Regular Season, Week 3: April 14-20
Last Week’s Results
4/14: Chicago Black Sox @ Louisville Sluggers - Loss, 0-3.
Sluggers Top Black Sox, 3-0, Behind Palácios
W: S. Palácios (1-1) L: P. Jaramillo (1-1) S: E. Mercati (2).
HR - LOU: J. Morán (4)
4/15: Chicago Black Sox @ Long Beach Surfers - Win, 6-3.
Chicago Gets 6-3 Win
W: D. Bates (2-1) L: G. Galetto (1-1) S: G. Sosa (3).
HR - CHI: D. Dave (5), M. Simpson (2), A. Budding 2 (5) LBC: G. Martínez (4)
4/16: Chicago Black Sox @ Long Beach Surfers - Loss, 8-9.
Black Sox Fall, 9-8, to Komen, Surfers
W: E. Mora (1-0) L: F. Salgado (0-1) S: J. Cardenas (1).
HR - CHI: R. Wattson (4), H. Hang (3) LBC: S. Maguire (1), K. Komen (4), J. McQuade (1)
4/17: Chicago Black Sox @ Long Beach Surfers - Loss, 1-9.
Late Rally by Surfers Locks Up 9-1 Win
W: G. Galetto (2-1) L: G. Sosa (0-1) .
HR - LBC: M. Deórtez (4)
4/19: Chicago Black Sox @ Vancouver Mounties - Win, 8-2.
Dave Shines in 8-2 Chicago Win
W: L. Gonzáles (1-2) L: Á. Romero (0-1) .
HR - CHI: G. Lee (3), D. Dave (6) VAN: A. Ortíz (3)
4/20: Chicago Black Sox @ Vancouver Mounties - Win, 6-0.
Jaramillo Shuts Out Vancouver, 6-0
W: P. Jaramillo (2-1) L: M. Ayala (1-3) .
HR - CHI: M. Simpson (3)
Heroes of the Week
Mark Simpson, 1B: 14 AB, 6 H, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .429 AVG, 1.556 OPS
Jaime Ramírez, SS: 22 AB, 8 H, 0 HR, 6 RBI, .364 AVG, .909 OPS
Grant Lee, OF: 19 AB, 6 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .316 AVG, .865 OPS
Bums of the Week
Hao Hang, RF: 21 AB, 2 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .095 AVG, .516 OPS
Brian Smith, RP: 1 G, 0.2 IP, 3 HA, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 40.50 ERA
Gilberto Sosa, CL: 3 G, 3.1 IP, 5 HA, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 16.20 ERA
Record as of April 20
W-L Record in Week 3: 3-3, .500
Overall Record: 8-10, .444
Position in Standings: In 6th Place in the Frick Heartland Division, 6 games behind Madison.
Hot Take
So, there were signs of life last week from 1B Mark Simpson, who raised his season’s slash line to .255/.391/.527 (from .195/.333/.366). But OF Hao Hang still seems to think he’s starring in The Walking Dead, with a slash of .183/.244/.352, which is actually down from last week’s miserable .204/.235/.367. His co-star appears to be DH Aarnoud Budding, who’s still limping along at .164/.266/.455.
Given that Chicago’s offense pretty much revolves around those two guys (along with 2B Rocky Wattson), the team isn’t going anywhere without better results than that.
This is by far the worst stretch of ball anyone can remember Hao Hang playing in either his major or minor-league career. The BBA Scouting Consortium hasn’t changed any of his offensive skill ratings, but they have downgraded his outfield defense from a 6 to a 5 and his overall rating from a 70 to a 65.
“We’re not sure what those numbers mean, anyway,” said manager Julian Negrete. “They rated him a 65 all last season, then raised him to a 70 in the off-season, and now they’ve pegged him back at 65. That seems meaningless to me.
“Guys sometimes go through slumps. It happens, and it’s happened to Hao opening the season. We’re going to let him work through it and not do anything stupid. If I know anything, I know that Hao Hang is going to hit. It’s what he does – and it’s what he’ll do again. Let’s have a little patience.”
Patience? Who is Negrete kidding? This is the BBA. We don’t have no stinking patience. We have expectations, and Hao and Arnaud better start meeting them … or else.
Or else, what? Well … some sternly-worded Hot Takes, that’s what!
You don’t wanna mess with us. We know lots of big words, like “overrated” and “disappointment.”
And we’re not afraid to use ‘em.
The Week Ahead
1 Game at Vancouver
3 Games at Omaha
3 Games vs Des Moines at Chicago
