Going Undergroud - a London Underground blog

[Nigel]

March 23rd, 2016

Got into my office, jet-lagged. Too tired to write ... ZZZZ

[Nigel]

April 2nd 2016

It's been hard work the last week but we're finally at the eve of Opening Day. The new FA's have slotted in well and I'm particularly pleased with Glen Wallace who we brought in from West Virginia in a trade. We probably could have gone into 2016 with Cruz and Murdoch but something was missing. Glen showed over the short time he has had with us his PEBA experience and will break camp as the No.1 catcher with Al Murdoch given the nod as back-up due to his outstanding defence.


Wallace, London's No.1 catcher

Hiroyuki has been handed the ball for Opening Day, boy was he surprised to find his new GM could speak Japanese! Free Agent signing Millard Wooten showed enough in his two spring training starts to get the No.4 slot in the rotation with fellow FA signing Augusto Torres claiming the last rotation spot. The fans are happy he chose London and once he actually pitches he may move up the rotation. The two other Free Agent pitching arrivals both impressed too, Pedro Piña only got three innings of work but allowed just one hit while Aaron Hobbs after stints in Palm Springs and the Dominican Winter League returned to London and gave up five hits in nine innings with 15 K’s. Ángel Luján, the organisation’s 2015 minor league POY, impressed in his two starts but got squeezed out by the numbers and will start the year as Worcester’s ace.
After two season’s in the LRS I was certainly impressed with our pitchers’ control. Nii, Wooten and Mora all walked just one batter in spring training while registering double digit strikeouts. Grubb on the other hand found that walking 13 and striking out 6 earned him a quick trip to the waivers.


Luján, off to be Worcester's ace

I’ve worked hard and got the organisational charts out to Worcester and Montreal. Compared to the players I had in Ibaraki & Lodoss I’m very pleased with what my coaching staff tell me and I’m looking for big things from these teams this year. It’s nice to have a top farm system instead of the last ranked one. That said a little place in my heart will always be Kuwana and with the LRS spring training about to start I shall be thinking of them.

[Nigel]

April 18th, 2016
 
The opening four series have gone well for us with one sweep of Connecticut and overall victory over Florida in America as well as homestand wins over San Antonio & New Jersey.
Nii has had a rough three outings of it and some of the fans made it quite clear they weren’t so unhappy when he was taken out of the game against New Jersey. His shoulder doesn’t look as bad as we first feared and I think he’ll only miss one or perhaps two starts with Mitch Anderson probably filling in. A bigger concern is Tuo-Zhou Yang going off to the disabled list. His shoulder is a torn labrum and he’s set to miss the bulk of the 2016 season. With Mark Lamb not due back off the disabled list until next week we’ve called up Paco Shaffer from Worcester for his first taste of the PEBA. He’ll back up all the outfield positions while Glen Worley gets the start in centre.

Dennis Carter has really been playing some fine defence in right, he’s saved us several runs and if he keeps it up must be a contender for the All Leather award. The bullpen has finally given up some runs but haven’t cost us a game yet whilst having three wins to their credit. Alfonso Robles has been a great help in that, pitching 11.2 innings and coming away with a 0.77 ERA.
Luis Mora has been lights out with a win, three saves and a 0.00 ERA so I’m very pleased he’s agreed a three year extension with the Underground. It’ll make him one of the team’s highest paid players in the final two years but I think his career 55-49 record with 147 saves speak for themselves. I’m glad that he’s taken advantage of our offer to continue his career with the only team he’s ever known.

Down on the farm Worcester have been going well in the Appalachian Mountain League and they lead their division along with New Brunswick & Allentown with an 8-6 record in a very tight race. Lyndon Hodges and Leonard Ramsey have already won player of the week honours and I’m sure they and several other Saucers players will be pushing had for some PEBA action. Things haven’t been going as well in Montreal though. The Les Échassiers are currently bottom of their division in the Great Northern League with a 4-10 record but many of their players are just making the step-up from A-ball.

[Nigel]

April 25th, 2016

Last Results: Good week on the road for London with series wins against Gloucester and Charleston. Gloucester had previously led the Pan-Atlantic division but the Underground rolled in to overtake them. Aggressive hitting in the opening innings of the first two games allowed London to jump out in front in both games and the bullpen held firm to close out the games. Hiroyuki Nii’s missed his start with a sore shoulder in the final game, the bullpen pitched the whole game and held the Fishermen to two runs but the bats were silent leaving them on the wrong end of a 2-1 score. In Charleston they won the first game using the same aggressive hitting but it took an excellent throw to the plate by leftfielder Wilson Vélez to end the Charleston rally and preserve the 3-2 win. The Statesmen turned the tables in game two and jumped out to a 4-0 lead after six but a run in the ninth tied the game and London stole the 5-4 win when Bailey Rohr drove in Vélez in the top of the 10th. It had been a hard two series and I think the Underground players had their heads elsewhere in the final game as they could only manage three hits in a 6-0 shut-out although you could perhaps point to the loss of Millard Wooten after only three innings with a dead arm.


impressive defence by Dennis Carter

Next Up: The road trip continues with a three game set against Dixie leaders Kentucky before concluding with another visit to Connecticut who were swept by the Underground last time round.

Transactions: Tempe GM Matt Higgins approached London with an inquiry about Ricardo Borghese. There was much discussion about this and the general consensus was that, although Ricardo was a decent pitcher and probably second or third in line for an injury call-up, at 28 there were probably better options available. We were pleased for Ricardo who would get his shot at a PEBA career and the open spot now at Worcester meant a silver lining for London’s top pitching prospect Leonard ‘Snacks’ Carver. Snacks had been slated for another year in Montreal but his 2-1, 3.32 ERA there convinced the staff that he was the one to fill Ricardo’s spot. In his first two Triple-A starts Snacks pitched 13.2 innings without giving up a run going 1-0 with a 0.95 WHIP.
Coming back from the D/L are Scott Morris and Mark Lamb which necessitates a shuffling of the 25-man roster. Ernesto Burgos was only filling in for Scott but his strong start to the season has secured his spot and Juan Montoya will head for Worcester instead leaving the .417 hitting Rohr as the main utility man. Lamb’s return means the end of Paco Shaffer’s brief PEBA cup of coffee but he impressed with his defence and notched up his first two PEBA hits and a stolen base. We haven’t seen the last of Paco yet.

Johnny English Watch: Just two Englishmen in the system at the moment. James Tinker has appeared in 11 games in Double-A Montreal recording six hits, one double, three homers and seven RBI’s with a .250 / .333 / .667 slash line. Reliever James Kennedy has just be called up to Dover and should be about to make his first pro appearances.


Tinker is doing well at Double-A

Reasons to be cheerful: London’s defence through the first 19 games has been outstanding, particularly from the corner outfielders Vélez & Dennis Carter who both have three assists already. Free agent signings Wooten and Augusto Torres have settled in well to the bottom end of the rotation recording five wins between them. Only one person in the bullpen has an ERA over 3.18.

Reasons to Worry: Only five PEBA teams have hit a lower total of home runs than London’s 15. The Underground’s aggressive batting wins a lot of games but they really need a long ball game to back it up.

[Matt]

The Tempe GM is Alan.

[Nigel]

Schoolboy error

[Nigel]

May 1st, 2016

Last Results: London finished off the month and the road trip going 1-5, swept at Kentucky and downed 2-1 by lowly Nutmeggers.
Against the Dixie leading Thoroughbreds the Underground were never really in it but were never that far away either. Playing catch-up for the 4th innings in the opener they couldn’t just get close enough and finished one run short at the end. The second game marked the return of Mark Lamb and although he marked his first start of 2016 with an RBI double and a run in the third innings, the Underground were back to playing catch-up after a four-run fourth by Kentucky. London showed their mettle by digging in and Al Murdoch drove in Nathan Carter in the eighth to tie the game at four. We went to extra-innings and Petersen’s double in the 12th sent London to their first extra-innings defeat of the season. Hirosyuki Niireturned after missing just one start with his shoulder and pitched eight strong innings, walking none while striking out six. The final game once more saw London lose concentration at the end of a series and pick up a drubbing. Cipriano Peña last one out into the sixth by which time London were five down and looking down and out. The Underground bullpen pitched two and two-thirds scoreless innings but the batters came up short with only two baserunners and Decheng Wen’s solo homer to show for their efforts. Scott Morris made his first start of 2016 after returning from the D/L but looked rusty in a 1 for 4 effort.
The Underground went to the Nutmeggers looking to snap the four-game losing streak and get back to winning ways, after all they had swept Connecticut in the 2016 opening series, but it didn’t quite go to plan. Wen was the headline grabber in London’s 6-1 series opener win hitting two out of the park just shading Miguel Rosa who pitched a complete game giving up three hits, walking one and striking out four. George Worley also impressed with his second homer, a three run shot in the ninth, in as many starts. Despite getting on the board first in the second game London fell 3-1 one behind after Nutmeggers notched three runs in the second innings off Milard Wooten. London just couldn’t peg the home side back and went down by one run (5-4) for the third time in the week. Lamb continued to impress with his first homer of the season and a final tally of two runs, two hits, two RBI’s and two walks while Morris was poor in a 0-5 day. It became for one-run losses in the week next day when the Underground lost 4-3 to Connecticut. Augusto Torres left after a good seven inning outing, giving up just three runs and two walks while striking out eight but with the game tied at three. Ken Cates though picked up his first loss of the season as he gave up the winning run in the eighth. The Underground only registered six hits but three of them were doubles as London reached 61 two-baggers for the season, Wen being responsible for a team leading ten of them.

Next Up: After the Underground (15-10) slip to third they return home to host four against the Pan-Atlantic joint leaders Arlington (17-7) and follow that up with three games against the bottom team in Dixie, the 10-16 West Virginia Alleghenies.

Transactions: No movement in the majors after an injury free week but Burgos may well see more time at third as Morris returns and hits just once in nine AB’s. Down in the minors top prospect Lorenzo Valenzuela played his first six games at A-Ball Dover but hit just .048 as he was bothered by back spasms and has now headed for the D/L as has Montreal catcher Duane Schmitt who has suffered a sprained ankle. 23-year-old catcher Danny Jones will head for Dover to cover Masujiro Watanabe who heads for Double-A Montreal. Masujiro hit .167 during five games at Montreal in 2015 while Danny tastes A-Ball for the first time after two seasons in Maui. Sixto De Jesús after hitting .309 in his first pro season in Maui heads for Dover to patrol leftfield.

Johnny English Watch: James Tinker is rapidly establishing himself as Montreal’s starting second baseman. He still has three homers but has a .306 / .375 / .639 slash line now with seven runs scored and eight driven in. James Kennedy has appeared in his first two pro games at Dover, pitching 4.1 innings giving up four hits (two of them homers), walking none and striking out two with a 6.23 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP.


Lamb, impressive in his first week off the D/L

Reasons to be Cheerful : Although a 1-5 week looks bad four of the defeats were by a single run and most people would back London to bounce back in their upcoming seven game homestand. Mark Lamb made a successful comeback from the D/L hitting .462 in his first week back with one homer and three RBI’s. All five rotation members still are pitching well and the bullpen is commanding form with three members having an ERA below 1.80. Worcester (16-10) still lead the way in their Triple-A division while Montreal has returned to .500 with a 13-13 record. Montreal first Baseman Dwight Thompson picked up the Canadian Alliance player of the week honours after batting .448 for the week with three homers, 16 RBI’s and scoring six times. He is hitting .278 / .314 / .443 for 2016 with 20 RBI’s and is disappointed to find himself back in Double-A after hitting .319 in Worcester in 2015 but was forced back by the duo of Leonard Ramsey & Joe Buchanan claiming the roster spots.

Reasons to Worry : Scott Morris has a way to go to regain his rookie form of 2015 and the lack of power throughout the team. Although Wen hit three homers last week the team still relies more on Wen, Rohr and the Carters to hit doubles. If the team is to better last season’s impressive form the power boys must start their bats on a consistent basis.

[Nigel]

May 9th, 2016

Last Results: London’s slump continues as they go down 3-1 at home to Arlington and 2-1 to West Virginia. In the first game against the Bureaucrats, the Underground got on the board in the first innings and back-to-form Nii struck out 10 in 5.2 strong innings but they couldn’t hold it. Errors let the visitors in for four runs and despite a late rally London couldn’t close the gap, going down 4-3. The second game saw Arlington jump out to an early 4-0 lead and London failed to score for the second time in 2016. The Underground bats for the second successive game only registered five hits with the top four in their line-up going a combined 5-31. The third game was a real pitcher’s duel between Darryl Lewis & Miguel Rosa. Arlington got a run in the fourth but London nicked ones in the 6th & 8th to steal the game. Both starters gave eight solid innings with Rosa equalling the Underground regular season record for strikeouts with 13. London started the fourth game at speed, scoring two in the first innings and looking to tie the series. Their fire was soon clogged up by the Bureaucrats and once they had tied the game against starter Wooten they forged ahead to easily take the game 4-2.


Rosa tied a single season record against Arlington

West Virginia rolled into town and straight away made mockery of their lowly position by shaming London 13-3. The Alleghenies scored in every innings except the eighth and registered 20 hits as the home side were second best in every way. Starter Torres left in the third innings which torn triceps that will see him miss most of the rest of the season but he had already allowed West Virginia to plate six runs on seven hits. London actually managed 12 hits of their own but with the exception of Decheng Wen’s third innings’ homer they were all singles and they could only plate three runs. London looked in the second game as if they might have been about to turn a corner, registering nine hits, Nii going nine and two-thirds innings striking out 10 for the second successive start but they just couldn’t score. A run in the fifth was all they had to show for their efforts. West Virginia tied it up in the eighth on a solo-homer and when London failed to score from a bases loaded, 0 out situation in the 10th sneaked it with a walk and a double off Mora in the 11th. The Underground finally secured a win in the series’ final game as Cipriano Peña pitched a complete game three-hit shutout. The highlight of London’s 4-0 win was Chris Long’s first homer of the season and their five stolen bases (Lamb 2, Worley 2 and Dennis Carter).

Next Up: London nip over to Florida for a quick three game series against the Featherheads before returning home to face three against Pan-Atlantic leaders Gloucester. The Underground already lead the season series against both sides 2-1 but it will take a minor miracle for them to continue in that vein.

Transactions: The losses of Augusto Torres and Wilson Velez for most of the rest of the season opened up a couple of slots on the 25-man roster. After Paco Shaffer hit .095 on his last call-up and with George Worley providing adequate cover across the outfield London called up 22-year-old leftfielder Ralph Woods for his first taste of PEBA action. Ralph is currently hitting .333/.386/.469 in Worcester with two homers & 12 RBI. The fifth starters vacancy caused a lot more debate on whether top prospect Leonard Carver should be given the chance. 20-year-old Leonard has already gone 2-1, 3.32 ERA in three starts at Double-A Montreal and 2-0, 1.30 ERA in four starts at Worchester in 2016 but the nod finally went to 23-year-old Ángel Luján who went 1-1, 4.50ERA in spring training and is currently 3-2, 1.50 ERA in Worcester. The consensus was that it would help Carver’s development to have the rest of the season at Triple-A.

Ángel will get a chance as London's fifth starter

Of course these two promotions opened up two slots at Worcester and started a whole chain reaction. George Haines who is 1-0 with one save and a 2.92 ERA in 12 appearances at Montreal will head for Triple-A as will rightfielder Hitomaro Kan who has a Montréal record of a .266 average with two homers and 13 RBI. Herb Harper also headed for the D/L with a hamstring injury so up from Hi-A Dover came Jared Davis (1-1, 2.82 ERA in four starts), Grant Murphy (.400/.469/.486 in Dover) and Robert Jacobs (.293/.338/.453). Arriving at Dover from Maui where pitcher Gene Hunter and outfielders Stanton Bryant & Pat Lehman. Bryant is hitting .254/.358/.357 in two years at Maui while Lehman has already had 11 games spells in Dover in 2014 & 2015. Hunter is 7-15 with one save and a 4.95 ERA in 50 appearances (35 starts) in three years at Maui.

[Nigel]

May 16th 2016

Last Results: London slip to fourth behind New Jersey after going down 2-1 in Florida and then coming home to lose the series by the same score to Pan-Atlantic pace setters Gloucester.
Rosa spotted Florida a two-run homer in the opening innings of the series but the Underground offence showed their teeth with three singles and a double in the next innings giving them a 3-2 lead. They were never to relinquish that lead, Rosa went seven innings walking two and striking out eight and Mora finally came in to close out a 6-3 win with his seventh 2016 save. Ralph Woods celebrated his first ever PEBA call-up by hitting a two-run double off his first AB and finishing with the Player of the Match award for his 2-4, one run scored and three RBI. The Featherheads got their revenge though in the second game over a slumping Millard Wooten. Florida opened up with a second successive first innings two-run homer but really got after Wooten in the second. Having walked the first batter Wooten then gave up his second two-run long ball and three batters later stared in dismay as the home team added a three-run homer. His final straw came just two batters later when he spotted the Featherheads their third multi-run homer of the innings, Aaron Hobbs came in to get two quick outs and London was out of the second nine behind. There was no way back from that and the home side went on to win 10-3. New call-up Ángel Luján pitched the eighth and gave up just the one hit while walking one and striking out two. Mitch Anderson got his first start of 2016 in the final game of the series and London got out of the first having only given up a solo homer. Florida were not to be denied though and were 4-0 up by the end of the third. The Underground rallied for the first time in the series and a triple by Wen at the start of the top of the 6th inning set the table for a Bob Adams single and a George Worley double to tie the game and they so nearly took the lead when Murdoch was the final out, thrown out at the plate. Florida made them pay for that failure when Prado launched a solo homer in the bottom half of the innings which was to prove the eventual game winner as London went down 5-4, their eighth one-run loss of 2016.


Ralph Woods impressed in his first ever PEBA match


Gloucester came into London with a swagger which Nii chilled a bit allowing just one hit over the first three innings while in the bottom of the third two singles, a walk, an error and a double left London three ahead. Hope flicked mid-sixth when the Fishermen closed to 4-2 behind but solo home runs by Wen & Burgos in the bottom half saw London home. Luis Mora came on for a two out save but was not pleased in giving up two runs in London’s 6-4 win. In the second game both sides traded two runs in the first and one in the second before starters Cipriano Peña & Leslie Johnson put the brakes on. Three hits and two runs in the top of the sixth effectively won it for Gloucester who ended up nipping London 5-4 with both starters moving onto 3-3 records. The final game of the week and series saw a pitcher’s duel between Cristo Santiago for the visitors and Miguel Rosa for the Underground. Rosa went seven, Santiago went eight and Gloucester won 2-1 on two solo homers from Martin & Carmona while Rohr’s solo bomb was London’s sole reply.

Next Up: London continue their homestand with four against the Pan Atlantic’s bottom side Manchester and three against West Virginia who have been on a tear since coming out of London with that 2-1 series win. London have reached down to .500 ball and must use this homestand to ensure that they don’t fall further.


Wyatt made 642 pro appearances in the minors before London released him

Transactions: An injury free week saw no additions to the D/L while two were eligible to return. RF James Johannson returned to Worcester after three weeks out with a strained rib cage muscle while 27-year-old Wyatt McGuire , a seventh round draft pick in 2010, ended a six year stint with the franchise when he was released following his spell on the D/L. Wyatt never reached the PEBA but made 642 minor leagues appearances for the club at all levels. He hit between .218 & .270 and had a career high 11 homers at Double-A Montréal in 2014, the year he stole his only base. On a brighter note minor league extensions were agreed for Montréal’s English 2B James Tinker and Worcester’s hot-shot Joe Buchanan.

[Nigel]

May 17th, 2016

Johnny English watch: James Tinker has a slash line of .276/.325/.618 with seven homers and 14 RBI. He’s just signed a minor league extension and could well be in line for a promotion to Worcester as César Caballero continues to struggle. Perhaps Caballero is upset about finding himself back at Triple-A after spells in London but if he doesn’t buck up his ideas he could find himself on the scrap heap.
James Kennedy now has eight appearances for Hi-A Dover and his ERA is 7.15 which is heading in a better direction after three outings without giving up a run. So far he’s only walked one whilst striking out seven which pleases the manager but it is hoped that he can reduce his three homers given up in his 11 innings pitched.

News & Notes: Luis Mora has a 19 save streak going. Robert Collins is set to be activated off the D/L next week after tearing his rotator cuff last September, the 35-year-old is expected to spend a month in Double-A rehabbing and will probably re-join London around late June if all goes to plan. The Underground batting order and line-up underwent a shake up at the start of May with Dechung Wen moving from the DH to first base, Bob Adams moving across the diamond to the hot corner to take over from Scott Morris who’s only hitting .143 since returning from the D/L. Despite having both Tuo-Zhou Yang & Wilson Vélez on the D/L the outfield is coping with George Worley providing some good defence in centre but some unspectacular hitting (.182 with two homers) while Ralph Woods could do with sharpening his leftfield defence but has hit .308/.400/.538 in his first week in London. The catching duties have been shared almost equally between Murdoch (18 games) and Wallace (20 games) so far with both hitting in the .300’s. Murdoch’s hit their only homer but Wallace’s defence, 36.4% RTO, shades Murdoch’s 16.7%.

Minor League Round-Up: Worcester has just been knocked off top spot in the Global Baseball Brotherhood (Triple-A) Northeast Division by Allentown, Canton’s affiliate but remain two back with their 21-18 record. Montreal after a poor start have improved to 20-19 but still 6 ½ back of Aurora’s Gatineau Balloonists and Dover’s 4-10 start has been forgotten as they’re reached .500 with a 13-13 record, three back from Connecticut’s Cary Grants.
In Worcester top pitching prospect Leonard Caver is knocking on the door of the PEBA with a 2-1 record and a 2.20 ERA after six starts while George Haines celebrated after getting back to Triple-A by throwing a complete game one-hit shutout against the division leading Allentown. The franchise’s #2 prospect, Leonard Ramsey is also blazing a trail in Worcester hitting .329/.412/.627 with 14 homers and 33 RBI.
In Montreal 22-yr-old closer Chad Fountain is having a good year with 12 saves from 14 opportunities and a 2.51 ERA but has walked 8 in 14 innings a stat which needs to come down. 23-yr-old Shortstop Júlio Mena is making the most of his second year in Double-A hitting .413/.441/.455 but needs to sharpen his defence if he is to progress.
In Hi-A Dover 24-yr-old Gene Hunter has made an impression after promotion by winning his first two starts with a 2.03 ERA. 25-yr-olds Carlos Romero & Jesús Gonzáles are doing well but their age could count against them in the long run.

[Nigel]

May 23rd, 2016

Last Results: London remained on New Jersey’s tail with a four game sweep of Manchester and a series win over the Alleghenies in Wembley.
The Underground scored the first runs of the series when a Bailey Rohr triple drove in Chris Long and a Ralph Woods base hit next up added the second run in the bottom of the second. Woods & Rohr’s second triple of the game (tying an Underground regular season record) added a third in the 4th innings but then the visitors got to Millard Wooten in the tip of the 5th and tied the game. London soon regained the lead with a Dennis Carter three-run bomb and Wooten turned it over to the bullpen with a 6-5 lead after seven despite having given up 14 hits and two walks. For the first time in 20 outings Mora wasn’t picture perfect and two singles left the game tied at six going into the bottom of the ninth. Mark Lamb got him the win though as he drove the 2-1 ball over the fences just minutes later. The franchise’s 2015 Minor League Pitcher of the year, Ángel Luján, took his first PEBA start in the second game and outdueled Mauler’s Raúl Sánchez. Luján pitched eight almost flawless innings and left leading 2-1 having given up just six hitting, walking none and striking out two. Robles came in to send the Maulers packing 1-2-3 in the final stanza. Manchester were blanked by Nii in the third game. The home side went station-to-station in the fourth to put two on the board and added a third in the fifth when a Woods triple was followed by a Rohr single. That was all Nii needed as he went 8.1 innings walking none while striking out six although his face was as black as thunder when Manager Sergio Manetti sent in Mora to get the final two outs. The final game saw Manchester get on the board first in the fifth as Cipriano Peña struggled with his control and Burgos had left the game with a thumb injury. London came straight back at the visitors and four single in the bottom half saw them 2-1 ahead whilst a walk, a hit-by-pitch and a steal made it three in the sixth. Murdoch followed that with a two-run shot that sealed the series sweep.
West Virginia came to town with a swagger after their two games to one win last time but it was the visitors that blinked first in a pitchers duel between Rosa & Sullivan. Both starter went seven innings and gave up three hits each but the only offence came from a single London run in each of the seventh & eighth innings. Millard Wooten finally got another win, his first in six starts, in the second game as a three-run sixth proved decisive as London topped Manchester by 5-2. Luján was a bit wild in his second ever PEBA start in the final game, three walks and a double in the fourth gave Maulers all the offence they needed. Murdoch was the only Underground man to cross the plate despite the home team out-hitting the visitors by 9-5.

Next-Up: The Dixie’s bottom side, the New Orleans Trendsetters, sample Wembley for their first three 2016 clashes with London and then the Underground head for San Antonio leading the season series 2-1.

Transactions: Ernesto Burgos, who grabbed his chance with both hands after Scott Morris opened the season on the D/L, is headed for a D/L stint himself after fracturing his thumb. After much consideration, helped by the fact Morris improved to hit .385 last week, London will hand the 3B job to Morris full-time again and Bailey Rohr will go from DH-ing back to the utility infield role to allow the 2015 franchise Minor league Batter of the Year, Leonard Ramsey to get his PEBA cup of coffee as the DH. The 2012 second rounder is currently hitting .323/.397/.598 with 15 homers & 36 RBI in 46 appearances in Triple-A Worcester. Pitcher Robert Collins, who hasn’t pitched in anger since September 2015, was activated from the D/L and sent to Montréal to rehab. Dover’s only Englishman, James Kennedy will also head for the D/L with a rotator cuff strain Pablo Rivera will be sent to Dover to cover & clear roster space for Collins. Pablo is currently 2-4 with a 5.15 ERA in nine starts and seems to have regressed from last year’s performance.

Johnny English watch: James Tinker has now reached 100 AB’s for Montréal and is hitting .260/.299/.590 with nine homers and 20 RBI. He has also scored 17 times, walking six times while striking out 18 times. Dover’s James Kennedy is on the disabled list and is expected to be on it for another three weeks or so.

[Nigel]

June 6th 2016

The good form of the final two weeks of May were forgotten as the season slipped into June. The loss of Hobbs, Woods and Lamb (again) to injury disrupted London and meant more auditions for the Worcester players. Up came Shaffer for his second stint of the season in the London outfield and Cristián León joined him following his .259/.286/.444 effort in spring training while 21-year-old Jamie Camacho, signed as a summer free agent, got his first look at the Underground bullpen.

Disruptive as the constant injuries were I don’t think the defence suffered that much, sure Veléz and Lamb probably had better range but there were no glaring howlers by the new boys. Instead perhaps the pitchers ought to look inwards at ways to keep the ball in the park, over the course of last week London pitchers gave up 18 long balls with starters Nii, Peña & Wooten giving up three each. Out of the seven games played London allowed four homers three times whilst only scoring five homers themselves over the week.

It was also a poor week with the bat, when you’re chasing that amount of homers you need some hot bats and that’s not what London got. Murdoch (.077), Wallace (.071), Léon (.056) were the main culprits with Ramsey (.111) and Morris (.188) not far behind. The unsung hero of the week and indeed the season was utility man, Bailey Rohr, who hit .600 for the week and raised his season slash line to .331/.339/.551 while logging innings everywhere in the field except catcher and rightfield. Top prospect Leonard Ramsey will rightly be pleased with his first two PEBA homers but his .206/.206/.412 line indicates that he could probably benefit from a return to Worcester as soon as Burgos returns from the D/L. Pedro Piña caught the eye amongst a sorry lot of hurlers as he pitched 4.7 innings without giving up a run or hit although he did walk four. Pedro whose pro experience amounts to two years in the San Juan Winter League and a season in Connecticut’s Double-A ball team is beginning to find his feet in the PEBA having now cut his ERA to 4.38. In 12.1 innings he’s given up six hits and six runs but his control needs work as he’s walked 9 while striking out 10.


Woods has impressed in his first 15 PEBA games

With Ralph Woods now activated from the D/L Léon heads back to Worcester who still lead their division despite the heavy Trans-Atlantic traffic. Camacho & Shaffer will stay in London another week waiting for Lamb and Hobbs to be activated.

[Nigel]

June 14th, 2016
 
Rotating Bodies: The Underground have finally made the rotation change that many had been predicting for several weeks. Slumping summer free-agent signing Millard Wooten’s poor form continued over the second week of June and his record fell to 4-6 with a 6.01 ERA after a heavy loss in New Jersey as well as just getting off the hook at home to Charleston. Mitch Anderson’s 5.2 scoreless innings in that game tipped the balance as Anderson’s record improved to 2-1 with a 1.91 ERA and he’ll now return to the rotation where last year he went 7-9 with a 3.91 ERA in 27 starts. With Robert Collins expected to return to London at the end of next week after his rehab stint with Montréal, where does that leave Wooten? In 9.3 innings last week he gave up 16 hits, nine earned runs and walked five as opponents hit .364 off him. True his BABIP figure of .394 shows it perhaps wasn’t all his fault but a run of 1-6 with three ND’s since he opened up 3-0 means he is fighting to be in London in 2017 or even to survive the rest of his one-year deal.
 
Meanwhile the franchise’s 2015 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Ángel Luján, continues to thrive after his call-up. In five starts he is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA, striking out 29 and walking 13. His BABIP of .291 is right around where it should be and 80% of his starts have been Quality Starts. At 23 he could be making the first steps in a long PEBA career and with top prospect 20-year-old Leonard Caver impressing in Triple-A Worcester the Underground fans can look forward to the future with real hope.
 
Season notes: As we rapidly approach the All-Star game and the halfway mark London are five back of Pan-Atlantic leading Gloucester and just a half game back of New Jersey. With a winning record both at home & away plus a 5-3 record in extra-innings games and even at 11-11 in one-run games the Underground must relish the thought of a competitive second half of the season. While the pitching staff rank among the very top staffs in the Imperial League the batters are right in the middle of the Imperial League rankings, if they can find some pop and return to their early season form London must surely be heading for only their second ever play-off appearance. If only things were as simple as that …

[Denra44]

Hey, David Nelson here. This is my London Underground Minor League reporting Debut! Speaking of Debuts’ London’ farm system is about to produce a hall of famer. If you have never heard of Leo Carver, then you need to watch the Katy High schoolproduct. Unlike some players, he worked bottom up. In Middle School he never pitched a game, and played third base in a YMCA league. After working his tail end off, he made his High school team by the skim of his teeth. By his senior year it was the best decision his coach made to keep him. A High School all-star game isn’t anything to scoff about. He has worked from Single-A to Triple-A and still hasn’t tasted any coffee. At 20 he isn’t old by any means, and has the potential to bring the Underground to the next level in a year or two. But, I am willing to bet that he will be in our Bullpen in spring training…

[Nigel]