C-Notes 2047.05 - New Boss in Town?

[GoldenOne]

With only 8 games left to the season, the Charlotte Cougars will try to hold on to their slim, 1-game lead in the JL Atlantic and win the Division crown for the first time ever. After a paltry 10-15 April, the Cougars have gone 80-49 behind some strong pitching and timely hitting.

There has been some recent talk about the "Old Guard" of the Atlantic surging and possibly being a threat the still win the Division. While its true those Rockville Pikemen are surging with their 40-28 record since the All Star break, the Cougars havent fared too bad either. The Cougars record of 42-26 since the All Star break paces the JL Atlantic, trails only the Las Vegas Hustlers (43-24) in the JL, and isnt far off the pace of the BBA-leading Chicago Black Sox at 44-22.

Want more to get you excited about the Cougars? Their Run Differential is second in the JL to the Hustlers, and leads the Atlantic by +17 runs (+66 over that team from Rockville.) How about their rankings in the JL? Well, how about 3rd in Runs Scored; 1st in BA, OBP, OPS, wOBA, and SBs; and, 4th in Batting WAR.

Sounds good, but what about their pitching? Well, the near wire-to-wire winning of the Rookie of the Month award for Kyle Smallwood is a good start. But, since seam-heads these days like stats, let's take a look: 3rd in Runs Against; 6th in Starters ERA (its was hanging around 2nd/3rd for a few months); 2nd in Bullpen ERA and FIP; and 1st in Pitching WAR and Strikeouts. As the rotation gets shortened in the playoffs those numbers could get even more interesting.

Oh yeah, the Cougars also made some trades that might help them down the stretch as well. OF Dennis French was brought to the team in early June. He's only managed to hit .359/.394/.635 since he got to Charlotte, all well above career averages. Then in early August, the Cougars decided it was time to go all-in. They traded for 1B Caesar Feliciana and OF Manoell Whanon (which had the added benefit of making another in-division team weaker, for the time being at least, as well.) What have those guys done? Well, Whannon has gone .333/.379/.528, all above his career averages. And Feliciana has gone .344/.365/.584 - yep, you guessed it, those are above his career averages as well. Feliciana seems to like Charlotte so much his 1.2 WAR in those 38 games in Charlotte is on pace for a season of a 5.1 WAR.

So, while we are not predicting the Division crown goes to Charlotte (anything can happen in 8 games!), making the playoffs certainly seems like it shouldnt be a problem for the second season in a row. The Cougars are, however, facing the toughest remaining strength of schedule of any JL playoff-contending teams and the historical "luck" of the GM Brett Golden sways a little towards the "bad" side. Fans will certainly be holding their breaths and crossing their fingers as we head into the last week of regular season games.

Go Cougars!!

[usnspecialist]

always nice to see in-season trades ACTUALLY work huh.

[GoldenOne]

always nice to see in-season trades ACTUALLY work huh.

Certainly helps. Gotta strike early though - cant get much help from guys after our deadline if you're just making a push for the playoffs.

[Fat Nige]

The boy done well Good luck in your last eight games. If you win a Landis there should be a statue built to honour those three trades lol. If a third of your lineup has just come in and is hitting.350 it’s a game changer

[scottsdale_joe]

One game to go now. One game lead.
Good luck.

[GoldenOne]

One game to go now. One game lead.
Good luck.

Just need a Charlotte win or a Jax loss. A Charlotte loss and a Jax win means a 1-game playoff and that is just too much pressure.