The inevitable is the team will collapse, and that collapse is likely coming in the team's next sim as they welcome both Sacramento and Vancouver to the Trail in Multnomah. Of course, the team still has to finish their series off against Seattle where the Lumberjacks are just one away from sweeping the Storm, but it would be very much like the Lumberjacks to go ahead and lose that finale against the Pacific's basement dweller before tanking 7 straight against the Mad Popes and Mounties Running Thin on Options
With Ernest McBride's injury last sim and now the injury to rookie Lewis Cairns at second base, options for who to call up to play the field are running thin for Portland. The team shuffled Stephen Geloran, Jr. over to fill in at 1B for McBride which opened up the door for everyone's favorite player to crap on Joey O'Brien to return to everyday playing. But that was before the Cairns injury this sim. With Cains now out, the team will have to decide who plays 2B this next sim while also trying to find which player in the farm is best suited for a 2-week stint on the big league roster. Rumors are the front office is scouring the stacked Single-A roster in Wise to see which player can come up for a few weeks and still go back down and try and lead Wise to a Single-A title over the equally loaded Toledo Liberty from the Phoenix organization.
New Pitching Coach
Some may find it odd that the team went out and hired a new pitching coach this sim, but Portland's old pitching coach Fernando Alaniz was rated poorly and surely wasn't helping our pitching staff out any. Despite being a loyal member of the staff for over 7 years, the front office let Alaniz go this past sim and hired former Louisville Sluggers pitching coach Bob Carr. Carr spent 3 years with the Sluggers as pitching coach before taking a year off in 2047. Prior to his stint with Louisville, he was with Taipai in the FEBL. Combined, he's led staffs to 6 post-season spots in 10 years of coaching, something the Lumberjacks hope he can add to in 2048. Some think Portland's staff, which is ranked 6th in total runs allowed in 2048, is somewhat underperforming and the addition of Carr could help turn that around.