[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 3-3
Overall Record: 10-3 (1 GA)

Notable Stories
Utter Dominance from the Rotation: Yes, these games mean little to nothing, but oh man! This rotation! I think George Oddo already secured the 5th spot, as he twirled 5 near perfect innings against the Kings. Oddo allowed just one hit and struck out seven, giving him 4 hits, a run, 2 walks, and 12 strikeouts in a compete games worth of innings. The only "issue" is Harry Parker has been pretty darn good too, as he followed up 4 scoreless with 4 hits, a run, and 4 strikeouts in 4 more innings. But none can match Pete Papenfus, who allowed 4 hits, a walk, and 6 strikeouts in 5 innings. Like Oddo, it gives him 9 innings, but they feature 7 hits, 2 walks, and 11 strikeouts without allowing a run. We also got four scoreless frames from Duke Bybee and Donnie Jones, who weren't great their first go around. Donnie didn't allow a hit in 4 innings, just a walk with 3 strikeouts while Duke went 4 with 2 hits and strikeouts. The only starter who wasn't near flawless was Johnnie Jones, as he allowed 8 hits and 3 walks with 3 strikeouts in 5 innings. That's still livable, especially considering his 8-strikeout, 5-inning shutout last week.

Impressive Offense from Part-Timers: Last week was dominated by regulars Red Bond and Walt Pack. This week, it was some of the guys who don't have consistent playing time locked down. That's new territory for Carlos Montes, who despite only appearing in more then 130 games once, has entered most seasons of his career locked in as the center fielder. That's not to say he won't play, as Montes should be getting time against lefties out in right, but we're playing him a lot this Spring to get him more acquainted with right and third. The new positions didn't affect him this week, going 5-for-11 with a run, 2 doubles, and 2 RBIs. George Sutterfield had himself a good week as well, going 4-for-10 with an RBI and 2 doubles. He's likely in line for a reserve role, but if Otto Christian (who was just 1-for-8 this week) gets off to a slow start, Sutterfield will find himself in line for more time. Especially as an excellent defender, he could fill in at third or second late in the game.

Second base is another one of those timeshares, and both Billy Hunter and Clark Car hit well. Hunter went 3-for-6 with a double and 3 runs while Car was 3-for-7 with a steal. These two won't play a natural platoon, as Hunter can handle righties and Car is basically the same hitter regardless. It's almost impressive how similar his numbers against righties (.271/.313/.401, 3,063 PA, 101 WRC+) and lefties (.273/.310/.410, 1,399 PA, 101 WRC+). To keep Hunter healthy, he's set for a two on, one off schedule, with some lean towards Hunter facing lefties. If and when Hunter gets hurt, time could open up for Sutterfield to get in the mix if Car doesn't get off to a great start. Regardless, all four of these guys will be on the big league roster, and it's great that all are doing well to get things going.

More of the Same?: It's nice seeing Peter the Heater look like his old superstar self. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Leo Mitchell and Sal Pestilli. Mitchell at least got a hit (two in fact!) this week, but he's hitting just .091/.231/.136 in 26 trips to the plate. The walks are nice, as his 15.4% walk rate is more then double his career norm, but he just can't buy a hit. Sal's hitting a bit better at .222/.250/.259, but he hasn't drawn a single walk in 28 trips to the plate. Pair that with six strikeouts, and it is very unlike him. In 1,172 FABL games, he's drawn 354 walks while striking out just 163 times, and last season was the first year he walked (42) fewer then he struck out (45). Sure, if our starters just never give up runs, it doesn't matter how much offense we produce, but once we face real lineups day-in and day-out, we're going to have to produce some runs of our own. So far it hasn't hurt too much, but we dropped three of our last four games, and will need to get production from more then just Walt Pack and Red Bond.