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.