[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 1-6
Seasonal Record: 65-60 (t-3rd, 9.5 GB)
Stars of the Week
None generated this week

Schedule
8-22: Loss at Kings (2-3)
8-23: Win vs Wolves (0-2)
8-24: Loss vs Wolves (1-4)
8-25: Loss vs Cannons (3-6)
8-26: Loss vs Cannons (3-9)
8-27: Loss vs Cannons (3-5)
8-28: Loss vs Sailors (5-9)

Recap
It really got worse, huh?

I'm not sure what happened in August, but we flat out suck, ending the week with five straight losses at home and falling back to double digit games out of first, despite the Foresters going just 2-5 this week. With a bunch of sub .500 teams on the docket, in Cougars Park, I thought we'd make some ground up, but no, we continue to fail beating even the worst of teams. We've gone 4-12 against teams below .500 this Month, 10-17 overall, and are sitting just five games above .500 despite being 12 over and in striking distance of first when the month started. At this point, I just want it to be over, and at least we get to bring up some extra players for the final month. That's the only thing stopping this from being a super short write up.

Some highlights of the week? Well, Pete Papenfus came two outs away from a shutout, as 7 walks got his pitch count up too high. He did allowed just 3 hits and struck out 8, so an overall strong start, and Harry MacRae struck out both batters he faced to earn his 13th save of the year. Donnie Jones got a win stolen from him, as all 5 runs he allowed were unearned, and the All-Star went 8 with 7 hits, 5 walks, and 9 strikeouts. Harry Mead went 8-for-24 with a double, triple, homer, 3 runs, and 5 RBIs. Red Bond was 5-for-18 and hit 2 more homers. That's about all, as nine batters made 9 or more PAs (7 with 10+), and they all had a weekly OPS+ below 30. Seven of them weren't even double digit positives. Johnny Peters managed a -66 WRC+. Good stuff from a former 3rd Overall Pick!

Man I hate this team...

One change I will make is in the rotation, as we'll move to a six man rotation. Likely for the rest of the season. All six guys will be available out of the pen if needed, as Zane Kelley is coming up from Milwaukee for the final month plus. He's dominated the Century League, going 11-4 with a 3.00 ERA (135 ERA+) and 1.20 WHIP. He's struck out (80) twice as many hitters as he's walked (40), and his 3.28 FIP (80 FIP-) is an impressive 20 times better then the league average hurler. 24 in November, Kelley will have a chance to earn the sixth spot, if I use it, next season, but he'll get a chance to showcase himself to the 16 FABL teams. We don't need another SP, but since these games don't really matter anymore, I want to see what we have with the young righty. I'm not sure how many games he'll start, that's up to Max Wilder, but with a double header next Monday I expect him to pitch at least once in the next eight days. I'll cover the rest of the callups in the Minor League Report section.

Looking Ahead
Ugh, more games???

Do we have to???

-- Fine --

Let's see... Cougars Park will host the Sailors for two more before the Foresters come to town for two. That's two losses you can already count up. Then on the road we'll face a hot Saints team for three. That's three more! Probably one loss with the Sailors too, so at best, 1-6? Sounds fun!

Montreal will be tough, they're now 70-58, about where we should be if we knew how to win games. Cleveland is way ahead, 77-49, and unless they put together a few more 2-5 weeks, there will be an "x" next to their name sooner then later. Even the 49-76 Sailors don't have a "e" yet, so we're still technically in competition, but this would have been a tough week even if we were coming in hot. Not looking forward to the sim email tomorrow!

1-6 in the midst of a slump really does something to an OOTPer...

Minor League Report
RHP Ken Matson: Given one last chance to regain his bullpen spot, Ken Matson will return to Chicago after an 11 start stint with the Blues. He handled himself well, going 6-2 with a 3.61 ERA (112 ERA+), 1.23 WHIP, 29 walks, and 36 strikeouts. That's far better then his relief work, as he allowed 15 hits, 13 runs, and 3 walks in his 9.1 innings. He won't return to his stopper role, but he'll look to reach his next big inning mark, just 17 innings away from 400. Chances are he won't get that in the final month, but with a few scoreless innings he can work his way back into the team's favor. He was once a steady presence in the pen, but he hasn't come close to matching his 1946 breakout. Sure, it was just 26.2 innings, but he allowed just 13 hits, 3 runs, and 9 walks with 17 strikeouts. 32 next February, he's one of the older members of the staff, and it may work against him if everyone stays healthy.

2B Johnny Carlisle: An 8th Round Pick back in 1944, Johnny Carlisle got a cup of coffee last season, and he'll get another shot to pick up his first major league hit. A Tip Harrison-type utility player, Carlisle appeared at six positions in his 79 games this season, as depending on injuries, including his own, his time wasn't all too consistent. He did hit better with the Blues this year, but .284/.381/.377 (88 OPS+) isn't all that inspiring. A difference between him and Tip is the defense, as Carlisle isn't the greatest defender. More of a quantity versus quality versatile. He's going to need to hit some to keep his roster spot, but his 40-man spot is safe unless we are in a real crunch.

CF Don Lee: At first I thought he'd spend all season in Milwaukee, but we could use some help on the big league roster and Johnny Peters wasn't getting it done. Him and Don Lee will now switch spots, with the 27-year-old rejoining the roster to play in his sixth big league season. Lee has taken the demotion with grace, and the captain was arguably the most valuable player in the Century League. He hit an impressive .289/.389/.502 (132 OPS+) with 26 doubles, 13 triples, 16 homers, 75 RBIs, 77 walks, and 101 runs scored in 116 games. Lee even swiped 33 bags and was worth 5.4 WAR as the Blues center fielder. His speed should be a nice boost to a somewhat slow Cougars team, and will leadoff against southpaws. This won't be the first time he does this, and hopefully not the last, as he'll look to improve his career .246/.356/.370 (108 OPS+) career line.

RF Jimmy Hairston: He didn't spend long in Milwaukee after his demotion, but I decided I'll bring him up the rest of the way to hang out on the bench. He may play a bit if Don Lee can't hit, but he could be a useful pinch hitter against lefties. Even though he didn't have any extra base hits in his 38 PAs with us earlier, he walked six times while striking out just three times. Plus with a 161 WRC+ in 88 Century League games, he could get hot and really help us late in some games. With another option year left, he's likely to return to AAA next season, but both OSA and Dixie are fans of the young outfielder, and it's interesting to see what Dixie says in his incoming scouting report. Right now he rates him as a ".330 hitter" while later he "has potential to unleash his obvious talent both on the field and at the plate." I think he's being too generous, but I think he's more then good enough at the plate to hold down a regular job with a FABL team.

RHP Fred Terry (AA Mobile Commodores): At least we tend to win games in the minors, where it really matters, and the Commodores got a nice start from former 8th Rounder Fred Terry. The 24-year-old was feeling it against the Chattanooga Reliables, as he got revenge after they tagged him for 8 hits and 6 runs in his previous start. On the road, Terry spun an 8-hit shutout with just 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. This evened his record to 9-9 in 20 starts, as the righty comes close to finishing his second season in AA. I'm debating him finishing off the season in Milwaukee, and since I expect to eventually call up more arms from the Blues staff, he may get a few starts there to end his year. A four pitch pitcher, Terry is driven to succeed, and spends countless hours working on his stuff, strength, and sequencing. It's allowed him to pitch deep into games and soak up innings, throwing 9 or more innings eight times. The 136 pitches he threw this week was a game high, and I'm sure he could go up a bit more if we really needed him to. He doesn't have much prospect pedigree, so I doubt the development staff is worried about him going deep, but its a very useful skill for someone looking to crack a big league roster. He's at least a season off, and with our logjam in the rotation, his best chance is either working out of our pen or catching on with another organization.

RHP Tommy Seymour (AA Mobile Commodores): Shutouts seem to be the theme for the Commodores this week, as Tommy Seymour avenged a loss against the Atlanta Crackers with a 4-hit shutout. He walked 5 and struck out 6, snapping a streak of six losses since his promotion in early July. The former first rounder hasn't been very good until now, so it's no surprise he still sports a lofty 4.69 ERA (86 ERA+) and 1.63 WHIP with nearly equal walks (32) and strikeouts (33). That's been an issue for Seymour quite often, but it wasn't the case when he was down in A ball earlier this season. Seymour struck out an impressive 16.5% of the hitters he faced, nearly three and a half (3.4) percent better then he has with the Commodores. He also kept his walk rate down to an above average 8.7%, as his 28 walks in 79 innings has already been surpassed. Having recently celebrated his 24th birthday, I was hoping he'd be ready for tougher competition. He still deserves time, and seems likely to return here in 1950, as a Rule-5 eligible pitcher there's always a chance another team decides to give him some innings at the back of their staff. He's always had the stuff, but he can be wild and he never really added much velocity. If someone could fix his control problems, he could be effective, but nothing has seemed to work so far.

1B Charlie Everitt (A Lincoln Legislators): It was a big week for another guy called up midseason, as Charlie Everitt went 13-for-25 to capture the Heartland League Player of the Week. He hit his 3rd homer in 131 trips to the plate, and now has 6 doubles, a triple, 17 runs, and 18 RBIs. Last year's 14th Round Pick is now hitting .353/.405/.496 (141 OPS+) -- not to far from the .340/.465/.498 (152 OPS+) he managed in 76 games down in San Jose. A projectable first basemen, Everitt is an imposing 6'4'' potential slugger, as he has the hit tool but not much oomph. But with the strong hit tool he still cracks the top prospect list, sitting at 39th in our organization and 374th overall. OSA gives him low end starter potential and Dixie thinks he can be an average big leaguer, but that's not quite enough for a first basemen. That's why the power potential is so important, as if you add home runs to his game he could be the type of guy you want playing every day.