53), which should give us and other CA teams a lot of trouble. Another new face in the lineup is former Cougar Nick Wallace (.274, 10) and waiver claim catcher Tommy Morris (.150, 16), but neither are having much success for Cincy. If we can keep the top four under control, we should be able to outscore the Cannons, but they still have solid pitching. Vic Carroll (6-3, 3.29, 55) tore his labrum and will miss the rest of the year, so with him and Deuce out, the rotation has thinned. They still have an excellent top two, as Chris Clarke (7-5, 1, 2.12, 46) has broken out and Butch Smith (10-7, 2.24, 69) continues to put up ace level production. 22-year-old Frank Sears allowed just a single run in his big league debut, but him, Dan Adams (3-6, 3.04, 29), Tom Barrell (3-5, 3.53, 19), and Jake Smith (3-1, 3.09, 13) will likely have trouble with our deep lineup. I'm not sure exactly how their rotation will shake out, but it looks like we're stuck with Smith and may miss Clarke. This will be a tough series, and with the Wolves right after, we need to win these games. We finish off the week with the first three of a four game series, the opener on Saturday and a double header on Sunday. Toronto comes in red hot, winning their first nine games after the All Star break before dropping the second game of a double header in Brooklyn. They are playing far better on the road (29-13) then at home (24-22), so I'm ready to get swept down to third. Toronto has been very lucky, vastly outperforming their 49-39 expected record at 53-35, so perhaps things will start to flip a bit. Despite his record, Chick Wirtz has been a revelation for the Wolves staff, going 6-7 with a 2.09 ERA (168 ERA+) and 1.19 WHIP with 19 walks and strikeouts in 99 innings pitched. He's done a good job helping Bernie Johnson (11-6, 2.33, 30) while the rest of the rotation has underperformed. The lineup hasn't been all that great either, with Walt Pack (.266, 8, 44) and Juan Pomales (.254, 1, 42, 5) taking huge steps back, but they've still found ways to win. Former Cougar Hal Wood (.312, 3, 34) is putting together another strong offensive season while Charlie Artuso (.278, 3, 27, 5) and Chink Stickels (.277, 4, 28, 10) are both back on track after a rough 1943. Still, on paper we are the better team, but with the way we're playing, I'm not even sure we could beat a team that was actually made out of paper. We've caught the Wolves at the worse possible time, but hopefully both of our luck will start to change.