All-Stars Nominations:
I only expected one nomination to be honest…
Transactions:
LF
Huai-Yu Mah(26, 2.5*, .192-1-6 .563OPS 17G -0.4WAR) was demoted to AAA as CF
Vicente Rodriguez(23, 2.5*, .275-1-14 .678 6/8SB 66G 0.9WAR) was activated off the IL.
1st Rounder CF
Tyler Dean(18, 5*) has signed.
2nd Rounder SP
Paul Ramsey(17, 4*) has signed.
As we watched our Eastern League All-Star Team win 4-2 with
Griffin(1ER) and
Nelson(0ER) pitching an inning each, it was about time to reevaluate our situation.
We are pretty bad this season, and our First Year Player draft basically became a High School Party. That means, we won’t get any immediate help out of this draft. Where does this put us at the trade deadline?
The truth is, preliminary talks show us that apart from
Dusty Leone,
Ryan Rasbach and
Austin Roy, we don’t have much trade value on the roster. As for that, we had a deal on deck for a couple of prospects from the
Las Vegas Gamblers
Org, getting SP
Tristan Clark(20, 3*, #39) and C
Travis Lukasiewicz(22, 3*, #31) for
Rasbach and
Leone. Dave G. didn’t like those two despite the rave reviews from Baseball America and we balked, and the trade has dissolved now.
In the end, the contenders with Win Now! stance don’t have a lot of prospects left, or they are soo covered that we can’t get them. In my wet dreams, we land CF
Ricardo Sandoval(20, 4.5* HS, 5* OSA, #4), but right now it would take
Rasbach,
Roy,
Leone and a prospect to get him… too steep. Maybe, something opens up at the deadline, but it would need a contender to really change their mood for us to make another big trade, subtracting from our NMLB roster.
That being said, we will continue to look for good trades like the
Espinoza flip via the trading block, but the closest thing to a deal would be for 1B
John Foley(28, 3.5/4*, .248-5-19 .772OPS 0.5WAR), a 2x All-Star and 2x Silver Slugger that is due $14.5M this season, a free agent this winter… but unfortunately, his body is described as wrecked. It would take
Benavides to get him, but I am not so sure about his trade value even if we eat his salary.
Overall, I expect us to stand pat until the trade deadline and then look for someone willing to overpay for some of our guys, but keeping
Rasbach and
Leone around would not be bad.
Austin Roy(R, 3-10 4.83) –
Scott Becker(L, 6-5 5.03) tomorrow to start the second half of baseball against the
Houston Astros(49-41).
They sent too many arms to the All-Star game…
--
Week 16: 3@
Houston Astros(49-41)
July 23rd
Expos Start Second Half With W, Beat Astros 4-3
Montreal pitcher
Austin Roy had a large part in his team beating the
Houston Astros, 4-3. The right-hander kept opposing batters in check throughout the game.
Roy got the win, improving to 1-3. He gave up 5 hits and walked 1 over 7.2 innings. He allowed 2 runs.
In postgame comments to the Montreal News,
Roy said, "If the effort is there, the wins will come." Earning the save was
Ryan Rasbach. He's now cashed in 14 of 19 save opportunities.
Franklin Reyes had a direct impact on the outcome.
Reyes contributed a run-scoring single in the top of the fourth inning to put
Montreal up, 4-0. The 27-year old is now batting .255-2-8 .665OPS in 37 games.
The win puts
Montreal at 36-55.
Sam Griffin (R, 5-6 3.81) –
Gong-sun Zháo(R, 11-5 3.10) tomorrow.
One of the twoi s a boni-fide ace, and it’s not our pitcher.
SP
Austin Roy 7.2IP 5H 2R 2ER 1BB 4K W
PotG
CF
Vicente Rodriguez 2-5 2R TP
DH
Dan Cook 1-4 RBI
LF
Karl Ferguson 2-3 BB DB
1B
Cody Kerzner 1-4
3B
Orlando Gonzalez 2-4 R DB
LF
Ignacio Benavides 1-4 R RBI DB
2B
Franklin Reyes 1-2 RBI BB
HR MON: none
HR HOU:
Braswell(15),
Lukasiewicz(8),
Bigalow(25)
W:
Austin Rush(4-10 4.67) L:
Scott Becker(6-6 5.16) SV :
Ryan Rasbach(14 2.91)
Roy with a great start and
Vicente R. promptly returns with a 2-5 game with two runs scored… sweet.
News:
Arizona Diamondbacks SP
Jonathan Bashor(24, 2.5*) pitched eight innings of 5-hit, 0BB and 7 strikeout ball in a 2-0 win over the
Canadians today. The former 15th round selection is 9-4 4.05 97K 1.6WAR in 19 starts and exceeding expectations this season.
July 24th
Expos Rally to Nose Past Houston
The
Montreal Expos besoiled an otherwise fine performance by
Houston shortstop
Kenny Reedy by beating the
Astros, 6-5, at Minute Maid Park.
Reedy went 3-4 with a home run and a double. He drove in 3 runs and scored once. The 2020 EL Gold Glover at shortstop is .257-16-43 .805OPS 3.5WAR.
Montreal pitcher
Freddy Silva got the win, upping his record to 1-1.
Stephen Usery got the loss.
Ryan Rasbach earned his 15th save in 20 chances.
Jose Robles went 1 for 3 with a double for
Montreal. The 27-year old shortstop had a key at-bat in the top of the eighth. With one out and a runner on 3rd, he broke a 5-5 tie with a run-scoring sacrifice fly off
Stephen Usery. It was his 23rd RBI of the season.
"We'll pop the top on a cold beverage and get back to work tomorrow,"
Robles said. The slick fielding shortstop is batting .246-6-23 .672OPS 1.1WAR in 86 games.
The
Expos go to 37-55 with the win.
Sam Rush (R, 3-5 5.31) –
Grant Morea(R, 4-7 3.88) tomorrow.
2x Gold Glover.
SP
Sam Griffin 3IP 7H 5R 5ER 0BB 2K ND
DH
Dan Cook 1-5 R DB
LF
Karl Ferguson 2-3 2R RBI BB DB HR
1B
Cody Kerzner 1-3 2R RBI BB DB
RF
Ian Messer 1-4 2RBI DB
SS
Jose Robles 1-3 RBI DB
HR MON:
Ferguson(10)
HR HOU:
Reedy(16),
Fink(13)
W:
Freddy Silva(1-1 4.58) L:
Stephen Usery(0-1 7.04) SV :
Ryan Rasbach(15 2.83)
Griffin got lit up but our offense came through… maybe
Ferguson gets hot again???
July 25th
Astros Trounce Expos, 11-2
Houston parlayed a decent outing from starter
Grant Morea into a solid win over the
Montreal Expos. He worked seven innings of 1-run ball and got the win. The final score was 11-2. With the win,
Houston upped its record to 50-43.
The
Astros got a big boost from catcher
Hector Zamora who had a run-scoring walk in the bottom of the first inning off
Expos hurler
Sam Rush. It was his 30th walk of the season and put
Houston on top, 1-0. The 5x All-Star is batting .232-11-39 .723OPS 1.5WAR in 77 games in what clearly is an off year for him.
"Enjoyed this one,"
Zamora told the Houston Daily News. "But it's back to work tomorrow."
Melvin Magana (R, 1-1 6.28) –
Doug Williams(R, 1-3 4.71) tomorrow.
Toronto(49-44) next.
SP
Sam Rush 2.2IP 4H 5R 5ER 3BB 0K L
DH
Dan Cook 1-4 R
RF
Ian Messer 2-4 RBI 2DB
2B
Dave Quiros 1-4
SS
Jose Robles 1-4 R DB
3B
Orlando Gonzalez 1-3 RBI DB
HR MON: none
HR HOU:
Braswell(16),
Fuhriman(11),
Fink(14),
Valenzuela(3)
W:
Grant Morea(5-7 3.71) L:
Sam Rush(3-6 5.69) SV : none
Sam was wild today and our second ‘All-Star’
Rich Nelson then ballooned his ERA up to four with 6ER.
News:
Cincinnati Eagles SP
Andy Spicer(22, 2.5/3*) threw up zeroes for eight innings of 3-hit, 0BB and 5K ball in a 2-0 win over
Atlanta. The 22-year old is now 6-7 4.18 81K 1.4WAR in 16 starts.
Calgary Beavers 3B
Billy Ruiz(34, 2.5*) had a couple of huge home runs today, going 2-5 2R 7RBI 2HR in a 12-1 rout of the
Red Devils. The 4x All-Star is batting .240-9-34 .734OPS 0.2WAR in 57 games.
Record: 37-56 , 5th in EL Northeast, 12GB
Week: 2-1 (2-1 @ HOU)
Power Rankings: #25(+4)
Runs scored: 322(15th)
Runs against: 460(12th)
Starters ERA: 5.11(14th)
Bullpen ERA: 4.23(8th)
Defensive Eff.: .677(14th)
Zone Rating: +16.1(4th)
Fan Interest: 83(+-0)
Who's hot?
nobody
Who's not?
SP
Cesar Alvarado 2G 0-1 19.29 4.2IP 1K
C
Kevin Craddock 7G 1-24 .041 0HR 0RBI
Chicago Rangers C
Jesus Jaramillo(27, 4*) was named EL Player of the Week after going 6-12 2HR 4BIs 4R. The 2020 EL Gold Glover is batting .275-14-45 .863OPS 2.6WAR in 74 games.
San José Killer Whales RF
Alex Balderas(29, 2.5*) was named WL Player of the Week, going 7-14 3HR 10RBIs 4R. The 3x All-Star is batting .267-22-61 .797OPS 0.6WAR in 86 games.