WHIV 1998 Vol 5- 10 Things I Think I Think...

[recte44]

Haven't written much in the way of team news lately, I much prefer Tweeting....but, here's some nuggets to catch you all up, MMQB style:

10 Things I Think I Think about the 1998 Las Vegas Hustlers

1. 15-13, 15-13, 16-12, 13-11, 15-13, 4-5. These are the Hustlers W-L records by month to date. One might intrepret these as "very consistent". In the Hustlers camp it's been more than frustrating that we haven't been able to go on a run of wins. The Hustlers will need to in September, one game behind Hackensack for the FL Wild Card and with Buffalo (among others) right on their tail. All the teams in the mix are right around .500 in their last ten, it seems that no one team wants to step up. The one that does will get to play in October. It's that simple.

2. Why haven't the Hustlers been able to go on a run? Despite their #1 OBP, #1 Starters ERA, #3 BABIP.....they have no power. 9th in the FL in Home Runs, 6th in the FL in Slugging PCT. The loss of Dave Manzanillo has hurt more than the club thought it would.

3. With Felix Pan out for essentially the rest of the regular season, someone's going to have to step up. Robert Yoo has been brought up from Marquette, but not to take Pan's spot initially. Yoo will be used in a major bullpen role, as he was last October. The Hustlers will move veteran Sam Morton, who has had a solid season out of the bullpen (2 previous starts), into the #5 spot while switching to a "start highest starter" scenario for the next 10 days. Past that, skipper Keith Minuso could opt to go to a straight four man rotation down the stretch as a playoff spot is in question.

4. To those who doubted Randy Square's ability to duplicate last year's numbers....what say you?

5. The Hustlers were giddy when they saw lefty torcher Jonathan Noon available on the FA market, and even more so when he signed with them shortly thereafter. Noon however hasn't gotten anything going, but he gives the Hustlers a dangerous bat against lefties and some infield depth.

6. Offensive surprise of the year? C/1B Nicolas Kuffrey. Great to see the 31 year old on base machine finally get his break.

7. The Hustlers are tickled pink with the development of some of their young talent this year into large major league roles: SP Eric Sweet, SS Donald Nobaru, and Jimmy Slizz have all been intregral parts of the ballclub and figure to be so for a long time.

8. While veteran Marty Powers has been struggling all year as the closer, veteran mid-season addition Rene Arocha has shown that he can thrive in a late inning relief role.

9. Hustlers #2 rated prospect 1B/IF Reginald Harnois was brought up for the rest of September to get his feet wet. Expect him to battle for the 1B job next spring.

10. Five of the Hustlers last 17 games are against Seattle. This could make or break the Hustlers playoff hopes.

[cramsey51]

5. The Hustlers were giddy when they saw lefty torcher Jonathan Noon available on the FA market, and even more so when he signed with them shortly thereafter. Noon however hasn't gotten anything going, but he gives the Hustlers a dangerous bat against lefties and some infield depth.

Dangerous vs. LHP? .234/.290/.313 vs. LHP so far.

[LambeauLeap]

5. The Hustlers were giddy when they saw lefty torcher Jonathan Noon available on the FA market, and even more so when he signed with them shortly thereafter. Noon however hasn't gotten anything going, but he gives the Hustlers a dangerous bat against lefties and some infield depth.

Dangerous vs. LHP? .234/.290/.313 vs. LHP so far.

Compared to that stingly .561 OPS vsR the .602 OPS vsL is looking Babe Ruth-esque!

[braveheart]

I was just thinking about the things I think I think this morning.