[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 4-3
Seasonal Record: 85-69 (3nd, 5 GB)
Stars of the Week
None Generated

Schedule
9-25: Loss vs Wolves (4-0)
9-26: Win vs Wolves (3-6)
9-27: Win vs Wolves (3-8)
9-28: Loss vs Foresters (5-0)
9-29: Win vs Foresters (0-8)
9-30: Win vs Foresters (3-7)
10-1: Loss vs Foresters (3-1)

Recap
To nobodies surprise, the Cougars fell short, as while we did take two of three from the Wolves to effectively end their season, we split with the Foresters. This concluded my first season in a very long time where I did not use 7-day lineups. At times I really wanted to, but it would ruin the validity of the "experiment" to see if it makes a difference. Of course, I can't really conclude anything given how crazy this season was, but it makes me wonder if I could have turned things back around if I over-managed. We'll never know, but I will say that setting lineups for each game is far more fun, so I expect to return to that next year. At times I liked the 6-man rotation, but I think next year that will change. I want more starts for Parker, White, and Riley, and we don't have the most stable back of the rotation. When the troops come back, however, we will definitely return to a six man, as we have more then enough capable arms hiding away. We were the only team to sell more then a million tickets this year, so at least we won something, with 1,037,550 fans attending a game at Cougars park this year. No other team topped 820,000, with just the pennant winners drawing more then 800,000. The Sailors drew just 422,236.

Cleveland (12-10) was the only team to finish above .500 against us, but we did finish 11-11 against the Sailors, Cannons, and Wolves as well. Our 85-69 record is one win behind our 1943 record, and after starting 46-17, you would have thought we'd have no problems surpassing it. Of course, we then finished the season 39-52, winning just 10, 12, and 13 games in July, August, and September. Despite the terrible finish, Cougars lined the league leaders, and we had both an Allen and Whitney finalist. The Allen headliner was Harry Parker, who was also named the Pitcher of the Month for September. Parker finished stronger then we could have imagined, going a perfect 5-0 with a 0.72 ERA (476 ERA+) and WHIP with 4 walks and 31 strikeouts. A season removed from a torn flexor tendon in his elbow, Parker rebounded to go 6-10 in 250.1 innings pitched. The 32-year-old had a stellar 2.19 ERA (156 ERA+) and 0.99 WHIP with 44 walks, and 128 strikeouts. Our ace led the FABL in WHIP and FIP (2.56) while falling a few percentage points short of the ERA lead. He also led the CA in WAR (6.7), strikeouts, and K/BB (2.9) while setting personal bests in ERA, starts (35), strikeouts, WHIP, HR/9 (0.4), ERA+, BABIP (.247), and WAR. For the Whitney, my vote would go to Leo Mitchell, who won his second consecutive batting title while hitting .357/.392/.474 (147 OPS+) with 27 doubles, 14 homers, and 90 RBIs. Mitchell led all of baseball in average and hits (224) while pacing the CA in slugging, OPS (.865), OPS+, total bases (297), WPA (4.09), and wOBA (.392). This was Mitchell's first season with an OPS+/WRC+ that was not in the 130-137 range, and he set personal bests in hits, RBIs, average, slugging, and OPS while striking out (71) his fewest since 1937 where he made just 460 trips to the plate. It's the most recent season he didn't make at least 575, and he's appeared in all but four of our games across the past three seasons.

Plenty of other Cougars led categories, including Dick Walker (FABL, 141 BB; CA, 97 R), Orlin Yates (FABL, 26 SH), Hank Barnett (CA, 9 SF), Art White (t-CA, 18) and Rusty Petrick (CA, 5.2 K/9), while plenty filled in top 5s for the CA. That includes average (5th, Mead .324), homers (2nd, Moss 19; 4th, Barnett 16), RBIs (t-2nd, Barnett and Mitchell 90), OBP (2nd, Mitchell .392; 4th, Mead .377), slugging (2nd, Mead .471), OPS (2nd, Mead .848), WAR (2nd, Schneider 6.7; t-5th, Mead 5.7), runs (2nd, Mitchell 94), doubles (5th, Mead 38), triples (t-3rd, Walker 14), total bases (5th, Barnett 256), walks (4th, Barnett 73), ISO (t-4th, Mead .147), OPS+ (2nd, Mead 147; 4th, Barnett 131), WPA (3rd, Moss 2.91), wOBA (5th, Mead .380), ERA (2nd, Parker 2.19), wins (t-5th, Parker and White 16), saves (t-5th, Curtin 13), WAR (3rd, Riley 5.6), innings (3rd, White 272), complete games (4th, Riley 16), shutouts (t-2nd, White 3), strikeouts (4th, Riley 104), K/BB (4th, Riley 1.8), K/9 (3rd, Parker 4.6), BB/9 (t-4th, Lyons and Parker 1.6), WHIP (5th, Lyons 1.24), FIP (3rd, Riley 2.95), ERA+ (2nd, Parker 156), rWAR (2nd, Parker 8.0), BABIP (2nd, Parker .247), OPP AVG (2nd, Parker .222; 3rd, Petrick .241), win % (4th, Parker .615), shutdowns (3rd, Curtin 27), and quality starts (t-2nd, Parker 24). We had a lot of really good individual performers, but once things got bad, we couldn't get it back going.

Looking Ahead
We played well enough down the stretch that we'll at least get two lottery balls, giving us a 15.3% chance at the first overall pick. Very unlikely, of course, but we have a very good chance to pick earlier then 11th. That will likely be the most exciting part of the offseason, a full January draft, but as always, we'll be working the phone lines. Center field was a gaping hole, and neither Orlin Yates or Don Lee filled it well. After a strong .248/.324/.335 (98 OPS+) batting line last year, the now 33-year-old Yates hit just .204/.291/.270 (61 OPS+) with 17 doubles, 3 triples, 3 homers, 9 steals, and 47 RBIs. He did walk (61) more then he struck out (47) and was excellent out in center (+19.2, 1.052), but that wasn't nearly productive enough for a team that wants to win a pennant. I knew Don Lee wouldn't match his .288/.424/.465 (155 OPS+) line from AAA, but in 116 PAs as a Cougar, his .206/.287/.304 (70 OPS+) line wasn't much better then Yates'. Lee is also a subpar defender (-2.9, .947), but the 22-year-old is already a clubhouse leader and he walked (12) twice as much as he struck out (6). If we can't get an outside outfielder, these two will likely break camp in a platoon, but its the most obvious point of upgrade.

The other potential upgrade spot is the rotation. Our front three of Harry Parker (16-10, 2.19, 128), Art White (16-12, 3.18, 31), and Billy Riley (12-17, 3.46, 104) is very good, but I'm not sure it can match up with Rufus Barrell, Butch Smith (19-10, 1, 2.19, 118), and Chris Clarke (12-10, 1, 2.44, 75). Without an upgrade, we do have plenty of options to fill the rotation up, but none excite too much. Lyons (7-10, 3.35, 14), Murphy (9-6, 3.64, 20), and Petrick (7-8, 4.06, 92) all threw between 150 and 160 innings, but all have a ton of question marks surrounding them. We all know Lyons is 44, and despite a dominant start to the season, he showed signs of age in August and was downright awful in September. He could retire, still no word on that, but even if he hangs around I'm not sure he has enough left in the tank to start a full season. Murphy is also getting up their, and the former 2nd Overall Pick will be 37 on Opening Day. Like Lyons, he was great to start the year, but terrible in July and September. Neither guy can strike many batters out, so they have to rely on the defense, which is the exact opposite of Petrick. Rusty easily has the most upside with his dominant stuff, but he's extra inconsistent and has yet to fully put it together. He'll be 29 in November, so it's not too late for him to figure it out, and with his big strikeout numbers and a ton of stamina, he can go out and dominate for stretches. We could also turn to Ken Matson (6-6, 1, 4.09, 41) or even Angel Lopez (0-1, 9.82, 3), but I'm not too excited about any of these options. The only issue is anyone we add would just create a huge logjam later, so let's just hope Peter the Heater gets called home early, and all are problems can be solved!

I miss him so much...

Crazy to think its been 3 years since he last pitched, and he could have had about 750 more strikeouts to his name...

Minor League Report
SS Johnny Bunce (AAA Milwaukee Blues): If I knew how good his September was, I might have given him a promotion, as Johnny Bunce was named Century League Batter of the Month. A former 11th Round selection by the Miners out of a school in the same city where my grandparents reside, the talented defender has never really shown much with the bat, but he hit .386/.485/.434 (164 OPS+) in 23 September games for the Blues. He drove in 19 runs, scored 15 times, and walked 17 times with 4 doubles and 2 steals. Bunce split his season between Mobile and Milwaukee, and actually hit better with the Blues (.259/.340/.294, 82) then the Commodores (.223/.330/.258, 59), although he wasn't really good at either stop. Despite that, he had an efficiency above 1.070 at second, third, and short, and for his career those numbers are above 1.080. Now 26, Bunce could be selected in the Rule-5 draft, but even as good as his glove is, he'd leave a black hole in the lineup. He does have decent plate discipline, but next to no power, just 16 extra base hits in 657 PAs and he didn't hit a single homer.

RHP Joe Swank (AA Mobile Commodores): It was a great end to the season for Joe Swank, who took home Pitcher of the Month in the Dixie League. The 21-year-old hurler finished the month 4-1 with a 1.91 ERA (208 ERA+), 1.19 WHIP, 7 walks, and 22 strikeouts to finish the season 16-10 with a 5.7 WAR in 26 starts. Swank also threw his first 200+ inning (215.2) season while working to a 3.26 ERA (122 ERA+) and 1.34 WHIP with 58 walks and 109 strikeouts. Discounting his 8 starts with La Crosse in his draft year, Swank set personal bests for ERA, innings, walks, WHIP, and WAR with just 1 homer (0.0 HR/9) allowed. The soft tosser excels at both keeping the ball on the ground and generating weak contact, featuring a dominant circle change that has a ton of downward movement. His fastball and curve are pretty solid as well, and the youngster is far more developed then most kids his age. A 7th Round selection back in 1941, Swank currently ranks 11th in our system and 150th overall, and he profiles as a #5 starter with some room to grow. He has a rather high floor for someone his age, and while I'm not sure I want him in Milwaukee to start next season, he'll probably be big league ready next season. Swank has made great strides this season, and he could be a very useful trade piece in a package for a quality center fielder or starting pitcher.