JOHNSON LEAGUE
The Jacksonville Hurricanes are in the midst of a dominant 9 game winning streak and is currently one win away from completing three straight series sweeps after going past San Antonio and Wichita. The series finale plays out tonight against Montreal after winning the first two of the set. Powering the win streak are pitchers, Raul Gerela and Jose Carlos Soliz, both throwing complete game shut outs in that stretch. The Hurricanes surge keeps them atop of the power rankings and they lead the league with 46 wins.
CF Weaver Ripley
Phoenix Talons
.272 BA, 20 HR's, .891 OPS
Rookie Weaver Ripley expanded his season's home run total by 5 this last week up to 20 on the year, good enough to tie him for 7th Place in the JL. Rated the #19 prospect at the beginning of the season, Weaver has exceeded expectations and is on pace to put a 5+ WAR season in his rookie year.
Under New Montreal GM, Zach Grant, the Blazers haven't missed a beat and are currently in 2nd Place (JL Atlantic), 1 game back from Rockville. They are holding onto a 1/2 lead for the Final Wild Card Spot over the New Orleans Crawdads after going 7-3 in the last 10 games and erasing a 2 game deficient. However, the Blazer ran into a tough patch in Jacksonville in their 2 games and close the series tonight, hoping to avoid the sweep. Rookie RF Alonso Olvere has exploded onto the scene in his first year, hitting .354 with an .979 OPS. Olvere flew under the radar in the minors, never been ranked in the Top 100 has a prospect. He obviously has a chip on his shoulder to prove the naysayers wrong.
FRICK LEAGUE
TWC LF - Ray Cooper
Ray Cooper banged out 3 Home Runs against the Seattle Storm in route to a 12-6 win. Ray capped off the week with 5 home runs and a 1.452 OPS to earn Frick League Player of the Week honors. Ray is having his best season since his rookie year when he put a 7.0 WAR in 2033. He's on pace for 43 HR's and 148 RBI's.
Omaha has lost 8 of it's last 9 game to allow Twin Cities to open a small gap in the Heartland Division lead. Madison has won 4 of their last 5 games to come into a virtual tie with Omaha for 2nd place. It's a rare mistep for the strong Omaha Hawks who has lost three straight series to Edmonton, Calgary and Seattle. Omaha has a tough series ahead against Frick Leading San Fernando next and will hope to gain lost ground to Twin Cities to close out the week.
The upstart Edmonton Jackrabbits continue to hold onto to 2 game lead against Seattle for the Frontier Division Lead. Bobby Lynch is on a 4 game win streak and has only given up 1 earned run in his last 2 starts. Edmonton's pitching continues to impress, 2nd only to Californa in ERA at 3.75. The offense remains middle of the pack, but good enough to support the elite pitching staff. The rise of Edmonton has been predicted by several BBA experts for a few seasons now and it appears they finally arrived.
Tai Hoi Wie
Wei's recent struggles continue, batting .130 through his last 15 games with no home runs. Tai has gone hitless in 9 of those games, however he's been so good on the season that his average has only dropped to .313 and OPS to .961. Still, it's a little below his typical average for the 3 time Gold Bat winner who lead the FL in OPS in 2034 and 2035. San Fernando's #1 ranked offense continues power it's Frick League dominance with 45 wins (2nd in BBA), with the Bullpen slamming the door on games close late.
Zak "The Hitman" Johnson
Age 20 - Talents - 10 Stuff / 8 Movement / 8 Control
The 2037 Rookie Draft concluded this week and the #1 Draft Pick by the Hawaii Tropics was Starting Pitcher, Zak Johnson out of Aurora, Colorado. Zak spent 2 years in College, after Wichita failed signed him as a draft pick last season. Zak is a nasty junkballer with great control, but doesn't have a fastball. He showed off that stuff in College, racking up 89K's in only 62 innings.
