July 21, 2051
by Banjo Jackson
Nashville, TN
Fans have been anticipating the arrival of Wafid Bishr for years and the young phenom impressed early on despite limited action in 2050, where he slashed .259/.376/.462 batting primarily against southpaws while veteran Liann-wei Mao manned first base against RHP. When the veteran headed for free agency, Bishr was tasked with playing every day, and he has exceeded expectations.
The young slugger hit .396 with 12 home runs, 28 RBIs and 23 runs scored in the month of June and was awarded Frick League batter of the month. He also walked 13 times to give himself a .477 OBP and stole 4 bases on way to accumulating 2.4 WAR in the month. His numbers in July have plummeted, however, and he is only slashing .362/.436/.623 with 4 HR in 17 games. His line for the 2051 season thus far is .340/.404/.649 with 31 dingers and 17 swiped bags.
1B Wafid Bishr
“We knew he had the power and discipline at the plate, but even we are a little surprised he’s in the lead for the batting title this season,” said GM Chad Nason. “We’ve got some veterans that have been in a slump all season, so it’s exponentially more impressive that the kid is helping carry this offense.”
Perennial Silk candidate, Tony Frost, has an OPS+ of 84 and fellow future Hall of Famer, Dennis French, has a 64 OPS+. The Bluebirds are more than halfway done with the season despite their most decorated players performing, so it’s nothing short of a miracle that the team is only 4 GB of the division lead.
“There’s definitely a changing of the guard feel around here,” said Alberto Rodríguez. “These young guys are coming in and giving us veterans a lot of rest while picking up the slack, but they might be coming for our jobs permanently. There’s still a lot of work to get the team running on all cylinders and we have yet to hit our stride. This little 8 game winning streak this past week has been a hint of what we’re capable of and we’ll need to keep that up in order to repeat as champs.”
C Alberto Rodriguez
August will be a very telling month as the Bluebirds have two sets against Yellow Springs, an away series at Louisville, and other tough matchups. In any case, the final stretch of the season should be very entertaining and if Bishr continues his pace, he very well may end up winning the club's second Silk award in four seasons.
