[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 5-2
Seasonal Record: 16-18 (6th, 4.5 GB)
Stars of the Week
Skipper Schneider : 31 AB, 12 H, 2 HR, 10 RBI, .387 AVG, 1.148 OPS
Sal Pestilli : 32 AB, 10 H, 1 HR, 8 RBI, .312 AVG, .790 OPS
Billy Hunter : 20 AB, 6 H, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .300 AVG, 1.091 OPS

Schedule
5-17: Win at Cannons (5-2)
5-18: Win at Cannons (11-6)
5-19: Loss at Cannons (3-4): 10 innings
5-20: Win at Wolves (7-5)
5-21: Win at Wolves (7-5): 12 innings
5-22: Loss at Foresters (4-5)
5-22: Win at Foresters (7-6)

Recap
Well would you look at that! A winning week! I forgot you could have those! The pitching still sucks, as we allowed five or more runs in five of the six games, but who cares! We won five games! And you can thank the Skipper Schneider breakout for that!

In year ten, Skipper has been the best hitter he's ever been, and our slick fielding shortstop was named Player of the Week for the first time in his FABL career. He was an impressive 12-for-31 with six of his hits going for extra bases. He hit 3 doubles, a triple, and a pair of homers, tallying 7 runs and 10 RBIs. The 28-year-old has now hit an impressive .315/.408/.465 (137 OPS+) with 8 doubles, 3 homers, and 20 RBIs, while walking (19) over three times as often as he's struck out (6). For a guy with a career high WRC+ of 117, the 149 he's posted so far has been huge, and his 12.7 BB% and all three parts of his triple slash would be career bests. This week he got some help from his double play partners, as both Billy Hunter and Clark Car performed well. Hunter went 6-for-30 with 2 doubles, 2 homers, and 4 runs scored and driven in while the struggling Car was 5-for-11 with a double and 4 runs scored. Hunter has done well in limited time, but Car was as cold as the Chicago weather, still hitting just .163/.189/.217 (10 OPS+) on the season. Still, this week was our first glimmer of hope in a season full of darkness, as we look to take advantage of our first spark of positive momentum.

Sal Pestilli had another great all around week, going 10-for-32 with a double, homer, 2 walks, 2 steals, 6 runs, and 8 RBIs as he continues his 8+ WAR pace. The 7-Time All-Star has hit an impressive .336/.384/.521 (144 OPS+) with 9 doubles, 5 homers, 20 runs, 21 RBIs, and 6 steals. Add in a 155 WRC+ and a 1.020 efficiency in center, and you have nearly a 2 WAR (1.8) player as we approach the end of May. Leo Mitchell almost looked like his old self this week, going 5-for-14 with a double, run, and 4 RBIs. Walt Pack triples his home run output for the season, going 4-for-18 with a pair of longballs, 3 runs, and 4 RBIs. Eddie Howard looked good in limited time, an even 4-for-8 with a walk, 2 RBIs, and 3 runs scored. His production has been overshadowed a tad by Harry Mead's production, but the soon-to-be 26-year-old has hit .364/.389/.455 (128 OPS+) with 3 doubles and 7 RBIs. With Mead turning 35 at the end of June, this may be Howard's last season as a backup, as the former 2nd Rounder appears close to reaching his lofty offensive potential.

Again, I'm not sure I want to dive deep into the pitchers, but George Oddo had a decent enough start. He left with one out in the 8th, but had just 4 hits, 5 runs (3 earned), and 3 walks with 4 strikeouts. While not overall great numbers, what is great is the lack of homers allowed, as not a single ball ended up in the seats. He allowed at least one in each of his first four starts, already 7 in 38 innings as his HR/9 has jumped almost a full homer (0.8 to 1.7) since last season. Donnie Jones pitched good enough to win, but we didn't score for him, so he had to come back to the 10th. It didn't work out well, as former Cougar and member of the Donnie Jones trade Hal Wood (.282, 1, 17) ended the game with an RBI double. Jones finished with 8 hits, 4 runs, and 5 walks, striking out 4 as he dropped to 3-4. Brother Johnnie made a pair of starts, with only one worth mentioning, so that's the one I'll talk about! He bested the Cannons, going all nine while allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, and 3 walks with 2 strikeouts. It's still crazy to think we've allowed tied for the most runs (164) in the association, as none of our pitchers are pitching to the level we know they can.

Looking Ahead
Plenty of rest this week, as we'll get a day off before and after a two game series with the Philadelphia Sailors. I can't believe that they're 8-25, and a lot of the struggles can be attributed to ace Win Lewis, who won't be involved in the series. In three of the past four seasons, Win has posted an ERA below 3, but through 7 starts this season he's 1-5 with a 5.98 ERA (67 ERA+) and 1.45 WHIP with 15 walks and 20 strikeouts. His 4.12 FIP (103 FIP-) expects plenty of positive regression, and he's coming off a start where he allowed 3 hits, 4 walks, and an unearned run with 6 strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched. One guy who has done well is Slick Wesolowski, who's scheduled for the finale and has looked great after missing all of last season with injury. Slick is just 1-2, but with a 3.44 ERA (116 ERA+) and 1.45 WHIP despite more walks (22) then strikeouts (17). I'm still confident in scoring off him and Art Hull (1-3, 5.51, 10), so it's all about keeping the offense in check. They've scored the fewest runs in the league, but it hasn't stopped Ed Reyes (.400, 1, 10) from hitting .400, nor Joe Scott (.232, 5, 14) from posting a 117 WRC+ with a 21-to-11 walk-to-strikeout ratio. Otherwise, the lineup production has been limited, with five regulars posting below average WRC+ and a pair (Rip Lee and Chet McCormick) below 40 -- even lower then the 46 from Wesolowski. We need to win both of these, but if the game is close, that means David Molina (0-2, 4, 2.95, 12) will look to finish it, and he's too good to beat often.

The second off day will be used to travel home, as we start a quick three game homestand with the Brooklyn Kings. Depending on how the week goes, they could be in first place, as they're 19-14 and just a game behind Cleveland for the lead. We'll get to miss 20-year-old phenom Ken Newman (.265, 1, 13), but he hasn't been too scary and there is a lot of thump in the #1 scoring team's lineup. Ralph Johnson has been killing it in every way, shape, and form, as he's already worth 3 WAR in just 33 games. The soon-to-be 25-year-old is off to a preposterous start to the season, slashing an astronomical .374/.490/.626 (193 OPS+) with 10 doubles, 3 triples, 5 homers, and 24 RBIs, drawing 28 walks to just 7 strikeouts. If that wasn't enough to deal with, Pat Petty (.343, 4, 22) is doing all he can to prove I was foolish for not trading for him, and they've gotten excellent production from John Moss (.300, 2, 12), Chuck Collins (.273, 4, 13), and Dan Smith (.280, 2, 16). Lucky for us, there is a way to stop them, as the pitching has been shaky at times. Joe Potts (4-1, 2.90, 17) has been a shocking revelation for Brooklyn, but Bob Arman (3-4, 4.27, 33) is walking batters at a 16% clip and they already banished Rusty Petrick (0-2, 6.29, 14) to the pen. If there's ever a time for our staff to wake up, it's now, because otherwise we're in for a slugfest of potentially epic proportions.

Minor League Report
CF Don Lee (AAA Milwaukee Blues): Don Lee has seemingly taken his demotion to the minors well, as he's regained some of his offensive production, taking home Century Player of the Week after going 13-for-33 with 3 doubles, 3 homers, 2 steals, a triple, 10 runs, and 11 RBIs. Lee is now slashing an outstanding .287/.400/.557 (146 OPS+) with 7 doubles, 4 triples, 6 homers, 10 steals, and 28 RBIs. He's on pace for 126 runs, 126 RBIs, and 104 walks in just 135 games, and he's on pace for an 8.6 WAR season that would rival what Sal Pestilli is doing on the big league club. A long time member of the big league squad, Lee returned to the minors for the first time since 1944, where he hit an impressive .288/.424/.465 (162 OPS+) with 20 double, 6 triples, 7 homers, 15 steals, and 45 RBIs with a superb 73-to-29 walk-to-strikeout ratio.

He hasn't come close to that in the majors, and aside from the last year of the war he hasn't had too much success. Still, the former 2nd Rounder and brother of current Sailor Rip Lee does own a .246/.356/.370 (108 OPS+) batting line in 439 FABL games since his callup during the 1944 season. Two additional option years worked against Lee, who might find his way back in Chicago if he keeps hitting like this. We haven't got much from our non-Pestilli outfielders, so if a roster spot empties or Chubby Hall (who's been the best of the non-Pestillis) angers me enough to warrant a DFA. And there's always the chance that the rarely used George Dawson will wear out his welcome. It's going to be tough for Lee to work his way back into our future plans, but he's always shown offensive promise and I'm sure he can get more out with a quick reset. He's always been a hard worker and a club leader, so when the offense disappeared, he still provided value to the clubhouse.

2B Johnnie Love (B San Jose Cougars): With all the highly touted prospects on the San Jose roster, it's easy to overlook Johnnie Love. An 8th Round Pick out of Bluegrass State last year, Love doesn't appear on the Cougars top 40 or league's top 500, but that hasn't stopped the 22-year-old from showing off. In his first 31 games, he's hit .388/.429/.587 (169 OPS+) with 6 doubles, 3 triples, 4 homers, and 27 RBIs. He had success after the draft in San Jose last year as well, batting .320/.385/.469 (121 OPS+) in 52 appearances. A natural second basemen, Love has been playing regularly at the hot corner, but the early results (-2.0, .928) haven't been great so far. But the switch hitter has more then made up for it at the plate, and he's positioned himself to earn a callup before the new class of draftees role in. And while he doesn't project to be a regular at the game's highest level, his bat has impressed and he could work his way onto a big league bench.