Sim 12 review
Maguire will get at least three more years in Louisville and possibly as many as six
It wasn’t the best of weeks for the Sluggers on the field but off it fans were delighted with the news they had been waiting for. News leaked last week was finally confirmed, third baseman Sean Maguire has signed a six-year extension. The 31-yr-old in his ninth year in Louisville put pen to paper on a near $108 million deal with a opt-out after three years as well as vesting & team options in year 5 & 6. Sean is currently hitting .379 with 11 homers and four hits shy of 100 for the season, already with 4.4 WAR he is on course currently for an unbelievable 9.6 WAR. At the press conference he let slip that he would be rooming again next year with Shag Hopkins, a sign many interpret that Sluggers may have also reached agreement with the 28-yr-old catcher.
On-field Louisville’s star pitchers had an off week and the batters only scored 30 runs, without a return to power hitting and some solid relief outings from the oft-maligned Carlos Rosa it could have gone even worse. As it was Sluggers lost the rubber match of their home series with Montreal before losing the series at Rockville. The week was saved as they went on to take both games in Phoenix, finishing 3-3 for the week and still two games over .500 overall. While Jacksonville continue to stride on at the head of the new JL Southeast Division, New Orleans, Huntsville and Louisville battle the secondary places out with less than three games separating them.
After just three homers last week the power men stepped it up and hit nine in the Sluggers six games. Fernando Cruz hit three of them to take his season’s tally into double-figures while Hopkins & Gabriel Talamante continued good hitting with two each. The final two were launched by William Gelinas, his first two of 2035, as he is currently getting a rare run as the CF. Not a good week for Brian Clough who although walking six times could only add three hits to ‘The Race For 3,000’. One of them though was his first triple of the season. Rare off weeks for Hopkins and Clough as both hit below the Mendoza line for average as did rookie Vince Osborn.
Kevin Morales, Pepe Jaramillo and Mario Villarreal all took losses in the rotation and indeed Villarreal was the only starter to post an ERA for the week under 6.00. As mentioned before Rosa steadied the ship at the back, recording a win and two saves from his eight innings pitched in four outings. Nobody else in the bullpen got more than one outing in the week. Rosa struck out nine in his eight innings and Villarreal struck out seven in 14 innings, somewhat tempered by seven walks issued too. Jaramillo was the goat giving up 15 hits and seven earned runs in his six innings of work.
Aragon hit the first homer for new rookie ball Bowling Green
Louisville’s new rookie league team, the Bowling Green Corvettes, took a lead in their first ever series. They’re currently 2-1 against Lexington, the rookie affiliate of Brooklyn with the final game of a four-game opener to come. Third baseman Joe Aragon hit the teams first (and so far only) homer while hitting for a .417 average second only to outfielder Jake knox who’s hitting at a .455 clip.
