May 1939 Report: The season is more than halfway done and it's a 2.5 horse race at this stage. Let's check it out!
León have led the league since May 17th, when they were 26-9 (San Luis were 25-9). Come the end of the month, the race is still tight as both teams have been on fire. Going into the final stretch, León have a slight pitching edge but of course San Luis will fight tooth-and-nail to hold on their title.
Here's the team-by-team (Player stats are from May only):
Flechas de León - 1st (+1), 20-5 in May
It was an excellent month for the Emeralds, who managed to win all but 5 games (2 vs GDL, 2 vs JAG, 1 vs SNL). I do believe they set the record winning streak at 15 games. Over the course of the month, they've become the best pitching team in the league, dropping their starters' ERA to 1.73, while maintaining an above average offense who's now 3rd in the league. They even improved this area on the 30th, trading for Ezequiel Anguiano, giving up 2B Baldomero Ceballos and #4 prospect 3B Pedro Ayala. If they carry their hot streak into June then the championship is pretty much theirs.
Best hitters:
CF Juan Negrete - .346/.409/.413, 3 2B, 2 3B, 11 RBI, 15 SB
2B Ehécatl Cocom - .310/.337/.417, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 8 RBI
3B Gustavo Ruiz - .290/.304/.370, 2 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 2 SB
Rotation:
RHP Juan González - 3-1, 1.85 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 9.7 K%
LHP Jonathan Estrada - 6-0, 0.78 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 12.3 K%, Pitcher of the Month
LHP Alejandro Carranza - 3-2, 1.51 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 11.9 K%
RHP Ezequiel Anguiano - 1-3, 2.70 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 12 K% (With Águilas de México)
Tunas de San Luis - 1st (-1), 17-8 in May
San Luis drop into second, though really it's not too much their fault as León was just too hot to handle. However, they did have a 3-6 stretch through the middle of the month against the other teams in the top 4. At the end of the month, the Tunas traded for Guadalajara reliever Roberto Olmos, sending them 1B Ambrosio Conor and RHP Félix García. San Luis is still the 2nd best offense and the 2nd best at preventing runs, so the race for the title is most certainly on!
Best hitters:
C José Trujillo - .356/.385/.437, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 11 RBI
2B Max Braud - .327/.386/.394, 4 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 4 SB
SS Rogelio Herrán - .321/.352/.369, 2 2B, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 3 SB
Rotation:
RHP Roberto Mestre - 1-1, 1.09 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 11.3 K%
RHP Francisco Barajas - 4-2, 2.68 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 9.7 K%
LHP Francisco Camacho - 4-2, 3.94 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 9.7 K%
RHP Luis Cruz - 2-2, 1.72 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 14.6 K%
Serpientes de Puebla - 3rd (NC), 15-11 in May
The most powerful lineup in the league remain as dark horses in the 1939 title race, which paired with a 3rd best pitching staff make for a potential surprise candidate going into June. Becoming more consistent, specially in close games (currently 8-9), can turn this team into real contenders. To help them, they got Faustino Campos from the Obsidians in exchange of #14 prospect 3B Roberto León.
Best hitters:
3B Daniel Rivera - .340/.484/.454, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, Hitter of the Month
1B Mario Morales - .338/.405/.426, 3 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI
2B Fernando del Toro - .294/.345/.385, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 1 SB
Rotation:
RHP Faustino Campos - 2-3, 2.01 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 11.7 K% (With Guadalajara)
RHP Antonio Aguilar - 4-1, 2.26 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 7.9 K%
RHP Victor Villarroel - 5-0, 0.92 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 16.4 K%
LHP José García - 1-2, 1.60 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 9.1 K%
Aulladores de Mérida - 4th (+1), 12-12 in May
It's fitting that the team in the middle of the table had a .500 record in May. Mérida are just an average team with a couple of stars at this point, they're 6th in runs scored and 4th in runs against.
Best hitters:
RF Edwin Esparza - .316/.343/.400, 5 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI
2B Octavio Torres - .289/.333/.371, 5 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI
CF Guillermo Aceves - .271/.314/.344, 5 2B, 1 3B, 9 RBI, 5 SB
Rotation:
RHP Jesús Pérez - 3-2, 1.24 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 13.4 K%
LHP Roberto García - 1-2, 2.60 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 12.2 K%
RHP David Venegas - 3-3, 3.56 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 12.3 K%
RHP Felipe Martínez - 4-2, 2.18 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 10.2 K%
Obsidianas de Guadalajara - 5th (+1), 13-13 in May
Despite being the worst pitching team in the league, now even more so with the Campos trade, Guadalajara are another middle-of-the-road team. They are also 4th in runs scored but it seems like Solorio is no longer competing for the batting title.
Best hitters:
2B César Loaiza - .312/.385/.366, 2 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB
3B Oscar Torres - .280/.316/.366, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB
1B Guillermo Villanueva - .267/.349/.320, 2 2B, 1 3B, 7 RBI
Rotation:
LHP Carlos Casillas - 4-2, 2.86 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 12.4 K%
RHP Jacinto Santos - 2-3, 2.47 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 12.4 K%
RHP Hermenegildo Lomas - 3-4, 2.22 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 9.6 K%
RHP Mario Jiménez - Replaces Campos on roster
Jaibas de Tampico - 6th (+2), 11-14 in May
Tampico have slightly improved, which isn't all that surprising given the talent available on the roster. However, pitching seems to still be a concern as they're 7th in runs allowed.
Best hitters:
C Alfredo Hernández - .286/.345/.325, 3 2B, 9 RBI
LF Ricardo Palacios - .272/.352/.293, 2 2B, 7 RBI, 4 SB
CF Nicolás Zúñiga - .245/.298/.311, 1 2B, 3 3B, 6 RBI, 18 SB
Rotation:
RHP Israel Pastrana - 2-1, 1.79 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 11.7 K%
RHP César Plascencia - 1-4, 4.83 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 10.1 K%
LHP Miguel Zúñiga - 3-3, 3.25 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 8.8 K%
RHP Zenón Sandoval - 1-2, 3.70 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 8.8 K%
Jaguares de México - 7th (-3), 7-17 in May
It was a terrible month for the Jaguars who fell all the way to the bottom of the table. They've turned into the 2nd worst offense while their pitching is slightly below average.
Best hitters:
2B Antonio Sánchez - .287/.319/.333, 5 2B, 5 RBI
LF Gregorio Pérez - .274/.324/.305, 3 2B, 5 RBI
C José López - .233/.233/.274, 3 2B, 3 RBI
Rotation:
RHP Eulalio Garza - 2-2, 2.57 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 10.5 K%
RHP Ángel Urquidi - 0-2, 1.48 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 13.4 K%
LHP Luis Helguera - 1-1, 2.16 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 7.8 K%
RHP Pedro León - 5 G, 0 GS, 0-3, 7.27 ERA, 1.85 WHIP, 4.9 K%
Águilas de México - 8th (-1), 5-20 in May
It's no surprise that a team that struggles to allow runs can't win at home, on the road, extra inning games, close games, versus lefties, versus righties, or just in general. This team has won 3 series this season: 2-1 vs GDL and 2-1 vs TAM in April, and 2-1 vs JAG in May. Only 3 qualified players are hitting above .250, so the team is just hoping for the season to be over.
Best hitters:
LF Edwin Acosta - .289/.359/.337, 4 2B, 5 RBI
RF Luis García - .291/.315/.372, 5 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI
2B Juan Garnica - .275/.302/.304, 3 2B, 5 RBI
Rotation:
LHP Andrés Amaya - 0-5, 3.38 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 8.9 K%
LHP Leo Álvarez - 1-3, 2.83 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 9.4 K%
RHP Antonio Castañeda - 1-4, 2.96 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 8.5 K%
RHP Raúl Romero - 16 G, 0 GS, 0-3, 4.67 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 9 K%
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So I found out something about the "Big Free Agency" I've been talking about. Even though I set the "Minimum years for FA" to 4, players will not become FAs after hitting 4 years but the season after (I think, at least that's what it looks like on all screens where this info might be displayed). If this is the case, we'll wait another year to expand and all that. This will give us an even 5 years of league history before expantion. As always, thanks for reading!