Neat Stuff, Post-Sim Thread: 2037, Season 31

[Board of the PEBA]

Noticed something neat from our latest sim? This is the place to post it!

Please use this thread for post-sim discussion only.

If you're having a technical problem with a new league file, do not post it here!
Post your tech issues in this thread. We will be monitoring it and will respond ASAP

[Arroyos]

Where's the NOT SO NEAT thread?

Because the only news Yuma got this sim was that one of our star young pitchers was injured. Out for at least 8 weeks, maybe more. Bummer.

[Borealis]

Aurora's Spring has gone along well - thus far 13-7 (yet, it's just spring training...) with some surprising results:

- Minor league infielder, who hit .279 at Gatineau last season, is 10-19 with 3-2B and a triple thus far. 4th round pick in 2032, Toshikazu Nishida, who split 2036 between SLRC and Gatineau (hitting .284 and .314, respectively), has a .407 spring going (11-27). Neat...

- Stewart Arundale is leading the 'regulars' at 17-33. Jose Aleman - potential dark horse in the RR race, is 24-60, with 9-2B, a triple and homer, and has 10 SB in 10 attempts. Roberto Ortega, looking to make a difference in his first full season on The Front Range is 11-33. with a team leading 3 HR. Neat-O...

- Most of the spring has been spent with some 'positional learning' for some. Aleman, who gobbled up 2B like it was a thanksgiving dinner last spring, is well on his way to do the same with 3B this spring. 3B David Simmons, whose defensive limitations (like, no range) makes him perhaps better suited for first, has been working on that this spring, and though he won't be as slick a fielder at a new position as Aleman (frankly, few would), but he will provide Aurora with another option at first on off days for Munoz. Neat-a-roonie...

- Two INTL FA signees from 2032 - 3B Fernando Rodriguez and OF Masamichi Daikawa, both who have spent two years at Montserrat and last year at Mokule'ia, have had solid springs - Daikawa working on improving his defense in CF and is hitting .303 with 3-2B and is 5-5 on SB, and Rodriguez, who is hitting .276, is following Simmon's routine, learning 1B, too, with scouts anticipating his skill set will resemble Munoz'. Both were slated to skip AA this year but with this spring performance, they may end up heading up the road to Thornton. A cautious Neat...

- OK... A Not So Neat: Angel Silva is 7-52, leading the club with 12 K. After a fine rookie season, expectations are high on 'Otter' being a top many SL stat lines...

[Underground]

With one Spring Training sim left there are a few full time Underground from last years team that are at risk of finding themselves in Leeds this year...

SP Troy Rush had an awful start to Spring but the third week treated him well, so he's currently treading water. With the promotion of Jose Hernandez this season there's one less available spot in the rotation and Rush seems certain to be the biggest loser there but he currently has the edge against Andrew Bevan (who played himself onto the big club last year) for the long relief role.

C Jaime Villanueva was re-signed by the team this offseason which seemed like a positive sign despite a -1.4 WAR season last year. London simply didn't think they had an alternative alongside Mike Roberts. Enter Samuel Batterham who looks to skip AAA entirely and debut in the PEBA as backup catcher this year. Thus far in spring in 35 plate appearances he is batting .281/.343. He is also a notably better defensive catcher than Villanueva, which spells trouble given Villanueva's weak offense last year and thus far in Spring Training.

SS Jorge Lopez actually is having a decent Spring but is being squeezed by the acquisition of "Headhunter" along with the possible promotions for Lorenzo Aguilera and Juan Cabrera along with Rule 5 draft aquisition Ruben Gutierrez - all of whom are younger than Lopez and have similar or better ceilings.

[Thoroughbreds]

- In our home opener we had 8 SB's and zero CS. Over the 7 games we had 20 SB's and 3 Cs. Shu-de Mu led the way with 6 SB's

- Our 2 newest signings were great in the opening sim. Naomi Honma accumulated a .08 WAR in only 6 games. He hit .435 with 5 doubles. Alberto Santos had 11 walks and an OBP of .531 over the 7 games.

- Outfielders Robert Hayes and Kyle Ferguson picked up their first career hits. Both are also former 1st round picks. (Hayes in 2034 and Ferguson in 2033)

- Antonio Canseco had a rough week. Over the first 3 games he struck out 9 times and left 13 men on base.

[Dinosaurs]

Pulled a classic rookie mistake of leaving my daily lineup on from spring training into the season without actually setting the lineups. Resulted in a couple interested lineup and starting pitcher decisions.

Neat news: AAA addition from the this past offseason of deals, CF Rowan Guao has gotten off to a sizzling start with the Sioux Falls Lakota (AAA), with three multi-HR games thus far (all of which were two home run affairs) resulting in six homeruns total, which leads all of the AAA teams. Also a 339 OPS+ which leads AAA teams.

Not so neat news: Rough start to the season for the new team number 1 starting pitcher, trying to fill the shoes of the departed Owen Barse, Yvon Fortier has lasted a combined 6.2 IP in two starts and has an ugly 13.50 ERA for his efforts.

[Borealis]

Week 1 wasn't as Amazingly Neat as last season - but then again, how'd that turn out for you Aurora?? Still, a 4-1 short week to begin 2037 is still Neat-O. A few highlights:

- 'Litterbug' continued his hot bat out of spring training with a 8-15 with 2-2B and 2-3B. He even threw in 4-SB; Jose Aleman was 8-22 with a pair of doubles and 5-SB - and they scored 9-runs between them. Very Neat...

- Ruben Ortega. You need to prove your worth Ruben. Sure, you had a big grand slam to give you a team leading 5-RBI, but 3-17 is definitely Not So Neat. Also on that side of the Neat Scale is David Simmons. Sure... HR, 4-RBI, but 4-19 ain't gonna cut it. No Neatness here...

- 'Professor Plum' had a strong opening outing v. Yuma: 7 IP, 2 H, no runs - but let's see what you have v. BAK next start. Not Neat? Rookie Victorio Guerra - 4 IP, 7 H, 5 H, 2 HRA v. the Apollos. He'll get a second shot v. Tempe to prove himself this week.

- The Bullpen had a pretty strong week - 3 R over 16.2 IP - with 'Haggis' and Werewolf' each throwing 3.1 scoreless innings.

What's on Tap? Home to Bakersfield and Tempe before stepping outside the division for a trip to The Evil Evas and The Champs, finishing with a set at Fargo.

[Underground]

Well after 3 sims there is a shakeup in the London bullpen as Richard Higgins has lost the closer role. Besides his ballooning ERA he has nearly as many blown saves (2) as saves (3) through three weeks. The team will move him to middle relief to let him get his groove back and go to a closer by committee approach with Norm Batstone expected to serve more late in games than he did last year. Batstone used to be the lights out late inning guy for us and is off to a great start so hopefully this stops us from throwing away so many winnable ballgames.

Offensively the team is slightly better than IL average and we're happy with that given injuries have prevented us from having our full projected opening day lineup in at any given time yet this season and Rocky Nichols is once again off to a slow start. One particular bright spot is rookie Zak Osmond who is hitting both for contact and power thus far while also swiping bases regularly.

In the minors our AAA and AA teams are unwatchable garbage, but the A ball team started off the season with a winning record.

[Alleghenies]

In the sim before last, I noticed Mr. Lujan got 3b #100 and then in this sim added #101.

[Borealis]

Ray will have more to say in his weekly blog but the Borealis went crazy with the bats, hitting .354 as a team, with David Simmons (.522), Ruben Ortega (.474), Angel Silva (.464), G-Rod (.450) and Francisco Montoya (.444) all over .400 on the week - and 'Matchbox' hit .385 and Raul Munoz .320. Super Neat and Needed as the pitchers were not necessarily sharp - despite a 3.18 ERA. Over 65 IP they only struck out 44 and walked 30! Anecdotally there were many, many DP on the week - or so it seemed...

A rough 4-3 loss to Fargo to start the week (only the second 1-run game up to that point) followed by 6-straight wins - including a 4-game sweep of Duluth made Aurora's first taste of the Great Lakes unexpectedly sweet. Picking up a game on the division with Tempe 5-2 was also a plus - Neat-O!

[JayA]

Madison pitching prodigy Seong-Chin Kim picked up his sixth win in seven starts to kick off the season last sim. The 24-year-old has gone 6-1 with a 1.35 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, and a 37:11 K:BB ratio in 46.7 innings so far. He's our one bright spot.

[Borealis]

A 5-2 week that ups the divisional lead is always a Neat place to start, but peel the layers away...

- 'Matchbox', maligned for his lack of power during his time at Aurora (ok - when you have little power, you expect more), is off tp a strong start - and a .348 week with 4 HR and 8 RBI is pretty Neat-O!! Those were the only Aurora homers on the week, but they do have Claudio at the top of the SL pile...
- 1B Raul Munoz matched Hernandez with 8 RBI with 3-2B and a .355 - upping his season average to .330. Neatness, as Aurora needs this bat to bounce back from a poor 2036...
- Ryan Tate, as swingmen will do, had a start this week in place of the resting Ramon Gonzales and went 6.2 IP and allowed just a hit and a walk, while striking out 8 against the Yumans - a game in which David Simmons was 4-5 with a pair of runs and 3-2B!
- Rookie Martin Gutierrez made his major league debut as he was called up with Gonzales skipping a start, and he threw the most innings by a reliever on the week - 6 IP, 3 H, 1 BB and 5 K. He allowed a run - on a 2-out balk. Neat-a-Roonie!! He'll be back down at Thornton, but should Gonzales flame out on the year, Aurora has confidence with Gutierrez coming up and filling a hole...

[Zephyrs]

Not so neat, we are 2nd in OBP and 12th in runs scored.

[Thoroughbreds]

Not so neat: Since I wrote that SP Jose Mora never loses he has gone 0-4 and given up 25 earned runs in 5 starts. His ERA has gone up from 2.72 to 5.01.

Granted 3 of those 5 starts were against Florida so maybe I will avoid that matchup. Funny how only 3 starts against Florida can change a players season from being really good to really bad.

[Borealis]

What's Neater than a perfect week and a No-No to boot!!

Aurora finished their longest stretch consecutive games - 20, 12-8, after starting it 1-5 - a nifty turn-around that otherwise could have sunk the team much like poor play over May and June last season basically killed the year. It also marked the end of 43 games in 45 day, to which Aurora finished 29-14. Feels even neater when looking at the bullpen and only one guy is fatigued!

Not so Neat? Well it looks like back spasms will be a thing for Ramon Gonzales all season long. Last time Aurora fudged the roster to keep him on the roster and miss just a start, but this time he's off the the DL with some minor league starts to ease him back. That means back to the rotation comes Ryan Tate - who was stellar in his previous pinch-pitch appearance, and then meh in his normal role. Martin Gutierrez, who pitched well in his debut, will return to Aurora after 17 appearances with the Sun Dogs, 2-0 with 17 saves and a 1.72 ERA. His biggest concern has been his control, but over 15.2 IP at AAA he has 16 K and 6 BB. That's Awfully Neat!