The Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance

Team has been hot thus far into the season riding a 12 game win streak now. Managed the somewhat rare feat of sweeping three series in one 7 day sim thanks to a pair of back-to-back 2 game series (Bakersfield and then Yuma) before taking all three in Reno over the weekend.

CF Pat Watson and 1B Gustavo Lopez are one and two in the SL in offensive WAR thus far. I'm really holding out hope that we'll get a full season out Watson at some point, but his history suggests he's going to end up on the injured list.

Sitting at 14th in runs, 12th in batting average, and 11th in OPS in the Imperial League and going 1-5 this week, finally had enough and fired my hitting coach this sim. Can't get any worse, and my old hitting coach focused on power which my lineup lacks and my ballpark is built against.

A Not Very Neat At All week for the rollercoaster riding Borealis, whose best news was splitting their second 4-game series with the Evil Evas - but that was old news... On the New News:

- Fargo came to The Front Range for the team's first match-up on the year, and, of course, as fate would have it, Mike Provost took the mound and went 8-innings, allowing 6 H and a run... Pfffffffftttt... At least he's scheduled to miss the rebound series in North Dakota...
- A very rough 3-game sweep to the Dinos: 4-1, 3-2, and 2-1 ended the week and saw the Borealis drop to 3rd in the Desert Hills as out of nowhere, Palm Springs has moved to the head of the class...
- Mike Britt may be joining the DL crowd, as a strained intercostal should only effect him for a few days - but Aurora has been known to be cautious with their players early in the season...
- Looking back at the Fargo series with 'Mister, Mister' Jones pitching, into the 5th, he only allowed 6 hits and 3 runs - two of which were in the 1st... He did walk three, though... Jesus Solis pitched more effectively again, pitching 6 innings, and allowed only 2, though the lead-off hitter in the 7th was allowed to score by the 'pen, so his record says 3... 5-shut out innings to start against Fargo wasn't to shabby...
- The Horrid Week has created a first in Aurora history: The Borealis PEBA Power Ranking status is lower than any of the other teams in the Organization! UGH!!! Not Neat!!! Oh... and we split games with the Yumans...

Not a horrible week for Warrior Nation. Nakamura back in his old form for two quality starts, bringing his ERA wayyyy down. Henry Carter recoveres nicely as well, and Soetsu Hirai continues to impress.

Duluth offense, meanwhile has completely shut down--save John Howe.

Was fun to go 2-1 in the Fargo Series, a real blitzer from Nakamura.

Comforting week for the boys from Yuma: 4 losses, only one win. We're beginning to breathe again. Just 2 games out of our favorite cellar, and after our very disturbing start of the season (tied for 1st in division, 1st in power rankings), the whole club has gotten into the swing of things, making outs like a well oiled machine. The whole city has responded to the familiar play of their favorite ball boys. Calls to the crisis phone line have dropped dramatically, sales of alcohol returned to its more moderate level, and no suicides all week. The police report no domestic disturbances this week. And to celebrate the return to the Good Life, Anna's Taco Truck is offering 2-for-1 deals all week long. Life is good when you're sinking toward the cellar.

WV finally played well, but maybe that has to do with I finally figured the 7-day lineup was on without ever putting in a lineup, but who knows. We went 5-1 and hit as many hr's this sim as we had all year (7 for those wondering).
David Lopéz was dealt this week after finally showing why he was signed to that contract years ago and José Moreno was brought up before the May 1 deadline.

With both Mercer and Drake (setback a few sims ago, because why not) out my OF situation has been a bit rockier than I had originally planned, but Mercer should be back in 3 weeks and the team is rumored to be looking to get another OF. In the absence of Mercer, Raúl García has shown that he belongs in the lineup everyday. He is hitting and stealing at a pace that no Allegheny has ever done.
Brad Davis had the worst April Ever (Kind of like Rizzo in 2018), but May looks to be kind to him so far.
Carlos Bruno came to the team to help out at D at 1b and let Davis be DH. He did great hitting, but his error cost them 1 game this week. The team still has plenty of faith in Bruno (or at least for 3 weeks).
Moe Merkel is on a tear, so he has been reinserted in the starting lineup and Francis who isn't struggling will go to catching every 3/4 days.

Koki Wantanabe who was brought in when Manuel Pacheco decided he needed 4 weeks off, got injured with an oblique strain. Unfortunately for him it might smell the end of his time with the Alleghenies. Jack Mundy has been called up to replace him and Pacheco will be off the DL in 2 weeks.

After a horrendous 1st week, the pen has been stellar for the Alleghenies. With Lopéz leaving, there might be a small transition period in finding his replacement. It will most likely mean more appearances from Fred Wilton (which is deserved) and José Moreno.

Speaking of the pen, Jeffery Brown was called up this week and pitched 6 innings to help an exhausted pen. He did pretty well and the team is debating keeping him up for another week or 2. If he goes to the minors, the team will definitely bring up a position player and the rumors have been they are wanting to bring up Héctor Prado or Jose Segura (who is currently on 6 day DL).

The IL Trans Atlantic features a 3 way race for the division lead with, Scottish, Havana and San Juan all touting 18 wins. Looks like a tough slog is shaping up there. Should be a great contest to watch!

Just like last year, we started off the year ice cold. This year, it was 3-13. We're 10-5 since then, which would be 2nd in the Great Lakes... but we sure don't expect that to continue.

Fun fact: Who's leading the PEBA in BB/9IP?

SP Robinson Herrera, with 0.49 BB/9IP. He's given up 2 walks. He hasn't been nearly as effective as the guys he sits in front of, Jim MacCowan and Enriqe Vazquez, thanks to the fact that he has only 17 K's and has given up 5 HR's (same as MacCowan, actually). That said, if I have to have middling pitchers, it's fun to be able to say that have one area they're decent at.

Our pitching staff is pretty bad... we have given up more home runs than just about anyone, but we're middle of the pack in hits and walks allowed.

The offense is doing something I didn't really expect, and that's hitting for a decent average so far. Sure, a .257 average doesn't sound good, but the truth is that hitting for average isn't a particularly in vogue skill, so that equates to 5th in the SL at the moment. Couple that with a good number of walks (we're 3rd there), and we have a .328 OBP... which trails only Shin Seiki in the SL. It won't last, but it is fun. We're led, of course, by Ruben Jimenez, as to be expected. Juan Hernandez is also getting on base at a .400 clip, which shows that last year was a bit of a blip. This is the final guaranteed year of his big contract, so he's got that contract year push going.

Heh... I somehow missed the Vito Valkenburg won SL Rookie of the Month. I guess it was his .244 average or his .649 OPS that convinced the voters... possibly one of the weaker winners ever? The last Badger to win it was Scott Wiggins, for April 2020. In contrast, the IL winner was Manchester's Scott Carpenter, who posted a .965 OPS for April.

Bulldozers wrote:Normalcy returns to the Arizona desert. Yuma loses 4 in a row, 8 of the last ten. Fans sigh in relief. Palm Springs surges ahead of the Dozers; only Reno remains between the Yuma club and its traditional resting spot at the bottom of the league. We'll get there. Have faith.

I think every team in the Desert Hills is going to be allotted some amount of time in first place this season. It's probably Reno's turn next!

Badgers wrote:Heh... I somehow missed the Vito Valkenburg won SL Rookie of the Month. I guess it was his .244 average or his .649 OPS that convinced the voters... possibly one of the weaker winners ever? The last Badger to win it was Scott Wiggins, for April 2020. In contrast, the IL winner was Manchester's Scott Carpenter, who posted a .965 OPS for April.

Sadly, this is nearly the only thing that the Maulers have won all season, as they have offered fans a putrid 5-25 start. I knew it was going to be bad; but I must admit surprise at things being this bad!

The great news Jeff is that it can only go up! Right! Right?

Borealis wrote:The great news Jeff is that it can only go up! Right! Right?

The sky is the limit!

Maulers wrote:

Borealis wrote:The great news Jeff is that it can only go up! Right! Right?

The sky is the limit!

How can a sky be the limit? The sky itself is nearly limitless. I think, Jeff, you should be thinking BEYOND the sky.

Bulldozers wrote:

Maulers wrote:

Borealis wrote:The great news Jeff is that it can only go up! Right! Right?

The sky is the limit!

How can a sky be the limit? The sky itself is nearly limitless. I think, Jeff, you should be thinking BEYOND the sky.

Above the sky!