This Week In The Trans Atlantic: All Star Break, 2028

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This Week In The Trans Atlantic: All Star Break, 2028

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By Hamish Campbell
The Edinburgh News
06-19-2028

The Big Picture
We’re just past the season’s halfway point, so this seems as good a time as any to take stock of the Trans Atlantic Division race – what went as expected, what surprised, and what perplexed.

The overall standings are a mix of all of the above: we expected Havana to be in command of the division, but we’re surprised at just how much the other teams have improved, and we’re perplexed by the number of severe injuries that have hit the TAD so far.

If we had to guess (and for the purposes of this update, we do), we think things will stay pretty much as they are with one exception: San Juan will likely displace Scotland in the No. 2 slot.

We believe that largely because Scotland lost the bulk of its starting rotation (including staff ace Francisco Robles) to season-ending injuries, and the replacements simply aren’t as good. The Coqui, on the other hand, have a deep and capable pitching staff with plenty of farm system depth, should they need to dip into it.

London, meanwhile, has made huge strides, and recently welcomed aboard a committed new management team, so you discount the Underground at your own peril.

To summarize: Havana is the class of the division and an Imperial League power. Scotland, San Juan and London have a way to go before they’re a match for the Leones, but all three clubs are on the move.

The second half should be interesting. And next season? Look out!

Havana Happenings
First Half Strength: This is a balanced club that wins with world-class pitching and an offense that’s a tick below that, but still formidable. The Leones rank 1st in the Imperial League in virtually every pitching category that matters: Team ERA (3.02); Starters ERA (3.17); Bullpen ERA (2.68); Runs Allowed (293); Hits Allowed (688); Opponents Batting Average (.230). First Half Weakness: Team OBP (.310), 6th in the league. Everything’s relative, of course, but compared to those pitching stats and to Havana’s power stats (1st in home runs, 2nd in extra-base hits), the overall attack is a notch below ideal. First Half Hitting Star: We’ve got to go with rookie sensation Claudio Hernández, who’s slashing .268/.383/.500 for the season, with 20 HR, 49 RBIs, and 3.6 WAR. First Half Pitching Star: Wow. Hard to pick from this group – you could easily just nominate the entire staff. But our pick is SP Enrique Vázquez, who has a 7-3 record, a 2.32 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP, an other-worldly Command Ratio (K/BB) of 7.0, and 4.4 WAR. Hard to argue against that. Second Half Outlook: Hello, playoffs!

Coqui Cables
First Half Strength: Pitching, speed, and defense. GM Mike Best promised at the start of the season that San Juan would emphasize team speed and defense, but didn’t mention pitching. Rival division managers think he was holding out on them, for the Coqui pitching has been a revelation: ranking 4th in the IL in Team ERA (3.57) , Starters’ ERA (3.71), Runs Allowed (335), and Opponents Batting Average (.247). How about defense and speed? Well, San Juan ranks 3rd in Defensive Efficiency and 2nd in stolen bases. First Half Weakness: All of those strengths help make up for a fairly anemic offense, that rates 7th in OBP (.309), 8th in Runs Scored (347), and 11th in Home Runs (66). Imagine what this team could do with a little more hitting … First Half Hitting Star: Um, how can we put this politely … no one really jumps out. We’re gonna split this “honor” two ways: OF Flint Butler slashed .271/.329/.382 and, at times, was a critical spark for the offense. He stole 10 bases, was caught just once, and scored a team-leading 50 runs … Our other nominee is C Jesús Negrete, who hit 13 homers, knocked in 35, and had a team-leading 2.4 WAR. His slash line was an uninspiring .225/.297/.446, but his handling of the pitching staff and defense behind the plate was critical, too. First Half Pitching Star: SP Hou Hao had an outstanding first half, culminating with his selection to the IL All-Star team. He has an 11-6 record with a 2.24 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, and 2.0 WAR, and projects as a 20-game winner if he can keep up his current pace. Second Half Outlook: A sub-par June (13-15) saw San Juan dip briefly below .500, but the Coqui have bounced right back to sit just one game behind second-place Scotland. Our money is on the Coqui riding that pitching staff past the Claymores and into one of the two IL Wild Card slots. No matter what happens, though, the 2028 San Juan Coqui bear little resemblance to the club that staggered to a 60-102 record a year ago.

Scottish Scoops
First Half Strength: Power. The Claymores’ offense gets on base OK (.314 OBP, 5th in the IL; .255 Batting Average, 6th in the IL), but puts up pretty impressive slugging numbers. Scotland scored 375 runs, 3rd in the league, and hit 99 HRs, good for 2nd in the IL. First Half Weakness: Those power numbers are fortunate, because the pitching staff – not necessarily a strength to begin with – has been ravaged by injury. Staff Ace Francisco Robles went down to a season-ending injury on June 2; No. 3 starter Jorge Vázquez went down for the year on May 31, and No. 4 starter Kazuhiko Nishiyama hasn’t pitched for the big-league club since May 21 due to a lingering elbow injury. Our only advice: Keep swinging for the fences, boys! First Half Hitting Star: We’re tempted to nominate RF José Guillén, who got off to a scorching start and still has a sparkling .322/.398/.579 slash line, with 14 homers and 2.8 WAR. But he’s missed so much time with injuries (and missed the All Star Game because he’s back on the DL), that it doesn’t seem quite fair. So, we’re going with 2B José Escobido, who’s come on strong in June and July to post a .314/.386/.441 slash line, with 2.7 WAR. With Guillén in and out of the lineup, Escobido has helped keep the offense humming with his steady play. First Half Pitching Star: This isn’t even close – it’s closer Ken Fisher, whose consistent excellence has rescued the pitching staff time and again. His All-Star nod was well-deserved, as even a cursory glance at his stats will tell you: An ERA of 1.08, 3 wins, no losses, 17 saves, and a Command Ratio of 4.4. “Pappy” would be the team MVP if the season ended today. Second Half Outlook: You have to wonder how much longer this cobbled-together starting staff can keep things afloat. Nishiyama will be back soon, but he was struggling mightily before he got hurt, and free agent replacements like Allen Guthrie and Roger Keller have pitched well, but their talent levels are pretty workmanlike. If the team can keep slugging and the pitching can stay even mediocre, Scotland should contend for a Wild Card, but San Juan seems like a stronger all-around team and the revitalized Arlington and London are nipping at Scotland's heels. One thing, though, is at least for sure: this year’s Scotland is way better than the team that lost 99 games a year ago.

Underground Utterings
First Half Strength: Defense and Bullpen. London’s Defensive Efficiency of .718 ranks it second in the league, and keeps the weak-hitting Underground lineup from beating itself. Likewise, the London bullpen has proven itself capable of putting a lid on opponent scoring after the starting staff has waded into trouble. London’s Starters' ERA of 3.86 ranks 8th in the IL, but the Bullpen ERA of 2.83 is 2nd. First Half Weakness: Those bullpen stats are helpful, of course, because London ranks near the bottom of the league in virtually every offensive category of note: 11th in batting average (.238); 11th in runs scored (313); 12th in home runs (62). First Half Hitting Star: All-Star SS Tony Cuevas slashed .273/.316/.342 for the first half, and leads the team with 1.9 WAR. While Cuevas is, unquestionably, a solid player, those numbers tell you all you need to know about London’s offense. That kind of output would rank near the middle of most PEBA lineups or even towards the bottom, not at or near the top. First Half Pitching Star: We threatened to do it earlier, and here we’ll carry through on the threat: London’s bullpen has been a center of excellence for the team in the first half. Akira Endo, Marcos González, Roberto Peña and Closer Gideon Byrd have been critical to London’s steady improvement, as the season has worn on. Second Half Outlook: A strong June (16-12) gave Underground fans hope that London could be a factor in playoff race. A recent 3-7 slump has seen the Underground slip back beneath .500, but there’s no reason to lose hope yet: they’re only 5 games out of 2nd place in the division and 4 games out of a Wild Card slot. With new management aboard, we expect London to stay in the race to the end … but there’s no denying that some offense would be nice.

Where They Stand
As of the morning of July 10, the division standings were 1). Havana, 54-33; 2). Scotland, 47-40, 7 GB; 3). San Juan, 46-41, 8 GB; 4). London, 42-45, 12 GB.

See you soon!
Vic Caleca
Scottish Claymores
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