MONTH IN REVIEW: They did it! After a 12-16 start to the 2042 season, the Spuds started cooking after the All-Star break and rode an 18-11 September (and lone October regular season game) to finish the year 89-73 and with the #2 Johnson League Wild Card slot. The season is both the second (and consecutive) winning record and playoff appearance in team history, following up on last year's improbable run.The offense was boosted by the resurgent bat of Yunosuke Terada, as well as the outfield tandem of Dennis French and
Félix Román, to no surprise. Led by Júlio Alicea's 5-0 September, Boise's starting pitching continued the three-starter/two-opener rotation, which was just good enough to hold off a large group of Johnson League playoff hopefuls. French finished the year with the second-best WAR and third-best batting average (.354) in the Johnson, while Motonobu Yamashita led all of the Brewster with 68 steals.
The Spuds will face the New Orleans Crawdads in the Geoghegan, kicking off in Boise on October 7, with the hopes of advancing to the Doubleday Series for the first time.
ORE-IDA® TATER-TOTS EMOJI SUMMARY OF THE MONTH:
HITTER OF THE MONTH: Dennis French - .385/.429/.736 (9 HR, 29 R, 33 RBI, 9 SB)
PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Júlio Alicea - 5-0 (6 GS), 2.82 ERA, 1.10 WHIP (7.5 K/9, 1.8 BB/9)
HOT POTATOES:
Yunosuke Terada - .280/.434/.628 (11 HR, 24 R, 29 RBI)
Motonobu Yamashita - .395/.402/.524 (1 HR, 23 R, 19 RBI, 18 SB)
Félix Román - .284/.366/.550 (5 HR, 18 R, 20 RBI, 5 SB)
Dave Walsh - 0-0 (14 G), 8 SV, 3.38 ERA, 1.31 WHIP (10.5 K/9, 5.1 BB/9)
COLD FRIES:
Lloyd Braun - .213/.315/.277 (0 HR, 9 R, 5 RBI)
Hank Brewer - .127/.324/.164 (0 HR, 8 R, 3 RBI)
Robin Cooper - 1-3 (6 GS), 8.58 ERA, 1.69 WHP (3.5 K/9, 3.5 BB/9)