News & Notes - July 9, 2020

Nearing the All-Star Break. How are things shaping up?

- Halifax continues to maintain its comfortable lead, but the rest of the American League is separated by just 9 games. Bedford's hot June (16-10) has them just 1.5 games out of the wildcard spot. The entire South Division is within 1.5 games of each other, and it looks like Atlanta could leap from last to first in one weekend.

- Atlanta's Homer Bailey had a no-hitter against San Juan through 8 1/3 innings, but couldn't complete the game due to a strained triceps muscle. Sports radio callers are calling him "soft" for taking himself out of the game, but how quickly they forget his 11-1, 2.48 mark this season.

- Ireland just can't shake Scotland, as their lead in the Euro stays at 1 game for the umpteenth week in a row. The Invader offense is covering for some deficiencies in the pitching (namely a lack of reliable 5th starter and some brutal middle relief). Can they shore up some of these issues on the trade market?

- Osaka's Prince Fielder has had a bit of a power outage recently, and teammate Ben Parker has almost caught up. Fielder leads the league with 35 round trippers, while Parker is at 32. Both have 78 RBI.

- Speaking of Osaka, they're back to .500. Golf clap.

- With Rookie League in full swing, I thought we'd look at how many rookies are in each organization in SLB. The results may surprise you:

• BED - 24
• IRE - 23
• ATL - 22
• SAV - 21
• TAI - 21
• LON - 19
• BAL - 18
• PAR - 18
• PHI - 17
• SJ - 16
• CLE - 16
• HAL - 15
• OSKA - 12
• CHNG -9
• SCOT - 9
• KYO - 7

News & Notes - June 29, 2020

Nearly 1/2 way through the season, and the Amateur Draft behind us. Lets' see what's shaking...

- The hottest two teams in the league are Bedford and Ireland. The Crunch have won 7 straight (and 8 of 10) to move to a game under .500 and 4 games behind the wildcard leading Dawgs. Ireland has won 5 straight (including a sweep of Kyoto) and hold a one game lead in the Euro.

- Scotland has kept up with Ireland in the Euro division race, but was dealt a serious blow this weekend when staff ace Felix Hernandez was lost for the season. "King" Felix was having arguably his best season since entering the league via the Supplemental Expansion Draft, going 9-2, 3.19 with 101 K's in 101 IP before bicep issues shut down his season.
Lefty Carlos Hernandez should be available in about a week for the Rebels, but expect them to look for starting pitching help before July's trade deadline.

- Chiang-Mai passed both Osaka and Kyoto this weekend in the "tallest midget" race in the Far East. All four teams in the division are at least 3 games under .500. The Kwaan swept Osaka, who has lost 6 straight, while Kyoto lost 3 in a row to Ireland.

- Atlanta ace Homer Bailey is doing his best Steve Carlton impersonation, racking up wins on a last place team. Bailey is 10-1 for the last place Flyers, accounting for nearly 1/3 of the teams' 36 victories.

- 37 pitchers were taken in this year's Amateur Draft, compared to just 9 position players. San Juan was the only team that did not select a pitcher this year.

- Ft. Wayne's Chris Lambert finished his fairytale season by setting the AAA record with 15 victories.

News & Notes - June 15, 2020

- The Philly Fever released a statement this week essentially throwing in the towel on the 2020 season. Expect to see some Fever players on the move after the Amateur Draft.

- Savannah keeps their tenuous grip on first place despite having to put Dontrelle Willis and Boog Johnson on the DL this week. They joing C Neal Schallock and 3B Miguel Cabrera on the shelf.

- San Juan is right there in the South, but had to put Buzz Bliss on the DL with an inflamed ACL. He's out for the year.

- The Far East continues to flip-flop between Oska and Kyoto, with the Ronin on top this week. Chiang-Mai is closing the gap.

- Atlanta is still in last place, but is just 5 games out in a division full of injuries. When do they make their move?

- Cleveland rookie Mike Wolmers has finally hit the wall; He has lost 3 of his last 4 decisions, and seen his ERA balloon from 1.20 to 4.40.

- Kyoto rookie Luke Daughetry was dropped from 2nd to 7th in the batting order this week. "He's shown good power for us, but he has lost all of the patience he showed in Spring Training," said hitting coach Ichiro. "We can't have a player with a .276 OBP that high in the order." Daughetry's team-leading 11 GIDP's also contributed to the move.

- Taipei lost rookie Derek Ballinger this week, but got Chris Fetter back. Unfortunately for the last place Tai Fong, this seems to be a downgrade.

- And finally, what about the feel good story of 12 year SLB veteran Chris Lambert? The highly touted first round draft pick (2008) never panned out at the major league level; his best season was 2013, when he went 13-10, 4.21 while being traded from Cleveland to Scotland, and again to Kyoto. His career numbers in the majors: 42-70, 5.40 ERA.
But the 33 year old Lambert is having the time of his life in Ft. Wayne this year, posting a 13-1 record with a 2.23 ERA for the Harry Baals. "The pressure is totally off here," said Lambert after his last victory. "The team is loose, we're 2 games out of first, and I'm having a blast." It remains to be seen if he can help the Ronin down the stretch, but for now, he's finally enjoying baseball.

News & Notes - June 8, 2020

- Amateur Draft should be arriving soon, probably June 17 of the schedule.

- Pythagorean records are amiss again. Bedford, who is nearly even in run differential, is 6 games under, while Kyoto, who is -18 in run diff., is .500.

- Scotland's hot/cold/hot streak is still going strong, as the Rebels have won 6 straight to pass Ireland for first place in the Euro. Ireland has lost 4 straight.

- League pitching continues to improve, as just 3 teams have team ERA's over 5.00. In April, over half of the teams were in the 5.00 range.

- Osaka's Prince Fielder has 30 home runs in 239 At-Bats (1 per 7.9 AB's). That's 30 HR in just 74 hits, meaning just 44 balls have landed safely in fair territory this year. He currently has a 9 HR lead over teammate Ben Parker, and is threatening to lap the field by season's end.

- Someone take the aluminum bat away from Len Thymne.

- 2019's #1 overall draft pick (SP Michael Casper) is just doing okay in his first season in Ft. Wayne. His control has been as good as advertised (just 13 BB's compared to 105 K's in 92 IP), but he's giving up a lot of hits, many of which are leaving the park. He'll be an interesting guy to keep an eye on.

- Quebec's Rick Clay has more triples (25) than doubles (17).

News & Notes - June 1, 2020

- Scotland went from the hottest team in the league to the coldest. Not long after their 10 game win streak, the Rebels rattled off an 8 game losing streak. Losing Daniel Callahan for the year (PCL) won't help right the ship.

- Halifax has shaken off its slow start, and has now padded their lead over Cleveland to 4 games. The Sailors have a ton of injuries, but the pitching has really carried them through the past few weeks.

- Bedford has played much better in the past couple of weeks, thanks to a revived offense and some good starting pitching. They're making Atlanta regret releasing Al Krieger, as the former Flyer is 2-0 with the Crunch and has lowered his ERA to 4.26. Unfortunately, staff ace Ted Striker (7-3, 3.62) is out 2-3 months with a tricep tendon injury.

- Also staging a comeback of sorts is Chiang Mai, who has won 7 of their last 10 games and stands just 2.5 games out of first in the Far East. With Kyoto and Osaka treading water, now is the time for the Kwaan to make their move. Though their starting pitching has been spotty, Chiang Mai has sported one of the better bullpens in the league. Joe Belinda hitting over .400 doesn't hurt either.

- Slowest team in the league? Kyoto by a landslide. The entire team has just 2 triples and 18 stolen bases.

- Here's a stat you don't see every year: Osaka has more HR (119) than doubles (102).

News & Notes - May 25, 2020

- Kyoto stopped it's slump with a 3 game sweep in Cleveland. The Bushido also handed rookie phenom Mike Wolmers his first loss; the Dawg hurler got thumped for 13 hits and 11 runs in 7 innings. Kyoto is back in a percentage point tie with Osaka for first in the Far East.

- Taipei, on the other hand, continues to plummet, having lost 7 in a row and 9 of their last 10 to fall 15 under .500 and 8 out of the division lead. Injuries and terrible pen work have contributed to the streak.

- Scotland and Ireland continue to duke it out in the Euro Division. The Rebels are still in first place, but by just one game over the Invaders, who have won 8 of 10. If Ireland can nail down a 5th starter, they may be the team to beat (but thus far, Escobar, Stryker and Phillips have failed to hold onto the role).

- Is this the best year ever for rookie hitters? Three rookies are in the top 10 in hitting (Bedford's Don Erickson tops the list, with Ireland's Chmolak and San Juan's Proly in the list), while Proly and Kyoto's Luke Daughetry are in the top 10 in RBI.

- Halifax has suddenly turned into an offensive juggernaut, and no pitcher on the staff has benefited from it more than lefty Michael Tentilucci. He's 6-0 despite an ERA that only just dipped below 5.00, while allowing a .315 OpAvg and a fat WHIP.

- Miguel Caberera's injury last week may have cost him some career milestones this year. The 36 year old third baseman is 104 hits shy of 3000, 14 doubles short of 900, 93 runs short of 1500, and 5 RBI shy of 1500.

- Dontrelle Willis is 2 wins shy of 200.

- How bad is London's AAA team? The Queens pitching staff has 4 of the top 10 leaders in losses, as Mewes and Boswell have 8 losses each, and Amin and Hankins have 7. The team is 10-39 on the year.

News & Notes - May 18, 2020

Better late than never....

- Scotland had a 10 game winning streak snapped on Sunday when they lost to Homer Bailey and Atlanta. The Rebels' 15-4 home record is the best in the league.

- Savannah has slumped to 3rd place in the South, and will be without All-Star Miguel Cabrera for the next 3-4 months.

- It's a rough year for last season's division champs. With the exception of Halifax, all other 2019 champs are in last place.

- Kyoto has cooled off, losing 7 of its last 10 games, but remains in first thanks to all of the other Far East teams' losing records.

- Chiang Mai has just 28 HR in 41 games. Their team SLG is .404, worst in the league.

- Jake Peavy for Comeback Player of the Year? After a disastrous year in Kyoto, he was traded to Baltimore and then signed by Paris in the off-season. Peavy is 4-1 with a 2.77 ERA in a stadium notorious for high offense.

- Osaka has 5 players with 10 or more home runs. There are 7 teams that don't have any double-digit home run players.

- Rick Clay (AAA Quebec) has 39 extra-base hits compared to just 28 singles.