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ayaghmour2 · 11-22-2023, 07:36 PM

Weekly Record: 1-6
Seasonal Record: 5-9 (t-5th, 5.5 GB)
Stars of the Week
Sal Pestilli : 30 AB, 13 H, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .433 AVG, 1.052 OPS
Skipper Schneider : 27 AB, 10 H, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .370 AVG, .970 OPS
Harry Mead : 17 AB, 7 H, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .412 AVG, .944 OPS

Schedule
4-25: Win vs Kings (2-10)
4-26: Loss vs Kings (8-2)
4-27: Loss at Saints (3-8)
4-28: Loss at Saints (0-3)
4-29: Loss vs Stars (2-1)
4-30: Loss vs Stars (11-0)
5-1: Loss vs Stars (5-3)

Recap
So it's going to be one of these kind of years, huh?

The week did start out great, as we crushed the Kings in Chicago, but it went downhill from there. It would be one thing if we lost a bunch of one-run games -- just one this week, but we got humiliated three times -- twice in front of our own fans. The offense was mostly dormant, the pitching was somehow awful, and somehow we're already five and a half games out of first.

What happened here!?!?!

In an effort to stay positive, I'm going to try to focus only on the good. And luckily, we actually have three good hitters! And all three had good weeks! Sal Pestilli led the way, going 13-for-30 with 2 doubles, a homer, 2 steals, 2 runs, and 2 RBIs (if only he had a second homer in that one run loss...) in a nice bounce back week. Skipper Schneider was 10-for-27 with a double, homer, and steal with 6 runs, 4 walks, and 3 RBIs. Harry Mead is hitting like its an even year, going 7-for-17 with a double and 3 RBIs while backup Eddie Howard was 3-for-9 with a walk and a double. The trio of Sal, Skipper, and Mead are off to great starts, each hitting above .320. Unfortunately, the next closest starters are hitting in the .240, with Bond and Pack at .244 and .242. Both homered this week, but neither did much else, a combined 10-for-44 with 7 RBIs. Pack doubled while Bond doubled and tripled, so now both of our slow sluggers have a three bagger already! Take that first place ... Foresters?

Oh yay, they're next!

Now the pitching... Do I want to cover the pitching? Well, after ERAs of 0.69 and 1.00 in the spring, both Jones brothers are over 4.70, and that even comes after Donnie's best start of the year. He got the loss despite just 4 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks, as Jack Wood heard all the mean things I was saying about him and scattered 9 hits and 3 walks. The closest thing to a "good" start came from Peter the Heater, our only pitcher with a sub 3.75 ERA, but he got the loss and walked 6 in 7.2 innings. He allowed 8 hits and 3 runs with 5 strikeouts, so it was really nothing to write home about. Harry MacRae actually pitched this week, and threw two scoreless innings, so if he was in the stopper role instead of Matson last week, perhaps we'd be 7-7 instead of 5-9. Granted, all staffs have bad weeks, so it's not time to throw up the white flag, but it just feels so weird seeing such a good group of arms have absolutely no success when facing significantly lesser arms (excluding Eli Panneton who for some reason decided to pitch the finale). Oh well, on to the next week!

As expected, Harry Carter cleared waivers, and he unfortunately declined an outright assignment. I did offer him a minor league contract after cutting him, so hopefully he returns instead of going to the GWL. Billy Hunter's rehab has gone awful, just 5-for-29, so he may be staying more then the planned two weeks. He did homer and draw four walks, but for some reason the AI played him at second all seven games despite the "Ev. 4th Game" start at multiple positions. Poor Rupert Henibaugh didn't play all week...

Looking Ahead
I think there is some sort of glitch in the matrix, where the Cleveland Foresters have the record (10-3) that rightfully belongs to us! I'll give the universe creators a break if they normalize things after our off day, as we'll host the surprising first place Foresters for three games. They are pretty much the same team as last year that allowed the most runs in the league, except now they've managed the fewest. Chicagoan Adrian Czerwinski (3-0, 3.46, 6) and Kirby Brewer (1-1, 3.27, 3) have gotten off to excellent starts despite walking more guys then they've struck out, and I have to imagine sooner or later they will start allowing a lot more runs. Ollie White (1-1, 3.52, 10) is back in the rotation, and the talented 25-year-old is scheduled for the opener, as we'll see him, Augie Hayes Jr. (1-1, 2.00, 2) and Czerwinski this time around. Again, these are pitchers we should be able to handle, but that was certainly not the case this past week. The lineup looks a little different, as they just added former 1st Rounder Mark Smith (.333) on waivers last week, and they re-inserted Orie Martinez (.273, 1, 2) in the lineup where he belongs. He's one of there better hitters, and I expect him to drive in leadoff hitter Jim Adams Jr. (.350, 2, 6) plenty of times this season. I'm not too worried about the rest of the lineup, but one day Sherry Doyal (.229, 1, 6) will strike fear into opposing pitchers and you could certainly do worse then Lorenzo Samuels (.289, 1, 11) and Ivey Henley (.318, 5). Yesterday I would have been extremely confident for this matchup, but based on early performances we may be lucky to escape with a single win. But perhaps our friends from Ohio visiting this week will be exactly what we need.

Our first substantial homestand continues with two with the Cannons, who will join us in Cougars Park on Friday and Saturday. Like their in-state rivals, Cincinnati is off to an excellent start, 9-3 and half a game behind the Foresters for the Association lead. All-World pitcher Rufus Barrell (3-0, 1.04, 17) is coming off back-to-back complete game wins over the Wolves, including a 3-hit shutout with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts. It's looking likely that we're stuck with him, though I'm really hoping the second game is with Tony Britten (1-1, 10.45, 8), who we pulverized last year and was just brutally bashed by the Wolves in his most recent start. I've never been a Britten fan, even moreso when he tries to rank above Bob Allen in the prospect rankings (right now Allen is up 7 to 11), but given the Cannons success with pitching and how much both Dixie and OSA love his stuff, chances are him and Rufus will make a feared 1-2 punch in the early portion of the 50s. If not Britten, we'll get Charlie Griffith (3-0, 3.81, 3), who could be an intriguing trade candidate. I mean, who wouldn't want a pitcher who can win games with 7 walks and 1 strikeout! The lineup has more intriguing pieces, including Mike T. Taylor (.429, 6, 1), who I sort of enquired on this spring. He's taken full advantage of the overdo everyday lineup spot, taking left while waiver claim Joe Burns (.289, 6) replaced the 38-year-old Sam Brown (.250, 1) in right. Otherwise its the same Cannons lineup we're used to, deep with veterans with championship experience who give good at bats. I don't think the Cannons will be this good all year round, but they're a team that should be respected, as they look to finish over .500 for the ninth time this decade, something only us and them have a chance to do.

The last game of the week is the opener against the Toronto Wolves, who come to town for three must win games. Like us, they're off to a rough start, 4-8 due to a mix of poor offense and defense. It's not Fred McCormick's fault, he's hitting .419/.458/.581 (173 OPS+) despite turning 40 this October, but like literally every other Wolf, he has yet to go yard. Only Charlie Artuso (.231, 1, 6) has found the seats, but does it count if it came off the Cannons' Britten? Granted, the generally slick fielder has made 4 errors and owns just a 74 WRC+, so it's not like he's been much use to the team anyways. Surprisingly, the same can be said of George Garrison (0-3, 4.30, 18), who has not looked like the Allen Award winning pitcher we've grown to loves. This Wolves team is in a transition period, so expect his name to come up in trade talks even if he's 0-13 in July, but aside from Lou Jayson tearing his flexor tendon and missing all year, and former 4th Rounder Randy Hendrix (.161, 3) replacing longtime backstop and McCormick's trade partner Clarence Howerton, the squad looks almost identical to the 1948 iteration that won 82 games and finished in 3rd. A trip to the Windy City should exponentially increase their home run total -- perhaps in the first game alone -- but I think we have a good chance to send them home angry as our staffs only weakness is the home run ball. Somehow we've allowed 20 in 14 games. Pretty crazy!

Minor League Report
RHP Dutch Yoak (B San Jose Cougars): Things haven't gone quite according to plan for high school standout Dutch Yoak, who went 35-0 in his last three seasons at La Porte, finishing his impressive prep career 42-2 with a 1.18 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, and 729 strikeouts. He was never a top 100 prospect, but Yoak was commonly in the top 250 and was a common ask for teams we looked to trade with. Now, four years after being drafted in the second round, Yoak ranks 43rd in our system and 435th overall, and OSA doesn't think he'll be ready until 1952! That's partly why he's still in San Jose, despite pitching in Lincoln in 1947. That went surprisingly well, but he had a 5.32 ERA (83 ERA+) and 1.66 WHIP with one more strikeout (71) the walk (70). It looked like more of the same this year, as Yoak allowed 9 hits, 5 runs, and 7 walks with 7 strikeouts in a 7-inning "win" that should be attributed to great games from Jerry Smith (2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3B, SB) and Buddy Jenkins (2-4, 2 RBI).

Lucky for Yoak, he quickly turned things around. The 21-year-old was firing on all cylinders against the Everett Eagles. The walks were gone, no free passes to any of the 31 batters he faced, and he allowed just 4 hits and 8 strikeouts in a 10-0 demolishment. Yoak himself was 2-for-4 with a walk and run scored, while Jerry Smith (2-4, 3 RBI, BB), Roxy Hilts (3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB), and Ernie Frost (4-5, 2 R, 2 RBI) provided more then enough offense. It's encouraging news for Yoak, who is one of the hardest workers in the system. The towering 6'4'' lefty is the type of guy who never gives up, and it's part of the reason I really thought he'd lead a rotation one day. Instead, he's still throwing as hard (87-89) as he did when he was 16, and his stuff hasn't improved much of all. Still, seeing all these strikeouts is exciting, as his K/9 (I'm on my laptop) is more then double (8.4) last season (3.9) and he's generally not the guy who doesn't walk anyone in a start. Small sample and all that, but this could be the start of something big, and with a quick start to the season, chances are he'll end up in Lincoln by the draft.

Cougars in the GWL
RHP Ira Hawker (Dallas Centurions): Yeah, this guy is still amazing! It took a few starts to get his footing, as the former position-player-turned-reliever allowed 11 runs and lost both of his first two starts, but in front of his home fans, the back-to-back GWL win leader was back in form. The talented Oakland Grays were his first victim, as Hawker tossed a 3-hit shutout with a walk and three Ks, picking up his 56th GWL win and his 10th shutout. This dropped his ERA to 4.01, which is still 13% better then the league average pitcher. A veteran innings eater, Hawker has thrown 250 or more innings in each of his three GWL seasons, winning 17, 19, and 19 games. Last year was his best, as he led the GWL with a 2.25 ERA (143 ERA+) in a league high 268.1 innings, and his 1.08 WHIP and 126 strikeouts were career bests. Dallas is just 6-7 on the year, partly because of Hawker's first two missteps, but former Cougar draftee Rube Finegan (1-0, 1.64, 6) has been great in his two starts while first basemen Cy Braden (.400, 2, 10) hasn't let a strained hamstring slow him down. It's still early, but if the Centurions want to stick around in the playoff race, they'll need more starts like this from their ace.

These next sim won't happen till Monday, as we're off Thanksgiving, and we may also be shifting to a M/W/F sim schedule instead of every day. That would make me sad, but it could also give me an opportunity to expand this a bit. One thing I've wanted to do is cover some of the other sports a bit more, so I may use potential off days to touch on the other sports. Most of the season takes place during baseball's offseason, but I can do some retroactive reporting. This also could open up an opportunity for a solo dynasty project. I loved doing those pre-Figment, but it's hard to get attached enough to a league that isn't this one. But I love to write, so there will be something to fill the potential void!

11-22-2023, 07:36 PM	#1264
ayaghmour2 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 3,010	Week 2: April 25th-May 1st Weekly Record: 1-6 Seasonal Record: 5-9 (t-5th, 5.5 GB) Stars of the Week Sal Pestilli : 30 AB, 13 H, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .433 AVG, 1.052 OPS Skipper Schneider : 27 AB, 10 H, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .370 AVG, .970 OPS Harry Mead : 17 AB, 7 H, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .412 AVG, .944 OPS Schedule 4-25: Win vs Kings (2-10) 4-26: Loss vs Kings (8-2) 4-27: Loss at Saints (3-8) 4-28: Loss at Saints (0-3) 4-29: Loss vs Stars (2-1) 4-30: Loss vs Stars (11-0) 5-1: Loss vs Stars (5-3) Recap So it's going to be one of these kind of years, huh? The week did start out great, as we crushed the Kings in Chicago, but it went downhill from there. It would be one thing if we lost a bunch of one-run games -- just one this week, but we got humiliated three times -- twice in front of our own fans. The offense was mostly dormant, the pitching was somehow awful, and somehow we're already five and a half games out of first. What happened here!?!?! In an effort to stay positive, I'm going to try to focus only on the good. And luckily, we actually have three good hitters! And all three had good weeks! Sal Pestilli led the way, going 13-for-30 with 2 doubles, a homer, 2 steals, 2 runs, and 2 RBIs (if only he had a second homer in that one run loss...) in a nice bounce back week. Skipper Schneider was 10-for-27 with a double, homer, and steal with 6 runs, 4 walks, and 3 RBIs. Harry Mead is hitting like its an even year, going 7-for-17 with a double and 3 RBIs while backup Eddie Howard was 3-for-9 with a walk and a double. The trio of Sal, Skipper, and Mead are off to great starts, each hitting above .320. Unfortunately, the next closest starters are hitting in the .240, with Bond and Pack at .244 and .242. Both homered this week, but neither did much else, a combined 10-for-44 with 7 RBIs. Pack doubled while Bond doubled and tripled, so now both of our slow sluggers have a three bagger already! Take that first place ... Foresters? Oh yay, they're next! Now the pitching... Do I want to cover the pitching? Well, after ERAs of 0.69 and 1.00 in the spring, both Jones brothers are over 4.70, and that even comes after Donnie's best start of the year. He got the loss despite just 4 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks, as Jack Wood heard all the mean things I was saying about him and scattered 9 hits and 3 walks. The closest thing to a "good" start came from Peter the Heater, our only pitcher with a sub 3.75 ERA, but he got the loss and walked 6 in 7.2 innings. He allowed 8 hits and 3 runs with 5 strikeouts, so it was really nothing to write home about. Harry MacRae actually pitched this week, and threw two scoreless innings, so if he was in the stopper role instead of Matson last week, perhaps we'd be 7-7 instead of 5-9. Granted, all staffs have bad weeks, so it's not time to throw up the white flag, but it just feels so weird seeing such a good group of arms have absolutely no success when facing significantly lesser arms (excluding Eli Panneton who for some reason decided to pitch the finale). Oh well, on to the next week! As expected, Harry Carter cleared waivers, and he unfortunately declined an outright assignment. I did offer him a minor league contract after cutting him, so hopefully he returns instead of going to the GWL. Billy Hunter's rehab has gone awful, just 5-for-29, so he may be staying more then the planned two weeks. He did homer and draw four walks, but for some reason the AI played him at second all seven games despite the "Ev. 4th Game" start at multiple positions. Poor Rupert Henibaugh didn't play all week... Looking Ahead I think there is some sort of glitch in the matrix, where the Cleveland Foresters have the record (10-3) that rightfully belongs to us! I'll give the universe creators a break if they normalize things after our off day, as we'll host the surprising first place Foresters for three games. They are pretty much the same team as last year that allowed the most runs in the league, except now they've managed the fewest. Chicagoan Adrian Czerwinski (3-0, 3.46, 6) and Kirby Brewer (1-1, 3.27, 3) have gotten off to excellent starts despite walking more guys then they've struck out, and I have to imagine sooner or later they will start allowing a lot more runs. Ollie White (1-1, 3.52, 10) is back in the rotation, and the talented 25-year-old is scheduled for the opener, as we'll see him, Augie Hayes Jr. (1-1, 2.00, 2) and Czerwinski this time around. Again, these are pitchers we should be able to handle, but that was certainly not the case this past week. The lineup looks a little different, as they just added former 1st Rounder Mark Smith (.333) on waivers last week, and they re-inserted Orie Martinez (.273, 1, 2) in the lineup where he belongs. He's one of there better hitters, and I expect him to drive in leadoff hitter Jim Adams Jr. (.350, 2, 6) plenty of times this season. I'm not too worried about the rest of the lineup, but one day Sherry Doyal (.229, 1, 6) will strike fear into opposing pitchers and you could certainly do worse then Lorenzo Samuels (.289, 1, 11) and Ivey Henley (.318, 5). Yesterday I would have been extremely confident for this matchup, but based on early performances we may be lucky to escape with a single win. But perhaps our friends from Ohio visiting this week will be exactly what we need. Our first substantial homestand continues with two with the Cannons, who will join us in Cougars Park on Friday and Saturday. Like their in-state rivals, Cincinnati is off to an excellent start, 9-3 and half a game behind the Foresters for the Association lead. All-World pitcher Rufus Barrell (3-0, 1.04, 17) is coming off back-to-back complete game wins over the Wolves, including a 3-hit shutout with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts. It's looking likely that we're stuck with him, though I'm really hoping the second game is with Tony Britten (1-1, 10.45, 8), who we pulverized last year and was just brutally bashed by the Wolves in his most recent start. I've never been a Britten fan, even moreso when he tries to rank above Bob Allen in the prospect rankings (right now Allen is up 7 to 11), but given the Cannons success with pitching and how much both Dixie and OSA love his stuff, chances are him and Rufus will make a feared 1-2 punch in the early portion of the 50s. If not Britten, we'll get Charlie Griffith (3-0, 3.81, 3), who could be an intriguing trade candidate. I mean, who wouldn't want a pitcher who can win games with 7 walks and 1 strikeout! The lineup has more intriguing pieces, including Mike T. Taylor (.429, 6, 1), who I sort of enquired on this spring. He's taken full advantage of the overdo everyday lineup spot, taking left while waiver claim Joe Burns (.289, 6) replaced the 38-year-old Sam Brown (.250, 1) in right. Otherwise its the same Cannons lineup we're used to, deep with veterans with championship experience who give good at bats. I don't think the Cannons will be this good all year round, but they're a team that should be respected, as they look to finish over .500 for the ninth time this decade, something only us and them have a chance to do. The last game of the week is the opener against the Toronto Wolves, who come to town for three must win games. Like us, they're off to a rough start, 4-8 due to a mix of poor offense and defense. It's not Fred McCormick's fault, he's hitting .419/.458/.581 (173 OPS+) despite turning 40 this October, but like literally every other Wolf, he has yet to go yard. Only Charlie Artuso (.231, 1, 6) has found the seats, but does it count if it came off the Cannons' Britten? Granted, the generally slick fielder has made 4 errors and owns just a 74 WRC+, so it's not like he's been much use to the team anyways. Surprisingly, the same can be said of George Garrison (0-3, 4.30, 18), who has not looked like the Allen Award winning pitcher we've grown to loves. This Wolves team is in a transition period, so expect his name to come up in trade talks even if he's 0-13 in July, but aside from Lou Jayson tearing his flexor tendon and missing all year, and former 4th Rounder Randy Hendrix (.161, 3) replacing longtime backstop and McCormick's trade partner Clarence Howerton, the squad looks almost identical to the 1948 iteration that won 82 games and finished in 3rd. A trip to the Windy City should exponentially increase their home run total -- perhaps in the first game alone -- but I think we have a good chance to send them home angry as our staffs only weakness is the home run ball. Somehow we've allowed 20 in 14 games. Pretty crazy! Minor League Report RHP Dutch Yoak (B San Jose Cougars): Things haven't gone quite according to plan for high school standout Dutch Yoak, who went 35-0 in his last three seasons at La Porte, finishing his impressive prep career 42-2 with a 1.18 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, and 729 strikeouts. He was never a top 100 prospect, but Yoak was commonly in the top 250 and was a common ask for teams we looked to trade with. Now, four years after being drafted in the second round, Yoak ranks 43rd in our system and 435th overall, and OSA doesn't think he'll be ready until 1952! That's partly why he's still in San Jose, despite pitching in Lincoln in 1947. That went surprisingly well, but he had a 5.32 ERA (83 ERA+) and 1.66 WHIP with one more strikeout (71) the walk (70). It looked like more of the same this year, as Yoak allowed 9 hits, 5 runs, and 7 walks with 7 strikeouts in a 7-inning "win" that should be attributed to great games from Jerry Smith (2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3B, SB) and Buddy Jenkins (2-4, 2 RBI). Lucky for Yoak, he quickly turned things around. The 21-year-old was firing on all cylinders against the Everett Eagles. The walks were gone, no free passes to any of the 31 batters he faced, and he allowed just 4 hits and 8 strikeouts in a 10-0 demolishment. Yoak himself was 2-for-4 with a walk and run scored, while Jerry Smith (2-4, 3 RBI, BB), Roxy Hilts (3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB), and Ernie Frost (4-5, 2 R, 2 RBI) provided more then enough offense. It's encouraging news for Yoak, who is one of the hardest workers in the system. The towering 6'4'' lefty is the type of guy who never gives up, and it's part of the reason I really thought he'd lead a rotation one day. Instead, he's still throwing as hard (87-89) as he did when he was 16, and his stuff hasn't improved much of all. Still, seeing all these strikeouts is exciting, as his K/9 (I'm on my laptop) is more then double (8.4) last season (3.9) and he's generally not the guy who doesn't walk anyone in a start. Small sample and all that, but this could be the start of something big, and with a quick start to the season, chances are he'll end up in Lincoln by the draft. Cougars in the GWL RHP Ira Hawker (Dallas Centurions): Yeah, this guy is still amazing! It took a few starts to get his footing, as the former position-player-turned-reliever allowed 11 runs and lost both of his first two starts, but in front of his home fans, the back-to-back GWL win leader was back in form. The talented Oakland Grays were his first victim, as Hawker tossed a 3-hit shutout with a walk and three Ks, picking up his 56th GWL win and his 10th shutout. This dropped his ERA to 4.01, which is still 13% better then the league average pitcher. A veteran innings eater, Hawker has thrown 250 or more innings in each of his three GWL seasons, winning 17, 19, and 19 games. Last year was his best, as he led the GWL with a 2.25 ERA (143 ERA+) in a league high 268.1 innings, and his 1.08 WHIP and 126 strikeouts were career bests. Dallas is just 6-7 on the year, partly because of Hawker's first two missteps, but former Cougar draftee Rube Finegan (1-0, 1.64, 6) has been great in his two starts while first basemen Cy Braden (.400, 2, 10) hasn't let a strained hamstring slow him down. It's still early, but if the Centurions want to stick around in the playoff race, they'll need more starts like this from their ace. These next sim won't happen till Monday, as we're off Thanksgiving, and we may also be shifting to a M/W/F sim schedule instead of every day. That would make me sad, but it could also give me an opportunity to expand this a bit. One thing I've wanted to do is cover some of the other sports a bit more, so I may use potential off days to touch on the other sports. Most of the season takes place during baseball's offseason, but I can do some retroactive reporting. This also could open up an opportunity for a solo dynasty project. I loved doing those pre-Figment, but it's hard to get attached enough to a league that isn't this one. But I love to write, so there will be something to fill the potential void!