This Week In The Trans Atlantic: Week Seven 2028

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This Week In The Trans Atlantic: Week Seven 2028

#1 Post by Vic »

By Hamish Campbell
The Edinburgh News
05-15-2028

The Big Picture
Ladies and Gentlemen, we may have a division race after all. Maybe two.

Half of the teams will be battling for the top spot, and the other two for the bottom. That’s the way it looks most of the way through May, at least.

Havana and San Juan fought to a 2-2 draw in Week Seven’s showdown in Havana, with the Leones taking the first two games 8-0 and 7-2. But the Coqui showed admirable grit in front of sell-out crowds at Campos Peloteros and took the next two games 4-2 and 5-1 to start a 5-game winning streak that’s still alive as we move into Week 8.

The upshot: Havana sits atop the division (and the Imperial League, for that matter) with a 28-17 mark, but San Juan is hanging tough just 3 games back at 25-20.

Scotland and London, meanwhile … well … the burning question now is, are they deeply mediocre or do they just stink? Scotland couldn’t stand the giddy heights of a .500 record, so promptly went 2-5 to fall 7 games behind Havana, while London perked up a tad to go 4-3 and stay 9 games back.

All of which leaves us with competition at both ends of the division: glory for Havana or San Juan (or both) and ignominy for Scotland or London (or, almost certainly, both).

Finally, as always, what’s the winningest division in the IL? You know the answer – the Trans Atlantic, sweetheart. The TA has 93 wins, the Seaboard 89, and the Dixie 86.

Havana Happenings
Excellent offense and even better pitching: there’s no secret to the recipe that’s brought the Leones to the top spot in the Imperial League (28-17). The Leones rank no worse than fourth in any of the significant offensive categories: 4th in BA, .261; 3rd in OBP, .322; 3rd in slugging, .734; 3rd in runs scored, 413; 1st in HR, 56. Meanwhile, the team ERA ranks 1st, 3.08; 1st in starters ERA, 3.29; 1st in bullpen ERA, 2.67; 1st in runs allowed, 158; and 1st in K’s, 347. They do suck at defensive efficiency, though: ranking just 5th at .708. Really, you wonder why they even bother taking the field … Player of the Week: It’s easy, sometimes, to take the sustained excellence of staff ace Enrique Vázquez for granted. But let’s take a moment to bask in his brilliance: last week, he pitched 14 innings and allowed just 2 runs, racked up one win, 14 k’s and surrendered just one walk. On the season so far, Vázquez is 5-1 with an ERA of 2.02, an excellent Dominance Rate (K/BB) of 6.88, and a WHIP of 1.02. Guess he’ll stick with the big club for now … Game of the Week: It seems only appropriate to look at the most dominant of Vázquez’s outings, the May 15 series opener with San Juan. Vázquez pitched 7.2 innings of three-hit ball, striking out nine batters and walking none. He yielded to MR Carlos Ruiz with two outs in the eighth after throwing 105 pitches and allowing a two-out single to Coqui 3B Kwan-cheol Kang. By then, of course, the Leones had the game in hand, with an 8-0 lead. Ruiz gave up a harmless 9th inning single to CF Michael Drew, but otherwise shut down San Juan to nail down the win.

Coqui Cables
San Juan GM Mike Best promised the Coqui would win with pitching and defense this season, and the team has proven him prescient. While San Juan ranks no better than 7th in the IL for any offensive category, it lives in the top half of the league for most of the key pitching and defensive stats: 4th for ERA, 3.49; 5th for starters ERA, 3.75; 5th for bullpen ERA, 2.92; 3rd for runs allowed, 171; 2nd for defensive efficiency, .719. So, can you win in the IL by catching and throwing the ball well? The Coqui’s 25-20 record argues, “Yes!” … Player of the Week: 3B Kwan-cheol Kang had a monster week, slashing .389/.421/.778 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs. It was a welcome breakout for Kang, who’s had a slow start to the year. His season slash now stands at .223/.305/.408 … Game of the Week: Although the final two games of that Havana series are contenders, we’ll go with the series closer against Amsterdam on May 21. The teams battled to a 2-2 standoff after 9 innings, sending the game into extra frames. Setup man Otis Pearson took the mound for the 10th, and got into minor trouble after allowing a leadoff single to Catcher Al Murdoch, who took second on a sacrifice. Pearson settled down, then, and struck out the next two batters to keep things knotted up. That wouldn’t last long, though. Mike Rose, who pinch-hit for Kang to lead off the bottom of the 10th, singled off Amsterdam reliever Evan Farr and took third after two infield outs. That brought up RF Francisco Torres who hit a little nubber just far enough in front of the plate to allow a sprinting Rose to score the game-winner from third. SP Seon-keun Yi perhaps summed it up best afterwards in the clubhouse: “Exhilarating win!”

Scottish Scoops
Think back with me now to the mist-shrouded morning of May 15 when the Claymores stood at .500 and looked forward to seven games against a couple of struggling teams in San Antonio and Florida. Could the Claymores put together a win streak and pressure San Juan and, maybe, even Havana? Crushing naiveté is so cute in a fanbase, don’t you think? Instead of putting its foot on the gas, Scotland jammed on the emergency brake and threw the whole thing in reverse, dropping three of five to the Calzones and two of three to the Featherheads to fall three games under .500. Not a good omen, Claymores fans. Not a good omen at all … Player of the Week: Scotland sucked mightily, to be sure, in Week Seven, but not 2B José Escobido. He continued his strong showing for the season by slashing .533/.533/.733, and stands at .305/.379/.415 overall. With that kind of success near the top of the order, how come Scotland didn’t have a better week? Well, consider OF José Guillén’s anemic .143/.308/.190. Or Naomi Honma’s .120/.179/.200. Or Peter Casey’s .185/.185/259. Or Eitoku Tamura’s 13.50 ERA in 3.1 innings of relief; or Jesús Guerra’s breath-taking 40.50 ERA in 1.1 innings of relief; or … well, you get the idea. Maybe the better question is how they managed to actually win two games! Game of the Week: Slim pickings, for sure, but we’ll go with the May 21 4-3 win over the Featherheads to snap a 4-game losing streak and salvage something out of the Florida series. But even this bright spot came with its very own cloud cover: SP Kazuhiko Nishiyama sprained his elbow throwing a slider and landed on the 10-day DL. Lucky for the Claymores, closer Ken Fisher was able to shut the door on Florida after setup specialist Eitoku Tamura (who’s battling his own injury woes with a sore wrist) gave up a solo homer to CF Miguel Yánez in the 8th to let Florida climb within a run. Offensive heroics were provided by DH/3B Bob Swift (2-3 with a double and RBI) and SS Orlando Barrón (2-4 with a triple and an RBI).

Underground Utterings
London fans can be forgiven for at least a little bit of excitement after the Underground’s first winning week of the season. They had two .500 weeks in April, but this was the first time they actually won more than they lost, splitting a four-game set with an admittedly weak Amsterdam club but winning 2 of 3 against the solid Hartford squad. Sure, London is seven under .500 for the year and at the bottom of the Trans Atlantic standings, but still. Hope! Player(s) of the Week: It was a big week for the Underground, so let’s not be stingy – there were two performances of special note. The first was SP David Tucker, who went 2-0 with an ERA of 1.59, 10 K’s and a 0.82 WHIP for the week. That performance left Tucker at 4-3 on the year with an ERA of 4.57. Not good, certainly, but he is the only London starter with a winning record, at this point. The other player of note was LF Kelvin McDonald, who slashed .321/.345/.536 with a home run and 8 RBIs in six games. McDonald’s 26 RBIs are good for the team lead, and his .269 BA ranks him second. Game of the Week: Plenty to choose from this week, but let’s zero in on London’s 4-3 win over Hartford on May 19. The Underground had surrendered a 2-0 lead in the top of the 5th inning, when Hartford put up three runs against eventual game-winner SP Félix Reyes. The Underground stormed right back in the bottom of the frame, though, on the strength of a two-run triple by LF McDonald deep to the right-field corner. Reyes pitched through the 8th inning, before yielding to closer Gideon Byrd, who provided a nervous moment or two before notching his 10th save of the year. Hartford LF Walter Daniel led off the 9th with a sharp single to left and then reached second when Underground 2B César Torres muffed a grounder. Byrd, however, induced DH Ron Myers to ground into a 1-6-3 double play, and then stranded the tying run at third when SS Mark Edwards tapped a weak grounder to first base.

Where they stand
On the morning of May 22, it’s: Havana, 28-17; San Juan, 25-20, 3 GB; Scotland, 21-24, 7 GB; and London, 19-26, 9 GB.

See you next week!
Last edited by Vic on Wed Feb 06, 2019 3:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Vic Caleca
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Re: This Week In The Trans Atlantic: Week Seven 2028

#2 Post by MikeB »

Yep. We are the team of little nubbers on offense!
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Re: This Week In The Trans Atlantic: Week Seven 2028

#3 Post by Borealis »

This continues to be an awesome breakdown!!! Here's for a tight race in the T&A division... 8-o I mean, TA division!!
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Re: This Week In The Trans Atlantic: Week Seven 2028

#4 Post by MikeB »

Also noteworthy in that game out the week is that the game went into extra innings due to Gomez having his first blown save of the year (also his first run allowed). Am hoping it is an aberration and not a return to his lack of focus norm. Playing in his hometown long considered he has been hanging with the wrong crowd for a while.
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Re: This Week In The Trans Atlantic: Week Seven 2028

#5 Post by Fishermen »

London certainly have had the Indian eye on Hartford so far this season :angry-cussingblack:
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