MONTH IN REVIEW: A 15-10 July has the Spuds above .500 at month's end for the first time since May 31st. The success could be directly attributed to the Boise outfield, who is finally clicking like they did all of 2041. RF Dennis French, CF Félix Román and LF Ricardo Ruíz all had months of at least 117 OPS+. Like Ruíz, had been in a funk all season long until as of late, 3B Sancho Castillo finally started hitting his weight.Overall, the club didn't score as many runs as they had in previous months despite more hitters putting it all together but the team's pitching actually improved. The catalyst might have been to go away from a standard five-man rotation after #4 starter Frank Metcalf was lost for the year with an injury. Boise pitching coach Jumah Hamid decided to with four traditional starters and convert swingman Adam Bernard into an opener role, where he absolutely flourished. The club intends to keep the "4 SP+1" design for as long as it's successful.
While the Spuds had a balanced schedule in July, with 13 games at home and 12 games on the road, it was their incredible 9-3 record away from Boise that drove them above .500 for the month. August's schedule is slightly favorable from a home/road standpoint, as 15 out of 28 games will be in Grigg Memorial Stadium. Seven games in the upcoming month will be against two of the more losing teams this year in Wichita and Charlotte.
The club saw a change in manager, as Millard Davis retired late in June due to health issues and the Spuds named former five-time All-Star Daniel Labrie, Jr. on July 2nd. Labrie, Jr.'s job was to right the Boise ship and get them back in the Wild Card race and the club has done just that. The Johnson League Wild Card standings are as tight as ever, so nothing short of winning months for the rest of the year will be needed by the Spuds to make it to the postseason for a second season in a row.
With the trading deadline coming at the end of this month, the first few weeks of August will dictate whether the Spuds front office becomes buyers or sellers. While they've been in talks with other clubs, there hasn't been discussions involving major players either coming or going.
ORE-IDA® TATER-TOTS EMOJI SUMMARY OF THE MONTH:
HITTER OF THE MONTH: Félix Román - .327/.363/.587 (5 HR, 19 R, 18 RBI, 6 SB)
PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Pancho Germán - 4-1 (6 GS), 3.21 ERA, 1.12 WHIP (5.6 K/9, 2.8 BB/9)
HOT POTATOES:
Ricardo Ruíz - .342/.381/.526 (2 HR, 4 R, 9 RBI, 1 SB)
Dennis French - .312/.345/.527 (4 HR, 21 R, 12 RBI, 4 SB)
Adam Bernard - 0-0 (4 GS), 1.42 ERA, 0.79 WHIP (4.2 K/9, 3.1 BB/9)
Júlio Alicea - 3-2 (6 GS), 3.48 ERA, 1.43 WHIP (7.8 K/9, 2.7 BB/9)
Dave Walsh - 1-3 (9 G), 3 SV, 2.31 ERA, 1.03 WHIP (12.3 K/9, 3.1 BB/9)
COLD FRIES:
Yunosuke Terada - .209/.364/.384 (4 HR, 19 R, 12 RBI)
Lloyd Braun - .195/.260/.402 (4 HR, 11 R, 13 RBI)
Francisco Acosta - 2-1 (3 GS, 5 G), 1 SV, 7.20 ERA, 1.90 WHIP (5.8 K/9, 3.1 BB/9)
Robin Cooper - 0-1 (5 GS), 5.40 ERA, 1.87 WHIP (7.3 K/9, 5.7 BB/9)