Cliff Notes: Official Blog of the Lupin Cliff Hangers

[roncollins]

Written by Fujiko Shusay

Roster Notes

July 15, 2022

The Cliff Hangers begin the second half of the season with a 43-46 record and a road trip that will take them to Palm Springs, then Aurora. As usual this season, this week will see a couple of injury-related roster moves, starting with the fact that starting pitcher Shinobu Takeuchi has been placed on the 14-day DL due to a strained bicep. He is not expected back until late August at best.

Aguilar returns: 39-year-old Jorge Aguilar was recalled to the Cliff Hanger roster this week after being earlier designated for assignment. Right hander Goto was optioned to AAA to make room for the veteran, who is a few appearances short of 1,000 for his career. This leaves Lupin with three left handers in their bullpen, though one suspects there is addition discussion occuring that would have Hyeong-cheong Young return to the rotation rather than force-fit young Francoise Gosselin back up there.

Koyama to be Backup: With Tsuyoshi Nishiyama preparing to return to the rotation in time for hte first Aurora game, the club has brought Shoichi Koyama back from AAA for the next three games, filling the roster slot of injured stater Shinobu Takeuchi. Koyama will likely be a defensive replacement for the next three games.

[roncollins]

Written by Fujiko Shusay

Ten Lupin Pitchers to Watch (Even if You Haven't Heard of Them)

July 18, 2022

If you've been following Lupin baseball, you've probably heard a lot about some pretty interesting pitching prospects the team has down on the farm. We're talking about guys like John Gillard (7-3, 3.29) and Ken Thompson (5-5, 3.26) in A-ball, and Sotatsu Hirano (9-5, 3.41), Kikaku Suzuki (2-3, 4.01), and Shihei Matsubarra (23 saves) at AA.

Those are all good guys to watch, and there are others, too.

But Lupin's farm system is silently developing some pretty serious depth, with guys seeming to be coming from nowhere and everywhere to post performances that make you sit up and wonder. I mean, seriously. This organization seems like it's just jam-packed with really productive pitchers who no one else wanted, or who everyone else either overlooked or has forgotten about. These are the grunts, it seems, the under-rated have-nothings who toil away in anonymity, the “garbage players” who don’t make any of the shiny Top Prospect lists, the big-eyed dreamers who each secretly (or maybe not so secretly) hope to be the one who suddenly shows up on the big stage and who everyone looks at, scratches their heads, and says “where the heck did that come from?”

And it can happen, you know?

So here we are, looking down the organizational depth charts and picking out a list of guys you might want to pay attention to:


Yamauchi (AAA)

1. Left-handed starter Bill Courtney (25) came from the Mexican league sporting a Howitzer on his shoulder that chucks baseballs at 101 miles an hour. Over his first three starts at Yamauchi, he's struck out 20 hitters in 20 innings, and walked only 5. Match him up with current Lupin lefty 27-year-old Hyeon-cheong Yong (99 MPH), 26 year-old closer Chad Miller (101 MPH), and 22 year-old swing man François Gosselin and you've got a set of guys who can throw some serious fire. Courtney and his sizzling left arm cost the team a meager $5,000 signing bonus.

2. After spending four seasons as starting pitcher, Motiki Ando (25) has been recently moved to the bullpen—where he's thrown 6.1 scoreless innings, struck out 6 and allowed only 2 hits. Ando has been in the organization since 2018, but struggled in brief call-ups to the parent club. It's hoped that the move to the pen will create a path that his three PEBA-quality pitches can take to lead him to a long and prosperous career. Every scout in the system says he has the stuff to do it. He was a second round pick back in the 2018 LRS draft.


Cagliostro (A)

3. Mike Miller (21) picked up two wins this week, pitching five strong innings at Mexicali before appearing in relief four days later, where he pitched two scoreless innings. For the week he struck out 5 batters in seven innings, ran his record to 5-1, and dropped his ERA to 2.66 on the year. The Georgetown University graduate came to the organization this season as a 7th round selection, but he throws 98 miles an hour, and the Lupin pitching coaches all say they expect him to develop into at least three PEBA-quality pitches. This kid could be a true best sleeper.

4. Closer Alexander Cooke (23) ran his scoreless streak to 8.2 innings, and registered his 17th and 18th saves of the year. He's struck out 40 men in 35 innings, and holds a 1.03 ERA. He was a 9th round pick out of college in the 2020 draft, but struggled most of that summer as a starter. 2021 saw him moved to the bullpen, and he’s been lights out since then. Lupin’s baseball men talk about his sneaky-fast two-seamer and a slider that’ll make a hitter stand up and take notice.

5. Right-handed reliever Toru Rin (21) has allowed only three runs in 11.2 July innings, and all three of those came in a single outing. Another lightly regarded player out of high school, he came to Lupin in the 7th round of the LRS draft back in 2019—falling that far perhaps due to suffering a torn rotator cuff two months before the draft. He's currently 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA over 37 A-ball appearances. His heater registers a pedestrian 92 with a tail wind, but his change-up is said to be life altering.

6. Over his last two starts, left-handed Carlos Pabtoja (23) has struck out 13 batters in 14 innings, allowing only two runs while picking up a victory. He was pressed into a starting role due to the suspension of fellow starter Roberto García (who is another guy everyone is already watching). Pabtoja signed a bonus-free minor league contract in late April. Originally hailing from Santiago, he had previously been the #21 rated prospect of the San Juan winter league. He’s contributed at both the A-ball level (1-5, 4.16), and at AA (2-0, 3.60). The kind of guy who just seems to always be there.

7. Twenty-two year old Sotaru “Kip” Kimura (a first round pick back in 2018 when the club was in Japanese baseball) was all the rage last season when he went 6-4 with a 3.29 ERA in his first go-around in Cagliostro. But after two starts this season, he ruptured a tendon in his finger and the buzz kinda died. He returns to the rotation this week, hoping folks will remember his 12K/1BB start.


Osakasayam (SSA)

8. When you’re 18 years old and throw a baseball 96 MPH, the world probably looks a little different than it does for you and me. While a couple of the older guys are getting a bit more press, Riley Bozarth (18) put his head down, and gave up only a single run in six innings to score his first professional victory this week. With a 2.53 ERA, he's pitched well since coming out of high school to join the organization as a third round pick this year.

9. Marv King (18), who came to the team as a 10th-round pick in this year’s draft, got blistered to the tune of five runs in five innings in his first outing as a professional. He was moved to the pen as older players joined the aqua-clad Swamp Dragons, but unlike a few other kids who may have pouted from such a “demotion,” King has taken to the bullpen with a passion, throwing 7.1 innings of scoreless ball in which he has allowed only a single hit and walked only a single batter. He's a lefty who throws 97 and carries a wicked cutter. What’s not to like?

10. Last year's second round pick, Yoshiyuki Hamada (19) continues to impress after returning from a Tommy John surgical procedure that shut down his first season as a pro after only five appearances. The injury meant he pretty much fell off everyone’s list of the team’s top prospects, but since his return, the junk-balling lefty has struck out 15 hitters in 19 innings, and has had only one poor outing. Considering his ERA stands at 2.59, it's probably fair to get a little excited.

And now, as a reward for making it this far, we give you a lucky #11 …

11. For a 20-year-old guy, Pablo Jiménez has been around the world a bit. He started his professional life at 17, being a 4th round selection in his native Mexican league. But Jiménez was released four months later, only to be signed as a minor league free agent by the San Antonio ball club in PEBA. That relationship, too, lasted only four months. Then came the Kuwana Steel Dragons of the old LRS, who signed him to a minor league deal two months before the franchise folded in scandal. Stability was on the horizon, however, as Lupin selected the young right-hander and his 96 MPH stuff in the contraction process. He’s been a steady producer in his first two seasons, but now he’s maturing, and he’s sitting on an ERA that is only a smudge above 3.00.

This means that Pablo Jiménez is officially one of the 11 Lupin pitchers you should watch for, even if you haven’t heard of them before.

[roncollins]

Written by Fujiko Shusay

Johnson Brilliant Against the Akira

July 25, 2022

Burt Johnson continues to impress in his second stint with the big club, sitting tight with a 3-3 record and a 3.53 ERA in 7 starts this season. He was 5-5 last year in 13 starts, showing flashes of brilliance despite his 5.21 ERA. This year, though, he's been mostly a steady-eddy.

This past Sunday, however, he turned a lot of heads as he dropped an 11 strikeout complete game on Neo-Tokyo, a game that the Cliff Hangers went on to win 7-1. Yes, it was Neo-Tokyo. But still. Eleven Ks. What's equally valuable to the team right now is that he's consistently getting the club into the 8th inning with a chance to win. In this case, that complete game was quite handy, as it came as the front end of a double-header, thereby saving the bullpen for when it was needed in the nightcap.

The team has been struggling to find a fifth starter all season, and perhaps the silver lining of all these injuries, with three of Lupin's top four pitchers having missed time so far, is that this Misfit Boy might well be winning that role.

[roncollins]

Written by Fujiko Shusay

Team Lays Down at Canton

And other news notes

July 31, 2022

Perhaps it's just too much to think that the magic can go on forever. Perhaps, when you field a AA outfield, a rotation held together by medical tape, and a bench of make-do components, things are bound to go south eventually. Perhaps the dreamers of the world are always due for the crash. If so, then one can probably point toward Canton as the point where the tenuous house of cards that has been propping up the Cliff Hanger season began to crumble.

The team entered the Longshoreman series sporting a 50-50 record, and hopes of greatness. They left at 51-53 after a crushing come-from-ahead defeat. And this was a total team collapse. The bats were tepid all week. The arms were rubbery. The managing was dottering. The coaching was non-existent. Even the radio voice of the club was probably stuttering. There is a rumor that the team's laundry guys forgot to use detergent on the uniforms, and that the stats crew had their computer's take to the virus.

So, now we'll see what the team is really made of. The clubhouse is ripe for a fall at this point. Now we find out if this group of Misfit Boys are the tight pranksters that everyone has been hearing about, or if they will choke up and plummet to earth. True fans still believe, of course. But at what point is the burden too much? At what point do you look at a lineup that has Larry Martin in the #3 hole, and Kohei Sakai hitting clean-up, and see it for what it is? At what point does your reliance on the Kevin Arnolds and Stanton Bryants and Kzuma Yamada's begin to make you go quint-eyed and see the light?

Who can say?

But the fact is this--the ball club needed wins at Canton, and they came out flat and without any magic. Does this mean they have seen the light of their own truth?

We shall see. We shall see.


AGUILAR's 1000th Not ONE TO REMEMBER

Cliff Hanger veteran Jorge Aguilar stood on the mound in Okinawa and accepted the heartfelt cheers when it was announced that his appearance there was the 1,000 PEBA game of his career. Aguilar has been with Lupin for three seasons, and is also credited with 54 appearances in the old LRS.

"It was nice to hear the cheers, especially from an opponent's fans," Aguilar said. "But the results could have been better."

The left-handed pitcher has struggled this season, which included a brief stint on the Designated for Assignment list, but had gotten his ERA to the edge of respectable recently. Unfortunately, the Shisa ruined his big day, reaching him for 4 hits and two runs in an inning and a third.


Iwasaki Goes INSANE

The Cliff Hangers were up 5-1 entering the Canton half of the 8th. Beleagured Manager Kinnosuke Iwasake had signaled to the pen to bring on Antonio Aragon to relieve Kanko Hasegawa (who had relieved Isei Makino, who had relieved a very effective Ben Johnson earlier than one might expect).

Aragon allows singles to the first two batters, both past Kevin Forrest. Iwasake signals another substitute. Is is Shoichi Koyama, moving to third to replace the rangeless Forrest? No! It's 22-year-old Rookie Francois Gosselin, who (among many other reasons to wonder about this call, not the least being Gosselin's 6.47 ERA) is slated to pitch the back end of a double header tomorrow! Gosselin proceeds to run the count to 3-1 before Longshoreman Gordon Fuller singles back up the middle to load the bases.

With left-handed Vega up, Iwasake goes to the aged veteran Jorge Aguilar, who gives up a single of his own, this time a line drive to left that scores a run and leaves the bases full.

Iwasake then goes to the pen again, getting Victor Morgan in to face Jusus Tellez, who proceeds to deposited the first pitch into the left field stands to seal a crushing 5-6 defeat.

There are so many questions that could be asked here.

- Why was Johnson lifted after 5 and only 85 pitches? He's been arguably the team's best pitcher for the past month, and was totally cruising along. The team was on get-away day, and had a double headers scheduled for tomorrow. One would think Iwasake would have done everything he could do to keep his powder dry.[/list]
- Why pull Aragon (a RHP against a RHB) in favor of Gosselin (another RHP)? Gosselin is a worse choice, and provides no utility over Aragon, especially when you've got a LHB coming up next and you're fairly sure you'll go to Aragon. All you've done here is burn up an arm.[/list]
- And in that light, the arm you've burned is the guy slated to make an emergency start tomorrow. So instead of Gosselin in Game 2 of the Okinawa double header, you throw Yong on short rest (yes, the same Yong who has just given you a brilliant 7-inning, 11 K, 115 pitch outing in Canton)--with predictable result--5 walks and 4 runs in three innings, AND THEN YOU BRING GOSSELIN IN TO RELIEVE YONG?[/list]


Outfield of Blood: Sato Latest Victim

Center fielder Sadatake Sato appears to be headed for his third stint on the DL, team officials said yesterday after an MRI revealed the star's had aggravated tendinitis in his shoulder during a diving catch.

"The guy can't catch a break," said shortstop Shiro Adachi.

Sato had appeared to catch fire by swatting four homers in late June, and carrying that over to club 5 more in July, along with a posting an .869 OPS for the month. He was just getting healthy when he hit the turf in Okinawa and came up tender.

Sato is not alone in his discomfort, though. It seems that almost every outfielder the team has is suffering some kind of debilitation. The list is impressive:

- Sato - Oblique strain, oblique strain, tendinitis (8 weeks lost)
- Kuniyoshi Kato - back spasm's (60 Day DL)
- Okakura Ishikawa - torn meniscus (60 Day DL)
- Kohei Sakai - high ankle sprain (5+ weeks)
- Ruben Hernandez - hamstring (4 weeks)
- Ryosei Ikarashi - torn back muscle (60 Day DL)

The team recently signed journeyman center fielder Ben Ray, and it's expected he'll step directly into the lineup to match with Sakai and Stanton Bryant in making up the team's major league outfield.

Shudder.


BRYANT BECOME LATEST "BOY"

You can add Stanton Bryant's name to the register of great moments from unexpected sources. His ninth inning laser beam of a homer at Shisa field saved the team from self-destruction, and brought Lupin a much needed 4-3 victory that has them once again a game short of playing .500 ball.

In this season of strange heroics from unexpected "Misfit Boy" sources, we suppose Bryant's should be almost routine by now. But it's not. Despit hitting in five of his six games since being called up from Yamauchi, Bryant's slash line for the week was a snooze-bending .208/.240/.333. The homer was his only extra base hit, and he's struck out ten times.


Worried About Watanabe

We've see this flick before. Lupin's 27-year-old Ace, Akira Watanabe, entered the All-Star break witha 10-6 record, a 3.29 ERA, and whispers that he might-have, should-have, could-have been added to the All Star game roster. But his first start after the break was a tepid 3 runs in 6 inning outing at Aurora, and he's followed that up with short-stint disasters at Canton (5 ER, 7 total, 3 IP) and Okinawa (3 ER, 8 total, 3.2 IP).

This has led several of the team's more rabid fans to wonder: Is Akira Watanbe hurt?

Like many Japanese pitchers, he's been here before. Torn back muscles cost him the end of the 2015 AAA season. His legendary and heroic Neo-Tokyo Cup 2020 comeback was after losing two months to elbow issues, and the team shut him down at the end of last season when shoulder inflammation caused him pain.

[roncollins]

Written by Fujiko Shusay

Dog Days of August Bring Change

Aug 8, 2022

The injury carousel continues to turn for Lupin.

The team put All-Star second baseman Jose Escobido on the 14-Day DL with a fractured ankle. There is some chance the veteran will be back before the end of the season, but the Cliff Hanger medical staff has made it clear they intend to take no chances at this point of the season.

Lupin activated starting pitcher Shinobu Takeuchi (9-7, 4.48), and announced he will return to the mound sometime this week. Takeuchi has been nursing a biceps strain for the past month. To make room, veteran Jorge Aguilar, who recently crested the 1,000 PEBA appearance plateau, was again placed onto the Designated for Assignment list.

Left-handed first baseman/designated hitter Takechi Yoshida (.342 OBP, 10 HR, 28 RBI) was recalled from a rehab assignment and will be available to play. He appears fully recovered from the back pain that had sidelined him.

Centerfielder Ben Ray will remain with the Cliff AHngers as he finishes his convalescence from an intercostal strain. The medical staff expects he'll be ready to play late in the Yuma series, and definintely in time to help the team as it travels to Niihama-shi.

- - -

There are also suggestions that both center fielder Sadatake Sato and Okakura Ishikawa could return to the team within two weeks. Sato has missed nearly two months with various ailments (the last two weeks with shoulder tendinitis). Ishikawa (.290/.365/.426, 5 HR) suffered a torn meniscus in late May. In addition, center fielder Ruben Hernandez appears to be recovering from last month's strained hamstring, and could also be ready within two weeks.

No word on whether any of these players might head to AAA for a rehab assignment, or come straight to the big league club, but if this all happens it will be good that the team might actually need to deal with the problem of too many outfielders for a change.

[roncollins]

Written by Fujiko Shusay

Lupin Fans Scream Foul

Aug 8, 2022

August 8, 2022 - Recent friction between the Lupin Cliff Hanger baseball franchise and its most vocal fans flared up again after the team released news that it had put veteran left-hander Jorge Aguilar on the Designated For Assignment list for the second time this season.

At 39 years of age, Aguilar is one of the oldest players in the league. He signed a 1-season deal last off-season for $4.2M, a reasonable deal for the 2.98 ERA he posted then. He's also clearly a fan favorite, as well as an important clubhouse leader. The fact is, though, that his production has suffered greatly in 2022. He's posted a 5.70 ERA, and seen his walk an HRA rates balloon while his K-rate has dropped. None of that is good.

"We are coming to the end of the season," said Ophelia Hass, the teams latest spokesmodel at the team's weekly press gathering. "The front office feels that we have younger players who need their chances, and need to get them those opportunities." Aguilar, she said, has steadfastly refused a stint at Yamauchi, the team's AAA level club. "This clearly forces the team's hand."

But members of Toyama Baseball Fans (TBF), who have previously orchestrated boycots and other demonstrations pertaining mostly to the team's owner, have spent the past 24 hours clogging various social media outlets, and calling for Aguilar's reinstatement.

"Toyama is about loyalty," read a tweet from ToyamaFan-0x7. "We have JA12's back!!!!!" [Ed - Not that Aguilar wears #12]

Another blog post read: "We certainly understand the need to win, and we know Aguilar is getting his butt blasted half the time he goes out there. But you can't yank a guy around like that and expect him to perform. I'm sure no one feels worse about this than Jorge Aguilar. But this is on Walker and Collins. We expect better."

The team is clearly feeling the heat from the fans at this point, and their recent slump on the field hasn't made things much better. At 54-58, the club is now 4 games back in the wild card race. If things get much worse, one might expect things could get quite dicey in the front office.

[roncollins]

Written by Fujiko Shusay

Lupin Front Office Changes Directions

Aug 15, 2022

As the team fades under the weight of too many injuries to properly categorize, the Lupin Cliff Hanger front office has made a substantial shift, firing disgruntled scouting director Tomastu Yoshida in favor of onetime Okinawa Shisa Daiskue Wakabayashi.

"We're very excited to bring Diasuke into the Lupin family," said GM Ron Collins yesterday as he introduced Wakabayashi. "He's a baseball man with many years of success under his belt. And he's a man tied to Japanese baseball. He understands what the sport means to the community here."

Wakabayashi will sit in the Scouting Director's chair

Though Collins did not respond to questions regarding recent unrest among certain fan groups, the last part of that comment can easily be interpreted as a plea to those fans who might be upset at the team's recent struggles both on and off the field. He went on to discuss the decision to replace a key member of the staff in the middle of the season.

"Tomatsu made it known to us that he wasn't interested in the Cliff Hanger organization going forward," Collins said. "So we decided to go ahead and make a change now. This will give Diasuke a month or two to get his feet under him when it comes to understanding the organization. We know he'll be a quick learner."

Wakabayashi had been with Okinawa for six seasons, five of them resulting in post-season appearances. He's known to appreciate and focus on toolsy players. "I am very happy to be back in baseball," he said. "I'm 56 year old, and I was worried no one else would want me." The deal is reported to be for $500K a season, with a commitment of five years.

On the field, the team has now lost 14 of their last 20 games, and is in the early stages of a 12 game road trip that saw them swept by Niihama-shi and will see them visit Okinawa, Kalamazoo, and Neo-Tokyo.

"The good news is that we're starting to get our wounded warriors back," Collins quiped as he left the podium with Wakabayshi. This is true: SP Shinobu Takeuchi returned to win his first outing in a month, and now that Sdatake Sato and Kuniyoshi Kato are slated to return this week perhaps the outfield situation will stabilize a bit. But let's make no mistake: the Lupin Cliff Hangers are in free fall at this point, and we don't think signing Wakabayashi is going to paste over that very clear fact.

[Morris Ragland]

Good to see Wakabayashi employed again.

The only reason he isn't still with Okinawa is that I forgot to sign him to an extension, and then he wouldn't talk to me about another contract.

[roncollins]

Written by Fujiko Shusay

Two Months After: The Cliff Hanger Draft in Retrospect

Aug 29, 2022

First Round:
CF - Donald Allen (21 years old) - .291/.345/.356, 2 HR 19 RBI 3 SB

Much hype surrounded the selection of Stanford's All American center fielder as the #3 overall pick, but overall Allen hasn't totally delivered to date. Defensively, he's been pretty much everything he was cooked up to be, posting a +4.3 ZR in his 63 games at AA Ranma. But after bragging that the team has found its solution to their center field issues for the next decade, one has to assume the team was hoping for more than his .291/.345/.356 slash numbers. There remains some chance that Allen could be in Lupin yellow in 2023, but we're seeing 2024 as a more likely debut period.

Second Round:
SP - Roberto Garcia (21 years old) - 5-4, 4.43 ERA, 61 IP, 58K, 18 BB, 5 HRA

Down in A-ball Cagliostro, Garcia has been a member of one of the more interesting starting rotations in the organization. His 98 MPH fastball has been everything it was reported to be. One also notes his BABIP (.373) has been growing ever since Lupin did a total swap-out of its infield prospects, bringing bats in rather than gloves. The one yellow flag was that 10-day suspension that he drew for throwing at a batter. On the other hand, rumor is that this act helped galvanize the clubhouse. Bottom line: Garcia has done everything the organization expected when they drafted him. Expect him to play in AA next season.

Third Round:
SP - Riley Bozarth (18 years old) - 2-4, 3.75 ERA, 36 IP, 24 K, 14 BB, 1 HRA
CL - Tsuginori Yamamoto (21 years old) - 3-1, 17 saves, 1.21 ERA, 29.2 IP, 35 K, 5 BB, 2 HRA

One has to say that the team has gotten outstanding production from the third round. Bozarth, having already thrown 56 innings in high school this season, has been on an 80-pitch limit. Remove one sour outing, and his sub-3.00 ERA would be better than league average. But as interesting as Bozarth remains, Yamamto has been the gem of the round. He's been nearly untouchable since the day he arrived, and the team is sky-high on the way he carries himself both on and off the field. Bozarth will almost certainly spend at least one more season in Osakasayama, but Yamamoto will almost certainly be moving along.

Fourth Round:
SS - Edison Terry (21 years old) - .203/.285/.236

Drafted as a fair-bat/great-glove, Edison has been half that. His +6.4 ZR has big-league pitchers hoping he finds his way to Lupin next week. His 57 OPS+ has opposing pitchers salavating over that very same prospect. We're not sure what to make of Edison right now, but one expects the team is mulling over that same question as we speak.

Fifth Round:
SP - Felipe Moran (21 years old) - 4-1, 2.56 ERA, 59.2 IP, 50 K, 17 BB, 0 HRA

Despite having completed two outstanding seasons before graduating from WVU in the US. Moran has clearly over-performed expectations of the team. It's a result that has the team reconsidering the idea of leaving him down at SSA for another season. With several starters expected to be ready to move from A to AA, don't be surprised to see Moran with Cagliostro in 2023.

Sixth Round:
1B - Mike Patrick (22 years old) - .325/.377/.521, 9 HR, 53 RBI, 311 PA

Patrick hit the ground swinging, and hasn't let up since. He's shown more power than the team expected, and those numbers are even bigger when you realize that the ballpark in Cagliostro is a major pitcher's park. At 22, he's borderline for being ready to move on to AA, but we expect him to start 2023 right where he's at, and maybe move depending on the guys ahead of him.

Seventh Round:
SP - Mike Miller (21 years old) - 12-1, 2.27 ERA, 98 K, 17 BB, 7 HRA, 95.1 IP
LF - Hugh Howell (22 years old) - .236/.301/.372, 4 HR, 17 RBI

Miller is the find of the draft so far, and may well wind up being the organization's Pitcher of the Year (though he probably won't actually qualify per rules that have been used in previous seasons). How his 98 MPH fastball, soild slider and change fell to the 7th round is hard to understand, but the team is clearly happy it happened. There is little doubt Miller will play at AA Ranma next season.

Howell is a greater enigma. He blasted his way out of SSA by posting an OPS+ of 165 (in line with his college numbers), and he started well when promoted to A-Cagliostro, but August has not been good to Howell, and now he's hanging just under league average. The team does like his defensive play, though, which has remained constantly solid all year.

[roncollins]

Written by Fujiko Shusay

Lupin Minor League Overview

September 1, 2022

Yes, this has been a bit of a Hindenberg year at the top of the order, the Lupin organization's minor league teams continue to be bright spots. After years of lagging in the nether regions of farm system ranks, the club is now OSA-ranked at #2 in the world, and some suggest it could be the big Kahuna.

We're not sure about that.

The team suggested it was focusing 2022 on improving their minor league depth, and by every measure known to man, that has happened. The organization is now much deeper in "interesting" players, and as you will soon read at least two levels (maybe three) will be participating in post-season games. One can argue that all four levels really should be in the mix, but that's an axe that has been ground before. But it has to be said that there are relatively few obvious stars in the Lupin mix right now, pretty much no "slam dunk," can't miss All-Star kind of guys--a fact you can suss out if you list to the team's front office talk about trade options and trade evaluations. It's fairly clear that many of the GMs around the league are not as impressed as perhaps Lupin's brass would like them to be.

But now we're hit September, and it's fair to step back and look at the results of a year (and probably $40-$60M of expenditures on both player acquisition and player development) have accomplished.


AAA Yamauchi (68-69) - Division Champion

Despite having provided a massive amount of the parent club's firepower this year, Yamauchi has managed to stay afloat and clinch the RML Pacific title.

The team has been led once again by DH Tadasuke Hagiwara (21 HR, .892 OPS) and 1B Jose Romero (17 HR, .857 OPS). Hagiwara has been a producer since coming to the organization in the contraction draft, and one wonders if anyone will ever give him a real chance at the big leagues. Romero started the year in AA Ranma before being called up, and spent an eventful couple weeks with Lupin when Hirotsugu Tenno got hurt. Journeyman outfielder Keisuke Takahashi chipped in a .268/.371/.449 slash, and Stanton Bryant hit 19 homers and pasted up 2.1 WAR.

Before he was called to the bigs, the pitching staff was lead by Burt Johnson early in the year, and by left-handed Mexican League star Bill Courtney late. Courtney has joined Johnson with Lupin now, so that will leave the playoffs in the hands of guys like Yoshimochi Okazaki (7-3, 1.78), Toyokasu Goto (6-2, 2.68), and Motoki Ando, who struggled as a starter again, but literally hit the rocket boosters when the club installed him as their closer. Most people seem to think all three of these guys will be given a chance to hold down a position with the big club next spring.


AA Ramna (71-66) - Second Place, 20 GB

Yes, that's right. The Ranma club is going to finish 20 games back of Pyongyang. That's a helluva margin, don't you think?

Before we get too concerned with this, however, we need to realize that of the 25 men on Pyongyang's roster, eleven of them are 30 or more years old. Eight more are at least 27. In other words, while the team will miss out on the post-season, but at least we know they got outclassed by guys who should all be up in AAA. Blah, blah, blah...

Ranma has been led by a stellar season from SP Sotatsu Hirano (14-7, 2.86), who was listed as the team's #13 prospect going into the season by knowledgeable fan sites. One expects that #13 to rise this off season as there is some suggestion that Hirano may be named the team's minor league pitcher of the year when that time comes. Shihei Matsubarra chipped in 31 saves, and Takaaki Matsui (2.66 ERA) had a solid season splitting his time here and in AAA. Both of those guys will certainly be up in Yamauchi nbext season, if not higher. Mexican League signee Eric Huot (2-3, 1.73) and was outstanding in 26 innings with the team and may well find himself on Lupin's opening day roster in 2023.

Lots of interesting talent here.

The same can be said for the offensive side, where LHB 1B Mario Silva hit 25 homers (after swatting 22 at the A-level last year), and RHB 1B/DH Junior Rogers posted a .880 OPS and stole 13 bases. The Pandas ran a lot relative to the standard Luipn fare, as 5 guys reached the 20 swipe plateau, led by Douglas Moon's 37 (which was second best in the league, despite Moon's being sidelined for a month with a separated shoulder).

Other contributors of interest were this year's #3 overall draft pick Donald Allen (.288/.347/.365), SS Yujiro Endo (.228/.285/.320, but whose glove was still good enough to put up 1.2 WAR in 106 games). Third-baseman Ichiro Hasegawa continues to just quietly perform (.264, 13 HR, 47 RBI, +13.2 ZR ... good for a slightly eye-poping 3.3 WAR). 23 year-old outfielder Hector Alaniz made himself a prospect again, and one-time first rounder CF Noriyuki Matsui (7 homers, 22 steals, .242/.301/.395) seemed to catch onto the flow in the last half of the season after spending some time down in A-ball getting his feet under him. His defense has always been solid, but he's finally gotten the OPS+ up into the 90s, and he contributed 33 steals across the entire year. Maintaining those kinds of numbers would make him and that glove of his a true value.


A Cagliostro (73-51) - Second place (Clinched Wildcard)

The Thieves started the season 2-10, and still managed to finish only 8-games back of an over-aged Marduk club.

Let that settle in for a few minutes.

The team caught fire as the year progressed and as the organization brough in boatloads of true talent through several means. After it's all said and done, one can argue that this may be the best true single-A team on the planet. The club went 23-7 in August and it has no players oler than 23 (and only three of those).

The starting rotation has been getting great ink all year, and consists of Ken Thompson (9-6, 3.00 - last year's first round selection), John Gillard (8-6, 3.67 - an international signing acquired in the Adrian Fuentes deal), Robert Garcia (6-4, 4.21 - second round selection this year), Mike Miller (12-2, 2.27 - 7th round), and Armando Navarro (9-5, 3.37 - a 6th round pick last year who keeps proving scouts wrong by performing and performing). This group has pushed Skip Kimura (who the club still considers a solid prospect) to the bullpen, where's he posted a solid 3.19 ERA after returning from a ruptured tendon in his finger.

And speaking of the bullpen.

Can you say lights-out?

Of them, only Alejandro Chavez (4-2, 4.67) posted an ERA above 3.30. Alexander Cooke, who came to the team as a 9th-round selection two years ago, tossed a 1.29 ERA and dropped 26 saves on BCL competition. 21-year-old Toru Rin (1-0, 2.19) was brilliant in the set-up role.

Offensively, there's about as much good news, starting with 22 year-old 3B Marcox David (14 homers, .325/.406/.610), who moved to DH half way through the year to give new arrival Hector Morales (.256/.359/.538) a chance to build his glove. David has done nothing but hit since he was signed as off-season minor leage free agent, posting a massive 5.3 WAR in 93 games. Morales has showed the club why he was Mexico's #1 prospect two years running.

On top of those two, centerfield prospect Kat Yamaguchi (rated as high as #6 last season by internal judges) exploded in the second half again, finishing at 2.4 WAR, hitting 20 homers and stealing 13 bases. Team officials say he's still working on his defense, but it moved solidly in the right direction this season. This year's 6th round pick, 1B Mike Patrick, also made a dent at the A-ball level, with ten homers, 57 RBI, and a .319/.370/.513 after arriving in mid-season from Notre Dame.


SSA - Osakasayama (38-33) Tied for second

If the season were to be declared over now, the Swamp Dragons would be in the playoffs as a wild card. But a month remains in the SSA schedule, so all we can say until then is that the team is winning and that there are a few guys here who the knowledgeable fan might want to keep an eye on.

Who, you ask?

Let's start with 19-year-old Trevor Tully, another prospect acquired in the Fuentes deal last off-season. Tully came out of the gate blazing hot, and was the youngest member of the Surf And Turf All-Star game. Then he hit a cold spot. The great news is that he shrugged that off, and is now sitting at 6 homers, 34 RBI, and a .843 OPS (153 OPS+). Yes, the kid is just 19. Yes, it's still time to be patient. But there's a lot here.

And if you're interested in pitching there's a bunch to look at.

There's recent fifth-round pick Felipe Moran (5-1, 2.33), or Orlando Ramirez (3-1, 2.63), who joined the club's international complex back in the old LRS days, and who got rushed into the organization rather than be lost in the administrative shuffle that happened as part of the merger. Both will probably be in A-ball next year. As will closer Tsuginoro Yamamoto (18 saves, 11.1 K.9, 1.14 ERA). Some team insiders suggest that ex-scouting director Tomastu Yoshida was let go specifically because he wanted to move these players up a level, whereas the player development folks were steadfast in their opinions that they should not be rushed.

Ultimately, the strength of the organization can be seen at this level, too, as there are no players on this roster who don't have _something_ of interest that makes them valuable bets.

I'll just let my eyes hit a few at random:

Nathan Bonadido (1-2, 2.81). This 3rd round pick two seasons ago struggled for two years, and was nearly released early in 2022. But he found something in mid-July and has been untouchable since. Solid faastball, excellent slider. His k/9-rate has soared from 4.6 last season to 9.8 this year.

Akira "Stone" Hayagawa (0.96 ERA, in 9 IP). The kid is 18 years old, and has been protected since coming out of high school as a 14th round pick. But when he's pitched, he's shown an outstanding curveball and a fastball with movement that the scouts hadn't expected. Internal buzz is very high on him.

20 year old Pat Cluff (4-3, 2.11 ERA). Another international complex guy, this time out of Canada. Was not expected to do much, but now has about 125 SSA IP under his belt and the team sees his knuckle curve as something that sets him apart.

SS Edison Terry, a 4th round pick, drops a +8.6 ZR in 53 games. His offense was less than expected, yes (though he's only gotten 147 plate appearances). And that number won't translate directly to the bigs. But seriously ... +8.6 in 53 games. It makes one wonder whether a guy who bats .000 could still create a positive WAR. Hmmm...

21-year-old Rick Moore, signed as a Free Agent after being released by Rio Grande mid-last year. Hit 4 homers and posted a 109 OPS+ while seeing his CF zone rating drift to the positive. Good speed/steal guy. Stole 8 bases with 247 plate appearances. Long shot? Yes. Interesting. Yes.

We can go on, but what's the point right now? There's a still a month to play. Let's have some fun, eh?

[roncollins]

Written by Fujiko Shusay

Hot Kids

September 12, 2022

Both AAA-Yamauchi and A-Cagliostro find themselves in 2-2 struggles in their post-season quests, and the SSA-Osakasyama Swamp Dragons are on a run of mythological proportions.

In Yamauchi, newly signed center fielder Ramón Mendoza (24) has hit a pair of homers, and first-baseman José Romero (23) has posted a .529/.556/.529 slash line as the Plumbers have swapped games with Duluth's Madison Cheeseheads. Ryuichi Onishi (4-7, 4.52) will take the hill for the deciding game.

Down in single-A, the Thieves have also been swapping games, this time with Bakersfield's Chula Vista Chargers. 22-year-old First baseman Mike Patrick is leading the team with 2 homers, and .529 battnig average. Catcher Blake Nelson has also provided some heroics, hitting .467. On the hill, Roberto García (21), Ken Thompson (22), and Mike Miller (21) have all performed well, and the bullpen has been pretty fair on the whole. 19-year-old John Gillard (8-6, 3.90) will pitch for the Thieves in the final game of the series.

Then there's the kiddoes down in SSA-Osakasayama.

The Swamp Dragons are on a tear, winning 8 of 10 games in September so far (and 13 of their last 19) to bring themselves to a dead-heat with Homer for the Samurai division title. 18-yo LF Trevor Tully has caught fire again (lifting his average over .300 after a mid-season slump), and 4th-round selection SS Edison Terry has finally gotten his swing on, hitting 400 in September to go along with his absolutely stunning defensive display. Center fielder Rick Moore (.312/.406/.393 in September) is looking more and more like a guy who wants to be promoted, and 3B António Santos (.352/.478/.459 witha homer and 7 RBI) is making his case, too, despite a birth certificate that says he's only 19.

On the mound, the starting rotation has given up only 15 earned runs in its 10 September starts. The pen has been only a touch behind that, allowing only 11 earned runs in its 33 innings in those ten games. The staff as a whole has given up only three homers in those games. At 264 walks on the season, the Swamp Dragons' staff is second best among all AL teams, with only Sitka's 263 ahead of them. Their 699 Ks lead the AL.

They institution of a 6-man rotation and low pitch count constraints for the team's youngest pitchers have clearly lowered the starters records (they are a combined 25-21 combined), but this is a very solid set of pitchers right now ... and a set of pitchers who appears to be getting stronger as the season progresses to its endgame.

[Duane]

Nice to see that kids are playing where kids should be playing ...

[roncollins]

Nice to see that kids are playing where kids should be playing ...

Thanks! It is, I'll admit, a little ... uh ... annoying ... that my medium-decent AA-Ranma squad wound up in second place, a whopping 21 games out of first in the division to a team that was half-full of 30+ year old guys, and finished the season with only 6 guys under 26 (and a team that had no manager, to boot). But such bitter things are what the glories of life are made.

[Duane]

I understand, we in Kentucky always try to follow reasonable (personal) rules ...

AA Parma is in playoffs (won first round 3-1 beating a team with one 29yo and seven 28yo) and has the following breakdown:
25yo - 2
24yo - 5
23yo - 6
22yo - 6
21yo - 3
20yo - 3
19yo - 0
18yo - 0

A Roanoke did not qualify with these (2 were promoted to AA to fill in for injuries):
23yo - 2
22yo - 7
21yo - 5
20yo - 4
19yo - 4
18yo - 1

Personally, we don't care what others are doing, we just know what matters to us is how we handle our own.

[roncollins]

Kentucky has always done a good job of self-policing within the "spirit of play" rules that our constitution pretty clearly states.