62.6- Miscellany

[chicoruiz]

Just a collection of a few notes not worth an entire post by themselves...

1. The league has just passed the 100-game mark, and here we sit, tied for next-to-last in the Atlantic. The main culprit: a hideous 6-16 record in one-run games. I'd like to say we'd be contenders if that were a more reasonable number, but honestly we still probably wouldn't. This season a bunch of teams in the Atlantic have decided to be pretty good, and Atlantic City just apparently didn't get the memo. The most frustrating thing is that I can't really put my finger on an area I can remedy; everyone is doing okay individually, but for whatever reason it's just not coming together. Still, I'm dumb enough to think this team can at least finish at .500 or above.

2. My starting pitching is always the same in recent years. Brian Whitford and one other guy are going to pitch well; the identity of the other guy that pitches well changes from year to year. This year it's Dewey McKim who's having himself a year; the rest of the rotation is kind of meh, but they've all been good in the recent past so I can't give up on any of them, especially since my AAA rotation stinks like poop. There are some nice options in AA, however, so there's hope on the horizon.

3. My recent draft picks are making me feel smart. I like to feel smart. First-rounder Luis Durham went straight to full-season A ball and is 5-1, 1.73 as I write this. Second-rounder Rafael Herrera is his teammate in A ball, and is making a seamless switch to catcher while hitting .389. And my 17-year-old third rounder, Elmer Fisher, is in rookie league Albany, playing third base and OPSing 1.053. I'm sure there are some heartbreaks to come, but for now I couldn't really ask for more.

4. More good news: Johnny Lazer, the God of Shortstop Defense, is hitting a very respectable .233 with 47 steals in 100 games as a 22-year-old in A ball. He's looking more and more like a guy who will eventually be able to hit .200 or so in the majors, and if he can do that with his other gifts, all my patience will finally have paid off.

5. Unem Ploid isn't quite unemploid yet, but he's been shown a seat on the bench after an underwhelming first half. Youngster Cornell Schumacher is getting the first shot at replacing him, but he shouldn't get too comfy; my system seems to produce corner OF-DH types at a high rate, and there are several breathing down Cornell's neck.

[BaseClogger]

You can finish over .500. You have a good team!

[RonCo]

This season has been particularly hard for prognosticators.

[ae37jr]

[JRamirez]

Durham looks solid.

[cheekimonk]

It’s “Mrcellany” now. Respect his pronouns!

[Trebro]

Man, Ploid needs to fire his agent. Criminally stupid idea to opt out.