2062.2 Omaha in April

[handaspencer]

Well it has been 5 weeks since opening day and I wanted to check in on what has been happening this season in Omaha. This season is looking pretty similar to the previous season as we are 18-15 and competing for the backend of a playoff spot. Although the preseason predictions of 68-93 is still possible those possibilities soften each week as Omaha continues to play good ball. Omaha seems to continue to surprise the media and play better ball that most people predict.

A huge part of the success so far has been the emergence of Pat Loder who has absolutely been on fire this month. Loder is batting .321 with 8 HR and 26 RBI already this season, at the current pace he looks like an All Star for Omaha this season. Loder split time last year in CF and RF but this year was given the RF spot and he has exceeded expectations for sure. The 2nd round pick in 2055 just continues to improve each year and the good thing for Omaha is he is only 24 years old.

Omaha is getting great production from the other corner of spot from Jorge Delgado who had a miserable season last year but this year its been a completely different story. Delgado is hitting .333 with a .388 OBP and 15 stolen bases already this season. I am thankful this organization didn't give up on me last season and let me play through my struggles. I worked really hard this offseason and I am hopeful the start I am having can continue for the rest of the season.

The staff is led again by Felipe Mendez who is proving last year was not a fluke. Despite hitting the open market this offseason he decided to return to Omaha early on in the process. He is currently 3-1 with a 4.23 ERA and a 105 ERA+. Adel Bin Husam Al Din has been a pleasant surprice to the Omaha staff. He has spent the past several seasons in the GBC and got another opportunity in the big leagues with Omaha this season. In his first 5 starts he is 2-2 with a 3.28 ERA.

Omaha is ranked near the middle of the pack of most stats but they lead the league in stolen bases with 51 as a team. We knew we could run but how successful we have been has shocked us a little bit. The combination of drawing walks and running the bases well has really allowed us to pressure the defense. We have been excited about the defensive improvement we have made this year. We still have a long ways to go defensively but its been one of the most improved areas for us this season. We think its an area we can continue to improve at as well.

We really believe we can play at this level all season, we are hoping to sneak into the back end of the playoffs this season. We are excited about where this season has taken us so far, we really wanted to jump off to a good start and set the tone and we have done that. The key for us is we need to stay healthy for the season. We have some guys on the roster with some injury histories and we are hoping that will not return this year. We are really excited for the remainder of this season and looking forward to a strong May.

[trmmilwwi]

Calvin Johnson just keeps going. I thought he'd be done while with Montreal. Hope he continues to do well!

[BaseClogger]

A lot is dependent on Loder and Delgado maintaining their current pace. I don’t see Loder being a 10 WAR player this year.