5/1/2011: Laredo, TX – After showing some signs of life in week 3, the Calzones stumbled and lost 5 of 6 in week 4 to end the month of April with a 7-16 record.  At the moment, they find themselves staring up at Kentucky from the basement steps.

The blame can be placed squarely on a pitching staff that is dead last in the IL in ERA.  Dead last.  On the bright side, there are five teams in the SL that have worse team ERAs, those being Duluth, Omaha, Canton, Yuma and… surprise… Tempe.

The Calzones appear clueless as to what to do to rectify the problem.  At this point, the Calzones appear to be throwing one bad arm after another at the problem.  It seems akin to throwing bricks in the water until you find one that floats.

The changes have already begun, but with most of the team’s best pitching prospects several seasons away, it’s hard to see any silver linings in the storm clouds gathering over the heads of clueless manager Manny Aguilar or the equally clueless GM Matt Higgins.  The fan base in South Texas has grown quite restless with the events of the last few years.  After much hype to begin this season, the Calzones have staggered out of the gate in much the same manner as the Bush twins would stagger out of a frat party.  It remains to be seen how long either Aguilar or Higgins will keep their jobs if the ship is not righted soon.

This afternoon, the Calzones placed Sleepy and Dopey on waivers and designated them for assignment.  Several more pitching dwarves may soon follow.  Tokimasa Rin was demoted to AAA.  Called up to replace the thankfully departed were Ángel López, veteran reliever and Yuma reject Júlio González (why do I have an uneasy feeling about that?) and once-demoted Yeijiro Matsumoto.  Matsumoto returns to give the Calzones a southpaw in the bullpen and to give local air traffic controllers nightmares.  On the plus side, souvenirs should be more equally dispersed around the park in coming games.  López will move into the rotation to take Hara’s spot.  In addition, Héctor Pinto, who has lobbied hard for a starting role, will move into the rotation, with the struggling Jeff Cobb moving into the bullpen for awhile.

Carlos Madrigal will come off the DL tomorrow, and Claudio Domínguez has been optioned to AAA Joplin.  Domínguez had one official at bat during his stay with the Calzones; it was a 3-run home run in a loss to Gloucester.  Roger Jordan and Shannon Davis should be back within a few days as well, though the Calzones are unlikely to activate either player before next Sunday.  The Calzones could really use an offensive lift and are hoping Madrigal can help spark the morbid offense to life.  Despite solid performances so far this season from the big guns, the offense has struggled to find any consistency and ranks 8^th in the league in runs scored.

The Calzones have one more game at home against New Orleans before taking to the road for a 4-game set at Kentucky and a 3-game trip into Arlington this week.  Considering the Calzones’ 4-11 mark on the road, it could be a long, long week.

In brighter news…

The Farm Report

AAA Joplin
On the pitching side of things, Yukio Fujita ran his mark to 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA in 4 starts, and Eric Hill pitched 8 innings without walking a batter, both pleasant developments.  With the shuffling at the major league level came some shuffling at the minor league level as well.  Armando Pérez and Floyd Davis received promotions to AAA that had been anticipated considering their fine starts to the season.  Pérez looks to be fully healthy after missing most of last season due to injury, while Davis continues to impress as he rockets his way through the Calzones minor league system.  Also called up was 31-year-old journeyman Jorge Hernández.  Pérez and Davis will move into the Joplin rotation, while Hernández will help out in the bullpen.

On the hitting side, Bob Hanson saw his first action of the season and belted 3 HR and 10 RBI in 7 games while batting .400.

AA Monterey
After just one start at A-ball after his acquisition from Tempe, Terry Jones has been promoted to AA Monterey.  In Jones’s lone start at Drumright, he allowed 2 hits while striking out 13 in 7 innings.  With nearly 300 innings under his belt at the two lowest levels, the Calzones felt it was time to move Jones up to AA.  Also called back up to Monterey were Matt Andrews, who had earlier been sent to extended Spring Training to work on his mechanics after a couple of tough early starts, and Ken Sellars, who had been in extended Spring Training while trying to regain arm strength after missing most of last season.  The Calzones are giving each player one last look, but both are on short leashes and if they fail to show they can bounce back from last season’s injuries they could find themselves on the waiver wire by mid-June.  Greg White picked up his first AA win this past week by pitching 8 innings and allowing just 1 BB while striking out 10, but he did allow 10 hits and 4 runs and still appears to be struggling to adjust to the level.  In the bullpen, Ángel Sánchez appears to have lost at least 5 MPH off his fastball and is really struggling with his control.  If he doesn’t find that lost fastball soon, he could find himself updating his resume by mid-June.

With the Sea Lions struggling at 8-18, there is not a lot to get enthusiastic about – especially on the hitting side, where most of the hitters are really struggling to find their stroke.  The two bright spots are catcher Kaz Ohayashi – who the Calzones were so high on that they gave a $4.8 mil contract over 6 years to get him to sign as a minor league free agent this past offseason – and Mario Pérez.  Ohayashi has shown an excellent eye at the plate, walking 13 times while posting a .414 OBP in his first professional experience, while Pérez has walked 15 times and posted a .441 OBP.

Hi-A Drumright
The Tornadoes are off to an 11-2 start, fueled mainly by a starting staff that has been nearly invincible the first two weeks.  22-year-old Armando González has been superb in his 3 starts, sporting a 3-0 record and 1.90 ERA.  Kenny Bender has won his first two starts and is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA.  Pablo López has won both his starts and is 2-0 with a 1.76 ERA.  Harlan Mack is 1-0 with a 2.03 ERA and has 2 quality starts under his belt.  José Márquez sports a 1-1 mark and a 2.40 ERA, having the starting staff’s lone blemish from the first two weeks, losing a game in which he gave up 4 runs in 7 innings.  Terry Jones had a superb outing in his lone start after coming over from Tempe in the Vélez deal but has been since promoted to Monterey.  Taking his place on the Drumright roster is Xavier Gómes, another 2^nd rounder from last season’s draft (Bender was the other).  Gómes was kept in extended Spring Training in order to keep his innings down this year.  He won’t be 19 until next week and the Calzones are being slightly cautious with him, but they are confident he can handle pitching at A-ball and he joins what has become a stellar 6-man rotation at Drumright.

Leading the way on the hitting side of things, Dean Tuffin (who we highlighted last week) continues to impress.  In 12 games he is batting .366 with a .447 OBP, 4 HR and 11 RBI.  Most impressive is that he has a .692 batting average with runners on base.