Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

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Leones
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#496 Post by Leones »

River Pope is an interesting case. Is he due to bounce back to regular form or has age finally caught up with him? His performance may prove to be a key in the club's performance. Things may not be so bleak along the Front Range. February is always the longest month in Colorado.
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#497 Post by Borealis »

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Spring Rosters Seem Set, Feel Not
by Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball blogger

March 5, 2029: Grand Junction, Colorado - It's that time of year when we begin to feel Spring Eternal rear it's lovely head - but not here on the Back Range, where the ground surrounding Aurora's spring training site remains covered with snow. The shining spring sun may feel warm as you use the old skier's trick of turning your face to it, but then you look down and see white - unless you gaze at the bright green field that is Aurora's spring home - cleared of snow and looking ready for action!

The Borealis come off a weird 2028 season - they lost their Ace - future Hall of Famer Mike Provost an inning into Spring Training, got off to a ragged start, fell behind the resurgent Bears - only to catch them, pass them, and fall back to them - holding them off in the final days of the season. During that stretch they traded away what may have been a vital piece of the future (former #1 pick, 'Fudd' Martinez, c/o 2023) for even further in the future starting pitching (both of whom performed well in the low minors), saw another former #1 pick burst on the scene, then flame out (LF Ricardo Zamora, c/o 2025) and yet a third (1B Jose Torres c/o 2024) start hot and then simmer the rest of the way. They watched their former-two time batting champ (and career .324 hitter) slump his way through the season at DH, to the tune of .261, and in a failed attempt to reach the PEC again, the already maxed out salary structure was stretched beyond thin with deals that brought in 2B Derrick Dwyer, SP Bartolo Esquivel, CL Bob Burns and RP Mike Monroe - making a combined $48.75M this season; on top of the $88M that 'Tugboat', 'Big Whiskey', JT and Paul Carlisle alone are taking home. Amsterdam has a team total of $57M - and $15M is for one player!

And, so, Aurora pretty much sat pat - thankful that Dwyer, Burns and Monroe were arbitration eligible and Esquivel was under contract - at least the players they added to the team were at least staying - even if the club is under extreme financial pressure - and bursting at the seems. Which is why the rosters may seem set, but may feel not - will Aurora go with what they have, or will they shed salary early and seek the financial prudence of finishing in the black - before the Revenue Sharing tax kicks in.

So what does this year's 'feels set' Borealis roster look like going into Spring Training?

Starting Pitching
Four of the five rotation spots are set in stone: 'Tugboat', John Turner, Bartolo Esquivel and 'Chief' Nieves. The four were a combined 44-27, with a 2.72 ERA. Randy Smith's 9-9 was probably more reflective of the support he received from Aurora's inconsistent offense, as his 2.43 ERA was his 4th best in 8-seasons with the Borealis. John Turner was outstanding in his first season on the Front Range - his 2.17 ERA far better than anything he posted in New Orleans - though the rest of his numbers were more inline with his career - save the HRs, which may reflect more on playing at Northern Lights. Nieves also had a career year, so the loss of Provost can't be over-stated enough when looking at Aurora's 2028 successes and failures - the starter's - statistically, were solid - though at times, it certainly didn't feel that way. Esquivel came to Aurora at the deadline and was outstanding, but as the year came to an end, he seemed to struggle some - why will be a great mystery.

For now, the 5th spot will once more belong to young Rob Imhoff, who will need to first and foremost stay healthy. He came to Aurora as (another) a #1 pick (c/o 2026), and hurt. He has failed to complete a season healthy since - strange that his first three college years were remarkable. He ended up with 9 starts for Aurora last year and posted a 2.38 ERA. If he can just stay healthy. There are two pitchers in camp who will challenge (somewhat) Imhoff - 24-year old Jesus Solis, drafted at the end of the first round, also in 2026, who posted a 3.37 ERA in 29 starts at Thornton - and considering how bad Thornton was, that ERA and his 7-11 mark may be misleading. Solis has moved up the ranks and performed well at every level. Hugh 'Mister, Mister' Jones, 28-years of age and a 5th rounder in 2022, has been back and forth with Aurora, and has pitched mostly well in the minors, and with 8 ML starts to his name is 3-3 with a 2.79 ERA. He has struggled with his control, but a BABIP of .207 has more than made up for that. Solis will open the spring as the 6th starter and likely will get two starts and be re-evaluated. Should those be struggles, Jones will likely get the next two starts.

Bullpen
The ‘pen had a weird year. Starting with the closer, John Gray. He had 44 saves – tops in the PEBA, but he also lost 7 games – from his career high 6 blown saves and career high 11 HRs – more than double his 2027 total. And yet, his 2.46 ERA was perfectly respectable. He’ll certainly begin spring 2029 as the closer, but expect to see Bob Burns, who has closed the previous two-seasons with San Antonio to be given a shot at winning the job. Sorry, John G, but Bryant Burris feels your pain – of being the man and not getting a lot of love. Burns came over from the Calzones after saving 19 games in 40 relief appearances, to post a 0.59 ERA for Aurora in 30 IP – most importantly, allowing just 1 HR and striking out 46, while walking just 4 (in 87 IP, Gray struck out 111 and walked 17). One might suggest either way, Gray and Burns will form a mighty tough 8-9th inning team – giving Aurora some confidence with leads heading into the late innings.

Another 1-2 tandem for Aurora’s bullpen, likely a 7-8th inning collection is Dan Field and the trade-acquired Mike Monroe. Field, acquired in an offseason trade from Crystal Lake after 2026, has posted back-to-back excellent seasons – 2.11 ERA in 2027 and 1.51 in 2028, over a total of 77 appearances and 135 IP. His average of over 3 BB/9 may not be the best, but he has gotten the job done far more often than not. Monroe came from Arlington last season and had been their workhorse in relief in his previous four pro seasons - leading the PEBA in appearances in 2025 with 81. After the trade, Monroe posted a 2.05 ERA over 44 IP, struck out 30, walked 5 and allowed 3 HR. Both are left-handed, which may bother some, pitching only lefties in the late innings, but Aurora has never seemed to care much about righty-lefty issues. But coupled with the right-handed pair of Gray and Burns, the foursome have the key innings mostly covered.

Aurora will carry either 11 or 12 pitchers, so that will leave the team with the need of 2 or 3 more relievers – and a lot of that may depend on the offensive needs of the team – but lets go with the assumption that they will take another 3 arms. There are 18 pitchers invited to spring training – with 9-spots already taken, as you can see, so technically 9 pitchers will vie for those 3-spots – but realistically this is how that will add up: Lando Lagerveld will get one of those spots. The one-time starting pitcher hopeful has finally warmed up to his bullpen role and posted a 2.68 ERA in 50 IP. H did allow 5 HR – so on average that was 1 for every 8 appearances (he made 40). He did walk 14, but even that averages out to about 1 every three outings. The former #1 (c/o 2022) is likely here to stay. The last two spots needing filling were the spots held by Ron Latour (who signed a minor league deal with West Virginia) and former-5th rotation guys Carlos Rivera (signed a $6.6M deal with Charleston) and ‘Terror’ Diaz (who remains unemployed).

This is where it gets interesting. If you go by service time, 2021 draftee, and 29-year old Xavier Diaz is your man – he’s had some positive results in his 26 ML appearances (a 279 ERA, but a WHIP of 1.53). A solid spring result will likely give him a shot at a middle-relief position. Then there is 27-year old Carlos Gonzalez, who was drafted by Manchester in 2020, out of high school, but didn’t sign, then came to Aurora 3-years later after time at Georgetown. His last three seasons at AA and AAA have been solid – and in 59 appearances as the closer at Thornton in 2028, he posted a 2.88 ERA and 32 saves – for a team that won 49. He has historically struggled with his control – his K/9 is nearly 9, but his BB/9 is just over 5. He will need to show he can get that under 3 to really have a chance with the Borealis.

Then there is the 25-year old crowd – Brandon ‘Catfish’ Waters, Craig White and Volmer van der Loo. ‘Catfish’ (1st round pick c/o 2025) has been a starter in the minors, mostly with some success – outside of 2027. His big issue, like Imhoff, has been staying healthy. He has a reasonable chance of making it – his WHIP has been pretty good and he surrenders few HRs. White, a 5th rounder from the same class as Waters, has also been a starter with reasonable success. He missed virtually all of the Short A season in 2025, but at A Ball in ’26 and AA the past two seasons he’s averaged almost 8 K per 9 IP and walked under 3 – and likewise, few HRA. Volmer is the interesting guy. Also from the C/O 2025, but a 13th round pick, his ’26-’28 seasons were cut short with injury, but he made 24 starts at SLRC and Gatineau, combined, and posted a 1.70 ERA with 131 K in 142 IP, walking a somewhat more disturbing 58. Van der Loo may be the least likely candidate to get the last bullpen spot, but this 13th rounder has already surprised the organization.

Catcher
No surprises will be coming out of this corner of the organization – only what position will they play. After a strong 2026 rookie campaign in which ‘Fido’ Castro hit .274 with 16 HR and 23 of 23 SB, he slumped miserably in 2027 – despite finishing at .264 with 14 HR, his catching counter-part, Domingo Gutierrez started hot and stayed so, to the tune of a .336, which would have led the SL if he had enough AB. They flopped spots in 2028, Gutierrez starting slow (finishing at .278), while Castro hit .296 with 15 HR. Ideally Aurora would like to see both in the line-up – with Castro at DH (Gutierrez defensive metrics are a bit better). That’ll likely depend on what Pope does, as his time in the OF, defensively, has kind of come to an end for Aurora.

What returning to the ‘two-headed catcher’ plan does is provide back-up-back-up minor leaguer, 25-year old Jorge Alonso a job. Jorge has a career .211 average at AA over 200+ games, but his defense is outstanding, and that’s all Aurora really has asked of their second- (third-) string catcher. Over the past two seasons he’s 1-9. Not very promising for a minor league career .242 hitter. Perhaps showing some promise might be 1st round pick (c/o 2027) Yato Shirane – a fine defensive catcher in his own right, who has been invited to spring training. The 23-year old Shirane hit .306 at Mokule’ia after the draft, then he was pushed forward to AA (through systemic need), but hit only .209 at Gatineau in 92 starts. The Aurora scouts don’t see him being a game-changer, but he does grade out to be a better hitter than Alonso. Should Pope win that DH spot, both the catchers will return to the minors, with Shirane perhaps heading back to Canada for the start of the season.

Infield
‘Big Whiskey’, the Aurora elder-statesmen, will be beginning his 14th season on the Front Range, and by the second week of April he will have played in his 1,800th game with Aurora – the only organization he has known. One would suspect by mid-May he will have hit his 350th HR and just past the All-Star Game he will have his 1,200 RBI – Who knows? The ultra-speedy Britt may even get his 20th career triple and 25th career stolen base! He will also be looking for his 13th straight season of 20+ HR and 8th of 25 or more. The former-Royal Raker may be in his last season with Aurora, he has a vesting option for 2030 ($28M), requiring 500 AB. Barring injury or horrendous slump, Aurora’s All-Time leader in games played will likely catch the teams All-Time leader in WAR – Steve ‘Old’ McDonald, at 56.

But enough about ‘Whiskey’ – we could go on and on. The infield will look mostly like it did at season’s end – Jose Torres is no longer a rookie and will need to build upon his fine freshmen campaign. He hit .268 with 23 HR – a season that looked remarkably like his 2027 AAA season, which provides confidence that what they saw last year may, minimally, be what they get – which is mostly ok. The Borealis would prefer for him to cut back the K’s and play a bit tighter D – but he could always play DH – How many of those can you field in a line-up? Derrick Dwyer, a former #1 for West Virginia (c/o 2020), came to The Front Range last July 10 in a trade with Crystal Lake, where he struggled in 2028, but he seemed rejuvenated with Aurora, and hit .310 and was 13 for 13 on SB. The soon-to-be 30-year old doesn’t strike out much, has a keen eye for the walk, and thus had a .404 OBP for Aurora. He might well end-up hitting lead-off, instead of the projected second.

Teddy Loetzsch will be back at short – we suspect Aurora tried to find a better replacement, but despite the off year at the plate, Teddy brings the leather and ties the infield defense up nicely. He struggled at the plate - .231 last year, after hitting .272 in 2027 with a League record 16-triples – talk about outliers, he had 4 last season and 4 the season previous to the record. What Teddy does have going for him is that he puts the ball in play. Putting the ball in play is what Aurora hopes Rule 5 acquisition Roy Duke does. Claimed from West Virginia, Duke becomes an historical footnote – he is Aurora’s first Rule 5 selection, and though his pro experience consists of 380 A Ball games (he hit .264) and 34 Short A games (he hit .345) and just 8 AA games (8-29), Aurora’s scouts seem convinced that he can perform well enough to stick at the major league level and maybe even challenge Loetzsch for the shortstop position. With a glove that nearly matches Loetzsch’s and blazing speed (he was 20 of 22 on steal attempts), he’ll certainly get plenty of opportunity – and crazy as this sounds, should Torres slump, Duke could slide into third, with Britt moving to first – something Aurora has long wanted to do. Simply put, for Duke – with Gabe McIntyre gone (left in FA for Toyama), if Duke provides the kind of production that Gabe gave Aurora, then they’ll be very happy.

How many players Aurora keeps on their roster is one of the bigger questions of the spring – will it be 2-C, 6-INF, 5-OF and 12-P? Will it be 11-P, 3-C, 6-INF, 5-OF? Could they keep 7-infielders and 2-catchers or 11-pitchers? How it all balances out is to be determined, but with Duke having to stay up all season (as per the Rule 5 rules), and Pedro Medrano expected to return for his 7th season, there would seem to be little flexibility. Medrano plays primarily first (decently) with an adequate 2nd and 3rd as part of his resume. The 30-year old is not likely to be a primary starter anymore, but he did manage to start 100 games last year and hit .285 with a .374 OBP – he’s learned to put the ball in play and has always been patient at the plate.

Of the minor leaguers in camp, one to keep an eye on is 2024 7th round pick Jorge Soto, who has found a bit of a stroke over the past few seasons in which he hit 16 and 19 homers at SLRC and last year 26 at Gatineau. He’ll get a shot at AAA this year, with the chance to show he can do the same at higher levels. As long as he can keep the average above .270 (as he did in 2026-7), he just might get a shot this year at a cup o’joe or two. Another to keep an eye on his career minor leaguer Jose Franco – who got his first cup last season – great defense around the horn, with moderate speed. It is his defense that got his a call-up, and he did manage a 3-12.

Outfield
Paul Carlisle will be starting his 10th season with Aurora and will be looking for his 7th straight 20+ homer season as he looks to build on last years career high of 30. A career .285 hitter with a .382 OBP (he has 641 BB to go with 611 K). RF is his for the foreseeable future – barring his opting out of his contract after this season. Tomas Flores will be the CF – playing for a 2030 contract. After leading the league in 2027 with a .320 average, Flores slumped in 2028 to .256 – but he still provided excellent defense and for the second straight year, he stole 46 bases (in 62 attempts). LF is now belongs to the unexpected – Nick Heath, who outplayed long-time incumbent River Pope and the rookie sensation Ricardo Zamora. Heath hit .303 in 110 games, hit 8 homers, stole 23 (out of 32) and played superb defense. What more could you ask for? Maybe fewer than 92 K. I wouldn’t expect anything different than these three come opening day.

But what of the remaining two spots on the roster for the OF? 34-year old River Pope – 2-time SL Batting champ and career .318 hitter (heading into his 12th year with Aurora), slumped miserably last year, to .261, finding it suddenly more difficult to make contact. With his defensive skills diminished, equally as suddenly, Pope found himself off the field and into the DH role – which didn’t seem to suit him. Not to be rude, but – he better get over himself, because that job could find itself in other players hands, and pronto. This may be Pope’s last year with Aurora – he does have a pair of team options on his deal, but if he fails to perform, he’ll be gone. Then again, those options do make him an attractive potential trade piece – if he can find his stroke again. The other spot, for now, would seen to go to Ricardo Zamora. Bursting on the scene with most of his 10 HRs in April, he faded quickly from the discussion about the Wunderkind and found himself miserable at AAA – hitting only 7 homers and a .189 average. Great D? Yup! Speedy base stealer? Yup-Yup!! Will he crack the line-up or will he follow in ‘Fudd’s’ footsteps? Who knows, but there is another applying the pressure.

Howard Joyce came from Toyama as part of the now imfamous ‘Fudd’ deal, and after 59 games at Thornton, was called up and played in 21 games with Aurora and hit .303. Again – great D, fast – though not the best base runner, Joyce made a statement last year – he deserves a major league job – and the scouts all agree with him. The 25-year old has an option left – and options are still there for Zamora and Pope – though that would be a tough one to swallow – Pope at AAA (though he has the right to decline a demotion). Also in camp for Spring Training is a pair of CF – 24-year old Joey Walker and 25-year old Dusty Gillespie. Dusty was highly thought of when drafted out of Pitt in the 3rd round, but he’s failed miserably at meeting those expectations. Good defense, speedy, but just lacking the offensive skills.

The Bottom Line
Typically with these reviews as we head into Spring Training we might have a list of questions, but this year one over-arching question is in regards to the new manager, Kumanosuke Oshima – who we just might have to refer to as Kuman, comes from gigs with the League of the Rising Sun (Nara Knights, 2021-23) and Hartford’s A Ball club in Cheyenne – 2026-28, plus 75 games last year at Hartford. He’s more apt to take advantage of Aurora’s speed than his predecessor, Kata Hayagawa, even though at his core he’s more of the ‘Earl Weaver’ kind of a guy – as they used to say ‘Back in the Day’s-Day’. Describe him how you like, he does tend to be a much more offensive-minded coach, so perhaps that will help. With long-time Palm Springs pitcher and even longer-tenured coach, Felipe Lara taking over for the retired Thomas Williams, perhaps the manager turning more of his attention to the bats isn’t such a bad thing.

So, a roster that seems set takes the field for it’s first spring game today, against those Evil Evas, but there certainly are some questions – in the ‘pen, in the outfield, and will there be any player movement out of the organization that will ease some of the questions? That’s all to be determined in the coming few weeks.
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#498 Post by DrewV »

I like River Pope--I hope he still has juice left in him!

I think "Big Whiskey" is one of my favorite PEBA players. It will be a tough call in the fall if he's close to 500 ABs!

I think revenue sharing makes for some very difficult number-crunching. I spent hours trying to generate an accurate number for Duluth and I was still about 40% off (luckily I was on the receiving end of the Aurora Social Welfare Fund!)
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#499 Post by Sandgnats »

I love your Blog Mike. It's great insight ;)

I think Pope still has it... :-?
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#500 Post by Leones »

One recurring theme across clubs is that of the bullpen. Seems like those are tough to build and keep together. On a side note a guy named 'Fido' Castro should really be playing in Havana don't you think?
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#501 Post by Borealis »

Leones wrote:One recurring theme across clubs is that of the bullpen. Seems like those are tough to build and keep together. On a side note a guy named 'Fido' Castro should really be playing in Havana don't you think?
Well, he certainly has the heritage, or so he claims...
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#502 Post by Borealis »

Will This Spring Eternal? Yes, No, Maybe So, Say Deep Thinkers
by Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball blogger

April 2, 2029: Aurora, Colorado - One of the things that nearly took the Borealis out in 2028 was their poor play against their Japanese rivals - and what hand does fate deal them in 2029? 24 of 27 games against the Rising Sun - with only three home games against Bakersfield being the outlier. Today is Opening Day here on The Front Range, and the Win-D's come to Northern Lights for a quick two-game series to kick off the year. 'Tugboat' will take the mound for Aurora - his second consecutive Opening Day assignment, after years of playing second fiddle to Michel Provost. 'Tugboat' had a bit of a mixed spring: 16 IP, 18 H, 7 R - but he also struck out 14, walked just 2, so we'll just say he 'got his work in' over the spring. Going for Toyama is Juan Cervantes, the big free agent acquisition for the Win-D's, formerly of Manchester, Neo-Tokyo, New Orleans, Crystal Lake and last year, traded to Arlington as part of the Sandgnats early 'fire sale'. In 22 starts with the Bureaucrats, he was 7-2 with a 2.67 ERA. Signed to a big 6-year contract (5-years guaranteed), worth up to $685M, Cervantes' spring stats look an awful lot like Smith's, so... He got his work in, too.

So who will be behind 'Tugboat' and leading the Borealis into battle? Here's the spring breakdown.

Catcher:
It was never going to be anything other than Castro and Gutierrez - neither who did jack during the Spring; 'Fido' hit .212 and Domingo .200. They combined for 3-2B and 2 homers. The real question coming out of Spring Training, as far as the catchers were concerned was: Will they share the catching and DH duties - thus facilitating the need for a third catcher (much as Sergio Lopez did back in the original Two-Headed catcher days of Bob Keller and Scott Vinson). It was assumed that the 2029 version would have Jorge Alonso taking on that role, but a 2-14 killed that idea after two weeks and Yato Shirane was called up from AA camp. Yano got plenty of playing time - he managed 32 AB, had 6 hits (.188), which makes it a crummy 4-for-4 with the catchers - all played poorly. The coaches do rate Shirane higher than Alonso at this point, and maybe some more playing time at AAA might be beneficial, but if Aurora moves forward with the DH plans (see Pope, River for that answer), Shirane may get a few starts as we move through April to prove his worth.

Infield:
Just as the catching situation was essentially moot, so, too was the infield. Jose Torres looked very good - 11-32 (.344), 3-2B and a homer, but best of all, he didn't seem to regress. Going into the season, it'll be defense that will continue to be his Achilles Heel. Derrick Dwyer and his freshly assigned $13M arby deal was never going to be threatened at 2B, and his 17-44 (.386) Spring with 4-2B, a 3B and homer has him looking ready to roll. SS Teddy Loetzsch also had a promising Spring, 19-59, also with 4-2B. Teddy was the one player who needed a good spring, what with the addition of Rule 5 infielder Roy Duke. Duke, who plays outstanding defense (though a tad below Loetzsch) was Aurora's top hitter in Spring Training: 13-44, 4-2B and a 3B, plus he was 6-of-7 in stolen base attempts. Though he won't be a starter right away, he will certainly get plenty of playing time around the infield, resting guys, much as Loetzsch did when Giles was manning short. 'Big Whisky', who often starts slow, did so, at 11-49, but he's in no danger of losing his spot (for now?), but he did homer twice and drive in 8.

The remaining spot on the roster dedicated to the infield saw incumbent Pablo Medrano facing stiff competition from Pancho Moreno - signed to a minor league deal last season, formerly of Havana, Arthur Bonsall, Jorge Soto, Jose Franco and Suezo Kato. Franco and Kato found them selves shipped to minor league camp mid-Spring, hitting .091 and .077, respectively, while Bonsall lasted a week later before his .188 killed his dreams. Soto hit .288, but Moreno has a very solid spring, 8-23 with a homer. Playing pretty respectable defense at 1st, 2nd and 3rd, a place on the 26-man roster see's a possibility during the season - and it certainly would seem that it's Medrano or Moreno.

Outfield:
Last season's starting outfield were a mixed bag all of their own. Nick Heath hit .286(18-63) with a pair of homers, but disturbingly he was caught stealing 4 of his 6 attempts. Paul Carlisle was 15-60, with 5-2B, 2 homers and a team leading 9 RBI. Tomas Flores struggled (7-47), despite a pair of doubles and homers. We could be talking about a potential shift here if it weren't for the fact that River Pope (not likely to play much OF this year) was 9-41 (.220) while Ricardo Zamora was 6-30. Zamora's poor showing and over all underwhelming 2028 has the team struggling with the recollections of 'Fudd's poor play in Aurora. Soon to be AAA outfielder Dusty Gillespie finished the Spring at .226, while AA OF Joey Walker managed just four games (5-9) before being sent to minor league camp. Thus the outfield seems set, by default.

Position Players:
C Manny 'Fido' Castro
C Domingo Gutierrez
C Yato Shirane
1B Jose Torres
2B Derrick Dwyer
SS Teddy Loetzsch
3B Mike 'Big Whiskey' Britt
INF Roy Duke
INF Pedro Medrano
LF Nick Heath
CF Tomas Flores
RF Paul Carlisle
OF Ricardo Zamora
DH/OF River Pope

Starting Pitching:
The expected five-some, for the most part, 'got their work in', as aside from 'Tugboat', Bartolo Esquivel had a 3.94 ERA in his 4 starts, Luis Nieves a team leading 2.81 and Rob Imhoff a 3.65. For Imhoff, a couple of troublesome signs continue to haunt him: he walked 10 in 12 IP, and he twice left with minor, nagging injuries. If you are doing the math, you'll no doubt note that there is a name missing here: John Turner. JT was... simply put... Bad. And sometimes Bad is bad. 13 IP, 23 H, 18 R and a 12.46 ERA. As some might say, it was only spring training and he 'got his work in', but it's hard to not look at that and wonder if something more organic wasn't at work. I think if Aurora had a way, they'd slip Turner on the DL as a precaution, but that's not looking like it's happen. AAA starter Jesus Solis was the 6th man in the Spring rotation and his last two starts were pretty ugly as well. A stellar performance and we might... might be talking about a wake-up call for Turner at AAA, but that won't be the case. The other starting option would be Hugh Jones, whose spring looks very pedestrian (4.66, 17 H in 9 IP) compared to his small sample size major league career. He'll be biding his time at AAA with Solis, waiting to see.

Relief Pitching:
The one place on the roster where Aurora is still trying to figure things out (they still have a roster position open for a reliever - word is they are seeking a trade) is also the one spot on the roster that a shake-up is in the works. Bob Burns, with an outstanding spring, pitching in the closer role, will unseat the incumbent John Gray - who himself had a very nice training camp. Burns in 11 IP had a 1.59 ERA, with 12 K and 0 BB, while Gray threw 10 IP and struck out 13, walked 5 in posting a 1.74 ERA. The combination of the walk differential and Gray's history the past couple of seasons of blowing saves and giving up homers, contributed to the team giving the closer role to the younger man. Burns had 19 saves in 2027 and another 19 in 2028 before his trade to Aurora from San Antonio. Burns has a grand total of 4 blown saves in his career - Gray had 6 last year alone. Both will pitch in the closing role, though for now, the title goes to Burns. Gray will work the set-up role with LH Mike Monroe - another pitcher acquired in trade last year (from Arlington). Monroe threw 19 innings this Spring with 22 K and just a single walk. Dan Feld, who last year pitched as a long-man, middle-relief and as a set-up guy, was a little ragged (5.27) as he struggled with his control (WHIP of 1.76). Whether he takes hold of the 7th inning guy, or that goes to Lando Lagerveld, it's TBD. Lando was excellent - if not used sparingly. He got in just 8.2 IP, with 5 H, 8 Km, 2 BB and no runs allowed.

That collection of arms leaves the team with 2 open spots. One looks like it'll be given to minor league closer Carlos Gonzales. Last year at Thornton he made 59 appearances and saved 32 games - not bad for a team that was one of the worst in Aurora Organization history. He struggles with the control (he had a 1.28 WHIP last year), but this spring he posted a 2.70 ERA over 10 IP. I wouldn't be surprised to see Aurora make a move here, should the career-minor leaguer struggle. From within, the other minor league invitee that looked good was Brandon 'Catfish' Waters, who's 9 IP earned him a 1.93 ERA.

The Pitching Staff:
SP Randy 'Tugboat' Smith
SP John Turner
SP Bartolo Esquivel
SP Luis 'Chief' Nieves
SP Rob Imhoff
RP Carlos Gonzalez
RP Lando Lagerveld
SU Dan Field
SU Mike Monroe
SU John Gray
CL Bob Burns
+ a reliever yet to be named.

There you have it - the 2029 Opening Day Roster, minus an arm. Will this team show the hallmark consistency on the mound that has the hallmark of the 2020's? Will the offense produce a wee bit more offense - something they sure could have used last season. Improved offensive consistency will be the key to 2029. Without it, Aurora could see their fortunes drop all the way to 3rd place in the Desert Hills. At the same time, Aurora mysteriously managed to hold off Bakersfield last year - and this year they have a full season of 'Red Hook'. This may be one of the great Desert Hills races of all-time - or it could be a blow-out. Having followed and written about the Borealis since their inception, this year, for a change, I have no clear vision. Perhaps the Ouija Board knows best?
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#503 Post by Borealis »

Bullpen Set, Latour Returns from WV
by Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball blogger

April 2, 2029: Aurora, Colorado - As the morning broke, The Front Range was greeted with the news of a last second deal with West Virginia that was to fill the last remaining roster spot the Borealis had yet to fill.

After spending four days weighing the benefits of Xaviar Diaz or Brandon Waters - or even Hugh Jones or Jesus Solis, as the final reliever on the staff, Aurora was able to grab a quality arm to fill the hole - and do it for reasonably cheap - and have it be one everyone is familiar with.

The Borealis sent SS Brain Frazer (SA) to the Alleghenies, in exchange for Ron Latour, who Aurora was forced to let go due to their budget constraints. Latour had failed to get a bigger deal - which he had hoped to, and instead he settled for a minor league deal with a 30-day clause. West Virginia was going to send Latour to AAA Mansfield and play the waiting game, but instead, were willing to strike a deal.

For the spring, Latour made six appearances, and in 7.2 IP, he gave up 10 H, 2 ER, struck out 8 and walked 3. He will fit into the bullpen in middle relief alongside Lando Lagerveld and rookie Carlos Gonzalez.

Frazer was a 10th round pick in the 2027 draft and has played 68 games at Mokule'ia, hitting .175. Scouts generally liked Frazer - he provides excellent defense on the left side of the infield and possesses great speed. It'll be interesting to see what the 23-year old does in a new environment.
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#504 Post by Borealis »

Despite Spring Concerns, Borealis Streak Out of Gate
by Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball blogger

April 9, 2029: Tokyo, Japan - Spring Training is a weird entity. It can be informing and it can be misinforming - all at the same time. Take the 2029 version of Aurora Spring Training. The team record was mediocre. Key players played either well or extremely poorly. And yet, April 2nd arrived on The Front Range and the slate was clean, and the Borealis set forth on yet another Rodriguez Cup hunt.

And they wasted little time showing just how wrong Spring can be!

Aurora opened the season entertaining the Win-D's and before a sell-out crowd of 64,444, 'Tugboat' and Juan Cervantes faced off. Randy Smith was coming off another outstanding year. 2028 was his 9th straight sub-3.00 ERA ('Fireworks had 13 with Tempe and Bakersfield) and only a lack of consistent offensive support (and way too many 1-0, 2-0 losses) kept him from winning double-digit games for a 9th straight year (finishing 9-9). Cervantes was traded from Crystal Lake to Arlington at the end of May and he was instrumental in the Bureaucrats surprising playoff surge - posing a 7-2 record and a 2.67 ERA - so on paper, the looks were the fans were in for an Opening Day pitching duel.

And that's exactly what it looked like when the Borealis came to the plate in the 5th - 'Tugboat' had gone 5 - and would go no more, the early season pitch counts Aurora traditionally sticks to dictating that it was shower-time. Once Smith got past the first, it was clear sailing. Ivan Juarez led the game off with a single and Gabe McIntyre, taking advantage of his return to Aurora in his first game outside Aurora Blue, wasted no time getting his first hit for his new team - a single. 'Tugboat' would walk Salinas to load the bases with no out - but he would rise to the occasion - as ll great pitchers often do, and strike out Edmonds and Suzuki, and get the former-Borealis 'Fudd' Martinez to flyout, ending the threat. When Randy Smith's night came to a close he would allow just 4 hits, 2 BB while striking out 6.

Cervantes would likewise look solid until the bottom of the 5th. Tomas Flores would single - and on the first pitch to Nick Heath, Flores broke for second and Hirotsugu Suzuki's throw to the base would sail into the outfield, allowing Flores to get up and are to third. Cervantes bore down, but with 2-strikes Heath was able to get the ball in the air, deep enough to get the speedy Flores home and Aurora had their first run of the season. Lando Lagerveld came in for 'Tugboat' and his second batter - 'Fudd' laced a 3-2 pitch for a stand-up triple, with Ernesto Villalobos tying the game with a 2-out single. Cervantes would start the 6th for Toyama, but Mike Britt greeted him with a double. Kyushu Yoshida would relieve Cervantes and promptly wild pitch Britt to third, where he'd score when 'Fido' Castro grounded a ball to second for the first out - and Aurora was back on top, 2-1.

Toyama got right back into the game when Dan Field came in to the game to start the 7th and after getting McIntyre to groundout, he walked Salinas, who quickly stole second, and promptly scores as Edmonds singled, and once more the game was tied. The fans rose for the 7th inning stretch, singing 'God Bless America' and 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame', and Aurora got moving again. David Lopez, formerly of West Virginia, instantly got himself in trouble. Dwyer greeted him with a single and then he went full against both Carlisle and Britt before he walked both of them to load the bases for Jose Torres. With the infield drawn in, Torres clubbed on past Juarez, down the line. Dwyer scored, and the 'faster than he looks' Paul Carlisle came steaming around third - running through a stop sign. Salinas, getting to the ball quickly, fired a strike home that would have had Carlisle out by a mile, but it short-hopped and handcuffed Suzuki, getting by him, and allowing the second run of the inning to score.

The two runs in the 7th would end the scoring. John Gray, the former-closer and now set-up guy, pitched with a chip on his shoulder, over-powering the three Win-D's he faced - all strikeouts, followed by new-closer, Bob Burns in the 9th, who allowed a lead-off single to Edison Terry, but that was it. Aurora had the Opening Day win!

Game 2 of the short two-game series saw all the action in the first inning. While John Turner carried a no-hitter into the 6th - despite walking 4, Francois Gosselin would be equally sharp - after he took a bit of a beating in the first. Nick Heath would double to lead-off, and with one out, Carlisle would ground the ball wide of first, but when Gosselin ran to cover first, he dropped the ball, so instead of a scoreless first (after striking out the next hitter, Mike Britt), 2-on and 2-out, Jose Torres came to the plate and blasted one into the left-center bleachers for a three-run homer - and all the scoring of the game.

Rookie Carlos Gonzalez would relieve Turner and throw 1.2 innings, giving up a hit, John Gray would scatter a pair of hits in his inning - the second straight in which he would record strikeouts for all three outs, and Burns would give up a hit and a walk, but would also record three strike outs to end the game and pick up his second save. And Aurora would win their first series of the season - a positive, heading into their next series.

Toyama was followed onto The Front Range by the Evil Evas, in what would no doubt be a very early, stern test for the Borealis. The Evas coming off a three-game sweep of the Codgers, were looking like themselves and wasted little time of showing the Borealis that last season was no fluke, and just what the pecking order was in the SL. Bartolo Esquivel would struggle. Every pitch was a labor. He hit German Hernandez to start the game. Luna flawed with a single, then he walked Bobby Wallace - then Balked home Hernandez before Landry singled home Luna - and after 2 innings the Evil Evas were up 2-0.

It would be 5-0 in the 5th when the clearly tiring Esquivel walked Allen to lead-off the 5th. Andres Hernandez (the 'Other Hernandez') doubled Allen home, followed by German homering for the 5-0 lead. Meanwhile, former-Bear, Declan Littleworth was mostly cruising, fanning out mini-rallies mostly with ease, until the bottom of the 5th, when Aurora managed to get a run - thanks to some help by Shin Seiki. Teddy Loetzsch doubled with one out, and a Nick Heath single moved him to third. After Dwyer struck out, it looked to be another scoreless frame as Carlisle bounced a ball towards Landry. It took a funny hop, bounced off his chest, and his hurried throw was in the dirt, Hernandez couldn't handle it and Loetzsch scored.

The 5-1 score would move into the bottom go the 7th, where again Aurora would strike. Chris Puddifoot would walk Gutierrez to start the inning, and after a flout, Heath would double home Domingo with Aurora's second run. Jesus Lopez would relieve Puddifoot and Dwyer would greet him with an RBI single and it was 5-3. All along Aurora's bullpen would quietly keep the Evas at bay. Lagerveld, 1.2 IP, with just a hit. Gonzalez an inning and just a hit. Mike Monroe would pitch the 8th and 9th with a hit, a BB and an IBB - but no damage, keeping it 5-3 heading to the last of the 9th. The inning would start innocently as the Evas closer Shunsen Ueda came in, as Domingo would lead-off with a single, then Teddy Loetzsch would lace a 2-1 ball towards the alley for run-scoring triple, Guterrez scoring the 4th run for Aurora, with the tying run at 3rd, and no outs! Veda would get Heath to strikeout, but as he pitched around Dwyer - clearly trying to get him to bite on a bad pitch, he would walk Aurora's 2B. That would be it for Ueda and in would come Manuel Barrios, who had had a rough game the day before against Palm Springs (2 IP, 4 H, 2 R). He would throw four pitches. Paul Carlisle, who was 0-11 to start the season would hit a classic Carlisle opposite field homer, towering, slicing, into left-center - a walk-off homer and a win for the Borealis in their first game with the Evil Evas - a confidence boost for sure! And a 3-0 start to 2029.

Game 2 of the series would be equally exciting. Normally, Luis Nieves throwing a no-hitter with 2-out in the 6th, much less throwing a complete game, would be the exciting news, but on this day, it was late game fireworks, Part II. Early Schneider would homer with 2-out in the sixth (Shin Seiki's first hit) and Jose Luna would lead-off the 7th with a homer to give the Evil Evas a 2-0 lead. But in the bottom of the 7th (again) it was Aurora's turn, as 'Fido' greeted Evas starter Naomi Hayashi with a 2-out homer, cutting the lead in half. Shin Seiki virtually handed the Borealis the tying run in the 8th as they walked the bases loaded with 2-out, only get Torres to hit a routine grounder to short to end the inning.

Shin Seiki's new closer - the other closer, Gilberto Gonzalez - acquired from Amsterdam last season and signed to an extension this offseason, came in to close the game in the 9th, but not on this night. 'Fido' singled to open the inning and then Tomas Flores hit a ball in almost the exact same spot Carlisle did the previous night - with the same result - a 2-run, walk-off homer, giving Aurora a 3-2 win, and a 2-0 lead in this early 4-game series with Shin Seiki.

The news in games 3 & 4 were not as cheery for the 4-0 Borealis. In game 3, no body had anything on the mound for Aurora. Imhoff, who started, would not finish the 4th - an achy elbow, which has him on the DL for 4-5 weeks, took him out of the game, but he had already allowed 6 H and 4 R. The rookie Carlos Gonzalez got 2-outs, but gave up 4 H and 2 R, and Dan Field, who would take on for the team, went 3.1 innings and allowed 7 H, walk 4 and 3 R. The Evas' raked, to the tune of 17 hits, the Borealis snoozed - just 1 hit - against Suitani (two over all), who was The Story of the game, as both those hits came with 1-out in the 9th, breaking his chance for his first no-no. After surrendering the hit, Suitani was pulled and Manuel Barrios was greeted by Loetzsch and a run-scoring triple to save some face for Aurora in a 9-1 loss.

The series finale wasn't as ugly as game 3, though the result was the same. Aurora would mange 7 hits - two doubles, but never put much threat into the game. A pair of singles in the 4th against 'Tugboat' and a Jim Fox double, scoring two, was pretty much the end of this tail, as both teams bullpens looked sharp. Aurora would lose, 3-0, and see their opening week record drop to 4-2.

Bakersfield would open the year at 5-1, Shin Seiki 6-1, Crystal Lake 4-2, Fargo 5-1 and NT 5-1, so the 'usual suspect' are all off to a solid start... Thanks to the last couple of games, the offensive stats look scary for Aurora - as in bad scary, while the pitching has been pretty good - outside the 9-run 'Evaplosion'... With Imhoff on the DL (AGAIN), Aurora has called up Hugh 'Mister, Mister' Jones, who has had an excellent start at AAA Thornton: 0-1, 0.60 ERA in 15 IP, 4 H,6 K, 3 BB over the FasTrax 2-0 loss and 2-1 win. In the 2-1 win over Provo, Hugh threw 8 innings and gave up just 1 H... Off to a good start for Aurora: Jose Torres, 7-18, 2-2B and a homer... John Gray, 4 IP, 3 H, 8 K...
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#505 Post by Borealis »

Hop On at Own Peril, Aurora Coaster at Full Steam
by Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball blogger

April 23, 2029: Aurora, Colorado - Aurora's 4-2 opening week (2-0 v. Toyama and 2-2 v. Shin Seiki) was followed by an equally promising 5-1 week against Neo-Tokyo (2-1, and Okinawa, 3-0), leaving Aurora at the top of the Desert Hills, along with the equally fast-out-of-the-gate Bakersfield Bears and the surprising Yuma 'Dozers. And as fate would have it, the Bears came rolling into Northern Lights Park and sent the Borealis screeching down the back side of the season's rollercoaster first rise. The last couple of seasons have been a bit of a rollercoaster for the Borealis, and clearly 2029 is going to look a lot like that - and maybe this past week was a barometer of how bad the downsides will be.

Game 1 with the Bears saw Bartolo Esquivel looking more like the arm Aurora picked up at the trade deadline last year, and not the pitcher who's first 2029 start looked shaky against the Evil Evas. Bartolo took a Perfect Game into the 6th, when with 1-out he walked Javier Torres. Then the defense let him down. Torres broke for second on a steal attempt and Gutierrez' throw to second sailed into the outfield, allowing Torres to race over to third. Gilberto Valdez would hit a grounder to short, which was booted by Roy Duke for a second error within 3-pitches. Whether Torres would have scored or not, is hard to say, but was heart-breaking, especially Webb Flew out for what would have been the third out. Thanks to Nick Heath's 3-run homer in the bottom of the 5th, Aurora held a 3-1 lead - and when Jose Torres homered with Britt aboard in the 6th, Aurora had a 5-1 with Esquivel still dealing a no-no.

Until the 7th, when Stephen Hooper led off with the Bears first hit, followed by a walk to 'Red Hook', that would end Bartolo's night. Ron Latour came on in relief, and he had... a rough go. Bears Catcher Steve 'I'm the Other' McDonald singled to load the bases, but after a strikeout of Stinton and a sac fly to Figueroa, it looked like Latour would get out of it - but Torres double to score two, Webb doubled to score Torres (who walked) and Ricks doubled to score McGuire and Webb - and just like that the Bears had a 6-spot and the possible no-no was flipped into a 7-5 loss. After giving up the 5 runs, Womak left in the 6th and the Bears 'pen of O'Higgins, Nakagawa and Lian shut the Borealis down on just a hit and a pair of walks.

For the Bears, the Game 2 script was somewhat similar to game 1. Their starter - Neil Maes this time, wasn't sharp - he gave up 3-runs on 6-hits as he pitched into the 4th - a Paul Carlisle homer (his 3rd) the big blow, but their relievers were again, mostly stellar as Aurora would manage just one more run. Meanwhile, this time around, Aurora's starter - 'Chief' Nieves, was equally beat up, allowing 5-runs on 7-hits as he pitched into the 5th. Dan Field was equally bad - allowing 5 H and 3 R in his 4-out stint, and Lando Lagerveld coughing up a Bothwell homer in the 8th - Bakersfield's 16th hit of the night as Aurora was pummeled 9-4, and suddenly looking very ordinary. The loss dropped Aurora to 9-5 and 1.5 games back of the Bears.

Aurora and Bakersfield have had a long history of low scoring, tight, pitcher's duels - in a large part to the outstanding starting pitching both teams have had over the years. This series will not be one remembered for stellar starting pitching. In game 3, Erik Watson (4 IP, 4 H, 3 R) and Hugh Jones (4 IP, 5 H, 5 R and 3 HR - to Webb and two by Ricks) were gone by the end of the 5th with the Bears up 5-4. And, mostly, like the previous two games, the bullpens's were primarily on point. The Bears 'pen allowed 1-hit after the 5th and Aurora's allowed 2-hits and a run. It was a frustrating series for Aurora as they were held to just 21 hits and a .210 average - with just 15 K, while Aurora pitchers struck out 30 Bears - but 15 walks in the three games, on top of Bakersfield's 31 H (.287) was all the difference in the world. And most importantly, the Bears swept Aurora at home and dealt the Borealis with a devastating, psyche-beating series, that had the fans on The Front Range speechless.

Things didn't improve when the 4-10 Shisa came to town and Rookie Jesus Solis took the mound for his major league debut. The start was ominous when Teddy Loetzsch booted the first ball of the game for an error, followed by a Kane Chell single and a Tom Patton homer. Three batters, no outs, three runs allowed. Solis would settle after that - allowing only two more hits in the game - one a Jeff Rutledge solo homer with 2-out in the six, but his initial line of 7 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 earned), 1 BB and 7 K, along with the 2 homers, wasn't so bad. Hisashi Ishi, the tongue-twisting starter for the Shisa, was effective into the 7th - when he was finally chased after giving up his 3rd run. He scattered 7 hits, and allowed a Jose Torres homer (his 6th). But the damage was done. Dan Field would allow an insurance run homer in the 9th, but Shisa closer Kamuta closed the door for a 5-3 win for Okinawa - Aurora's 4th straight loss.

Game 2 was a duel - and the Borealis needed to turn to their Stopper-by-proxy, John Turner, and he was just what Aurora needed - pitching into the 8th, allowing only 3 hits, no runs and 8 K. The problem was that Takanobu Shirai and the Shisa been went into 'bend but don't break' mode - and as Monroe and Burns relieved Turner and took the game to the bottom of the 9th as a shut-out, so did Shirai and Co - allowing 8 -hits. In the 12th, things looked glum, as Mike Lee led off the 12th with a homer off of Lagerveld, and other brutal loss looked to be on the horizon for Aurora. But Domingo Gutierrez was not to be denied. He lined the first pitch he saw from Noberto Vega for a single and Tomas Flores did the same with a double to put the tying run at third and the winning run at second with no outs - and with that, Aurora did what you are supposed to do. Loetzsch grounded the ball to short, scoring Domingo, with Flores moving to third. Nick Heath then hit a 2-1 pitch into medium deep left, with Flores tagging and scoring - giving Aurora a much needed, hard fought win.

Bought Hard fought and Heart Breaking was just around the corner. Esquivel picked up where he had left off, this time carrying the no-no into the 5th, where Mike Lee homered again - with two outs, to spot the Shisa a 1-0 lead. They'd get one more hit off of Bartolo for his final line of 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, and the beleaguered Latour and Field would pitch 3 near-perfect innings. Then, again, Clayton Lewis was equal to Esquivel, as he would do him 2-innings better - going 8, with just a stifling 3-hits, Cristo Santiago with the save - not much more to say about this one - a gut-wrenching 1-0 loss for the Borealis, dropping their season mark to 10-8.

The week's finale was yet another duel. Roberto Diaz homered off Nieves in the 2nd, for a 2-0 lead. Paul Carlisle would follow a Loetzsch single and Heath double with a lazy sac fly to cut the lead in half (Carlisle's 10th RBI), only to see the Shisa regain the edge when Torres dropped Britt's throw to first - allowing the Uber-speedy Patton to reach base. A pair of stolen bases and a groundout and the Shisa had manufactured a run. Not to be out done, Aurora came right back in the 5th - Heath would double again, and with 2-out, Britt, Torres and Castro all singled, driving in 2-runs to tie the game at 3. Each team would get runners on base in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings, but each of those rallies would stall. But for the second time in three days, Aurora would walk off a winner - again, to the detriment of Vega. with one out Carlisle, Britt and Torres would single in succession, with Paul Carlisle scoring the winning run - in a 4-3 nail-biter.

The ragged 2-5 week for Aurora dropped them from the division lead to a second place tie with the Yumans, at 11-8, and thankfully only a game back of Bakersfield - who left Aurora high on their sweep, only to move to the Desert portion of the Desert Hills and be swept them selves: 2-1, 3-0, and 7-4 at the hands of the Codgers.

What's on Tap:
Aurora finishes their month long sojourn with the Rising Sun - as well as continue their early season, brutal 20-games in 20-days stretch, with a pair against Neo-Tokyo, before jumping the Pacific to face Toyama for 2 and the Evil Evas for four (again). Hugh Jones and Jesus Solis will face the Akira, and they will then be the tasty insides of an Evas sandwich, with Nieves and Turner pitching the front and back ends of that series.

Down on the Farm:
Players of Note for the Borealis farm system:
Armando Batista (AA), last years top selection for Aurora has had 4 GS and over 26.2 IP has a 1.69 ERA, with a slightly discouraging 1.31 WHIP... Also at AA, Henry Cluett - the center piece in the 'Fudd' deal last spring, has looked more human of late. After an opening two starts of 14 IP and only a total of 2 R, his next 13 IP he's allowed 9 R and his first 3 HR of the season. His ERA, 3.58, considerably higher than his career numbers, is buoyed somewhat by his 1.01 WHIP - thanks to 22 K and only 3 BB... Also at AA, Stewart Arundale - a future DH candidate in the Pedro Ferringo mould, drafted last year immediately after Batista, is hitting .312 with 5-2B and 5 SB... Humberto Hernandez, the 5th round selection last year, had two starts in the first week of A Ball, and in 13 IP, has allowed 3 R and 2 BB, to go with 10 K - for a 2.08 ERA...
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#506 Post by DrewV »

I've got every BAK-AUR earmarked for watching, what a set of battles! All eyes are on the Desert Hills.

Thanks as always for these great posts--really enjoy the narrative-style of summing up each game.
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#507 Post by Borealis »

Borealis Bounce Back, Some, as April Ends
by Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball blogger

April 23, 2029: Nagoya, Japan - After a 2-5 week that included an embarrassing sweep - at home, no less, the the Bears and a perhaps equally troubling four-game split with the Shisa (that included a 1-0 loss to Clayton Lewis), The Borealis finished up the homestead with a pair of games with the Akira.

Neo-Tokyo, off to a slow start after last-season's breakout, near PEC appearance, came into the series with a 9-10 mark, 2-games behind the Evil Evas. This was already a series the Borealis cringed at, as Hugh 'Mister, Mister' Jones and Jesus Solis were taking the mound. To his credit, Jones' didn't perform poorly. His final line of 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, BB and 6 K suggest that he help the Akira in check - he only had one perfect inning, and he gave up a pair of single runs - the first, in the first, off a 2-out walk (always killers), a steal and a single. In the end, Jones' line nearly matched that of NT's bug gun, Jose Fernandez, who went 7-innings and gave ups second walk.

No, what did Aurora in on this day was rookie reliever Carlos Gonzalez, who is showing an inability to be consistent. A 2-out walk (again) followed by a Hector Rodriguez slam, put the Akira up 4-2, which is how this day would end. Of 9 of his appearances, Gonzalez has given up runs, and two of those were multiple runs - like today. Also, disturbingly, he's had only 1-hitless outing - and it was a 1-out appearance. With an ERA of 4.76, it's looking like Aurora may have to go shopping or dig for another arm in the minors, because Carlos doesn't seem to be cutting it. In the midst of a grueling, taxing 20-games in 20-days stretch, this early in the season - that thus far has seen Aurora embark on two-road trips - both to Japan, the wear and tear on the pitching staff has already taken a toll.

Jesus Solis made his second major league start in game 2 - and it looked a whole lot like the first. Three runs in the 1st v. Okinawa in his debut, and 3-runs in the 1st v. Neo-Tokyo in his second start. Chuck Glass' 2-out, 2-run homer in the first was the big blow, and Aurora was down 3-0 in a blink of an eye. At least this time Solis got some outs, first... Jose Santos, the FA acquisition formerly of Canton, looked competent as he would ultimately pitch into the 9th - Allowing an unearned run in the 4th (which Ramiro Reynoso got right back in the 5th with a solo homer) and being relieved with 2-outs in the 9th after a Torres lead-off double and a Loetzsch RBI single.

The final score, 9-2, was a reflection on the bullpen that is beginning to struggle. Dan Field, who has been spot-on in his first two seasons with Aurora, gave up 3-runs on 2-hits, and then Gonzalez allowed another pair (and his ERA bouncing to 5.84).

After the game, the turn around was super tight as the team boarded a plane for Toyama and a pair of games with the Win-D's. John Turner and Bartolo Esquivel were to take the mound in this series, and they looked like the aces that they are. The Borealis stepped off the plane and apparently found their hitting shoes as they quickly struck for 7-runs in the first two innings off Juan Cervantes (formerly of Arlington, formerly of Crystal Lake, formerly of New Orleans, formerly of Neo-Tokyo, formerly of Manchester). The biggest blow in the Aurora Hit Parade was a Mike Britt 2-out, 3-run blast in the second. In a 9-3 drubbing of the Win-D's, Aurora would pound out 17-hits, with Dwyer, Carlisle and Gutierrez all collecting 3-hits on the day.

Meanwhile, John Turner continues to impress and yet mystify. Today he didn't make it out of the 5th, yet his 4-hits allowed and 2 BB led to nothing for Toyama - aside from a 94-pitch day for JT and an early shower. Dan Field came along and quickly coughed up another pair of runs (his ERA sorting to 7.80). Mike Monroe came in, and despite giving up a run (his second of the year), he finished the last 2.2 innings in fine fashion.

Of special note in this game: Howard Joyce, 1-5, 2 R; 'Fudd', 0-5, 3 K...

Game 2 started out as a pitcher's duel, as Esquivel and Francois Gosselin brought shut-outs into the 7th. Bartolo allowed only three hits, but four walks and an error forced Esquivel to work harder than needed, but Lagerveld and Latour would finish the game (and ultimately a shutout), allowing a combined 3-hits between them). For Gosselin, it fell apart early, as a lead-off booted ball by SS Edison Terry out be the difference as singles by Carlisle and Britt scored one, then after Castro struck out for what should have been the third out, Gutierrez doubled, Loetzsch singled and it was a 4-0 game. It was a tough loss for Gosselin, who allowed only 6 hits, but his 0 ER performance dropped his ERA to 2.17. Britt would hit a lead-off homer in the 9th to make the final 5-0, making the Borealis 4-0 against Toyama.

Aurora headed to Nagoya to face the Evil Evas for their 2nd 4-game series with them this opening month. It would be Luis Neives on the mound against Suitani - and Aurora got a break - the did not see the dominant Suitani, as is so often the case, but on this day, they just couldn't take advantage - and once again, the blame is square on the shoulders of the 'pen. Nieves went 5-innings (another disturbing trend), allowed just 4 H and a run, walked one and struck out 7 - he was dominant. Mike Britt, who seems to be awaking, crushed a 2-2 pitch 427 feet of Suitani, with Roy Duke aboard, and Aurora had the early first inning 2-0 lead. The Eva's struck back for their lone run against Nieves with 2-out in the 2nd as Landry would double and Luna would drive him in with a single - and the Eva's had quickly halved the lead. Not to be outdone, Aurora got that run right back, thanks to an error by Bobby Wallace. Heath and Duke would single, and then a double-steal had runners in scoring position - when Wallace would muff Britt's groundball, giving Aurora a 3-1 lead over Suitani. They'd make it 4-1 in the 5th when Tomas Flores crushed the first pitch he saw for a lead-off 417 foot homer. Suitani's night would end after the 5th, leaving this game to the bullpens - and that's when it got ugly.

Jerry Long leadoff the 6th against Carlos Gonzalez with a single - but would promptly get picked off - which was a blessing when German Hernandez homered 5 pitches later. The Andres Hernandez followed immediately with a single and Errol Landry doubled him in - and the Evas had 2-runs and the lead was 4-3, Aurora. Gonzalez' night was over, but Ron Latour, who's showing the inconsistency of someone trying to find his rhythm on the fly, gave up a 2-run home to Schneider and suddenly Aurora's 4-1 lead was a 5-4 deficit! As this crazy game would have it, the Evas' lead wasn't to last for long, as 'Hollywood' Hernandez allowed back-to-back-to-back singles to Torres, Castro and Gutierrez and Aurora had tied the game at 5.

John Gray came on in the 8th and pitched a 1-2-3 frame, bringing it to the 9th. After Flores and Heath flew out, Derrick Dwyer, pinch-hitting for Duke, singled and Paul Carlisle followed with a single of his own - bringing 'Big Whiskey' to the plate with a chance to break the tie, but Britt fouled three pitches straight back before a swing and a miss ended the rally for Aurora. The Evil Evas didn't wait long. Bob Burns came in to hold the game and send it to the 10th, but Jose Luna had other ideas - he took a strike to feel out Burns' stuff then launched one 404 feet for a walk-off homer and an Evas win.

Heart Breaking to say the least. Aurora and Shin Seiki have played 5-games up to this point, and this was the third game decided by a walk-off homer - Carlisle and Flores turning the deed earlier for Aurora. The loss was Burns' first with Aurora.

With Jones and Solis lined-up to face the Evas in games 2 & 3, the hard reality of losing at least 3 of the 4 games in the series starred the Borealis square in the face. Then again, despite some numbers that look shaky, the two have had their moments - and these two starts were going to be added to those 'moments'.

Hugh Jones would go 6-innings and scatter 5 H and 2 BB - and only a Jose Luna homer would spoil his day, and with Aurora scoring single runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 6th innings, he would depart with a 3-1 lead. That lead would bump up to 6-1 when Chris Puddifoot looked more like Yuckifoot - as a pair of walks and a single would load the bases with no outs. Yasuhide Suto would relieve Puddifoot and give up a run scoring single to Loetzsch, walk in a run with a pass to Pope and a nick Heath single would score the third run of the inning - an inning that could have been worse for the Evas.

But then it was time for the Aurora 'pen. Dan Field looked good in the 7th, getting a double play ball to end a potential Evas rally, but in the 8th, it got ugly fast. With 1-out, Field allowed a single to Don Allen, and then was lifted in favor of Lando Lagerveld, whose 4th pitch to Jerry Long was deposited over the fence - and it was 6-3. Two batters later and it was german Hernandez that was depositing a ball over the fence for a solo job - and it was 6-4, and the Borealis dugout was looking nervous, the few fans who had made the journey were looking nervous, and Mark Gunter and George Crocker were looking nervous, with Crocker yelping, "Seen it before, Yes I have, if my name isn't George Crocker, which it is, I have seen this game before about one hundred gazillion times and a half!'. Crocker's math may be a tad off, but certainly this was a script that we have seen before. But Lando got out of the inning without any further damage. Aurora manager Kuma Oshima ignored the previous nights game, with Dillworth, Landry and Luna due up - and Bob Burns showed the faith of his manager was well placed - getting the three in order for the save (his 5th) and evening the series at a game a piece.

The week ended with yet another late win between these two teams (there's a wrap-around Monday game tomorrow) - and the best news was that against the vaunted Evas, Jesus Solis did not give up 3-runs in the first. He didn't give up a run, either - until the 6th, his last inning, in which he scattered 8 hits and a pair of walks - a 2-out Landry double in the 6th doing the damage. And all that run did was tie the game at 1, following an earlier 2-out homer off the bat of Nick Heath in the 3rd. But it looked like Aurora's bullpen was once again going to implode.

Gonzalez came on in the 7th and got the first out. He had the second out, but Britt's inability to get a good throw to first let Allen reach second. Long was walked, to bring up Schneider, who bounced a double play ball to short, but Dwyer was too slow getting the ball out of his glove, extending the inning for Andres Hernandez to single home Allen, and the game headed to the 8th with the Evas up 2-1. Kevin Thomas came on and got the first three batters of the 8th out - except that Britt's swing and a miss for the third out got past Hernandez, allowing 'Big Whiskey' to reach base. 'Fido' followed with a single, then the Evas D failed them again, as Bobby Wallace couldn't handle Carlisle's sharply hit ball - coming up a little higher than anticipated and catching the heel of his glove, loading the bases for Flores. Tomas slapped a ball up the middle, scoring Britt with the tying run, but Allen's throw to the plate beat Castro to end the rally for the Borealis.

Aurora had another chance to take the lead in the 9th, but this time it was Pope, after a 1-out double, who was thrown out at the plate by Long. John Gray, meanwhile, pitched a perfect 8th and near perfect 9th (only a Long double messing Gray's line). and the game headed to extras. Both teams had chances in the 10th and 11th - Aurora with 2-runners in the 10th and Shin Seiki with two in the 11th, but still the game moved into the 12th, with Yasuhide Suto on the mound for the Evil Evas. Right off, the Borealis were in business. Heath doubled, and Dwyer singled and it was 1st-and-3rd and no outs, and Britt coming to the plate. Britt, who had a rough day (0-6) would strike out for the third time. After Dwyer stole second, Castro was walked to load the bases - Where Carlisle hit one deep enough to get Heath home with the tie-breaking run - it was 3-2. 'Hollywood' Hernandez would come in, and get Flores out to end the threat, but the Borealis had a lead to pass on to Mike Monroe in the bottom of the 12th. Monroe would get the first tow outs ( a K and a ground-out), but then it got scary. He walked Landry on 4-pitches, bringing up the powerful Jose Luna. The good news was Monroe held him to a single. That brought up just inserted into the game in the top of the inning, Gerald Murdoch, who was perhaps more anxious than he should have been - swinging at a pitch up in the zone, popping it up to Flores in CF - and Aurora had their second win of the series - and 4th of the year against their powerful Japanese rivals.

What's on Tap:
Game 4 of the Evas series, with JT on the mound, then home to The front Range for a pair with the suddenly fading Yuman's, with Esquivel and Nieves on the mound. PHEW! Then a much needed day-off before the ULTRA-Hot Fargo Dinosaurs - winners of 12-straight and 21-4 overall, come to town in a rematch of last years division series. Jones and Solis get a chance to show their worth, yet again, against a quality opponent (Both have faced NT and SS, and Jones has a start against BAK), with Turner pitching the series finale. That will be the first of back-to-back weekends in which the Borealis and Dinos square off (Aurora will be in North Dakota May 11-13. As April was the Month of the Rising Sun for Aurora, May will be the Great Lakes month - as they have the two series with Fargo, along with two series with Canton and a series each with Crystal Lake and Duluth. Throw in the pair with Yuma and a home-and-home pair of series with the Codgers, and you have May's line-up.

On the injured front, Rob Imhoff is expected to head to AAA Thornton for a rehab start (or two) next week, before returning to Aurora. Apparently the club has been having some internal discussions of what to do with the oft-injured former-#1 pick. There's been some grumbling, apparently, that perhaps the injuries are related to a starter's work load, and perhaps he would be better suited as a reliever. Should Jones and/or Solis have success against Fargo, it may be something that becomes a reality.
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#508 Post by Borealis »

Aurora Seeks to Shore Up 'Pen
by Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball blogger

April 23, 2029: Nagoya, Japan - The Borealis have become used to - and synonymous, with excellence in pitching - both starters and bullpen. The Borealis also knew this was a challenging year, and possibly a thin one susceptible to injury - which has already been the case, one month in, with 'Tugboat' and Imhoff already on the DL (Imhoff expecting to make his first rehab start in a week, and Smith still looking to be 5 weeks out). The loss of Diaz, Rivera and the injuries have Aurora with a pair of AAA starters (Jones and Solis) doing their best, and a minor league reliever (Carlos Gonzalez) who must be doing his best - and his best just ain't cutting it.

Gonzalez was originally drafted out of high school by Manchester, but failed to sign and ended up at Georgetown, where despite a junior year with 16 saves, a 2.36 ERA and 28 K in 26 IP, he went undrafted. Aurora signed him shortly after the draft, and he had performed well every season as he moved through the organization (save an anomalous 2025 season at SLRC). He made the major league roster out of Spring Training, and opened with a pair of nice outings, but has allowed runs in 7 of his last 10 outings, including 7 (6 earned) in his last 4 appearances (4 IP) - including 3 HRs. During those last 4 games he struck out 1 and walked 4. His ERA for the month was 6.28 in 12 appearances, with a WHIP over 2. Very simply put - he wasn't cutting it, at all.

In the wee hours of this morning, the Borealis struck a deal with the Canton Longshoremen and their new GM, Michael Czosnyka, to bring help for their failing middle relief corp, in the form of 27-year old relief pitcher Bob Erickson, in exchange for 22-year old reliever James Ostrander, currently on the Short A roster at Mokule'ia.

Erickson was the 5th overall selection in 2023, by Canton, as a starter. His senior year at UAB saw him post an 8-2 record, a 1.85 ERA and 0.82 WHIP, with 96 K in 82.2 IP. After a successful beginning at Short A Akutan Island in the Alaska League, he began to develop maybe not as fast as a 5th overall prospect might be expected to. After starting his entire minor league career (save 2025, where he split time in the 'pen and rotation), he got the call in 2027 and had 49 relief appearances for the Longshoremen, with a 4.50 ERA. Last season he began at AAA Allentown, posted a 1.80 ERA, then was moved up to Canton, again, and had an excellent season: 1.64 ERA in 43 appearances, with 12 saves, 43 K in 44 IP and a 1.02 WHIP. So far in 2029, in 7 appearances, he's posting a 1.04 ERA, but his walks are up - with a K:BB ratio of 1:1. Aurora will hope that is just an early season anomaly.

Erickson will move into a bullpen which has been a middle-inning war zone. Not only was Gonzalez ineffective, but Dan Field (7.71 ERA in 16 IP) has walked more than he's struck out and allowed 10-runs in his last 7+ innings, and Ron Latour (9.00 in 9 IP) seems to be uncertain about his return from his brief hiatus in West Virginia - allowing 9-runs in three of his appearances, but 0 in the other four times on the mound. Couple that with Lando Lagerveld, who has his moments, but has also allowed 6 HRs in 15 IP - most on the staff - leading to his surrendering runs in half of his 10 appearances. Uber-Frustrating when the back-end of the bullpen features Monroe, Gray and Burns, all with sub-1.00 ERAs. As long as Aurora continues with the 4th and 5th rotation spots being more a crap shoot than a sure thing, the more vital the need for a solid middle relief corp. Hopefully Bob Erickson can bring that to the table.

Ostrander was a 3rd round pick (81st overall) by Aurora in last summers draft, out of Southern Miss. A big, strapping lad, he managed only 8 appearances last year, for a 5.68 ERA. His career WHIP has always been on the higher side, and last years 1.74 offset the nearly 8-batters per 9-innings that he was striking out. The coaching staff mostly liked James, but when the major league club needs help, everyone becomes a commodity.
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#509 Post by Borealis »

What's Up Aurora a Month In
by Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball blogger

May 7, 2029: Duluth, Minnesota - The 2029 season has passed the one month mark as the Borealis head to Minnesota to take on the Duluth Warriors, carrying the baggage of a 16-16 record born of a rollercoaster ride of a season. Finishing the first week of May on a four-game losing streak - born of 3, 1-run loses (one to Yuma and two to Fargo), which leave the Borealis with an early 4-5 mark in such 1-run games. Doing the math, that's more than a 1-in-4 pace of 1-run games - and a near guarantee of a losing season - Aurora's first ever!

Let's take a moment to look at the various components of this year's Borealis after the season's first month and dissect their .500 play.

Starting Pitching
Two weeks, and three starts, 'Tugboat' came out of his third start after two batters and 5 pitches, grabbing his shoulder and saying 'ow'. In two starts, Randy Smith had allowed 2-runs in 9.1-innings. Diagnosis: Out for 7-8 weeks as the shoulder was allowed to cool down. The short outings and a little lack of control may have been tip-offs. Not to be outdone, Rob Imhoff, the oft-injured expected star came out of his first start 3.2-innings into his second major league season, elbow inflammation the diagnosis.

Losing Imhoff was, sadly, expected. Losing 'Tugboat' was not. To fill the voids Aurora brought in Hugh 'Mister, Mister' Jones and then rookie Jesus Solis. For Jones, this is the third season in four in which he has been called up for substitute duty. In 2026 he made 7 starts and posted a 3-2 record and 2.79 ERA - impressive. Last year he made one start for Aurora and allowed 2-runs in 6.1 IP. Thus far it has been a little more rugged for the 28-year old 'Mister'. He's 1-2 with a 5.62 ERA - the real damage coming from his first two starts, against Okinawa (4-runs, in 4.2 IP) and Bakersfield (who dropped a 5-spot on him). The last three start have been more promising, including a 6-inning, 1-run outing against The Evil Evas, giving Jones a 3.60 ERA over those three starts. Solis is 0-3, with a 4.12 ERA, but his starts have been a tad deceiving - in his first two starts (v OKA and NT), he allowed three runs in the first inning of each game - and then only one more after the 1st - rookie pre-game jitters in his first major league starts? He, too, had an excellent start against Shin Seiki (6-innings, 8 H and 1 R, and his most recent start (the 3-2 loss to Fargo), he started the game with 5-shut out innings. Neither Jones nor Solis will make folks forget 'Tugboat' - and who really knows what Aurora has in Imhoff, but at least these two AAA fill-ins have at least kept the team close.

With the yeoman's efforts out of the injury replacement squad, the remaining members of the Opening Day rotation have done their part - adding up to a team starters 3.28 ERA - a not shabby 5th in the SL, all things considered. John Turner has led the way, with a 1.90 ERA in 7-starts - four of which he gave up no runs. Bartolo Esquivel has also pitched well, with a 2.38 ERA in 6-starts - four of which he gave up 1- or 0-runs. Only his initial start of the year against Shin Seiki (5-runs in 4.1 IP) has his ERA as high as it is. Finally, 'Chief' Nieves, with a 3.62 ERA, but a team best 6:1 K:BB ratio has kept his starts intriguing. His 2-loses were in his two worse starts.

GRADE: B+. We can look at the rotation and feel mostly good about things - and as we predicted back in the spring, as long as Aurora finds offensive consistency, they'll win more than they lose. Then again... there's the...

Bullpen
Harken back to 1966, kids, and a little film produced by the Italian director, Sergio Leone. That sums up Aurora's bullpen, that minus the Swing Arms of 'Terror' Diaz and Carlos Rivera, have the stern look of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The Good: John Gray may not be thrilled about having lost his closers job to Bob Burns after three straight seasons of 40+ saves after taking over for future-HoFer Bryant Burris, but between the blown saves and 11 HRA last season, he pushed the patience of the Aurora Brass. If he's ticked, he's taking it out on the opponents - 15.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R (a solos homer), 19 K and 4 BB. To show that Aurora's faith in his was justified, Burns has also been lights out: 12 IP, 4 H, 1 R (also a solo HR, in a recent blown hold - if there is such a thing), 17 K, 4 BB - and 5 saves in 5 attempts. Rounding out The Good, Mike Monroe, the '7th-inning guy' has also looked solid, with a 3-0 record, in 13 appearances. He has thrown 23.1 IP, allowed 13 H, a run and struck out 18. His lone tarnished piece is the 10 BB he's allowed.

For the back-end of the bullpen, that add's up to a 0.53 ERA over 50.2 IP with 54 K and a combined 1.5 WAR.

The Bad: Ron Latour, who was allowed to leave due to Aurora's financial restraints, signed a minor league deal with West Virginia and after a spring which saw him pitch 7.2-innings and post a 2.35 ERA, he was allowed to leave - and Aurora was more than happy to welcome back the Vancouver native and long-time stalwart of the bullpen, in trade for a minor league shortstop. Latour's era of 7.36 certainly looks to qualify as Ugly, but a deeper review qualifies as Bad - but trending towards Good. His first appearance, against that loaded Neo-Tokyo line-up he allowed 3-runs in 2/3 of an inning. Two appearances later, he imploaded, again, against Bakersfield (4-runs in 2/3 of an inning), blowing a save and toting a 21.00 ERA. Since, he has made 6 appearances and 5 have been scoreless. Bad, but as I said, tending upward towards his norm.

Dan Field, on the other hand, is looking like the definition of Bad, as he's seeming to be trending sideways. A 6.64 ERA in 20.1 IP, with more walks (14) than strikeouts (12), he's already given up as many ER as he has the past two seasons (15 in '27 and 12 in '28) - and he threw a combined 135-innings the past two years. He's had three appearances (and unsettlingly they were against SS, BAK and NT) in which he gave up 3-runs, and has allowed runs in another 5 outings. So he's allowed runs in 8 of his 14 appearances. On the plus side, at least he has allowed only one HR.

Lando Lagerveld's stat line border's on Ugly - depending on where you look. 4.00 ERA, meh... 18 K in 18 IP, nice. 7 HR? Now we are talking Ugly. About the one thing that's saving his bacon, at the moment, is his three walks - at least he's not giving them baserunners. Like Field, he's struggling to have shutdown innings - he's allowed runs in 6 of 12 outings.

The Ugly: That would be rookie Carlos Gonzalez, who allowed runs in 7 of 12 appearances and posted a 6.28 ERA, born of 24 H and 6 BB in 14.1 IP, coupled with 3 HRs. That earned him a ticket to ride on the interstate, back to Thornton, with Aurora looking for an arm to fill the void.

Filling the void is Bob Erickson, formerly of Canton, where he had posted a 1.04 ERA in 7 appearances - though 8 BB in 8 IP would cause one to have pause - but c'est la vie - something needed to give, and he has a history of better control. His first inning was a bit ominous (and for the sake of theme, we shall call Ugly) and he had one inning and gave up a run on 2 BB against The Evil Evas.

GRADE: C-. Only the trio of Burns, Gray and Monroe is keeping the 'pen from being an F. Remove those three and the bullpen numbers are: 5.98 ERA, 64.2 IP, 11 HR, 25 BB, 47 K, and a WHIP of 1.57. A team with bullpen numbers like that is going nowhere.

Catchers
After a poor 2028 by River Pope, Aurora went into the 2029 season with the plan to use Domingo Guterrez (coming off a .278 year behind the plate) as the full-time catcher - no more platooning with 'Fido', and use Castro as the full-time DH, sending the long-time Borealis and All-Star LF to the bench in disgrace. Well, it hasn't worked out quite as Aurora had planned. With virtually the same number of games played and plate appearances, Gutierrez is hitting just .220 - with a SLG of .256, while Castro is a 'hard-to-believe-worse' at .216, with a maybe better .295 SLG - they're virtually identical with a.554 and .553 OPS - worse on the team, outside of back-up-back-up catcher, rookie Yato Shirane and OF Howard Joyce - who have a combined 37 AB between them. To make it all less palatable, if that's possible, Castro has thrown out 1 of 9 base stealers in games he's caught, while Domingo is an equally bad 3-24.

GRADE: F. These two were viewed as All-Star caliber players, if not just a side off, and both are playing well below their career averages. It's so bad that this past week Pope was given a chance to DH and see what he could do - and he went 3-18...

Infield
Things may get gloomier before they get better for this group as an intercostal strain and some bruised ribs has earned 'Big Whiskey' some quality time on the DL. Britt may be hitting in the vicinity of his career numbers (.241/.303/.454, with 6 HR), but he's showing his age - which hitting his 350th career homer run (against Fargo this past week) may suggest he's approaching. As we work our way around the infield, SS Teddy Loetzsch looks to be bouncing back from a disappointing 2028. Hitting .280 and slugging .430 - 3rd best on the team, thanks to 5-triples, he's doing as much as can be expected - both at the plate and in the field. 2B Derrick Dwyer has been a bit of an enigma at this point: hitting .257, with just a single homer, but he leads the team in OBP at .350 - thanks to 15 BB, which is 6 better than Paul Carlisle's 9 - plus Dwyer is 5/5 in SB. So, Derrick is helping drive the offense, just not as offensively as the team would prefer. Really driving the offense is 1B Jose Torres, who is following up his fine rookie campaign with a .299 average and 7 HR and 15 RBI so far. His .567 SLG is the best he's posted since his college days, so Aurora is hoping that he can keep his average closer to .300 than his .268 rookie campaign.

GRADE: B. I think the Borealis are getting pretty much as much as they can expect from this group - considering Britt's age, Loetzsch's skill set, and Torres' not likely to change anytime soon frequent K's - despite his HR numbers. It really falls on the shoulders of Dwyer - he needs to be better at setting the table - of being that spark plug, and if he can pick up the average, the Borealis may find the offense clicking more.

Outfield
Tomas Flores is having an outstanding season thus far: .314 and 11/13 in SB, and looking more like the League-Leading hitter he was in 2027. Aurora has also been using him in the 'second lead-off' role, in the 9-hole, and perhaps that needs to change. Then again, LF Nick Heath is hitting .280 in his follow-up yo hi .303 last year that earned him the starting role in left. His SLG is also down just a smidge, and he's only attempted 5 steals (all successful), but he's certainly not holding the offense back - but perhaps he'd be better suited to switch with Flores in the line-up. Looking like his nearly 34-years of age might be slowing him down, Paul Carlisle's consistent .280 is lacking - currently .259, and his 24 HR average of the past 5-seasons looks in jeopardy, as he has just 4. Now, Carlisle is a streaky player, and in a blink of an eye he could have 10 homers, but for now, it feels like he's holding the team back.

River Pope (.229 in 48 AB), Howard Joyce (3-18) and the demoted and frustrating Ricardo Zamora (7-34 while with Aurora earlier, 8-36 with Thornton) are not providing any spark. Stewart Arundale, last years 2nd overall pick for Aurora, in the first round (behind Batista) was hitting .323 at Gatineau and has just been promoted to Thornton. When he was drafted he dew comparisons to Pedro Ferringo, and thoughts were he'd follow the same path - so perhaps a strong showing at AAA will have Stewart up at the Big Club before the season's over - and maybe even making the kind of contributions that Pedro made.

GRADE: B-. A shaky B-. Carlisle looks to be in a similar space as Dwyer is in for the infield's offensive contributions. Expected to be a bigger driving force, but failing to do so. With the two back-up OF spots being a flat out disaster, Aurora's frequent substitution plan (that they've used for years) is looking to be a liability. The strong play from Flores and Heath, and Carlisle's 'league average' type play is keeping this grade from being just that - average.

Outlook
As we said out of spring. Consistent offense and solid bullpen work were the two key elements to this club being successful and a potential playoff threat. They are arguably getting neither. An offense that ranks 7th in the SL in runs - mostly from a 4th highest batting average, suggests that they are having to work too hard for runs. A bullpen that is 10th in ERA, shows a 'pen that is giving up far too many runs - proportionally especially true when you remove then back-end.

This team deserves to be a .500 club. - as the grading scale shows, this teams GPA is a 2.14 - a Fat C for a .500 job. What will it take for Aurora to snap around?

1) 'Tugboat' needs to come back and pitch as we expect him to. A shaky 5th spot - be that Imhoff, Jones or Solis will likely be sufficient if they can keep the 5-spot ERA under 5 and with a .500+ winning percentage.
2) If Latour pitches to his career numbers - which his trend suggest he will, and if Erickson pitches as he's done in the past with Canton, then the middle-relief can keep up with the back-end.
3) The catchers need to produce. It doesn't matter much what and how much Britt, Carlisle and Torres gives the team, or how many bases Flores and Heath steal. Aurora cannot win if their catchers (and DH) flail like they have.

Projection
I've seen a lot of Aurora baseball over the years, and this looks to be the most tenuous group - the season could go all bad in a blink of an eye, or to the hands of a cruel injury. At the rate they are playing, I'd say division crown is overly optimistic. A wild card is more likely, but you heard it here first, fans on The Front Range - don't be shocked if this is the worst season in Aurora history - it's on that thin of a knifes edge.
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Re: Aurora Storialis - The Borealis Blog

#510 Post by Vic »

I can’t wrap my head around an Aurora team with a losing record. Surely the baseball gods will not allow such a thing!
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