The Cool Of The Grass 2050.22: Big Sim Creeps Des Moines Back Towards .500

[aaronweiner]

The Des Moines Kernels stopped the bleeding a little bit in the last sim, and while they're still in seventh place, the Kernels crossed over a very important marker in the last sim. With four straight wins against the Surfers and Tropics, the Kernels are now on pace for 73 wins, which would give them 89 losses - less than 90. Banishing the early season success from their minds, a season with less than 90 losses would be a milestone for Des Moines: it would be their first such season in ten years.

"Considering what we've been through the last few years and the difficulty with our recent transition, this might not be so bad," said LF Hasheem Makin, who wasn't quite an All-Star snub this year but has been raking lately, now second in the FL in home runs. "We're very obviously much better than we've been in recent years."

The Kernels' bats are starting to come alive a little bit, too. In their last six games, they scored 34 runs, an average of almost six per game. Their one loss in their last six was in fifteen innings, and there are some signs that the team may be turning a corner and getting a little better, like Thomas Turner adjusting to pitching in Des Moines, with four runs allowed in his last fourteen innings.

"Being traded twice in a year is strange, especially when I'm used to playing in the playoffs," said Turner, who was a postseason pitcher for Charlotte in each of the past four years. "It wasn't too big a transition going from Twin Cities to Des Moines, but this season's been a bit dizzying."

The Kernels are also getting more out of Felix Parreno, who has been going through a bit of a lost season up until now. However, they shifted him to become the full-time second baseman this week, and he responded with a big week.

"I'm not playing how I usually do," said Parreno. "I can play better than this. I'm happy the team is still giving me lots of chances."

Des Moines is still last or second to last in most offensive metrics that count. However, there may be some help on the horizon as well, as their first round pick, Carlos Souza, is scheduled to make his AA debut this week after absolutely wrecking A-ball in his first exposure to professional pitching. In 33 games, Souza hit .299, with a .999 OPS and 18 extra base hits.

"Carlos has picked right up where he left off in college," said Kernels GM Aaron Weiner. "He's such a well rounded player and has such a great batting eye. He came to us as almost a pro already. We're not going to rush him, but he was clearly too good for high-A."

The Kernels get one more against Long Beach before facing the surging Yellow Springs Nine, and then will travel to Twin Cities for four games. They are currently 44-53 (.454) and with some solid performances over the next two weeks really could get back close to the .500 mark before a tough late-August schedule.

https://statspl.us/brewster/reports/new ... am_18.html