Around a month ago Louisville were slumping and reached 10 or 11 games below .500 but with a bit of effort, shaking up some of the deadwood and removing others to upgrade the farm has changed that. August has been a good month for them, a 12-game homestand brought sweeps of Montreal & Nashville and could have been better if they hadn’t messed up the series against Atlantic City. Still a 110-game winning streak dragged them from those depths to three games above .500. A one-run loss in the final game at Brooklyn snapped that streak and two heavy defeats to San Fernando who scored 10 runs in both games took the Sluggers back to .500. Now they have to excel in the final game of the series against the Bears and go home to face Jacksonville to ensure they don’t waste that streak. Four losses there would drag them right back in the direction they finished July in.
Julio Barajas won his first two BBA starts
Rookies Julio Barajas & Mike Singleton have been promoted from Triple-A Missouri to the #4 & 5 starters in the rotation. Barajas won his first two starts but only lasted 4.2 innings as the Bears blasted him out while Singleton looked shaky in two outings from the bullpen. His first two starts though saw him pitch seven strong innings in both only giving up two runs overall. The Bears sorted him out too like Barajas, he lasted 3.1 innings as San Fernando scored seven past him. Overall though they have so far been an upgrade on Mario Villarreal & Rogerio Vazquez, Vazquez has not yet reached the exit gate as 9.2 innings out of the pen have resulted in just three runs allowed, two homers unfortunately, and 14/1 K/BB ratio. Kevin Morales (four game winning streak) and Pepe Jaramillo (four wins in five outings) are running hot too while Doug Clement had a four-game win streak snapped by giving up 11 hits and six runs in a 3.2 inning outing against Brooklyn. Carlos Rosa had a seven save streak snapped by Brooklyn but he did manage to turn that BS into a win.
Two waiver moves though, second baseman Miguel Angel Gallegos who was claimed off Montreal in March was released; he was claimed to be used primarily as a defensive backup but only got into 16 games with 22 AB’s, five hits, two RBI and six runs scored being his Sluggers tally. Incoming is bullpen arm 31-yr-old Rafael Cruz who was claimed off Waivers from Des Moines in anticipation of Rogerio Vazquez leaving but with Vazquez’s departure now in doubt Cruz could be heading back to waivers soon.
Pedro Debesa continue to settle into BBA level with six more hits last week to move his triple slash line to .316/.361/.579 with an OPS of .940. He also nailed his third BBA homer and upped his RBI total to 8. It’s no secret though that Shag Hopkins has been slumping for the last two months, since the start of July he has hit just seven extra base hits but at least he’s trying to be more patient at the plate, in the last week he managed to draw seven walks. Jaime Ramirez has now upped his tally of stolen bases to 45 out of 53 attempts but is still a way short of his career best 66.
The recent spate of trades by the franchise has strengthened the farm system although they only added a few prospects at the bottom end of the top 100. Now Triple-A Missouri, A-ball Ocala and Rookie league Bowling Green have improved enough to be challenging for their pennants. 2035 third round draft pick Bob Bartlett has had 10 solid starts in his first pro season, he’s posted a 6-2 record allowing just 13 earned runs and owns a 0.79 WHIP while 21-yr-old Lawrence De La Garza is set for a career year in his first year at Double-A level, 20 homers and 56 RBI so far with solid defence. The Slammers have been using the left fielder in right in an attempt to improve his versatility.
Lou in his first ever BBA uniform
26-yr-old P Samuel Cant and 21-yr-old 2B Lou Cotton are the latest two rookies to be called up bringing the total to nine rookies that have been called up this season. Cant will take Vazquez’s place in the pen while Cotton will provide backup for first & second.
