We don't move far with no wheels (2037-14)

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We don't move far with no wheels (2037-14)

Post by Fat Nige » Tue Feb 05, 2019 6:07 am

August 25th, 2028

August has become another lame month, just eight wins from 22 games with five games to go before roster expansion. The only bright (ish) spot in the month was another sweep of the Geniuses Wichita that probably did little to raise the overall morale. Those three wins were the longest win streak of the month while twice the Sluggers have succumbed to four-game losing streaks. Louisville need seven wins from the last 33 games to best last year’s 63-win total, but that’s hardly an achievement is it? The real hopeful stat is that 12 of the 25-man roster are 24-years-old or younger, given time there is still growth in this team.

It was unbelievable at the start of the season that the first pitcher to be pushing to reach the 10-win plateau would be Rule 5 pick Carlos Guzman. He’s currently on nine wins (9-10) and the closest to him is Pepe Jaramillo with eight wins (8-11), Ace Kevin Morales had at least got an excuse that injury has robbed him of six starts and he is the only rotation member with a winning record (6-4). Julio Barajas who was expected to remain in the bottom end of the rotation is now languishing in the bullpen and hasn’t won a single game this year. The loss of Carlos Rosa with a partially torn UCL after just eight appearances has definitely destabilised the back end of the bullpen. Since Rosa headed for the DL the bullpen has blown 16 out of 45 save chances and it probably would have been even worse if it hadn’t had been for the emergence of 22-yr-old rookie Axel Goulding. Goulding has successfully converted 20 of 24 save opportunities but a WHIP of 1.66, 12 homers allowed and 30 runs given up in 51 innings pitched shows he is not the answer at the moment. If the Sluggers maintain the faith in him he can still be an important tool in the years to come. Lando Klomp should have stepped up when Goulding spluttered but he has been just as bad, 26 runs given up in 38 innings, 29 walks, an identical 1.66 WHIP and five blown saves in nine opportunities. In fact only 25-yr-old Gabriel Espinosa, an organisational foot-soldier at best, has an ERA below five in the bullpen.

Home runs haven’t been a problem for Louisville, they sit midway up the JL rankings with 180, a career high 31 have come off the bat of Jose Vazquez. He again should only be a platoon player at best but such is the state of Louisville at the moment that he has the best batting average as well as leading the team in homers and RBI. It has been a bonus though that 20-yr-old rookie shortstop Joey O’Brien has hit the ground running and that Jaime Ramirez has taken the move to the hot corner in his stride. Not just producing all-star defence there but also not missing hardly a beat with the bat and is on course for around another 60 stolen bases at almost a 90% success rate. Shag Hopkins has reached the 20+ homer mark for the fourth season running, and in fact has only missed that milestone once in his eight full BBA seasons while Scott Martin has 25 long balls in the first year that he has really established himself. The fall off the cliff face of Vince Osborn is a disappointment, he looked last year as if he was really growing into the BBA but a triple slash of .132/.224/.191 has seen him pushed to the back of a pretty bare cupboard to gather cobwebs.
Nigel Laverick
(former GM of El Paso Chilis #WeWereShitty) ,
Now GM Riyadh Red Crescents #WeBeNotSoNewNow #WeAreJustAsShitty


Riyadh GM since May 2046

JL Manager of the Year 2000 (Baltimore Monarchs)
Nothing since


An MBBA GM since 1995 (off & on)

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