Record: 13-15
3rd place AL East, 7 1/2 behind Baltimore; 2 games behind 3rd wild card
Ugh, what a miserable start to the season. With essentially the same roster that won 107 games last year this squad has been stuck in the mud and actually got worse as April went on. In fact I'd hate to think where we'd be if not for Shane McClanahan, who was an other-worldly 5-0, 0.42 (with 2.6 WAR!) and had maybe the best month I've ever seen a pitcher have. We got off to a similarly-poor start last season so that's what we're telling ourselves right now and like last year it's the bats that have been moribund.
We were also hit with three injuries to the pitching staff, all relievers, ranging from minor to major.
Ryan Pepiot suffered a forearm strain and is out until mid-May,
Andrew Nardi has elbow inflammation and won't be back until mid-season, and
Jovani Moran tore his labrum and is done for the year.
Where things stand around MLB:
The Orioles' insane start is one reason why were in a big early hole in the division.
Closed out the month by losing 4 of 5. At least we're unbeatable on Mondays!
Can't say we've been unlucky either as we're only one game worse than our Pythagorean. The offense is clearly better than what they've shown, so we'll just have to have faith they'll come around. The starting pitching outside of McClanahan has been quite spotty as well with the bullpen really carrying the staff when Mac isn't on the mound.
Only Chourio, Elly and Marsh have had what could be called decent months at the plate. Alcantara and Casas have really killed us and the catchers haven't hit nearly as well as they can. Also last year's surprise sensation Saggese hasn't hit at all, although he hasn't had much of an opportunity with everyone healthy on the hitting side. Lora was out for a couple of weeks which is why you see our slugging prospect Joe Quelch in there and he did hit a couple of homers before returning to Durham. I will say if things aren't much better by the next time I post some changes will be made.
As mentioned the non-McClanahan starters have been off to slow starts although Santana's numbers are marred by a 1/3-inning, 7-run outing in his final start against Houston. The others have just been flat-out inconsistent. Canterino, who only made the squad due to being out of options, turned out to be a godsend in middle/long relief and with the injuries to lefties Nardi and Moran I may move Hall back to the pen and start either Canterino or Perkins.
This of course was a no-brainer:
On the farm:
Looks like Quelch has graduated off this list (maybe because he's an old prospect at 26 rather than having lost rookie status) but there are a lot of guys including him raking at Durham as the Bulls are off to a flying 18-8 start. Junior Caminero, Cooper Kinney and Hirata above are hitting for power and average and it's getting hard keeping them down, especially with the big club's hitters struggling. We did have a couple of players of the month on the farm:
He no longer qualifies as a rookie so he's not on the prospect list.
Last year's Southern League pitcher of the year is off to a flying start in the IL. Unfortunately his ratings are 45/40/60 so I'm afraid he'd be eaten alive in the bigs.