Edinburgh News - 2028-05-28 - 'Week Eight"

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Edinburgh News - 2028-05-28 - 'Week Eight"

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By Hamish Campbell
Evening News Staff Writer
2028-05-28

The Big Picture
Things aren’t always what they seem. That’s especially true if you’re talking about the Claymores’ pitching performance of late.

Yes, the Scottish ERA for the season ranks only 9th in the 12-team Imperial League, and the bullpen ERA ranks dead last. So the pitching is hopeless, right?

Not so fast, impetuous one. For one thing, the ranking for the starters' ERA (3.73) has crept all the way up to 5th in the league after a week in which no one in the rotation allowed more than 3 runs in a game. And that bullpen ERA (4.52) is largely the work of the long and middle relievers. The back end of the bullpen has, for the most part, pitched well – and, in the case of closer Ken Fisher, incredibly well.

Jorge Vázquez allowed just one run in 12.1 innings pitched in Week 8, winning both his starts and turning in an ERA of 0.73. Francisco Robles pitched a 5-hitter to pick up his 6th win against 2 losses. Terry Dumont, Soichiro Ogawa, and Carlos Pérez all had strong outings, too.

In the bullpen, William Talley (3 runs in 0.2 innings, 40.50 ERA) and Jesús Guerra (2 runs in 0.2 innings, 27.00 ERA) got rocked. But Mauro Rocha (5.2 IP); Ángelo Gonzáles (2.0 IP); Eitoku Tamura (1 IP); and Ken Fisher (2.2 IP) gave up a total of … let’s see … ZERO runs between them.

All of which is to say that the much-maligned pitching staff actually turned in some good work last week. If they can keep that up, well … let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Player(s) of the Week
Before he went down to a back injury (detailed here), José Guillén was turning in a helluva week – a .400/.500/.533 slash line to keep him among the Imperial League leaders for BA (3rd, .33); HR (tied for 1st, 13); RBI (tied for 4th, 33); OBP (3rd, .403); SLG. (1st, .613), and WAR (5th, 2.6).

For the first time this season, Scotland will have to play for an extended stretch without its offensive sparkplug. Whether his teammates can step up and plug the hole is an open question.

How it’s answered will go a long way towards determining whether the Claymores can stay within sight of Trans Atlantic Division leader Havana.

We can’t, in good conscience, move on without further acknowledging the week put in by SP Jorge Vázquez. As noted above, he shut down San Antonio twice en route to a 2-win week that brought his winning percentage above .500 for the year, at 5-4. His ERA on the season has dropped to 2.70 and he’s allowed just 3 HR.

The only cautionary note is that he’s walking too many runners, and his Command Ratio (K/BB) isn’t very good. But let’s not rain too hard on Jorge’s parade. He’s coming off a week that pretty much any pitcher would envy.

Game of the Week
No shortage of candidates this week, but we’re going to go with a complete-game gem turned in by staff ace Francisco Robles on May 26. At age 37, mind you, that’s his second complete game on the season, and Robles now ranks second in that category for both leagues.

In this outing, he allowed only 1 run on 5 hits, with two walks and 6 Ks, on the way to an 8-1 victory. Needless to say, he won Player of the Game honors.

Of course, he got plenty of offensive support - 20 hits and 8 runs. SS Naomi Honma and RF Vincent Powell both homered, and 1B Orlando Barrón rapped out 4 hits while 3B Bob Swift chipped in 3.

But Robles was the story here. Let it be said: Robles deserves an All-Star nod for the season he’s turning in – a 6-2 W/L record, 2.82 ERA; 1.02 WHIP; 3.50 Command Ratio; 3.16 FIP; and 1.5 WAR.

Not bad for an old warhorse!

Stat of the Week
Since we’ve mentioned it a few times, let’s look at how the Claymores pitchers are stacking up for K/BB, or as sabermatician and fantasy baseball guru Ron Shandler dubs it, Command Ratio.

Benchmarks for this stat, he says, are as follows: the best pitchers will have Cmd. Ratios of 3 or better, while pitchers with Cmd. of less than 1 (meaning they walk more than they strike out) are flashing a huge warning sign.

His fantasy advice, which likely applies to OOTP, as well, is to consider drafting only pitchers with Cmd. Ratios of 2.5 or better. That approach, he says, will “substantially improve your odds of success.”

With that in mind, how are the Scottish pitchers contributing to our odds for success? Well, let’s just say there’s room for improvement. Here’s how they stack up:

Ángelo Gonzáles: 12.0
Ken Fisher: 6.0
Mauro Rocha: 4.4
Francisco Robles: 3.5
Jesús Guerra: 2.0
Kazuhiko Nishiyama: 2.0
Jorge Vázquez: 1.8
Carlos Pérez: 1.7
Soichiro Ogawa: 1.6
Eitoku Tamura: 1.6
Terry Dumont: 1.3

Coming Up
Next week, the Claymores make a crucial early season road trip to the Caribbean for a 4-game set against San Juan and a 3-game series at Havana.
Vic Caleca
Scottish Claymores
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