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The Sim: 3-3 (3-0 vs. Twin Cities, 0-3 @ Omaha) Swept the team that shocked us in the playoffs and then got swept by a team that is clearly superior at this point. None of the games were really that close, outside of game #1 where the Kernels rallied for four runs in the bottom of the 8th to win a 6-4 ballgame.
If this trend continues, 3-4 to 3-3, I'm guessing this next week the Kernel's go 4-2, to put us at .500. A quick look at the standings after two weeks should be taken with a grain of salt, but I think we are in a solid position to compete for the Wild Card this year. Omaha and Nashville appear to have better teams and already have quite a lead here in April. But after them, I think we are in the thick of things with the rest of the #Heartland, and I'm not too concerned about the Pacific taking up many WC slots.
The Good: Jose Romero is still crushing it, now up to nine HRs on the year, for a tie of the BBA-lead. The bats were hot against the River Monster's scoring 23 runs over the three games. The Kernel's are 2nd in the FL in homers and 3rd on base running.
Rule 5 draft pick watch continues for 2B Dan Emerson who is now at .333/.935, including an 8-game hit streak that ended against Omaha. Ironically, the original plan this season was to give OF Sonny Bigalow more reps at 2B, but if Emerson keeps this up for much longer, we might have to figure something out. Bigalow has been great by the way, now hitting .349/1.021. He will get a few starts this week in the leadoff spot.
CF Hector Cano Jr. hit homerun #300 for his career, the lone bright spot during the sweep in Omaha. While 300 isn't a huge deal this far into BBA history, he's still just 29-years-old and don't forget he's a CF.
The Bad: When the bats go cold, we don't have much of a shot. In the Kernel's seven losses this season the team scored: 0, 1, 6, 1, 1, 3, 0. I think the lineup still needs a few tweaks here and there, and we might need to look to trade market for a bit more consistency at driving runners in.
My catchers are hitting a combined .068 on the year. While they are mainly out there for defense, I'm going to need more production from that spot if we want to make the playoffs. A quick look to Triple-A... oh, those two guys are hitting .133 and .083....after the two of them hit .000 and .135 in Spring Training. Guess I'll stick with the defensive guys for now.
The Ugly: I know it's early but some of these statistical rankings are downright embarrassing:
Hitting- (FL ranks)
16th - avg
16th - hits
14th - obp
12th - xbh
10th - bb
10th - stolen bases
Pitching - (FL ranks)
13th - bullpen era
13th - hra
12th - walks
11th - avg
11th - era
10th - strikeouts
All things considered, we are pretty lucky to be a game under .500 the way we have played. I will take some solace in the heavy road and competitive teams on the first two weeks schedule.
The Minors: All three levels maintained their winning records, the three levels are now a combined 28-13.
The (AAA) RP Arnold Richmond watch continues. While he blew a save this week, the 26-year-old has now struck out 20 batters in 11.2 IP and currently leads that entire league with a 15.4 K/9. I'm not sure how his "4" movement plays at the BBA level, but he's very unhappy about playing in the minors and will probably get a look before the summer.