We Got Wood - 40.27 - Weeding Through Waivers

[7teen]

An 11 game stretch against Valencia and Long Beach has begun and things couldn't have gone much worse for the Lumberjacks. A Portland is 2-6 to start that run and still has three games remaining against the first place stars. The month of June is off to a rough start against these divisional foes. General Manager Chris Wilson did state though that "some changes need to be made. We should be better than the 2-6 record indicates. We are playing 5 games worse than what our record shows right now. A lot of the blame is falling onto one individual and that will need to be addressed.

Ortega is that Individual
Luis Ortega blew two saves this sim, giving him 4 on the season. The two losses dropped his record to 1-5 on the year with a whopping 8.03 ERA and 1.74 WHIP. The first blown opportunity came against the Stars in a game Portland led 5-0 after 5 innings. Up 5-2 in the 8th, the Lumberjacks turned to Ortega to try and nail down the final 6 outs and a save. Ortega not only failed to get the save, but he failed to get out of the 8th inning. Five hits, 4 runs, and 2 homeruns later, Ortega was pulled after getting just 2 outs.

Leading 4-3 going to the 9th against Long Beach, the Lumberjacks called on Ortega again. This time though, asking for 3 outs to secure a win. But the Ortega melt downs continued. Ortega allowed a walk and a single to begin the inning. Michael Best followed that with a 3-run homerun and before the Lumberjacks closer could record an out in the 9th, the team was losing. Ortega would strike out 3 of the final 4 batters he faced but the damage was done. Portland lost 6-4. The loss prompted Wilson to comment "we may be shifting some things around in the bullpen. It's disheartening and frustrating as a club to lose games late like this"

Waiver Pick-Ups Galore
The Portland Lumberjacks have been very active in the early going in trying to find bodies and pieces to help the club. A team made up of cast-offs already, the Lumberjacks continue to pick-up the "cast-offs" from other teams by digging through the weekly waiver wire. Fernand Richard was claimed by the Lumberjacks from San Anotnio in mid April. Since coming to Porltand, Richard has appeared in 9 games as a pitcher, with 8 starts. He's gone 2-5 in that stretch with a 5.86 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. In mid-May, the Lumberjacks claimed Orlando Pena from Louisvlle. The wild-throwing reliever has appeared three times in Portland contests, logging 9.2 innings with a 1.86 ERA. Then just last week, Portland claimed Ernesto German from Nashville to help replace the injured Jayden Harsnett in the outfield. German appeared in the last 6 games played by Portland and hit .318/.375/.500 over that stretch.

"It's a balancing act right now" said Wilson. "We are just trying to find pieces we think can fit into our roster and lineup. The problem lately has been balancing which pieces to add and which ones to let go. Our 40-man roster is filled so we have to decide whether the piece we are trying to add through waivers is better than the piece we are letting go or trying to pass through to get off our 40-man roster. We've lost a few guys in the process as well but didn't see those pieces being ones that could help over what we currently had. At this point, we are just recycling bodies and pieces trying to find what works best."

[HoosierVic]

Wow, Ortega is definitely having his adventures out there - surprising given his track record. Still, he's got some hall of fame facial hair going for him, which is nice.