2052.04 - Shark Bites - June 23, 2052

[Lane]

COULD THIS TEAM BE RELEVANT?

Surfers in Playoff Race?
As the halfway point of the season approaches, the Surfers find themselves in a playoff position, with a record of 41-34. They're currently in the final Wild Card position, 1.5 games up on Portland, and in fourth place in the division race as well, trailing first place Valencia by just 2.5 games. Of course, there's still a lot of baseball left to play, but we can't recall the last time the Surfers were in playoff position this late in a season.

Martinez at 2,000 Hits
Gonzalo Martinez joined the 2,000 hit club in the midst of a difficult season. After a bit of a bounce back in 2051, he is having significant struggles against right handed pitching, to the point where he's been removed from the lineup in favor of Danny Adkins, with Juan Hernandez sliding Adkins' usual first base position. Martinez is absolutely destroying LHP however, hitting .421/.471/.642, good for a 193 OPS+. Against righties he's got a 42 OPS+ and negative 0.5 WAR.

Morris Back in Leadoff?
It's not just Martinez struggling against RHP, in fact the Surfers are not faring well against RHP in general, with a 24-25 record, compared to 17-9 against southpaws. In light of this, speedy SS Steveland Morris is rumored to be moving back in to the leadoff spot against RHP. This could be the spark that the team needs, and could be the opportunity for Morris to get back to his base thievery. He's stolen just 13 bags this year, likely a consequence of hitting lower in the lineup.