After finishing one game over .500 in May, Sluggers improved to finish three games over .500 in June. Louisville actually won the last four series in the month, gaining 2-1 series wins at Charm City, Jacksonville and Nashville as part of a 12-game road trip which Louisville finished with seven wins. They returned home for the final series of the month where they won a four-game set against Mexico 3-1. As Louisville continues to improve, they won all four one-run in the month helped by the solidity at the backend of the bullpen. The recent upturn in fortunes has had positive effects at the gate too. The team had sold 16,522 season tickets around 4% down on the 2036 figures but the recent good form has seen the average attendance rise to 25,700 odd, a rise of nearly 5% on last seasons figures. That equates to a 10% rise on the revenue per game, a welcome bonus for Louisville, as will be the $3 million the franchise saved on the allotted Draft expenses they had allocated. A few more months’ worth of improvement at the current level and the team might finish pretty close to .500, although a nine game sub-.500 month is hard to overcome, as well as being in a much better financial place.
Young 22-yr-old Axel Goulding has done wonders since being called up to the stopper’s role following Carlos Rosa season-ending injury. In his first 24 BBA outings he hasn’t blown a save opportunity yet, successfully saving 14 games and being credited with three wins as well. Only giving up one homer until late June helped his stats but a slight ripple has raised his ERA as he allowed homers in two of his last three games in the month although recovering to save both games. Another of Sluggers’ many youngsters, Rule 5 pick Carlos Guzman has been a bit inconsistent as rookies often are. After building a 5-1 record he lost a bit of confidence and lost six starts on the trot, not helped by the fact he received two runs or less of support from his team in five of those starts. In his final start of the month though the team exploded for nine runs while he kept the Aztecs to one run in seven innings leaving his record at 6-7. Ramon Garza, who started 2037 going 0-4 after two successive losing BBA seasons had a ‘Damascus’ moment early June and won five straight starts including a complete game outing to take his record to 5-4. One change to the bullpen that will have to happen is the addition of Felipe Chavez, he injured his back early May and recently has been in a rehab stint at Missouri. He has gone 1-1 in two starts there and is now coming to the end of his time there. He will be added to the bullpen for the next game and 24-yr-old rookie Brendon Carr will be optioned to Missouri to make room for Chavez. He hasn’t done well in his second BBA stint, posting a 1-4 record but he will improve from the experience and will now return to the Blues rotation.
Sluggers finally lived up to there name in June, sending 45 balls over the fences. Shag Hopkins, pushed along by the form of rookie catcher Hector Torres, hit nine homers in the month, driving in 17 runs and scoring 17 times as well. Jose Vazquez hit seven during the month giving him his second successive 20-homer season. The total of seven was also matched by Scott Martin who appears keen to stick in the BBA this year. The 25-yr-old had only made 32 appearances over the last two years but after being called up as an injury replacement for Pedro Saldana has now made nearly 70 appearances this season. When Saldana returned Martin kept the left field role and Saldana shunted over to right field leaving Vince Osborn out in the cold. To be honest the outfield defence hasn’t been exceptional but the trio of Martin, Saldana and Abay Omoruyi have at least all been consistently producing league average defence. Omoruyi is back in at centre in place of the grumbling free agent signing Maximo Quezada who lost his place due to striking out 64 times in 208 plate appearances. He has fifteen steals in 18 attempts though and five homers, Quezada is normally one of the first off the bench but he’s not too keen on that arrangement. 20-year-old rookie shortstop Joey O’Brien has settled into the role in the big league, posting 78 hits in 79 appearances so far. Producing a 2.7 ZR and a 1.011 def eff has helped his case too although he will miss the first few days of July after complaining of blurred vision. He will sit on the bench while Jaime Ramirez will slide back to shortstop and Sean Maguire will get an all too rare stint, this season, at third.
The franchise has high hopes for 2037 1st round draft pick Semei Kwakou
As the new draftees settle into life as a professional the franchise is happy to report that they have now agreed terms with all the players that have expressed a willingness to sign. Fourth round pick, Michael Blankenship, who the franchise fancied at least initially as a utility infielder has resisted all overtures and will return to college for another year. Louisville’s 9th, 10th and 14th picks have also refused to sign any agreement. First round pick, 14th overall, 17-yr-old Nigerian Semei Kwakou has been sent to SS-A side Caracas while #2 pick, Stan Palacios along with Flint Blackwell (#3) and Alfredo Diaz (#5) will all be assigned to rookie league side Bowling Green.