Sticking Points 2057.6: Something's Happening Here?

[JimSlade]

Is something happening here, or is this a return to the reasonably sub-mean? Since July 7, following a 13-game losing streak, your Rockville Pikemen are 23-11, nearly doubling their win total from the first 3 months of the season. The team has benefitted from home cooking, with 26 home games over the last 5 weeks, but even their 3-5 road record is competitive, relatively speaking.

Pitching has been one of the fundamental weaknesses of the Pikemen, but things have been looking up. Although the team lost veteran starter Nathaniel Davis to season-ending injury midway through this run, Mike Griffin, who had been reported grumbling in the bullpen, has picked up his spot in the rotation with mixed results in his first 2 turns. Starter Luis Gonzalez, transitioning from his previous role as a high-leverage reliever who had been lacking high-leverage opportunities in a sea of blowout losses, has been leading the way over this stretch. Nasir al Din bin Sahir is looking more like the mid-rotation anchor the team envisioned him to be when they extened his contract through 2060. Even ancient Danny Leach has been riding a rebirth in his last handful of starts, pitching effectively on a tighter pitch count. "Five innings of vintage Danny," says manager Francisco Catazaro, "is still to be savored."

Whenever this Pikemen team gets on even a relatively hot streak, its offense typically comes from a succession of gap hits, not bombs. Cam Whitten leads the team with 22 home runs (10 of which over this stretch); only 2 other players have hit in double digits. Middle infielders Socrates Kazantziakis and Richard Vernon are working the gaps. Rookie first baseman/leftfielder Manuel Salinas, who had been solid but failing to dazzle management at AAA, got a "show-me" call to cover for an injury in Rockville. He has proceeded to rake at a .403/.493/.710 clip in 19 games. "Don't go back to Dodge City..."

"We've been preaching incremental gains," says Catazaro, "playing to the top of our license. We don't want to see a kid like Vernon swinging for the fences or Cesar Rodriguez looking to poke the ball."

The seventh-place Pikemen are still only a misstep away from falling back to the cellar, but players feel like they're developing an identity. "We keep coming at you," says Vernon, who won't turn 22 until the offseason. "It's not always pretty."