A better April? (2038-7)

[Fat Nige]

August 29th, 2038

It’s official ! The Sluggers are getting better, at least in the first month. After going 6-20 in April 2036 and 9-18 in 2037, Louisville have opened April at 10-15 with two games left in the month at Wichita. It’s a small improvement, but at least it is something we can clutch on to. In the ultra-competitive BBA, we have to realise that we’ll never have the smarts, the knowledge or the guile to compete with the top teams who spend all their time gaining points to improve their players prospects. The addition of all those Work Ethic points and Intelligence points makes their prospects far more likely to develop well than ours. We’ll never recognise a hidden gem if that was his name or pull off a blockbuster trade, so we have to sail along at the bottom doing what we can. Little advances are a great pleasure, when I was appointed GM, I made a conscious decision to create a young team that hopefully would grow into the BBA. It hasn’t gone well in general, the pitching is a mess save for the two stars I inherited and the hitting, well, isn’t hitting. Pickings in the draft around that 10-15 position have been fairly thin, and any pitching of the quality I need is long gone. But, as the figures show we have advanced a little, we’re no longer appalling in the first month, we’ve moved into the just bad bracket. Probably the best we can hope for, the age curve will start to drag them all down again soon and those coming up I fear are not even as good as our current replacement level crop.

Kevin Morales, free from April injuries at last, has made a start like he used to while Pepe Jaramillo has shaved a couple of points off his ERA to reach his lowest since 2035. Ken Bates, acquired in the trade that cleared our immediate money worries, has been unlucky so far. A 1-2 record in his first five starts hasn’t been helped by only getting one run or less of support in three of those games. Carlos Guzman, one year removed from his Rule 5 elevation from Double-A to BBA, is settling into the bottom of rotation role I thought he could handle. He’s shaved a little off his BB/9 and added a little to his K/9 and knocked a point off his ERA. The fifth starter will probably end up a real revolving door, Sean Gardner, as I feared couldn’t handle it; in his first five BBA starts the 23-yr-old went 1-4 and never looked comfortable. So, he’s been returned to Triple-A Missouri and up in his place is #1 pitching prospect Augusto Sanchez. The 21-yr-old went 3-2 in five games in a callup last September and although I really wanted to get him another full year of seasoning in Missouri, he’s about all I really have to throw at that #5 hole. The bullpen is a bunch of youngsters not handling the BBA very well. Lando Klomp is back in the closer/stopper role and is as inconsistent as any of them. Carlos Rosa, having missed most of 2037 with injury, hasn’t recaptured his zip while Axel Goulding hasn’t built on the early promise he showed when he first hit the BBA. What of the two free agents I signed to help steady the youngsters? Fabiano Perrolas got into four games and then suffered a partially torn labrum that will keep him out till the later part of 2038 while Victor Elizondo managed just 1.2 innings before a strained oblique ruled him out until probably mid-June. To fill the gap there Domingo Ochoa will get his first BBA look while lefty Gabriel Espinosa will get a swift return to the BBA after a middling debut season last year had resulted in him being returned to Triple-A this year.

21-yr-old Joey O’Brien is really beginning to settle into the starting shortstop role, so far this year he’s hitting .356/.417/.483. Small sample sizes I know but in his rookie season last year he never got near that sort of level, he has also legged out his first two BBA triples as he gets more confident on the bases. If he continues to play at this level, he will be on pace for a 6-7 WAR season. Jaime Ramirez after a +7.5 ZR effort in his new third base role looks set to repeat that and is already 10-0 in stolen bases, on course for his third straight 60+ steal season. 23-yr-old Vince Osborn is looking to bounce back from an indifferent 2037 which saw him start just 24 games, he is one game past that already, hitting a healthy .268 with six homers chasing his BBA career high of 14. The loss of Abay Omoruyi for the season has left the already threadbare position of centrefield very weak. Phil Dand has been competent in defence there and has hit a not too embarrassing .250 while Maximo Quezada has gone backwards there in style managing just four hits from 33 PA’s. At least by picking up his team option this year he has given us someone to give Dand a few days off. Pedro Saldana on it again with six homers & 16 RBI so far will be told though to run less after he is just 5 for 10 in stlen base attempts.

[RonCo]

I like buttons O'Brien

[HoosierVic]

Baby steps are at least steps, right? So how do the Sluggers usually do in May?

[RonCo]

Baby steps are at least steps, right? So how do the Sluggers usually do in May?

Loserville is always horrible, even when they win. (Sorry, Nigel, kneejerk reaction from Stu's remnant).

[Fat Nige]

Baby steps are at least steps, right? So how do the Sluggers usually do in May?

Mixed in May - 11-18 in 2036 and 13-12 in 2037. Need to improve on 2037