[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 5-2
Seasonal Record: 57-43 (4th, 3 GB)
Stars of the Week
Jerry McMillan : 29 AB, 14 H, 3 HR, 8 RBI, .483 AVG, 1.482 OPS
Jim Barton : 28 AB, 14 H, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .500 AVG, 1.286 OPS
Gene Case : 24 AB, 8 H, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .333 AVG, 1.077 OPS

Schedule
7-30: Loss vs Stars (9-2)
7-31: Loss at Foresters (3-7)
8-1: Win at Foresters (11-4)
8-2: Win at Foresters (6-2)
8-3: Win vs Saints (12-13)
8-4: Win vs Saints (2-3)
8-5: Win vs Saints (9-10)

Recap
I like this. I like this a lot!

We are right back in this thing!

Despite losing the first two games of the week, ours was a huge success, as we took two-of-three from the Foresters and managed to sweep the Montreal Saints. Not sure what was more surprising there, beating the Saints or winning all three games by a single run, but we are now just three games out of first with two months left, and the Forester lead has been cut all the way down to one. There's two teams between us and them, and plenty of time for us to be the ones to come out on top.

Simply put, the offense was amazing, as we scored 10, 11, and 13 runs in games, and we did something even better then that.

We had timely hitting!

AND YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT WE DID!?!?!?!

BEAT A TEAM WORSE THEN US WITH THREE ONE RUN GAMES!?!?!?!!?!

I'M ACTUALLY GOING CRAZY WHO IS THIS TEAM!?!?!?!

***

Phew

Deep breaths...

Compose yourself! They're fake wins! Fake one run wins!

The best kind!

Okay. The offense. Four guys with a weekly WRC+ above 180!!!!!!!

Two make sense. One isn't crazy. But the fourth! Chappy Sanders!!!

Out of necessity, I've stuck with him all season, and a week like this makes it all worth it. His week was the "worst" of the group, but our catcher was 8-for-20 with 5 doubles, 5 RBIs, and 4 runs. Almost completely erasing his miserable start, he's actually hitting a catcher-like .242/.297/.399 (78 OPS+) with 16 doubles, 9 homers, and 41 RBIs. It's not great, don't get me wrong, but he's getting his extra base hits and the walks will come with experience. Even better, his K% was in the 20s in April and May, and he dropped it to 15 in June and July. I gotta give him credit, he never gave up and slacked off, and that hard work is starting to pay dividends.

The non-obvious one Jim Barton, who had a nice 14-for-28 line with a double, 2 triples, a homer, a walk, 5 runs, and 6 RBIs. He's gotten hot, as his rollercoaster ride of a season continues. That's led to a solid .324/.356/.439 (104 OPS+) with 10 doubles, 5 triples, 7 homers, and 46 RBIs. Solid, if unspectacular, he's given me exactly what's expected on the aggregate even if the path to get there has been unsteady. It's tough for him to secure his spot in the outfield long-term, as the #4 prospect Dode Caudill is just begging for a promotion, but if he can work some magic the rest of the way it will do his 1963 job security quite well.

One of the obvious factors was Gene Case, who just keeps on mashing! Two more homers for Case, who now has 28 on the season, and he was 8-for-24 with a double, a steal, 6 walks, 6 RBIs, and 7 runs scored. Continuing to inflate his batting line, he's up to .325/.414/.620 (163 OPS+) with 18 doubles, 12 steals, 60 walks, 75 RBIs, and 82 runs. Two games away from 100, he seems to be getting better and better, and at this point I don't think there's a limit to how good he can hit.

Saving the best for last, Jerry McMillan might have had the best week in the world, 14-for-29 with 3 doubles, a triple, 3 homers, 2 walks, a steal, 8 RBIs, and 9 runs scored. About as good a week as one could have, he hit nearly .500 to take home his second Player of the Week of the season. Hitting an excellent .333/.381/.536 (124 OPS+) he's got 16 homers and 17 steals, well on his way to another 20/20 season. His 84 runs are most on the team, and he's just reached the 4 WAR mark for the fifth time in five seasons. Three of those four years saw him over 5, but he's on pace for a career high 6.2 in 152 games. Like many of our other players, the best may be yet to come, and it just makes me excited thinking about how these guys could be apart of our lineup for a very long time.

The pitching was bad, at least for the most part, but one bad thing I want to mention is Bob Allen. He had three outings, two of which saw him allow four unearned runs. In 5.2 innings, he had 11 hits and a walk with 5 strikeouts, but a lot of those hits came after he should have been out of the inning. Games like that are funky, and considering none of the errors actually impacted the game, we can just go laugh it off. Our good outing, or at least the best one, was Dick Champ, who has been worth every prospect. He did give up another homer, but he allowed just 3 hits, 2 walks, and a single run with 3 strikeouts. Going 8, he picked up another win, and we'll get two more starts from him this next week.

Unfortunately, there is a little bad news, as Jack Gibson suffered a setback in his rehab. Likely out for the year anyways, it's now official, as he'll need five months to become healthy. His second setback already, he's going to go nearly 24 months between games, and I'm starting to get real nervous that the Jack Gibson we'll get is not the Jack Gibson that made me look like a genius for taking him in the 2nd Round of the last human draft before the fast forward.

Looking Ahead
Behind again, so let's make this quick! Three hosting the Wolves, three vising the Kings. We need wins! I know we won't get them!

Ugh. Well. Till next time!

Minor League Report
CF Wayne Wilson (AA Little Rock Commodores): July was great for Wayne Wilson, hitting .301/.343/.753 (183 OPS+) with 12 homers and 25 RBIs. Somehow, that wasn't enough for Batter of the Month, and to voice his displeasure, Wilson decided to take home Player of the Week instead. A former minor league signing, Wilson was 10-for-22, providing 3 runs, a double, a walk, 2 homers, and 7 RBIs. The 22-year-old is in the middle of a strong season, slashing .260/.337/.551 (132 OPS+) in 91 games. Despite looking vastly different, that OPS+ (and WRC+) is almost identical to the 134 he posted for both in 22 games last year, but he's traded a lot of walks for a lot of homers. He's still walking at a healthy 10.8 clip, but the 24 homers are a huge surprise, as before this season he had never hit more then 15 at a level. He did have 16 and 17 in a year, but with two months left that's way shy of where he is now. A potential September callup to Milwaukee, he's got a real good chance to hit 30 homers before that, as the big 6'4'' lefty seems to be much stronger then the rest of his competition. An average power hitter, he may one day have issues barreling up the ball consistently, but for now he's making a convincing case to be considered for a big league role.

CF Orlando Benitez (A Rockford Wildcats): As if Player of the Week awards weren't enough, Orlando Benitez had to have the Heartland League Batter of the Month for July. It was a great month, as our former 1st Rounder hit .376/.477/.624 (191 OPS+) with 5 doubles, 3 triples, 4 homers, 16 runs, 18 RBIs, 18 walks, and 3 steals. Including his five August games, Benitez has 42 in Rockford, hitting a robust .357/.468/.617 (187 OPS+) with 8 doubles, 4 triples, 8 homers, 9 steals, 35 RBIs, 32 walks, and 32 runs. Combined with his 49 games in San Jose, he's been worth an insane 5.9 WAR, producing WRC+ of 193 and 191. Still 19, I don't know how I don't end up promoting him to Little Rock, as he just has had no issues hitting minor league pitching. A crowded outfield pitchers and his age will likely keep him here most, if not all, of the remainder of the season, but seeing such great production from the 49th ranked prospect has got me excited. A toolsy player, he's got the chance to hit around .300 with 25+ homers and steals, and with a little more work in the outfield he'll be a great center fielder. Put him in a corner and he'll be among the league leaders, and he's already got more pop then some of our big league batters. A potential star, he could really crowd up out outfield situation, but I'll never complain about having too much top level talent.

SS Bill Grimm (C La Crosse Lions); It was a great month for our 1st Rounders, as this year's selection Bill Grimm was named Batter of the Month in his first pro month. Now up to 27 on the prospect list, Grimm has had no struggles with pro pitching, batting .365/.534/.615 with 4 doubles, a triple, 6 homers, 29 RBIs, 34 walks, 39 runs, and 12 steals. A tremendous showing, through 30 minor league games his BB% (23.5) is more then 10% higher then his K% (12.4), and he's got a 162 WRC+ in 153 PAs. Clearly advanced for his age, he works the count well and showcases plus power potential, but I've really been surprised with how well he's stolen bases. He's no Jerry McMillan or Gene Case, but 12-for-15 is excellent at any level, and I would have expected him to be a 15ish total steal guy. Still considered elite by Dixie and OSA, nabbing Grimm already looks like an excellent deal, even before considering no one drafted after him ranks ahead of him. As much as most of the draft sucked, Grimm could save the entire class, as I'm convinced he'll be a FABL All-Star with a long career.

Few other little notes: John Allen had another shutout, a 5-hitter to improve to 6-11. It's his second shutout in his last three starts and he's walked just one guy 33 innings pitched. Pretty impressive! Art Ozburn had another shutout too, as he continues to put his name on the map. Also despite a poor scouting description, Ray Dishman's movement and control improved to 2, so he's a 4-2-2 pitcher signed as a minor league free agent! That's almost a FABL ready player!