[ayaghmour2]

Originally Posted by ayaghmour2

This one is coming out late as we are stuck with night sims while our commissioner is out of town. If I finish up too late I will post it first thing the next morning.

Weekly Record: 4-3
Seasonal Record: 53-40 (2nd, 0.5 GB)
Stars of the Week
Skipper Schneider : 29 AB, 11 H, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .379 AVG, .883 OPS
Billy Riley : 2 Wins, 16.2 IP, 4 BB, 5 K, 1.62 ERA
Hal Sharp : 26 AB, 10 H, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .385 AVG, .890 OPS

Schedule
7-15: Win at Wolves (3-2)
7-17: Win at Foresters (2-1)
7-18: Loss at Foresters (3-9)
7-19: Loss at Foresters (0-1)
7-20: Win at Sailors (2-1)
7-21: Loss at Sailors (4-8)
7-21: Win at Sailors (3-1)

Recap
Well, it wasn't a great week by any means, but we did the most important thing we could. We gained ground. And plenty of it. The Stars scuffled, dropping five of eight on their road trip, while we extended our win streak to ten, before dropping three of the next five. It was an anti-Cougar week, as we won the close ones and actually got blown out a bit. Sure, there was another close game Forester shutout, this time courtesy of Ducky Davis (10-4, 3.13, 48), but they also piled on eight runs against Donnie Jones (13-5, 2.79, 87), chasing him out with two outs in the sixth. Now in pouncing distance of first, we'll have a nice homestand to look forward to.

That homestand will be without Joe Brown, who was just starting to get things figured out. Brown left in the fifth inning of his start with a strained tendon in his triceps, and he'll miss the next three weeks. Brown had a dreadful start to the season, but was on a 28.2 inning scoreless streak that brought his ERA down to 3.76 ERA (90 ERA+)_and his WHIP to 1.17. Lucky for us, we're down with the double headers for a bit, as none are scheduled until August 11th where we'll play two in New York. If we needed someone to make starts, I'd have called up Duke Bybee (8-2, 1.81, 64), so instead Charlie Kelsey will get a shot to make his big league debut. It won't happen for a few days, as he just finished his 13 start of the season, improving to 5-2 on the season. The former 9th Round Pick has worked to a 2.89 ERA (135 ERA+) and 1.26 WHIP with 31 walks and 50 strikeouts. This opens up another rotation spot in the minors, as we have more guys then spots to cover.

Our farm system got a huge boost, as 2nd Rounder Frank Reece inked his $7,500 signing bonus. The 18-year-old will make his debut this week down in La Crosse as the league's 23rd best prospect. That's two slots higher then last year's 3rd Pick Johnny Peters, who's ranked 25 and hitting .258/.355/.390 (107 OPS+) with the Commodores. He's one of four top 25 prospects, led by Bob Allen who moved up to third. He now trails just John Stallings (1-0, 1.17, 5), who had a stellar debut for the Chiefs, and last year's #2 pick Ralph Hanson. Allen has a legitimate shot to end the season as the #1 prospect, as I'm sure Stallings will graduate. Our system ranks #1 with 193 points, as we hold 4 top 25 prospects, 8 top 100 prospects, 19 top 250 prospects, and 38 top 500 prospects. We still have more draftees to sign, but 5th Rounder Phil Boyes ranks 141st. The only other prospect to sign this week was 7th Rounder Bill Sweet, but since he signed the last day of the sim, he won't be ranked until tomorrow.

Huge week for Billy Riley, who picked up two more wins to improve to an impressive 11-4 record in 16 starts. He went 7.2 innings against the Wolves, allowing 9 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks with 2 strikeouts. He followed that up with a better start against the Sailors, just 5 hits, a run, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Peter the Heater was brilliant in his start, picking up a complete game victory with 7 hits, a run, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts. Johnnie Jones had very bad luck in his start, as he drew Davis in the 1-0 shutout. He finished with 4 hits, a run, 5 walks, and 3 strikeouts, with a Ken Vance sac-fly sending the home fans home happy. Despite a league low 2.00 ERA (170 ERA+), he's just 7-7 in his 16 starts. I already touched on Donnie Jones' brutal start, but Harry Parker's wasn't much better. He went 6 with 12 hits, 7 runs, and 2 walks while failing to strike out a single Sailor. This dropped him to 4-8 with a 3.39 ERA (100 ERA+). I'm not ready to give up on Parker, but with a few more rough starts I may turn to Bybee. Once he's up, I don't want to send him down again, and I don't think he's better then Parker yet. It'll be tough to keep Bybee down, but for now, I think it's best to keep the youngster in the farm where he can pitch every five games instead of being the guy skipped when Pap and the Jones Brothers are ready to go.

This officially marks the start of the Hal Sharp revenge tour, as the All-Star snub hit like he did in the first half of the season. He went 10-for-26 with two doubles, two walks, a run and RBI. While Sharp didn't provide much pop, Carlos Montes did, contributing a 8-for-26 with four doubles and a homer. He added 3 walks, 4 runs, and 4 RBIs as well, upping his season line to .253/.336/.400 (110 OPS+) with 19 doubles, 2 triples, 8 homers, 15 steals, 36 RBIs, and 39 walks. He's been one of the best batters in July, slashing .297/.376/.500 (150 OPS+) in 19 games. He'll have Batter of the Month competition from Skipper Schneider, who is hitting .385/.415/.449 (147 OPS+) after going 11-for-29 with a double, triple, run walk, and 3 RBIs. Those three carried the lineup this week, as most of the rest struggled. Hank Barnett has stayed ice cold, going just 3-for-27 with a walk, run, and RBI. His 100 WRC+ would be a career low, as the year off has taken something out of his bat. Dick Walker and Leo Mitchell had down weeks too, as the consistent veterans went just 7-for-46. Mitchell did hit his 16th homer, which ties him with Chuck Adams (.267, 16, 64) for the CA lead. He still trails Adams by 5 RBIs, but his .345 average still leads the league. I know Mitchell, he'll be putting up Player of the Week numbers next time tomorrow.

Looking Ahead
We'll head home to prep for a three game set with the Cannons, who sit third and two games behind us. Slugger Al Wheeler (.233, 12, 41) hasn't been himself this season, but he hit his 500th career homer of Jake DeYoung (3-5, 4.75, 15) and 501 off Bill Ross (3-7, 3.93, 29) five innings later. It was his fourth homer in three days, and if he starts heating up, it could push the Cannons back in the playoff race. They score plenty of runs, but Rufus Barrell (11-5, 2.77, 73), who we are stuck facing, is their only reliable starting pitcher. There may not be many on the market either, so the Cannons may have to hope that Butch Smith (7-11, 3.60, 55) can regain his form, or Bob Arman (9-4, 4.48, 60) can look like a #1 pick against teams that aren't us. Those are the three we'll face, and they'll have to deal with our three best. Even with our struggles at home, I like our chances here, but we'll have to keep runs off the board. I brought up Adams earlier, but they have plenty of firepower around him with Adam Mullins (.291, 5, 33), Sam Brown (.328, 3, 33), Fred Galloway (.273, 4, 43, 2) and Denny Andrews (.280, 7, 45). This will be tough, but if we're the team I think we are, it could be enough to push us to first.

After that its three with the Sailors (50-44), who will be swapping places with the Cannons. They start there week in New York with the Stars, who will then host the Cannons (although for four), once we are done with them. Ed Reyes is keeping pace with Leo Mitchell in the batting race, making for an interesting competition. Reyes, who's hitting .341/.395/.461 (135 OPS+), was taken a round before Mitchell, but the two never played together in Chicago. I sent him to the Chiefs in the blockbuster for Joe Masters and Dave Rankin (spoiler: it did not work out...), and he debuted the following season with the Chiefs. He was involved in another major deal almost exactly two years to the date, part of the blockbuster that brought Rabbit Day to the Gothams.

The former first rounder continued to bounce around, going back to the Chiefs before a stint with he Dynamos. He has seemed to find a home with the Sailors, as after hitting .387/.414/.509 (165 OPS+) strictly as a bench bat, they penciled him into the starting lineup the next season. He's trying to defend his batting title, where he hit .344/.392/.451 (143 OPS+) with 24 doubles, 5 triples, 7 homers, and 73 RBIs. To my surprise, he's followed that up with another good year, already matching his 7 homers from last season. He does have some help in the lineup, with Harvey Brown's (.334, 1, 35, 24) breakout and strong seasons from Cotton Dillon (.256, 3, 34, 3), Rip Lee (.294, 6, 37, 5), and Les Cunha (.301, 5, 51). Marion Boismenu (.301, 5, 51) is starting to show signs of life again and if they decide to add to their rotation they could push themselves up the standings. Charlie Gordon (9-6, 2.90, 59) needs some help, and while Frank Sartori (4-2, 1.76, 35) has looked good, I'm not sure it will be sustainable. Slick Wesolowski (9-2, 2.69, 53) suffered a setback, and may not pitch again for two more months, but they may decide to rely on in-house option John Thomas Johnson (2-2, 1, 2.89, 8). This will be another tough week, but I'm hoping we can get revenge for the two of three they just pulled on us on their turf.