After the Break Boom or Bust(ed)
After the All-Star break ( and a trip to see my daughter and son in law in Texas) we return to the Architects bid to get the season going in the right direction. Sitting at an unremarkable 36-36 at the midway point of the season was just a situation we had not expected to be in. We went all in with the trades to shore up our SS position with the acquisition of Kennelly Mulford and the trade for Japanese ace SP Motoyuki Inoue who has dominated up in the North of the Border division for 4 years. It’s really is time to make a move or this is going to be a completely lost and frustrating season after going to the GLBL World Series 2 years in a row.
Chicago Architects 36-36 4th in the USA @ Duluth Sea Gulls 44-28 1st in the USA
June 30, 2056 - July 2nd 2056
Sea Gulls Park Duluth
We have a 3-game series on the road against the Duluth Sea Gulls kicking off today. Here is my report on the opponent: e will meet in Sea Gulls Field, which seats 40000 and plays like a ballpark slightly favoring hitters.
Going 44-28 so far this year, the Sea Gulls have compiled a .611 winning percentage. They are leading the South of the Border. Their number of runs scored of 365 rank 5th in the USA, their .274 batting average ranks 5th. On the other side of the diamond, they have given up 326 runs (1st) with their starters compiling an ERA of 4.09 which ranks 1st. Their bullpen sports an ERA of 3.98, ranking 1st. When playing against our Architects this season, they have a record of 6 wins and 6 losses.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP Motoyuki Inoue (4-2 3.03) vs LHP Tim. Gross (6-2, 3.80 ERA)
RHP Jose Cedeño (8-3, 4.03 ERA) vs RHP Billy Hill (6-4, 4.74 ERA)
RHP John Moore (4-1, 3.33 ERA) vs RHP Emmanuel Lucas (5-1, 3.72 ERA)
The top 5 players on their team are:
1. 1B Jorge Rangel (Age: 26, Overall : 3.5, Potential: 4.0)
2. 2B Carlos Figueroa (30, 3.5, 3.5)
3. CF Carlos Sánchez (25, 3.0, 3.5)
4. SP Chris Collier (24, 3.0, 3.0)
5. RP Pedro Saldaña (25, 3.0, 3.0)
Game #1 - Friday June 30, 2056
Chicago 36-36 @ Duluth 44-28
RHP Motoyuki Inoue (4-2 3.03) vs LHP Tim. Gross (6-2, 3.80 ERA)
A - 39,615
The Tim G.’s led the Gulls to victory. Tim Gross (5 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K) and three Gulls relievers hold Chicago to two runs. Tim Goyette homers and hits a sac fly. Home Run Derby winner Jorge Rangel slugs his 20th home run of the year. Rick Barnard homers, too.
Duluth 5, Chicago 2.
SP M Inoue 5.1IP 7H 3R 2BB 4K L, RF T Stone 3-5 DB, TP R, 1B R Osborn 2-4 RBI BB SB
HR - CH - none Dul C T Goyette (4), 1B J Rangel (20), DH R Barnard (5)
POTG - Duluth C Tim Goyette
Friday, June 30th , 2056 - Chicago Architects: SS Kennelly Mulford was injured while running the bases. The Diagnosis: oblique strain. He's expected to miss about 5 weeks. This means that SS Pedro Farulla will take over the everyday SS duties and we will be bringing up a player to join the club on Tuesday in Traverse City
Game #2 - Saturday July 1st, 2056
Chicago 36-37 @ Duluth 45-28
RHP Jose Cedeño (8-3, 4.03 ERA) vs RHP Billy Hill (6-4, 4.74 ERA)
A - 39,650
Chicago scores six in the third. Reagan Osborn singles in two, and Juan Durán hits a grand slam. In the fifth, the Tects scored a pair of insurance runs. Durán doubles in one, and Cris Luna singles in the other. Those insurance runs prove necessary because the Chicago bullpen is a dumpster fire.
Chicago 8, Duluth 7.
3B L Davis 3-5 R, C J Duran 2-3 HR DB 2R 5RBI BB, CS, CF C Luna 2-4 R, RBI,
HR - CH - C J Duran (5) Dul - DH J Barnard (6), RF C Sanchez (20)
POTG - Chicago C Juan Duran (2)
Game #3 - Sunday July 2nd, 2056
Chicago 37-37 @ Duluth 45-29
RHP John Moore (4-1, 3.33 ERA) vs RHP Emmanuel Lucas (5-1, 3.72 ERA)
A - 39,608
These two teams go into the late innings tied, 1-1. Chicago takes the lead in the seventh on a David Kenney RBI single. Reagan Osborn extends that lead with a two-run home run in the eighth. Duluth re-ties the game with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Carlos Figueroa walks with the bases loaded, and Rick Barnard singles in the two tying runs. The game goes into extra innings. In the 13th, Jorge Rangel hit a walk-off home run.
Duluth 5, Chicago 4.
13 Innings
LF L LeRoy 0-1 4BB R, SP J Moore 7.2IP 6H 3R BB 7K
HR - CH - 1B R Osborn (15) Dul - 2B C Figueroa (4), 1B J Rangel (21)
POTG - Duluth SP Emmanuel Lewis
Summary - Not the way to start off the 2nd half of the season if we are going to make a run. Not only did we lose our SS Kennelly Mulford for 5 weeks, but we also lost 2 out of 3 at Duluth and another extra inning and 1-run game.
On the bright side 1B Reagan Osborn appears to have awoken from his slumber. He was selected as an All-Star but really didn’t have an All-Star 1st half. What I hope that means is his 2nd half is going to be lights out. In June Osborn hit 315/469/1113 with 7 home runs and 18 RBI’s. That is much more like what we see from our stud 1B. He hit 193 in April and 247 in May, so he is definitely trending in the right direction which should be a huge boost to our lineup.
Losing Mulford is not ideal. Farulla is hitting just 208 this season, but he does have a very good glove so we should not be hurt defensively. Still, Mulford I felt was a key piece to our puzzle and he was hitting 305/371/861 with 5 home runs and 20 RBI’s in 41 games. He will be missed.
Another bright spot is we are heading to Traverse City to face the Bad News Bears who are playing better than most “experts” expected with a 35-40 record.
Without any fanfare we brought up 2B/IF Juan Vazquez to take the roster spot of Mulford, at least for a few days. Vazquez will likely make a quick appearance and then be shipped back off when 3B Travis Arnaud returns sometime towards the end of the week.
We also promote recent draft picks SP Oscar Quirk and CL Loren Summers to AA Tinley Park. Both had looked too advanced for a long term stay at Class A ball.
Monday July 3rd 2056 - Thankfully an Off Day to get our house in order
Chicago Architects 37-38 4th in the US vs Traverse City Bears 35-40 5th in the US
July 4th through July 6th 2056
Traverse City’s The Den ballpark
The Architects have been pretty dominant the last few years against the Bears and we definitely needed that boost here right now. Anything other than a sweep would have to be considered a major disappointment if we are going to make any sort of serious run to the playoffs.
The biggest issue with the Bears is that their owner is a skin flint who will not spend any money at all. They have a couple of star OF’s in CF Cal Braud and RF Earle Foote, but Braud is often injured. The pitching is horrendous overall and the Bears desperately need to make a significant investment in the pitching staff moving forward.
In a surprise move we were able to dump a little payroll as former RP Ken Shannon was picked up by the first place Sea Gulls off waivers. That will save us around $2 million dollars on the budget. Now if we can unload some more dead wood and maybe clear our budget deficit
We have a 3-game series on the road against the Traverse City Bears kicking off today. Here is my report on the opponent: A slight pitchers park, The Den has room for 40000 fans.
The Bears are playing .467 ball this season, compiling a record of 35 wins and 40 losses. They are in 5th place in the South of the Border, 11.0 games behind the leader. The Bears are on a cold streak, losing their last 3 games. Their number of runs scored of 386 rank 4th in the USA, their .280 batting average ranks 3rd. On the other side of the diamond, they have given up 408 runs (tied for 3rd) with their starters compiling an ERA of 4.53 which ranks 3rd. Their bullpen sports an ERA of 5.98, ranking 5th. When playing against our Architects this season, they have a record of 5 wins and 7 losses.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP Motoyuki Inoue (8-7, 3.48 ERA) vs RHP John Hall (5-4, 3.95 ERA)
RHP Yale Hulbert (4-2, 7.15 ERA) vs RHP Jeremy Laybolt (1-3, 6.47 ERA)
RHP Jose Cedeno (9-3 3.35 ERA) vs RHP John Nelligan (3-4, 4.57 ERA)
The top 5 players on their team are:
1. RF Earl Foote (Age: 27, Overall : 4.5, Potential: 5.0)
2. CF Cal Braud (28, 4.0, 4.5)
3. CF Ben Marshall (32, 3.0, 3.0)
4. SP John Hall (29, 3.0, 3.0)
5. 2B Alexis Martin (26, 2.5, 2.5)
Game #1 - Tuesday July 4th, 2056
Chicago 37-38 @ Traverse City 35-40
RHP Motoyuki Inoue (8-7, 3.48 ERA) vs RHP John Hall (5-4, 3.95 ERA)
A - 34,610
Since winning his first three starts as an Architect, Motoyuki Inoue has gone 1-4 in his last six starts. Today he earned that fourth loss with his worst performance yet (3.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 0 BB, 6 K). He gave up two-run home runs to Bernie Stoddart and Cal Braud. (Against the $%#&@! bullpen, Alexis Martin also hits a two-run homer.)
Traverse City 9, Chicago 4.
3B L Davis 2-4 ……..
HR - CH 2B J Lambert (12), DH J Aranda (10), 1B R Osborn (16), TC - 1B B Stoddart (5), CF C Braud (9), SS A Martin (10)
POTG - Traverse City SS Alexis Martin
Game #2 - Wednesday July 5th, 2056
Chicago 37-39 @ Traverse City 36-40
RHP Yale Hulbert (4-2, 7.15 ERA) vs RHP Jeremy Laybolt (1-3, 6.47 ERA)
A - 32,883
With the game tied, 4-4, in the eighth, Traverse City’s Dwain Sonier singles in two. Not a lot to say, just another embarrassing loss!
Traverse City 6, Chicago 4.
C J Hunt 2-4 DB R SP Y Hulburt 5IP 5H 2R 2BB 4K
HR - CH - RF T Stone (7) TC 1B B Stoddart (6)
POTG - Traverse City 1B Bernie Stoddart
Game #3 - Thursday July 6th, 2056
Chicago 37-40 @ Traverse City 37-40
RHP Jose Cedeno (9-3 3.35 ERA) vs RHP John Nelligan (3-4, 4.57 ERA)
A - 29,933
The Bears sweep the Architects, thereby passing them in the standings
. Most of the damage comes in the third, where the Bears score four. Wally Whitaker doubles in Ben Marshall, Earl Foote doubles in Whitaker and Cal Braud, and Barney Tomiak singles in Foote.
Traverse City 6, Chicago 5.
2B J Lambert 2-4 DB, TP R RBI, RF T Stone 3-4 2RBI,
HR - CH - none TC - none
POTG - Traverse City RF Earle Foote
Summary - WTF!!!!! What a disgraceful,disgusting performance by the Architects. Getting swept in Traverse City where the attendance went down with each game the Bad News Bears won. There is no chance this club (meaning the Architects) is going to make a playoff run. We sit in 5th place a game behind the stinking Bears and 4 games below 500. With 9 All-Stars and then coming back from the break 1-5….. I suspect the Duluth (who hosted the ASG) locker room manager spiked our drinks with some sort of lethargy tonic. This crap has to stop and stop now. We are the Chicago Architects, the best F’n team in this league’s 40+ year history, but we are playing like we are some highly paid AA team.
Not that things are going to get any better at home as we face 2nd place Toledo, the team we are trying to catch to make it to the playoffs since it seems completely out of the realm of any possibility to catch Duluth now.
Toledo Neptunes 45-33 2nd place in US vs Chicago Architects 37-41 5th place in the US
July 7th-9th 2056
Chicago’s Pier IV Grounds
With my ire at an all-time high in this league, we decided to DFA crybaby backup 1B/DH David Kenney in the hopes that some desperate team would take him (they would not and he would eventually be given his walking papers).
Today we begin a 3-game series with the Toledo Neptunes at home.
The Neptunes are playing .577 ball this season, compiling a record of 45 wins and 33 losses. They are in 2nd place in the South of the Border, 4.0 games behind the leader. Their number of runs scored of 446 rank 1st in the USA, their .278 batting average ranks 3rd. On the other side of the diamond, they have given up 364 runs (2nd) with their starters compiling an ERA of 4.37 which ranks 2nd. Their bullpen sports an ERA of 4.37, ranking 2nd. When playing against our Architects this season, they have a record of 10 wins and 2 losses.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP J. Moore (4-1, 3.35 ERA) vs RHP W. Townsend (8-4, 4.47 ERA)
RHP V. Imbert (4-4, 4.89 ERA) vs RHP N. Keddy (8-3, 2.91 ERA)
RHP M. Inoue (8-8, 3.87 ERA) vs RHP C. Bouchard (9-3, 3.02 ERA)
The top 5 players on their team are:
1. SP Nick Keddy (Age: 29, Overall : 4.5, Potential: 4.5)
2. RP Ricardo Valentín (30, 4.0, 4.0)
3. SP Christopher Bouchard (29, 3.5, 3.5)
4. 1B Eric Molina (30, 3.5, 3.5)
5. 2B Xing-fu Sen (25, 3.5, 4.0)
Game #1 - Friday July 7th 2056
Toledo 45-33 vs Chicago 37-41
RHP J. Moore (4-1, 3.35 ERA) vs RHP W. Townsend (8-4, 4.47 ERA)
A - 32,682
Chicago’s Rodeo Leroy hits a solo home run. Reagan Osborn hits two solo home runs. John Moore (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K) pitches six strong innings, and the Tects bullpen pitches three perfect frames. Chicago 4, Toledo 1.
1B R Osborn 2-4 2HR 2R 2RBI, DH J Aranda 2-4 DB R , 3B L Davis 2-3
HR - Tol None CH - LF R LeRoy (22), 1B R Osborn 2 (18)
POTG - Chicago SP John Moore (1)
Summary - What a week 2-5 and that embarrassing sweep by the Bad News Bears. My patience is really wearing thin and while the clubhouse seems to be happy, there is an underlying level of something. I’m just not sure what it is and why this $200 million dollar club is losing so much.
In a complete reversal of last year we are playing terribly in 1-run games and extra inning affairs. This points completely to a bullpen that is underperforming in just about every area. RP Larry Stott who finished last season with 44 games of sub 1.00 ERA pitching this season is flirting with a 7 ERA. We have already dumped Ken Shannon onto Duluth in some sort of strange hope that he pitches just as badly for them the remainder of the way as he has for us.
There are moves coming, but we will get back 3B Travis Arnaud in the next day or two, so we will hope that somehow that helps.