Tater Talk: 2041.25 – Week in Review, 7/21 - 7/27

[jleddy]

WEEK IN REVIEW: (4-2) The week started with a sweep of lowly Wichita and an opening road win at New Orleans before losing two straight against the Crawdads and the Atlantic City Gamblers. Unfortunately for the Spuds, Calgary went 5-1 to increase their lead in the Frontier to 3.5 games over Boise. The Spuds still remain in first place in the Johnson League wild card standings.

ORE-IDA® TATER-TOTS EMOJI SUMMARY OF THE WEEK:

HITTER OF THE WEEK: Félix Román - 7-for-21, 3 HR, 5 RBI (.333 AVG, 1.271 OPS)

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Pancho Germán - 1 G, 7.2 IP, 1-0, 10 K/0 BB (0.00 ERA, 0.26 WHIP)

GAME OF THE WEEK: The Spuds breezed to an easy 8-0 victory over the New Orleans Crawdads on July 25th thanks to a stellar performance on the mound by Panch Germán. German nearly went the distance, pitching into the 8th inning after allowing just two baserunners via singles before handing the ball off to Jesús Arce for a four-out save. Germán struck out 10 Crawdads hitters while walking none, all contributing to a game score of 92, tied for the 13th-best outing so far in the 2041 season. The offense put up 15 hits, including five doubles and two home runs. After the win, their fifth in a row, manager Millard Davis told reporters "I like the roll we're on."

JOHNSON LEAGUE FRONTIER DIVISION STANDINGS

TEAM	WINS	LOSES	WIN%	GB	RD
Calgary Pioneers	67	33	.670	-	+159
Boise Spuds	65	38	.631	3.5	+147
Edmonton Jackrabbits	54	48	.529	14	+78
Las Vegas Hustlers	53	49	.520	15	+5
Mexico City Aztecs	51	48	.515	15.5	+14
Phoenix Talons	45	59	.433	24	-67
Wichita Aviators	41	60	.406	26.5	-87
San Antonio Outlaws	41	62	.398	27.5	-112

NEWS AND NOTES: António Sánchez was removed from his July 26th appearance after a noticeable drop in velocity...Sánchez was later diagnosed with a dead arm an although team doctors expected the righty to only miss a few games, Boise placed him on the 7-day injured list as a precaution to gain additional rest...Boise will play their second double-header in three weeks when they face Charlotte on August 1st...team sources believe the front office has started initial talks with Dennis French on an extension...it is believed French has expressed his desire to ink a long-term deal, however league rules allow Boise only to offer the maximum of three years until French hits five years service time in 2042...while the Spuds offense continues to rank near or at the top of Johnson League leaderboards, their pitching has drastically improved in the last 30 days, seeing their starting pitching ERA (5.43) rise to 7th best in the league, while their bullpen ERA remains best at 3.23

DOWN ON THE FARM: Salt Lake City (AAA) split the six games on their schedule last week, giving them a 64-43 record on the year, good enough for first place in the Western Division...Pepe Madrid led the way offensively, hitting .478 with two home runs...off-season trade acquisition Kent Montoya has cooled off since his early season success, going 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA in his last two starts...Weymouth (AA) matched their parent club by winning their first four games of the week before dropping two straight...at 57-50, the Irish are in second place in the division but a distant ten games back of first...Tulsa (A) lost five of six to drop their record to 48-59...Hot Springs (Short Season) continues to claw their way back to .500, winning four of seven to move to 28-29...19-year-old Manuel Barrera put together his best professional start on July 21st, a complete-game, three-hit shutout against Springfield...it was Barrera's third-consecutive complete game victory, as the youngster out of Puerto Rico is 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA and 0.74 WHIP during that stretch...Tijuana (Rookie) went just 2-4, giving them a 29-27 record on the year, second-best in the Mexican-American Division