Neat Stuff, Post-Sim Thread: 2032, Season 26

[Ghosts]

Awesome to see Ramon Guzman, now of Madison fame, leading the SL in hits and off to a red hot start. He's a non-traditional 1B since he doesn't hit for power, but with his speed he's 6th in WAR in the SL. Great pickup by Madison.

[Vic]

That Bothwell fella knows how to hit dingers, that's for sure. Even though 1B/DH Alex Bothwell wasn't signed until late and missed the first week of the season, he leads the Scottish with 4 home runs and is tied for the lead in RBIs at 6 with Jim Fox and José Guillén ... speaking of Guillen, he didn't exactly get off to a hot start: he's slashing .156/.191/.356. He showed signs of righting the ship last week, though, as he went .250/.250/.583, with 2 homers and 6 RBIs. If he can keep that up, he'll be a solid addition to the lineup ... Dave Yarbrough isn't in that category yet, though: .100/.217/.150 on the season. He may find himself back in the free agent pool before the end of the month.

SP Jose Ortiz went on the Injured List with a sore elbow and an uncertain return date, which is concerning. He was 2-1 with a 3.44 ERA before he went down and, at 25, is someone the Claymores are counting on as part of the rotation through the rebuild. Here's hoping this doesn't turn into a long-term injury. He had one major injury back in 2029 which started in similar fashion: a sore elbow that kept him day-to-day for a week, followed a couple of weeks later by forearm inflammation that sidelined him for 5 weeks. Since then, though, he's been pretty healthy. We'll take it slow when he comes back and put him on a tight pitch count and see if we can't fend off more IL time.

Overall, Scotland went 3-3 for the week, which puts them third in the Trans Atlantic Division, behind Havana and San Juan. We've got Kentucky, San Antonio and Florida coming up, which should send us reeling back towards the division basement. Hopefully ...

[Alleghenies]

Well a very interesting season. Duluth, Reno and San Antonio doing much better than most people thought they would be doing. On the flipside Bakersfield has definitely struggled more than people would have thought. The Dixie is a super close division. The Rising Sun is like the Death Group in soccer and might even have both wildcards come from there. The Great Salt Lakes currently has 4 teams within 2.5 games.

Also Yuma is slowly becoming more competitive with some of their young guys about ready to step on the field.


Still early but fun races.

In WV we are pretty content with team and their performance. My minor league teams doing well too, but I am making small adjustments down there.

[Borealis]

Any week that has the Borealis sweeping the Bears is a Neat week, a week that included...

- Aurora getting 2-hit in the week's opener against NT, but rookie Brian Clark continuing to look solid: pitching 2-out into the 6th, allowing just 3 H and a run, striking out 7 and walking 1. The Bears would treat him a bit more rudely in the week's finale (5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 ER) - but for the season he's a tough 2-4, with a 2.49 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and teams hitting .179 against. If he got some more offense, he might be looking better. Of the four GS that Aurora lost, one was by a run, and the other three were by 2 R. In those 4 games, Aurora scored a total of 5-runs... A Tough to Swallow Neat...
- Meanwhile, Henry Cluett, who had the misfortune of finishing up Aurora's 23-inning 1-0 win over the Codgers - and then having to pitch the next day (he went 1.1 IP, with three hits in Aurora's 12-inning loss to Toyama, that totally trashed an already trashed pitching staff), was the loser in game 3 v. NT - also a 2-0 loss, but Cluett went 7 IP, allowed just the two runs on 5 H - taking his first loss on the year (he's 6-1), with an ERA of 1.21. It's been a Neat Year for Cluett...
- Julio Diaz survived a pair of mid-April rough starts to post three-straight no-run performances against Tempe, Palm Springs and his former Neo-Tokyo club. Over those three starts he's thrown 17 IP, allowed 9 H, with 12 K and a walk, with his ERA dropping nearly in half: from 5.60 to 2.86 - Neatnes we can only hope will last...
- Out of the 'pen, a worth mentioning is Rule 5 draftee, then released/traded 23-year old Paul de Kook. 'Kookie' has made 10 appearances for Aurora and he's allowed 11 H in 15.1 IP, with 8 K and no walks. Two hits were HRs, but for a guy who still has some work to do, a 1.76 ERA nearly a quarter into the season ain't shabby, it's Pretty Neat...
- Offensively, Shane Willis has looked pretty good - his .331 average leads the team and is near the top in the SL, along with 19 SB; he's certainly been a leader on this otherwise questionable offense, and has been a Neat Use of Funds...
- 'Litterbug' Arundale looks to have bounced back from his sophomore slump, hitting .284, and perhaps more importantly, looks to have learned to steal - finally, as he's been successful in 10 of 12 attempts...

Down on the Farm
Aurora's 2030 1st round selections, Raul Munoz and Gabriel Rodriguez are on fire, with the only question being: when will the Borealis bite the bullet and bring them up? G-Rod is hitting .340, with 9-2B, and a pair of triples and homers, while Munoz is at .321 with 10-2B, a triple and 6 HRs. This Daily Double of Neatness must surly need to make the move down the I-25 sooner than later...
- Another interesting body at AAA is former-2022, 5th round selection by The Evil Evas - Ed Madore. Signed as a minor league free agent prior to Christmas, Madore is hitting .262 (not earth-shattering, but when your infield is hitting .240, .222, .154, .266, .221 and .209, that's All-Star level hitting. That buck-54 belongs to 'I've still got options' Roy Duke, so... Madore is also 17-18 in the stolen base department...
- Worth noting in the pitching department at AAA, Ryan Tate is 3-3 with a 2.27 ERA, with 41 K and 15 BB in 47.2 IP... at the moment the rotation at Aurora is looking solid, but you can always use another arm in the 'pen... 'Hyena' Twia has 12 saves in 18 appearances, covering 26-innings, with 18 K, and is also pushing for a roster spot...

[Ghosts]

Yuji Yamashita is killing it in his A-level debut. The former #1 overall 2030 WIL amateur draft pick is destroying the competition. In eight starts, he's only given up more than one run once, and has three shutout appearances including a complete game shutout. He's gone at least 6.2 innings in each start, and is sporting a 9.7 K/9 rate with a 0.82 WHIP and 1.55 FIP. The plan is to keep the pitching core together, but he may force me to reconsider that.

[Borealis]

Something Neat is the efforts of Gordon Dobson and 'Haggis' Uige. After 5 GS at SLRC, Dobson was 3-1 with a 1.59 ERA (34 K, 7 BB), with injuries forcing a promotion to AA Gatineau, he's made two starts - both compete game shut-outs, with 11 K and just a pair of walks. Uige, the 31st overall in 2030, was 2-2 in 7 GS for SLRC, with a 1.81 ERA (53 K, 18 BB), pitched a complete game 4-hitter - with a solo homer the only damage... Pedro Morales seems back on track, after a pair of excellent seasons after coming to the Organization from Toyama - only to be upended by injury and taking a year's worth of tough pitching for a bad Thornton team. Thus far for the FasTrax, he is 4-4 in 10 GS, with a 2.83 ERA, with 51 K in 57 IP... Ryan Tate is beginning to look like he's ready for primetime, following up last years split time between AA/AAA (with an ERA of about 3.10, 120 K and 47 BB in 168 IP). Thus far he's 3-5, with a 2.82 ERA, 50 K and 17 BB in 60.2 IP - though he's got a touch of gopheritis...

[Alleghenies]

The races in the Rising Sun and Great Lakes are a fun thing for PEBA. It will be some sad days for a couple teams that won't qualify for the playoffs. Also never count out Aurora to squeak in somehow.
Meanwhile Kentucky had a slow start and seems to be getting good at the right time with SA getting hit with the injury bug, so at some point it might catch up with them. Also Ken's Featherheads (only name I'll call them) are always a tough team and like Mike's Aurora team, always find a way to make the playoffs.
San Juan and Havana having a nice competition verse each, while everyone else in the division still has a chance, but can't get a winning streak going.

It will be interesting to see who becomes buyers at the trade deadline which is slowly creeping up.

A little perplexed how Carlos Garza not winning 2b voting for All-Star game, but oh well, worse problems to have.

[Ghosts]

CONGRATS TO 6-TIME ALL-STAR & TWO TIME GOLDEN ARM AWARDEE RANDY "TUGBOAT" SMITH ON HIS 200th PEBA WIN!

[Lions]

Brad Davis got his 2,500th career hit. It was a 9th inning single against Havana.
Davis has averaged 180 hits per 162 games in his career, but has never had 200 hits in a season.

For those wondering, there are 15 players with 2,000 career hits, but only Davis and Rob Raines have 2,500 or more, with Raines over 3,000.

[Borealis]

So great to see 'Tugboat' finally get his 200th win! I was really hoping he was going to get it last year, but, alas, it was not in the cards.

Pitching well in Smith's stead, so to speak, and 194 wins away from 200, is young Brian Clark, who in his pro debut, rookie season, is 6-6 with a 2.36 ERA - excellent, and in some seasons worthy of Wunderkind consideration - except this years crop is an impressive one: Daniel Hernandez and Alfredo Gonzales for Toyama, Pablo Garza with Madison, Ohayashi for Reno... and that doesn't even include the $25M Evil Eva...

[Alleghenies]

The 2032 Championship is dedicated to you Quinn. My little buddy. You were here only 8 months, but they were the best times.

[Borealis]

Congrats to the Champion West Virginia Alleghenies and their GM Greg! An excellent season and a juggernaut to be dealt with in the future!!

[Lions]

Congrats, Greg!

[Leones]

Congratulations to Greg and his West Virginia club. That was an impressive run!

[Apollos]

No doubt about it, the Alleghenies were an absolute juggernaut this season. Congrats to Greg on his championship run through 2032. Congrats to all the playoff teams on successful seasons