7 May 2063
Boise, Idaho
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by Tony Toney
April was not great and not bad from the Spuds...as the 14-13 record suggests. Boise suffered one sweep at the hands of the 1st-place Phoenix Talons. The team wasn't able to log one of their own but only lost two of the remaining series - one in Calgary and another in Rosenblatt. Unfortunately, those are precisely the teams that the Spuds have to beat if they are going to claim a spot in the postseason. Offense and pitching were both solid but not superior with Boise scoring 4.7 runs/game and allowing 4.0. That should have translated into more wins, of course.
SPUDS OF THE MONTH - APRIL
Pitcher
Samir Qasim
19 G, 1-0, 4 SV, 1.50 ERA, 24.0 IP, 3.1 K/BB, 0.83 WHIP, +0.3 WAR
Starting pitching was more than solid to open the 2063 season. Top of that heap was Thomas Turner who pitched 30.1 innings in 5 starts going 3-2 and logging a 2.67 ERA, 0.59 HR/9, 1.87 K/BB, and 1.19 WHIP. Mahad 'Furball' Einan had 6 starts going 2-2 with a 3.34 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Dan Boman recorded a 3-1 record in 5 starts, a 3.38 ERA, and 1.40 WHIP. Closer Mario Santos was solid as stone at the back end of games converting all of 4 save opps and posting a dazzling 0.87 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, 3.7 K/BB with a 9.6 K/9. But the squads new approach to closing out games led to stopper man Qasim seeing 16.2 innings to Santos' 10.1. He spun those into a 1.62 ERA and 0.78 WHIP, converted 2 of 3 save opps, and had a 7.0 K/9.
Hitter
1B Tracy 'Jigga' Allison
Though the offense ranked 6th in runs scored in the JL there wasn't a ton of production to point to in April. Only one player topped a .300 AVG, but four more had averages top .280. There were 8 players with wOBA over than .300 and wRC+ over 100. LF Cosmo Pan slashed .271/.310/.439 with 10 doubles, 1 triple and 2 HR generating 15 RBI. 3B Bill Kuhn had a really unsustainable average of .230 (that will definitely improve the way he hits) but a full slash of .230/.331/.450 with 12 RBI and 2 doubles, 1 triple, and 6 homeruns. C Tadanobu Otani seems determined to make this his breakout season. He gets off to a hot start posting 9 doubles, 2 HR, 12 RBI, and a slash line of .264/.330/.437. But Allison was one of the most productive players in the JL driving in 12 runs and scoring 19 times behind 23 stolen bases, 4 doubles, and 4 triples. He slashed .315/.377/.426 with a wOBA of .348 and wRC+ of 121.97.
April: P Samir Qasim, 1B Tracy 'Jigga' Allison
Sim #4: P Tim Stops, 1B Tracy 'Jigga' Allison
Sim #3: SP Thomas Turner, 1B William Coleman
Sim #2: P Samir Qasim, SS Dan Raymond
Sim #1: P Josh 'Kid' Clark, LF Cosmo Pan